Two Sighs - Transnational Dying and Care
Posted by Jon Underwood on April 25, 2014, 3:36 p.m.
From YouTube: Two Sighs' is a film about transnational dying and end of life care in the UK. Harshini's story is about caring for her mother with dementia and how religious and cultural differences can affect symptoms and care needs. The poem 'Dust to Dust' is a migration journey from arrival, to industrial injury and the lure of 'home' - mango trees, rivers, sea - at the end of life. In the final scene, 'A Face', a hospice nurse remembers caring for a Ugandan woman with AIDS-related dementia, who did not speak English. How to bridge such profound differences?
The Case Stories project uses social science research and narrative medicine approaches to describe and evoke 'social pain' for migrants. Social pain is understood by neuroscientists as the pain of social rejection and exclusion. It is believed to share some of the same neurological circuits as physical pain.
Two Sighs is a part of Yasmin Gunaratnam's (Goldsmiths College) Case Stories project, supported by the British Academy (case-stories.org). The film was produced by Tamasha Theatre Company. You can use the film in teaching or as part of a discussion.