Together, Apart: Grief in the Time of COVID-19

This Major Research Project takes the form of a critical discourse analysis, with interest paid to the ways in which grief is being talked about right now, in the context of the global COVID-19 pandemic. Nine publicly available documents made up the studied discursive sample, with all texts having been produced by North American media outlets/sources. These documents were examined and analyzed through the lens of Anti-Oppressive Practice and Relational-Cultural theories. Discourses which were present across all samples were: ‘grief as death’, other griefs for other losses, grief managerialism, and collectivity/the requirement for connection. The analysis and discussion of these themes made connections to and raised questions of white supremacy, specifically around what is considered grievable in colonial society, what forms of grief are acceptable, and for members of which communities. Peer support as a community-healing modality was put forward, due to its anti-oppressive framework. Next steps include further areas of study, including that of grief supremacy and a more detailed, nuanced discourse analysis of the intersection between white supremacy, colonialism, and grief.