Mourning and Society in Brazil of the late twentieth century. The imaginary about death, dying, grief and loss in the city of Joao Pessoa, Paraiba, Brazil

Abstract

This article aims to understand the imaginary apprehensions about the notions of loss and
grief, death and dying among the inhabitants of the city of João Pessoa, capital of the Brazilian
state of Paraiba. The expectation is the apprehension of institutional and social forms contained
in the minds of the informants about the process of death and on the process of loss
and pain as the meanings of behavior and cultural values expected for such processes.