The “Death of Death” in Postmodern Culture. Conceptualization of the Notion

The study examines the conceptualization of the notion “the death of death”, which characterizes transformations that have occurred in postmodern culture and is associated with the loss of death’s attribute of “irreversibility”. The aim of the study is to articulate a theoretical framework that explains shifts in cultural attitudes toward death in the postmodern condition; it is emphasized that these shifts undermine traditional boundaries between death and immortality. Particular attention is paid to the relation of the human subject to death in both traditional and contemporary cultural formations. Methodologically, the research employs Z. Bauman’s theory of changing temporality, J. Baudrillard’s theory of symbolic exchange, and the nomadology of G. Deleuze and F. Guattari. Based on the analysis of these works, it is concluded that in postmodern culture, the living of time is shifting from a line to an instant, which is thought to be infinitely spacious, which negates the concepts of “death and immortality. “The expulsion of the dead from the field of “approved” culture makes the discourse of death taboo. The new modality of the human subject and social life, oriented toward movement for movement’s sake, makes it impossible to isolate in it a single authentic “I” required for the experience of death. The article concludes with a discussion of possible consequences of the phenomenon described as the “death of death” in postmodern culture.