Sociality of dying, graphic medicine, and MK Czerwiec’s Taking Turns

Human existence is inherently social, and so is death. Sociality of dying implies a dignified and socially connected death. Sociality of dying is threatened by social death, the erasure of individuals from the social sphere caused by stigma and discrimination. AIDS patients, for instance, often face this social death, depriving them of the sociality of dying. MK Czerwiec’s graphic memoir, Taking Turns: Stories from HIV/AIDS Care Unit 371, chronicles the author’s experience as a nurse in an AIDS unit established during the AIDS hysteria of the 1980s and 1990s in America. This article aims to analyse MK Czerwiec’s Taking Turns through the lens of care ethics and sociality of dying. Specifically, by closely examining its verbal and visual elements, including images, illustrations, and comic panels, this article investigates how the medical team in Unit 371 cultivate empathy, relationality, and community to ensure sociality of dying for the AIDS patients undergoing terminal care. Furthermore, it evaluates the role of art and art therapy in clinical settings, as well as graphic medicine as an art practice in enacting and advocating for the sociality of dying.