"I Did It My Way"? En sociologisk samtidsanalyse over den senmoderne/postmoderne død

The article describes some of the major changes taking place in our contemporary culture of death, dying and bereavement in a Danish context by focusing on how it may be contrasted with or seen as a continuation of the often advanced theses of a death-denying and death-tabooed culture of the 20^th century. Throughout the article the authors discuss and illustrate many of the changes by way of selected topics such as the care of the dying, the individualization of institutional and professional practice, the personalized content of rituals and ceremonies, the challenge to traditions and conventions and the changing mentality regarding resting place and memorial culture. The purpose of the article is to describe and document some of the major shifts in death and dying as a corollary to contemporary changes within culture at large. Moreover, the authors aspire to speculate and debate whether the current popularity of the thesis of a postmodernization of death and dying can be substantiated or needs to be supplemented by a late modern thesis more concerned with institutional control and inertia.