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Strange Harvest
Organ Transplants, Denatured
Bodies, and the Transformed Self
LESLEY A. SHARP
University of California Press
BERKELEY LOS ANGELES LONDON
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University of California Press
Berkeley and Los Angeles, California
University of California Press, Ltd.
London, England
© 2006 by The Regents of the University of California
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Sharp, Lesley Alexandra.
Strange harvest : organ transplants, denatured bodies, and the transformed self / Lesley A. Sharp.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-520-24784-0 (cloth : alk. paper); ISBN-10: 0-52024784-1 (cloth : alk. paper) - ISBN-13: 978-0-520-24786-4 (pbk.: alk. paper); ISBN-10: 0-520-24786-8 (pbk.: alk. paper)
1. Transplantation of organs, tissues, etc.—Social aspects—United States. 2. Medical anthropology—United States. 3. Ethnology—United States. 4. Funeral rites and ceremonies—United States. 5. Death—United States. 6. Mourning customs—United States. 7. Memorials—United States. 8. Kinship—United States. I. Title.
[DNLM: 1. Organ Transplantation. 2. Tissue and Organ Procurement. 3. Attitude to Death. 4. Funeral Rites.
5. Anthropology, Cultural. wo 660 S531s 2006]
RD120.7.S49 2006
306.4'1—dc22
2005032838
Manufactured in the United States of America
15 14 13 12 11 10 9 08 07 06
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
This book is printed on Natures Book, which contains 50% post-consumer waste and meets the minimum requirements of ANSI/NISO Z3948-1992 (R 1997) (Permanence of Paper).
For my mother, Rosemary Cochran Sharp(1929–2002), gifted iconographer, shrewd diagnostician,intrepid globe-trotter
Contents
The Ideological Underpinnings of Organ Transfer
Studying Transplantation in American Contexts
1. WE ARE THE DEAD MEN: MIND OVER MATTER
Reconstructing Donor Histories
Body Economies
2. MEMORY WORK: PUBLIC AND PRIVATE REPRESENTATIONS OF SUFFERING, LOSS, AND REDEMPTION
Recipient Suffering and Renewal
Honoring the Dead in Safe, Public Places
The Private Lives of Donor Kin
3. PUBLIC ENCOUNTERS AS SUBVERSIVE ACTS
Bureaucratic Constraints on Social Desire
The Ties That Bind
Claiming the Donor Body
4. HUMAN HYBRIDITY: SCIENTIFIC LONGING AND THE DANGERS OF DIFFERENCE
Dangerous Miracles
Professional Desires to Cultivate Nature
Denatured Bodies and Transformed Selves
Nature's Body
Illustrations
1. Moving announcement of the United Network for Organ Sharing
2. Upper fountain and holly garden at the National Donor Memorial
3. A portion of the Patches of Love Quilt
4. Donor garden at LifeNet
