XII. Loss and Grief

Overview

Death, whether it be of an individual or an idea, is a universal human experience. Historically, we have coped with losses through writing literature, from oral tales to obituaries to published fiction. Despite the universality of loss, the grieving process is often a gendered experience. Women lose their children; they mourn not only the loss of a life but their chance to be a mother. Women can also lose their purpose as a result of war, like in Gilda Cordero-Fernando’s “People in the War”. In this section, we read texts that aid us in understanding loss through a woman’s eyes.