Dead Bodies Matter

Gift Giving and the Unveiling of Body Donor Monuments in the Netherlands

Bibliographic Data

ID2288441
AuthorsSophie H Bolt (0000-0002-4807-1778, Radboud University Nijmegen, corresponding author), Sophie Bolt
Year2012
Volume26
Issue4
Pages613-634
Publication date2012-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueMedical Anthropology Quarterly (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0745-5194 • E-ISSN: 1548-1387
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/maq.12010
PMID23361888
OpenAlexW2148227679
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited41

Body donors are people who voluntarily donate their entire body, after death, to anatomical science. Based on anthropological fieldwork in the Netherlands this article explores the construction of body donor monuments since 2007. These developments are analyzed by means of gift-giving theories. Body donation is a practice in which the medical and scientific value of the donor bodies has always been praised. Increasingly the fact that the bodies represent real human beings who have mourning relatives has also been acknowledged. This change in attitude has resulted in a desire on the part of anatomical professionals to give back a monument, not only for the donors themselves but also, in particular, for the donors' relatives. The great public interest in the monuments has revealed that many of the bereaved, in the absence of having the physical body of the donor, need a symbolic final resting place for their loved ones

Archaeology · Art · Dead body · Anatomy and Medical Technology · Grief, Bereavement, and Mental Health · History · Organ Donation and Transplantation

Tools

Open DOISci-Hub