Death and Denial: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on the Legacy of Ernest Becker (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9780275974206)

In this edited collection of essays, professionals and academics from across the spectrum of the humanities and social sciences outline the ways in which Generative Death Anxiety theory impacts their field and discuss the work of its most famous proponent, Ernest Becker, whose IDenial of Death R won the Pulitzer Prize in 1973. The essays demonstrate that recognition of this deeply rooted source of human behavior and attitudes provides a fertile organizing principle for the humanities and social sciences.

The theory of Generative Death Anxiety is based on the recognition that if there is any uniquely human characteristic, it is the ability to anticipate and prepare for death. This recognition of mortality, however, runs directly counter to our survival instincts and must be repressed, thus creating a constant supply of repressed psychic energy--which, shaped by cultural and narrative factors, emerges in a rich array of human creativity and resourcefulness, but also in racism, religious chauvinism, reactive violence, and other types of pathological behavior. In this edited collection of essays, professionals and academics from across the spectrum of the humanities and social sciences outline the ways in which this theory impacts their field and discuss the work of its most famous proponent, Ernest Becker, whose IDenial of Death R won the Pulitzer Prize in 1973. The essays demonstrate that recognition of this deeply rooted source of human behavior and attitudes provides a fertile organizing principle for the humanities and social sciences.

Author: Daniel Liechty
ISBN-10: 0275974200
ISBN-13: 9780275974206
Publisher: Praeger
Language: English
Published: 12/30/2002
Pages: 320
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 1.49lbs
Size: 9.42h x 6.28w x 1.17d

Review Citation(s):
Scitech Book News 03/01/2004 pg. 1