The Genome and the Imaginary: Notes on the Sociology of Death and the Culture of Immortality

Death can be considered one of the fundamental variants as far as regards the study of collective behaviour. In the sphere of the present essay a basic synthesis has been outlined of what the author considers to be some of the principal contributions which have, to date, emerged in the branch of study of the Sociology of Death. In the second (and mainly) part of the essay, an analysis has been presented of a certain more specific modern cultural phenomena, such as the appearance of the category of the homo-genome, thus providing a key of sociological interpretation of the culture of immortality which appears to be typical of modern Western society.