“Talking About Funerals Won’t Make You Dead”: Dialogic Tensions in Death Café Design and Facilitation

Abstract

Death Cafes (DCs) explicitly encourage conversation and constitute space to explore the dialogue around death and dying. This study draws on scholarship from communication and dialogue theory to explore the design features and facilitation practices used within DC meetings. Through qualitative analysis of the DC webpage and interviews with facilitators, the study uncovers how DC facilitators structure and manage conversations to help attendees normalize death conversations and manage the death anxiety of others in their lives. The analysis highlights three main tensions within the DC structure and facilitation guidelines: structure versus openness, authority versus equality, and conversation versus information. These fundamental contradictions are inherent in DCs, and facilitators need to manage them in order to promote meaningful dialogue among DC participants. This study deepens the theorizing around DC facilitation practices and has implications for death and dying practitioners hoping to foster dialogue about end-of-life topics.