ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the public response to Diana's death into an appropriate social scientific classification of social action, describes crucial elements in the public events surrounding the death and funeral and suggests some theoretical approaches for its analysis. The Diana event is not unique, at least not in type even though maybe in extent. It belongs to a distinctive type of human activity. The Diana event was therefore one of a type, and yet – like each of its predecessors – had its own distinctiveness. The Diana event prompted existential responses to challenges of the established and social order. The chapter seeks to interpret these varied events by means of three anthropological perspectives drawn from Victor Turner, Maurice Bloch and Emile Durkheim. Another possible theoretical perspective can be drawn from the anthropology of Maurice Bloch and his idea of rebounding vitality.
