The symbolic roots of blood donation

Transfusion
Johanne Charbonneau, Nathalie Y-Lang Tran

Abstract

Throughout history, blood has been embedded with powerful and paradoxical connotations. In the last decades, a more rational conception based on scientific knowledge has emerged, portraying blood as a "disenchanted" and utilitarian object, hence more apt for donation between strangers. This study aims to examine blood's representations in Quebec, Canada. Data were collected in four separate studies carried out between 2009 and 2011 in Quebec. A total of 234 1 to 1½ hour-long semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with: 184 donors (including lapsed donors) and 50 nondonors; 106 women and 128 men from a variety of age groups eligible to donate; 76 minority informants from Asian, Middle-Eastern, Latin American, African, and Caribbean origins; and 158 informants from the majority society. Many respondents donated blood because it was a "useful" substance. Others associated blood donation with a gift of vitality, strength, and energy. Some stressed the irreplaceable nature of blood, its rarity, and preciousness. It can also be associated with worrisome representations and seen as "bad" or carry infections: as a fluid, it has the ability to cross troublesome body boundaries. This overview of contemporary representation...Continue Reading

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Citations

Oct 28, 2015·Transfusion·Sylvie FortinJacques Lacroix
Feb 22, 2017·Vox Sanguinis·L M SundermannS Boenigk
Nov 28, 2018·Health & Social Care in the Community·Elisabeth F KlinkenbergMirjam P Fransen
Mar 5, 2019·Nursing Research·Regena Spratling, Raymona H Lawrence
Mar 25, 2018·Transfusion·Vera RaivolaJukka Partanen

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