This book brings together contributions by sociolinguistic scholars working on “death discourse” in the Chinese mainland, to explore how contemporary China navigates the delicate intersection between traditional death taboos and modern medical communication.Focusing on three critical areas, mainly the living will, bad news breaking, and hospice care, the book reveals the profound discursive and social transformations reshaping China's healthcare landscape, exposing the dynamic tensions between age-old longevity ideals and emerging concepts of quality death and open death planning. Based on empirical insights into sociocultural change patterns, “death discourse literacy” was conceptualized as a framework for navigating cross-cultural end-of-life conversations.An essential book for researchers, practitioners, and students in health communication, discourse research, sociolinguistics, and cultural studies. It will also benefit professionals and care givers in end-of-life health planning and care, such as doctors, nurses, medical social workers, psychotherapists and counsellors, family members and volunteers.
Gao Yihong is Professor of Linguistics at the School of Foreign Languages, Peking University, China.Meng Ling is Head of the English Department and Associate Professor at the School of Foreign Studies at South China Normal University, China.
Part I Introduction Chapter 1. Death Discourse in a Changing Culture Gao Yihong Part II The Living Will in China: Emergence and Development of a New Genre Overview: The Living Will as a New Genre in China Gao Yihong Chapter 2 The First Chinese Living Will: Textual Features and Production Rationale Li Zhuobin Chapter 3 Living Will Promotion Speeches: A Discourse Study of Speakers’ Narrative Positions Liu Chenwei Chapter 4 Tensions in College Students’ Perceptions of Living Will: A Response Discourse Perspective Liu Jianyu, Liu Yi and Guo Baoqi Chapter 5 Diachronic Development of “Living Will” in Chinese Media and Research: A Corpus-Assisted Study Li Yirui and Zheng Xiaoting Part III Breaking the Ice: Bad News Delivery and Acceptance Overview: Bad News Delivery in China Meng Ling Chapter 6 Breaking or not Breaking Bad News: Tensions in Medical Discursive Practice Meng Ling Chapter 7 Who Is to Be Informed in the Bad News Delivery? The Priority Transfer in Medical Discourse Meng Ling Chapter 8 Initiating and Developing End-of-Life Care Topics in an Outpatient Clinic: A Conversation Analytical Study Li Fang and Lu Guijun Chapter 9 Diachronic Development of “Breaking Bad News” Research in China: A Bibliometric Analysis Sun Minghui, Meng Ling and Liao Mingxin Part IV Towards Good Quality of Death: Hospice Care Discourse Overview: Hospice and Palliative Care in China Gao Yihong Chapter 10 From Curative to Hospice Care: Negotiating the Transition Huang Fang and Wang Xiaodong Chapter 11 Physicians’ Speech Acts and Identities in Hospice Care Family Meetings Gao Yihong and Qin Yuan Chapter 12 Aroma Care in Hospice Wards: Multimodal Texts and Discursive Practice Gao Yihong, Lai Peiwen and Yu Wenting Chapter 13 Diachronic Development of “Hospice Care” in Chinese Media: A Corpus-Assisted Study Huang Fang, Yi Li and Zheng Xiaoting Part V Conclusion Chapter 14 Conclusion: Death Discourse Literacy, New Habitus, and a Changing Culture Luo Zhengpeng and Gao Yihong