Document Type
Thesis
Date of Award
2025
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
Communication Studies
First Advisor
Kristina M Lee
Abstract
The funeral industry has become a staple in American death culture over the last century and a half. The professionalization of end-of-life and funeral practices has distanced the average American further from the realities of death, creating a dependent relationship on the funeral home to navigate the complexities of the death process. The experience of grief creates a need for a care that prioritizes the dead and their loved ones. This study calls for an application of care ethics to the rhetoric being promoted by funeral home websites. I first conduct an ideograph analysis of the ideographs and to assess how they reinforce the ideologies of consumerism and Christonormativity within the online rhetoric of rural Midwestern funeral homes. These ideologies actively prioritize Christians while excluding non-Christians, those with secular beliefs, and low-income families, creating an image that the traditional Christian funeral is the normative way to commemorate the dead. I then utilize queer criticism to look at the ways that funeral homes can act with care within a capitalist system through the website of Clarity Funerals and Cremation based in Los Angeles, California. They prioritize care ethics through reframing the relationship between funeral home and family as well as embracing transparency of information to help demystify the funeral process. While there are limitations to the care that funeral homes can provide as private, for-profit businesses, there is a moral responsibility to put the needs of those seeking guidance in the face of their loss first.
Subject Categories
Religion | Rhetoric and Composition
Keywords
Care Christonormativity Funerals Rhetoric
Number of Pages
88
Publisher
University of South Dakota
Recommended Citation
Gagnon, Lindsay Catherine, "Partners in Death: Introducing an Ethic of Care to Online Funeral Home Rhetoric" (2025). Dissertations and Theses. 345.
https://red.library.usd.edu/diss-thesis/345