This dissertation examines American attitudes towards death from the colonial era to the end of the nineteenth century. I begin with a close analysis of the thanatology of the Congregational church in New England, before demonstrating the lasting influence of Puritan thought on three later writers: Jonathan Edwards, Henry David Thoreau and Stephen Crane. In contrast to purely cultural studies of mortality in America (including those by Phillipe Ariès, David Stannard and Michael Steiner), my investigation discusses the philosophical difficulties that obstruct any attempt to speak about death. Building on Jacques Derrida’s work in Aporias (1993), I identify three logical impasses that interrupt Puritan writing on mortality: the indeterminacy, singularity and finality of death. While Edwards, Thoreau and Crane write in different circumstances and diverse genres, I argue that they are sensitive to these same three aporias when they discuss death. In this regard, they resist a broader post-Puritan tendency (in both scientific and sentimental texts) to minimize the uncertainties surrounding human mortality and approach death as a universal (rather than radically singular) phenomenon. While my study situates each of its authors in the cultural and intellectual contexts in which they worked, it also challenges the notion that it is possible to write a history of death. Speaking strictly, mankind’s relationship to death can never change. It is always, in fact, a non-relation. The very idea of death destabilizes our most fundamental historical and literary assumptions. Accordingly, my second chapter uses a deconstruction of Edwards’ theory of revivalism to argue that the New-England awakenings of the eighteenth century expressed the converts’ desire to renounce responsibility for their souls, rather than accept it. In my third chapter, I argue that those writings in which Thoreau registers what might seem to be a nihilistic fascination with dead and decaying bodies in fact express a sentimental desire for a peaceful death. Chapter four reads Stephen Crane’s poetry, fiction and journalism in the context of his Calvinist heritage, breaking down the distinction between his textual play with the concept of death and the Puritans’ “serious” attempts to come to terms with mortality.

This dissertation examines American attitudes towards death from the colonial era to the end of the nineteenth century. I begin with a close analysis of the thanatology of the Congregational church in New England, before demonstrating the lasting influence of Puritan thought on three later writers: Jonathan Edwards, Henry David Thoreau and Stephen Crane. In contrast to purely cultural studies of mortality in America (including those by Phillipe Ariès, David Stannard and Michael Steiner), my investigation discusses the philosophical difficulties that obstruct any attempt to speak about death. Building on Jacques Derrida’s work in Aporias (1993), I identify three logical impasses that interrupt Puritan writing on mortality: the indeterminacy, singularity and finality of death. While Edwards, Thoreau and Crane write in different circumstances and diverse genres, I argue that they are sensitive to these same three aporias when they discuss death. In this regard, they resist a broader post-Puritan tendency (in both scientific and sentimental texts) to minimize the uncertainties surrounding human mortality and approach death as a universal (rather than radically singular) phenomenon. While my study situates each of its authors in the cultural and intellectual contexts in which they worked, it also challenges the notion that it is possible to write a history of death. Speaking strictly, mankind’s relationship to death can never change. It is always, in fact, a non-relation. The very idea of death destabilizes our most fundamental historical and literary assumptions. Accordingly, my second chapter uses a deconstruction of Edwards’ theory of revivalism to argue that the New-England awakenings of the eighteenth century expressed the converts’ desire to renounce responsibility for their souls, rather than accept it. In my third chapter, I argue that those writings in which Thoreau registers what might seem to be a nihilistic fascination with dead and decaying bodies in fact express a sentimental desire for a peaceful death. Chapter four reads Stephen Crane’s poetry, fiction and journalism in the context of his Calvinist heritage, breaking down the distinction between his textual play with the concept of death and the Puritans’ “serious” attempts to come to terms with mortality.

本文旨在探討魯迅思想中言語道斷的、前語言的（pre-discursive）「肉體」（corporeal）成份，其表現方式，及其發展。從知覺現象學角度看，「肉體」生命意指在世存有與生活世界間不依賴語言的本真互動，魯迅所以認為中國人有被世界淘汰的危機，就是因為中國人日漸喪失這一在世存有的本真能力。本文第一章通過魯迅的女性觀來探討肉體生命的社會層次，女性是魯迅反瞻男性乃至人類處境的鏡子，他看到不僅女性被男性宰制為必然，女性對男性的宰制亦不可避免。二章藉魯迅的死亡觀來檢討肉體生命的自然層次，死亡的終極否定力量對魯迅有本體論、認識論乃至方法論的意義，使他產生跨越生死的責任感，具備察見不詳的認識力，以至追求正義的復仇行動力。第三章探討魯迅表現人與生活世界間本真互動的書寫策略，魯迅企圖通過解剖與挖底的書寫、吃與被吃的書寫、綻出式的還原書寫，即描寫與「自性」不可須臾離的肉體的本來面貌，去自我批判，去對抗語言、意識形態的堡壘，以保存生命原始純真的最後陣地。第四章討論形成魯迅肉體生命意識在其生命歷程中的發展，即通過「幻燈片事件」的死亡體驗與中國傳統決裂，通過靈肉合一的愛情與啟蒙陣營決裂，與通過永遠的反抗與左翼文人決裂，終於回歸孑然孤獨的肉身。魯迅的國民性批判的動力來自於他永遠選擇以自我批判開放自己的生命，選擇在既成的僵化體制之間找出路，以死為生，像死神那樣永不止息。 / This dissertation discusses corporeal, ie., pre-discursive element in Luxun’s thought, its presentation and its development. From the perspective phenomenology of perception, corporeality means authentic, extra-lingual interaction between being-in-the-world and life-world itself. For Luxun, Chinese’ gradual deviation from and inability to appreciate this authentic interaction are their true crisis of extinction in modern world. The 1st chapter discusses social level of corporeality through Luxun’s perception of women. Women are a mirror for Luxun with which to reflect upon men’s even human’s condition. Through women he discovers not only the inevitability of men’s domination over women, but also that of women over men. The 2nd chapter examines natural level of corporeality through Luxun’s appreciation of death. The ultimate negating power of death empowers Luxun ontologically, epistemologically, and methodologically. From death he derives a transcendental sense of responsibility across life and death, develops an ability to penetrate pleasing appearance to uncover inconvenient truth, and a determination to pursue justice through endless revenge. The 3rd chapter shows Luxun’s tactics of presentation of corporeality. He seeks to preserve authenticity of life, a liberation from linguistic and ideological shackle through self-criticism by means of writing on the subject of anatomy and excavation, cannibalism, and self-manifestation, ie., writing on corporeal body that is indispensable with selfhood. The 4th chapter discusses the diachronic development of Luxun’s awareness of corporeality through various stages or series of contradictions in his life. At the end of his life, Luxun returns to his lonesome corporeal body after his breakup with Confucius tradition in 1906, with intellectual enlightening camp in 1920s, and finally with left-wing writers in 1930s. Luxun’s strength of criticism on weakness of Chinese characteristics comes from his relentless self-criticism and therefore open-mindedness, his persistence to search for a way out of lethargic institutions, in other words, his emulation of death.

Magistro darbe „Mirties įvaizdis Sauliaus Tomo Kondroto romane „Ir apsiniauks žvelgiantys pro langą“ (1985) analizuojama mirties tema lietuvių prozoje. Remiantis Vakarų kultūrologijoje ir tanatologijoje susiformavusia mirties samprata, yra ginamas teiginys, kad šiame romane sukurtas literatūrinis (estetinis) mirties įvaizdis, kuris gali pristatyti skaitytojui visuminę mirties pajautą ir praplėsti bei pagilinti kultūrologinę (mitologinę, religinę ir filosofinę) mirties fenomeno interpretaciją. XX a. lietuvių prozoje mirtis yra viena svarbiausių jos tematikos krypčių. Darbo objektu pasirinktame S. T. Kondroto romane mirties įvaizdis yra kūrinio siužeto epicentras ir išeities taškas kuriant kitus literatūrinius įvaizdžius, simbolius, metaforas. Romane vartojama magiškojo realizmo poetika, kuri literatūriniam mirties įvaizdžiui romane „Ir apsiniauks žvelgiantys pro langą“ suteikia kasdieniškumo pobūdį, „paprasto stebuklo“ įspūdį. Analizė atskleidžia literatūros kūrinyje atsirandantį meninį mirties įvaizdį ir jo aspektus, kurie praplečia ir pagilina mitinę, religinę ir filosofinę mirties interpretaciją. Darbe aiškinamasi, kodėl mirties įvaizdžio šiame romane analizė leidžia pereiti prie gilesnių laisvės, valdžios, diktatūros ir kitų klausimų tyrinėjimų, be to, padeda suvokti romano meninės raiškos priemones. / The Masters Research presented is based on the impressions of death in the novel ”Ir apsiniauks žvelgiantys pro langą” (The Devouring Gaze of the Window Lookers), published 1985. The research presents an analysis of the theme of death in Lithuanian literature as written by Saulius Tomas Kondrotas. In the XX Century, the theme and analysis of death in Lithuanian literature is a main focus. Western literature, as presented in the book, with its thanatology and perception of death is often conceptionalized with an incomplete impression of thanatology focusing on saving, protecting and keeping alive in its cultural values, philosophy and theology. For the purpose of this study, analysing the novel of S.T. Kondrotas was selected as death is the epicenter of its theme. In the book Magic Realism as an art form is used as a means of expression. In the novel plain, simple, miracles of ordinary daily life are absolutely essential . In the novel, the meaning of death is expanded by the use of myths, religion, and philosophy to extend and broaden its perception. Death’s impression in the analysis of the book deepens the knowledge of government control, dictatorship, and freedom with the questions this poses. Forms of art presented as Magic Realism in the book assist the reader in understanding what the book intends to reveal. Significant language in the book include the author’s view of the death experience, the magic art of dying, and the tone in which it is written. The novel also... [to full text]

Non-ordinary states of consciousness have been presented for a long time and currently, when the spiritual side of the human existence is left out, the states of consciousness turn to its regeneration. This thesis is focused on the resulting changes in human life after passing the non-ordinary state of consciousness and especially regarding the changes in attitude towards death and process of dying. In the theoretical part, I have described the problem of death and the process of dying from the cultural, medical, psychological and theological view. I have presented the basic and extended model of the human psyche, the knowledge of which is essential in understanding the non-ordinary states of consciousness. Next, I have specified the concrete definition of non-ordinary states of consciousness and I have dealt with the extended description of those matters, when the human being is not directly touched or not during the experience with dead or dying. The last theoretical chapter goes into the therapeutic potential of the described non-ordinary states of consciousness. The goal of this thesis is to catch the significant similarities of the body and point its transformative effect on the personality of the human being, especially in the matters of basic existence. In order to achieve this goal, I have chosen the qualitative research strategy with the elements of phenomenological research. This semi-structured interview was defined as a method for collecting the data. The research file represents seven respondents with their own experience of a non-ordinary state of consciousness, especially near-death experiences, holotropic breathwork and psychedelic experiences. The results of this research have shown the significant changes in the lives of people who had this type of experience in question. The changes in their respective lives have also resulted in the reduction of the fear of death or dying of these individuals. The results from these findings have significant implications for the psychotherapy. It is mainly aimed at those therapists who have contact with people suffering from death and who have anxiety about dying.

Objetivo: A morte, que pode ainda ser considerada um tema tabu, e como os profissionais da saúde lidam com ela é algo a ser explorado neste estudo que o trata através de uma investigação com entrevistas à profissionais da medicina e enfermagem das Unidades de Terapia Intensiva (UTI) de um hospital universitário terciário e quaternário de São Paulo com o objetivo de apurar a visão da morte e do morrer face às atitudes propostas pela Dra. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross. Métodos: A metodologia se baseou em uma análise qualitativa de conteúdo dos dados apurados. Foram entrevistados 51 sujeitos dentre os quais 12 que não desejaram participar do estudo alegando não querer falar sobre morte. A pesquisa transcorreu entre os meses de outubro à dezembro de 2011 nas dependências das UTIs e foi previamente aprovada pelo Comitê de Ética em Pesquisa com Humanos. Também foram apurados dados sociodemográficos como sexo, idade, tempo de trabalho em UTI, se o entrevistado segue alguma filosofia religiosa e se tem algum conhecimento em cuidados paliativos. Na entrevista buscou-se detalhar a visão da morte dos profissionais segundo o que pensam sobre morte, como lidam com a morte, se gostariam de fazer ou dizer algo para quem está morrendo, sentem-se influenciados em sua vida pessoal pelo fato de trabalharem com morte, se vêem algum ponto positivo na morte, se conseguem definir a morte através de uma palavra e se já haviam conversado sobre morte. As entrevistas eram gravadas e posteriormente transcritas. Resultados: Nos resultados, constatou-se que esses profissionais já tinham uma considerável experiência em anos de trabalho em UTI e apresentam conformidade com as atitudes propostas pela Dra. Ross de negação, raiva, barganha, depressão e principalmente a aceitação. Também verificou-se que esses profissionais sentem-se influenciados pela presença da morte no seu cotidiano e carecem de maior preparo para o lidar com a morte. Conclusão: Concluiu-se que é de grande valia poder detalhar como o profissional da saúde se comporta face a morte, pois há um déficit em ouvi-los e traduzir seus sentimentos e percepções sobre a morte, fato este que pode concorrer com a humanização dos atendimentos, gerando angústias e fomentando o despreparo já existente / Purpose: Death, which can still be considered a taboo topic, and how health professionals deal with it is something to be explored in this study that comes through an investigation with interviews with medical professionals and nursing of Intensive Care Units (ICU ) of a tertiary and quaternary university hospital in São Paulo in order to establish the vision of death and dying in the face of attitudes proposed by Dr. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross. Methods: The methodology was based on a qualitative analysis of data collected. Fifty-one subjects were interviewed of whom 12 did not wish to participate in the study claimed they did not want to talk about death. The research took place from the months of October to December 2011 on the premises of ICU\'s and was approved by the Ethics in Human Research committee. Sociodemographic data were also counted as also sex, age, time service in ICU, if the respondent follow any religious philosophy and if one has some knowledge in palliative care. In the interview we sought to refine the vision of death according to what the professionals think about death, how they deal with death, if they would do or say something to the dying, if they feel influenced in their personal life by the fact that work with death if they see a positive point of death, if death can be defined through a word and if they had talked about death. The interviews were taped and later transcribed. Results: In the results, it was found that these professionals have had considerable experience in years of work in the ICU and are in agreement with the attitudes proposed by Dr. Ross of denial, anger, bargaining, depression and specially acceptance. Also it was found that these professionals feel influenced by the presence of death in their daily lives and need better preparation for dealing with death. Conclusion: It was concluded that it is of great value to be able to detail how the health professional behaves in the face of death, because there is a deficit in hearing them and translate their feelings and perceptions about death, a fact that can compete with the humanization of care, generating anxieties and boosting existing unpreparedness

The full text of this thesis/dissertation is not available online. Please <a href="mailto:upetd@up.ac.za">contact us</a> if you need access. Read the abstract in the section 00front of this document. / Dissertation (MA (Semitic Languages))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Ancient Languages / unrestricted

The issue of death and dying affects everyone, it is not easy and yet a natural part of everyone's life. Hospice care offers help and support a dying man and his close on the last trip "home". This thesis describes the possibilities of a preparatory course for the volunteers who play an irreplaceable role in hospice care. The practical part describes the specific example from the conditions of the Czech home hospice - The Home Coming, which is being commented on the ground of literature and my personal experience. The outcome of the research is the feedback for the management of the home hospice - The Home Coming, including recommendations for changes of the preparatory course.

Работа посвящена изучению танатологических мотивов, встречающихся в поэзии Егора Летова. В рамках данного исследования проводится изучение биографических фактов, повлиявших на отношение поэта к смерти, его философские представления о смерти, особенности поэтики, при помощи которых эти мотивы создаются. Также проводится обзор изменения отношения человека к смерти на разных этапах существования цивилизации, описывается процесс становления литературоведческой танатологии, раскрывается понятие танатологического мотива. Дается классификация танатологических мотивов, обнаруженных в поэзии автора, проводится их общий анализ, позволяющий наглядно показать, что смерть в художественном мире автора, это не конец существования, а продолжение жизни. / The work is devoted to the study of thanatological motifs found in the poetry of Egor Letov. Within the framework of this study, the biographical facts that influenced the poet's attitude to death, his philosophical ideas about death, the features of poetics with which these motives are created are studied. It also reviews the changes in the attitude of a person to death at different stages of the existence of civilization, describes the process of the formation of literary thanatology, reveals the concept of the thanatological motive. The classification of the thanatological motifs found in the author's poetry is given, their general analysis is carried out, which makes it possible to clearly show that death in the author's artistic world is not the end of existence, but the continuation of life.

The death of a loved one is currently a very common topic, and it is important for a social worker to keep it in mind. This thesis is called "The Phenomena of Death in a Social Worker's Job". The theoretical part was made by using analysed relevant literature, chosen by snowballing sampling. This thesis is divided into three chapters. The first two chapters focus on the theory and definition of death, anticipation and sudden death, suicide, mourning and options to help the survivors. The third chapter contains the practical part, with research data, including charts and graphical interpretation. The goal of this empiric research is to use semi-structured online surveys to answer the main research question: "How do students of the second year of postgraduate study of major SACH at HTF UK feel about their readiness to handle death of their clients and confrontation with survivors during their work?" I was trying to find out whether students at our faculty are considering this topic and how they feel about it. The research shows that students do not feel prepared to encounter these topics during their work. The most important part of the thesis I consider a subchapter, which contains interviews with social workers who have already encountered deaths and survivors during their work. I am using these...