The Dead with No Wake, Grieving with No Closure: Illness and Death in the Days of Coronavirus in Spain
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The Dead with No Wake, Grieving with No Closure: Illness and Death in the Days of Coronavirus in Spain Óscar Fernández1 · Miguel González‑González1
© Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract The pandemic caused by the spread of Covid-19 is giving rise to an exceptional social situation because of the great speed of propagation of the illness and the high level of mortality it has occasioned in a very short time. Moreover, the lockdown measures decreed in Spain prohibit the holding of wakes to avoid contagion, and limit funerals to three people plus the officiant. Thus, coronavirus is robbing people of the opportunity of a final farewell, stripping the dead of their dignity and worsening the grief of the living. This article investigates the situation and the social and cultural impact it has provoked. The method used takes the line of critical dialogue analysis (CDA) applied to information contained in the mass media, employing qualitative material from a related small-scale study. The results show that in countries like Spain where there is a strong Roman Catholic tradition the importance of these rituals is unquestionable. Although the country has become laicized over recent years, many traditions around death are still maintained. Hence, the impossibility of holding funerals is triggering a large number of social and personal conflicts. Furthermore, they indicate that lockdown, and the lack of rituals and of accompaniment constitute some of the most crucial stressors in the epidemic. Grief in solitude has become widespread and all the more fundamental in a society that values social support from close friends and family members. The conclusions show that the social distancing imposed by the epidemic is especially hard to bear when relatives are passing into death. Keywords Bereavement · Grieving · Mourning · Grief · Covid-19 · Death · Spain
* Óscar Fernández [email protected] 1
Social Anthropology, Department of History, Faculty of Philosophy and Letters, University of Leon, 24071 León, Spain
13
Vol.:(0123456789)
Journal of Religion and Health
Introduction The Covid-19 pandemic is having a major negative impact on perceptions of safety and lifestyle. Forced confinement together with bad news about the out-ofcontrol growth in the number of new cases and of deaths, whether locally, nationally or worldwide, have led to an environment of great uncertainty and anxiety. A tottering hospital system, with accident and emergency departments overwhelmed, and the dramatic situation faced by health workers as they attend to patients, merges with the tragedy of the family members of the dead. This arises because when loved ones pass away the possibility of bidding them a last farewell means a very great deal, but it is denied them in these exceptional circumstances. Coronavirus is robbing people of the opportunity for a final goodbye. It is depriving the deceased of their dignity and heightening the grief of those who live on, since they cannot give the dear depar
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