¿De qué hablamos cuando hablamos de la muerte? La ocultación metafórica de la muerte

In a society, as hedonistic as the West, which preaches eternal youth and immediate happiness, death is a very uncomfortable fact that needs to be kept out of sight, and speech. Just as new funeral rituals inhibit mournful attitudes by confining grieving to the social spaces of the funeral homes, language disguises the reality of death in the powerful metaphorical imaginary. From the theoretical framework of the cognitive metaphor (Lakoff and Johnson, 1986), this chapter will analyse some of the most used metaphors (dying is not being here; dying is resting, dying is not performing daily activities; dying is experiencing a bodily change) with which we intend to dilute through euphemism our condition as mortal beings.