Valuing lives? Obituaries and the life course.

This paper presents the outcome of a preliminary study of the various images of the life course that are conveyed in published obituaries. Following a review of recent developments in the obituary columns of national newspapers in the United Kingdom, we present our analysis of the 86 obituaries that were published in The Guardian in June 1995. We pay particular attention to the ways in which obituaries cover the biography, age, ill-health, death and personal relationships of the deceased. We conclude that, although the sampled obituaries as a whole feature the mid-life careers of men, they also reflect common expectations, fears and prejudices about age, illness and death. We would suggest that a more substantial study comparing obituaries in a wide range of contrasting publications and cultures would reveal important differences in dominant images of the life course. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]