Death and Syntax

Abstract

BRO CK HA U SSA MENRaritan Val le y Co m m u n ity Co lle g e , No r th B ran c h , Ne w Je rse y, U SA A n e g lec ted in¯u en ce o n h u m a n th in k i n g a b o u t d ea th a n d li fe a ft er d e a th is th e n a tu r e o f la n g u a g e its e lf. W h il e a ll la n g u a g e s p r o v id e la b e ls fo r d e a th , d y in g , a n d t h e d e a d , la n g u a g e a lso re in fo rc es o u r d e n i a l b y te n d i n g to p re s en t th e d e a d a s i f t h e y sti ll ex is ted . T h e se n t en ce Jo h n is d e ad n a m e s Jo h n n o d if fe re n tl y th a n w h e n h e w a s a liv e , a n d th e p r ed ic a tio n a b o u t h i m is in t h e p r e s en t te n s e. S u ch a n o ma lie s h a v e th ei r ro o t s i n th e ev o lu t io n o f th e co g n i tiv e s y st e m ev e n b e f o re h u m a n s s p o k e th e ir ® rs t w o rd s , b ec a u s e la n g u a g e is fu n d a m e n ta lly a n i n fo r m a tio n p ro ce ss o r th a t a id s th e s u r v iv a l o f t h e o r g a n i sm b y cla ss ify i n g a n d ch a ra cte r iz i n g i te m s i n th e e n v ir o n m e n t. T h u s, b ec a u se la n g u a g e d ea ls w ith th in g s t h a t e x ist a n d d e a ls w i th a ll th in g s a s if t h e y ex ist ed , it h a s p ro b a b ly s e r v e d a s o n e s o u rce fo r th e u n iv e r s a l te n d e n c y t o c o p e w i t h d e a t h a s i f t h e d e a d s t i ll e x i s t e d . W h i le w e c a n n o t c h a n g e th e b a s i c s y n t a x o f o u r s i m p le s e n te n ce s a b o u t th e d e a d , w e ca n c o n s i d e r w h et h e r o u r v o ca b u la r y i s s u f ® ci en t fo r u s t o b e a b le to n a m e th e v a ri o u s a s p ect s o f d y i n g th a t s e e m i m p o r t a n t . B r ie f s u g g e s t io n s a r e m a d e a b o u t co m p o n e n t s o f d e a t h a n d g ri ev in g th a t w e d o n o t h a v e th e w o rd s t o e x p r e ss e a s il y.In th e g rad u al d awn o f h u m an k n o wle d g e 100,000 o r so ye ars ag o , t h r e e o f t h e c h a n g e s t h a t t o o k p l a c e we r e a s f o l l o ws . H u m a n s , u n l ik e o t h e r a n im a l s, c a m e t o u n d e r st a n d t h a t t h e y d ie ; t h e y b e g an to b u r y th e d e ad . At th e sam e tim e , th e y re p re sse d th e fo rce o f th is k n o wle d g e ; th e d e ad b e cam e th e an ce sto rs, still ve r y m u ch a p art o f th e life o f th e clan . Fo r h u n tin g an d g ath e r in g H o m o s a p ie n s , d e at h was e sse n t ia ll y a c h a n g e o f f o r m . Fin al ly, in th is s am e d awn , lan g u ag e b lo o m e d . A d d r e ss c o r r e s p o n d e n c e to B ro c k H au ss am e n , Ra r ita n Va ll e y Co m m u n ity Co l le g e , P.O. B o x 330 0, So m e r ville , N J 088 76.

‘Here's your dinner, Jews’: Yemenite-Jewish lamentation in Israel as a commemoration of shame

“…In the main, personal self-expression by participants in rituals is gaining more and more legitimacy, the innovators of rituals whose services are replacing some functions of the traditional burial society are becoming institutionalized, and greater freedom to redesign rituals is being asserted. In addition, some scholars propose that wailing and lamenting are a potential answer to the modern-day emotional alienation from death and a precursor of psychotherapeutic processes for the resolution of grief (Aries 1981;Bauman 1992;Haussaman 1998;Wouters 2002). Unfortunately, this trend, in which both sexes are represented, does not 'celebrate' the customs of Israeli wailing women of Moroccan, Iraqi, Tunisian, or Yemenite origin.…”

Physician-assisted suicide: Saying what we mean and meaning what we say

“…While in 1899 and 1959 obituaries typically described the process of dying, including the place and time of death and the details of comfort, pain, symptoms and other biological facts, notices from more recent years emphasise a warrior metaphor – the ability to control the circumstances of death, to fight a battle against it, claiming autonomy and agency for the dead person. When we thus discuss the dead as if they were still living, we avoid the distress of death, and move from the reality of our mourning – as Haussamen puts it, ‘language squirms to avoid the finality of death’ (Haussamen, 1998). While death cannot be conquered, it can be pushed aside and marginalised in its cultural expression.…”