Landscapes of loss: spaces of memory, times of bereavement

Abstract

The qualitative study described in this paper explores later life spousal bereavement as a spatialised experience. It draws on interviews with 20 older widowed people who were living alone, half in owner-occupied accommodation and half in sheltered housing. Moving beyond the older adult's ‘inner’ world of grief, it examines changes in the use and meaning of both public and domestic space in order to provide an holistic, culturally-located analysis. The following themes are identified as important: the type of housing, interviewees’ spatialised social relationships, the experience of spousal caregiving prior to bereavement and the ongoing relationship between the living and the dead partner.