Tanathology

Współczesne zdobycze technologii i nauki umożliwiły rozwój entomologii sądowej na
szeroką skalę. Pozwala ona obecnie nie tylko szacować datę zgonu (post mortem intervallum), ale również wskazywać możliwe przyczyny śmierci denata. Następuje to dzięki analizie pośmiertnej aktywności owadów i ich stadiów larwalnych, które następnie poddaje się analizie toksykologicznej (entomotoksykologia) bądź bada je jako alternatywne źródło materiału DNA. Celem artykułu jest zaprezentowanie funkcjonujących i naukowo opisywanych metod badawczych entomologii sądowej, próba ustosunkowania się do jej głównych założeń przez przedstawienie wyników przeprowadzonego doświadczenia oraz wskazanie podstawowych mechanizmów zabezpieczania śladów entomologicznych jako praktycznej wskazówki dla kryminalistyków. Pracę zakończy odpowiedź na pytanie, czy ustalenia poczynione z zastosowaniem entomologii sądowej mogą stanowić wyłączne źródło decyzji organów powołanych do ścigania przestępstw.

In the summers of 2005 and 2006 the paleopathology team of the University of Pisa carried out a survey in north-eastern Sicily to investigate the funerary structures of Modern Age attested there, but still largely ignored and misunderstood. A particular kind of funerary apparatus is preserved in the crypts under the churches: after the death, the corpses of laymen and priests were placed in special structures named “colatoi” (“strainer rooms” used to desiccate the bodies, eliminating the bodily fuids). Two typologies are identified: the “sitting colatoi” and the “horizontal colatoi”; the survey permitted to propose an interpretation about their use and destination. An inventory of the abundant human mummiàed remains still in situ was also drawn up. The research was extended to the draining and mummification practices attested in other regions of southern Italy in the XVIII and XIX centuries, with a reflection about the concept of death in terms of duration and of secondary burial first developed by Hertz and Van Gennep. From the present study it emerges how these concepts, which seemed to have been uprooted by the Catholic Church, tenaciously resisted in the heart of modern Mediterranean Europe.

Тема овог рада су питања односа религије, религиозности, политике и смрти у савременом друштву Србије. Истраживање је засновано на анализама релативно скорашњег догађаја-смрти, испраћаја и сахране патријарха Павла, 44. поглавара Српске православне цркве. По многим својствима, ово је био догађај који се укапа у модел идеолошке употребе религијског говора. Међутим, сматрам да је овај догађај могуће деконструисати и на други начин од онога који преовлађује у актуелним антрополошким анализама. Понуђени методолошки поступак требало би да одговори на већи број питања него што је то изводљиво у оквирима антропо-политичких приступа. Кључне речи: Религија, смрти, политика, патријарх Павле Без обзира на број и врсту друштвених функција које религиолози (из различитих дисциплина) приписују религијама, чини се да су централне догме и уверења већине религијских система усмерене ка уређивању односа између живота и смрти, као и уређивању темељних принципа организовања самог живота, а у односу на чињеницу неминовности његовог завршетка. Због тога је кроз читаву историју цивилизације, догађај смрти некако био неодвојиво повезан са оваквим или онаквим религијским ритуалом. Њиме је вршено својеврсно преозначавање леша и припитомљавање другости, оличене у телу мртвог човека. 2 Истовремено, кроз религијски посмртни ритуал покојник је припреман за сусрет са вечношћу, а заједница за живот без њега или, пак, за живот са њим, само у другом облику. О укорењености везе између религије и смрти не сведочи само богато искуство ранијих епоха, већ и искуство модерног доба, током кога се, иако у нешто измењеним облицима, ова веза потврђује, некада и у најмање очекиваним контекстима. На нивоу колективних образаца мишљења и понашања, о овоме сведоче световне религије, које се, као врста компензације јављају истовремено са слабљењем значаја класичних, институционалних религија и које умногоме почивају управо на опиту смрти. Религије нације, а затим и култови личности (посебно развијени у социјалистичким земљама), споменицима и меморијалима везаним за погибије, спектакуларним сахранама и посмртним ритуалима 1 Текст је резултат рада на пројекту 177028, који финансира Министарство просвете, науке и технолошког развоја 2 Термин припитомаљавање, веома често користи један од класика танатоантропологије, Филип Аријес.

Badania archeologiczne w nawie głównej kościoła Podwyższenia Krzyża Świętego i św. Mikołaja w Sławkowie Abstrakt: We wnętrzu sławkowskiego kościoła parafialnego przeprowadzone zostały ratownicze archeologiczne badania wykopaliskowe. Zaowocowały one odkryciem intensywnie użytkowanego cmentarza wewnątrzkościelnego, mieszczącego pochówki mieszkańców miasta od okresu wczesnego średniowiecza do XVIII wieku. Wśród nich na szczególną uwagę zasługują trumienne groby członków Bractwa Szkaplerznego. Podczas badań odkryto także ślady po drewnianych słupach – przypuszczalnie pozostałości konstrukcji drewnianej. 

Rescue archaeological excavations were carried out inside the parish church in Sławków. They resulted in a discovery of an intensively used cemetery within the church. It contained burials of inhabitants of the town from the Early Middle Ages to the 18 th c. Among these burials a special attention is drawn to coffin graves of members of the Scapular Fraternity. Furthermore, traces left by wooden posts were also found during the examinations. These were possibly fragments of a wooden structure.

P.P.Grzybowski: Gemeinsame Motive der interkulturellen Pädagogik und Thanatopädagogik. [w:] P.Dobríková, W.Gebhardt, G.Giemza, V.Grajdian, A.Kacian (red.): Trauerbegleitung in unterschiedlichen kulturellen, sozialen und religiösen Kontexten. Warto, Dzięgielów 2015, s.17-26.
Rozdział zawiera przedruk artykułu: P.P.Grzybowski: Obcość nieunikniona. Wspólne wątki pedagogiki międzykulturowej i tanatopedagogiki. [w:] J.Nikitorowicz, M.Sobecki, J.Muszyńska (red.): Pogranicze - Studia społeczne tom XVII. Edukacja międzykulturowa część II. Uniwersytet w Białymstoku, Białystok 2011, s.256-267.
Publikacja została wydana w ramach projektu „Towarzyszenie w żałobie w międzykulturowym i międzyreligijnym kontekście” (nr projektu 2013-1-DE2-GRU06-16261 3), realizowanego w ramach „Projektów Partnerskich Grundtviga”.

Psychological and anthropological studies offer evidence that children think about death regardless of the place and time in which they live. Though nobody knows precisely when the children's conceptualization of death finishes, it can be assumed that the adoption of the sub-concepts about death begins at a preschool stage and ends around the age of 12 at the latest. The conceptualization, however, does not depend solely on the children's age: it is related to their cognitive development, (un)experienced death of a close person, and many other factors. This fact indicates that, as far as discussing death with children is concerned, one should not create an image of a homogenous group, but rather of many recepients who may respond differently to this kind of discussion. From a socio-historical perspective, avoiding conversations about death with children, which is quite common in the modern society, is determined mainly by social and cultural factors. Despite Philippe Aries' claim that in the West, and up to the 18th century, the room of a dying person could not be imagined without children, today, family members supress their grief for the deceased in front of the children. The reason for making death a taboo may lie in the socially imposed obligation to contribute to collective happiness which must not be compromised at any cost. Therefore, it should be born in mind that overlooking the topic of death is not an ideologically innocent act either: especially if it occurs at school, which can be rightly considered as an ideological apparatus of the state. The silence surrounding the topic of death in schools can be stopped by using the literary works which deal with this issue. This theme can be covered in the Serbian language and literature classes, and the second part of the paper offers the solutions how this can be accomplished...

The ways of dealing with the dead and the relationship the living had with death are one of the key elements
constituting every culture. The present article is inspired by the terror management theory and it attempts to
adapt it to the conditions of the Middle Neolithic Kuyavia. The area was inhabited by societies which fundamentally
followed different sepulchral patterns. The author of the paper aims to outline the position of funerary behaviours
in the rhythm of cultural transformations of that time.

ABSTRAKT „Literatura ludowa” 2004/3

Katarzyna Kość
„DEATH AS AN ENTRANCE INTO LIFE”. ON DEATH AND DYING AS METAPHORS OF LIFE IN POLISH FOLK CULTURE AND ITS TRADITIONAL BELIEFS AND IMAGES

Death has always been seen as a great mystery of life. It concerns everybody, regardless of age, sex, origins, and wealth. Hence, apart from its biological consequences, it is meaningful also in the social context. Man has never remained indifferent to it but tried to understand and tame it. He has observed its motivation behind choosing another victim and wondered whether it could be foreseen, deceived and avoided. In traditional culture death could be analyzed mainly through the prism of beliefs and clues forming the folk worldview, which in turn includes Christian ideas in the form of folk Catholicism. The awareness of the irreversibility of death, the near-death condition, and the afterlife have appealed to the folk imagination and emotionality, which is reflected in rituals, tales, legends, beliefs, and art. In traditional Polish culture death has simply been a stage a person must go through as a natural way of things. Therefore, despite fear, people have always remembered about it and tried to prepare themselves for having to face it. Of importance has been the fact that in the traditional culture death is part of everyday life for everybody, including children. The sense of its necessity and its symbolic presence in beliefs and legends has tamed its horror, which in turn meant the weakening of its impact. In the traditional culture its essence was constituted by its intimate “simplicity”, “humanness” and public character. All this is illustrated in the images of death, its attributes, inner qualities and beliefs concerning its timing, places of its most intense activity, and its omens. As can be seen, the attitude toward death and dying has changed markedly: it has become, to use Philippe Ariés’s phrase, “death reverted”, i.e. a cultural phenomenon signifying the marginalization and negation of death in modern urban communities.

Translated by Justyna Deszcz

In the summers of 2005 and 2006 the paleopathology team of the University of Pisa carried out a survey in north-eastern Sicily to investigate the funerary structures of Modern Age attested there, but still largely ignored and misunderstood. A particular kind of funerary apparatus is preserved in the crypts under the churches: after the death, the corpses of laymen and priests were placed in special structures named “colatoi” (“strainer rooms” used to desiccate the bodies, eliminating the bodily fuids). Two typologies are identified: the “sitting colatoi” and the “horizontal colatoi”; the survey permitted to propose an interpretation about their use and destination.

During research on bereavement process in parents who lost their children I was asked frequently about grief stages, about pathological grief and the social understanding of grief, death and dying. It appears that there are still confusing information that are given by practitioners — psychologist and grief concealers, that are not updated and make grieving parents more upset.

In my humble opinion there is an urgent need for death education programme in Poland. I would like to share my discoveries on areas of concern, where are too many opinions that are not useful and in addition they are dangerous for people in need. I would also like to share some lights on the aspect of the death of animal companions, which can cause the same feelings of grief as in case of human companion or family member death.

In the presentation I would focus on the most problematic issues as: (1) the question of death taboo; (2) the sex of grief; (3) the stages of grief and the question of pathological grief; (4) the question of grief after animal companions' death. I would also like to present a draft for such death education programme.

Resumen:

El artículo problematiza, a partir de las interpretaciones de Heidegger  sobre la poesía de Hölderlin y Trakl el sentido de las categorías de lo lárico, la habitación, el mito, la historia y la utopía, a la vez que indaga cómo esta tradición de poetas de la aldea es asumida por Jorge Teillier.
La poesía de Georg Trakl, de estilo abrupto y violento, poseía una rara densidad, en ella se une la nostalgia de la ternura y el presentimiento del fin del mundo. Sus premoniciones de desolación no podían ser comprendidas por sus coetáneos, confiados todavía en las apariencias del esplendor finisecular. Tampoco se podía comprender la videncia del poeta ruso Andrés Biely, el que escribía en 1921: “El mundo volará / por el estallido de una Bomba Atómica / en gavillas de electrones. / Descarnada hecatombe!”. En Trakl aparece un mundo de nostalgia y decadencia. Ya en 1917 Rilke escribía: "la poesía de Trakl es para mí el más conmovedor de los lamentos ante un mundo imperfecto".
La de Trakl es una poesía que alude con melancolía a la casa de sus antepasados; a su ciudad natal, al paisaje de la comarca.  Allí aparece un mundo de nostalgia y decadencia, propio de una ciudad que durante la Edad Media había tenido un gran esplendor, y que vivía de un pasado irrecuperable. Por oposición a la ciudad, Trakl se vuelve a la naturaleza, a la que ve exenta de la culpa de la caída.
Así la ciudad de Trakl es imagen de la decadencia del mundo occidental que está relacionado con la figura poética del forastero, el solitario, el apátrida, cuya culpa radica sólo en el hecho, por lo demás inevitable, de existir en este mundo donde sólo habitan exiliados.

En contraposición a este tipo de nostalgia, la obra del poeta Jorge Teillier -el fundador de la tendencia conocida como poesía lárica, giro que denomina un tipo de escritura que pone énfasis al recuerdo del "paraíso perdido" de la edad primigenia, en la tierra ancestral, indagando los orígenes primordiales del ser humano-  hace alusión constante al terruño, a la infancia, al hogar y al paisaje rural, pero como el lugar idílico al qué volveremos, de allí su particular nostalgia, la nostalgia del futuro.
Dr. Adolfo Vásquez Rocca