Learning About Suicide From the Diary of Cesare Pavese

This study analyzed the last year of the published diary of the Italian writer, Cesare Pavese (1908-1950) to identify changes in the content. The diary was analyzed using the Linguistic Word Count program. The proportion of words related to positive emotions & optimism increased & the entries became less complex & more self-oriented. The results […]

Fantasy and Reality in the Death of Yukio Mishima

Since the early 1950s, ritual suicide was a central element in the writing of Yukio Mishima. This article offers a psychological analysis of how Mishima’s concepts of the River of Body and the River of Action inevitably combined, uniting fantasy & reality & leading to his suicide. (54 refs.)

Seppuku – is it an Athletic Activity?

This paper investigates philosophically the Japanese samurai notion & activity of seppuku, the traditional method of suicide among the warrior class. Seppuku follows prolonged physical, mental & social preparation, a period the author equates to physical training. The suicide of Yukio Mishima is discussed in this context. (10 refs.)

Musical Creativity and Suicide

Death in Hollywood: any Relation Between Self Worth and Mortality is Uncertain

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Illuminating Inheritance: Benjamin’s Influence on Arendt’s Political Storytelling

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A Personal Story: There is a Light at the end of the Tunnel (IN: Suicide Prevention in Georgia: Healing and Hope)

Mishima Yukio and his Suicide

The author discusses both the political & aesthetical implications of Mishima Yukio’s suicide on 25 November, 1970 in the traditional Japanese warrior manner of seppuku, following an unsuccessful attempt to incite a unit of the Self-Defence Forces to a coup d’etat.

Death Memory…and the Problem of Illusion

This article discusses the death of Yukio Mishima in 1970, by seppuku, and attempts to determine possible motivation for this act.

Yukio Mishima: the Last Samurai?

This article examines whether the death (by seppuku) of Yukio Mishima was significant in a historical sense. The author treats Mishima’s action as a major historical event, examining the immediate impact it had on Japanese society, as well as its implications for the future. The possibility that Mishima was suffering from mental illness is also […]

Phallic Narcissism, Anal Sadism, and Oral Discord: the Case of Yukio Mishima, Part 1

This article serves as a profile of the post war Japanese writer Yukio Mishima who performed ritualistic suicide. The conflict between themes in his works & his life such as death, erotic violence, excrement, hatred & degradation for feminine versus the immaculate, are discussed within the work. The topics of phallic narcissism, psychological castration anxiety, […]

Suicide Among Eminent Artists

Risk of suicide among elite artists was evaluated using data from GarzantiÕs Encyclopaedia. Artists were categorized as architects, painters, sculptors, writers, poets, & playwrights. Only deaths which occurred in the 1800s or 1900s were included. A total of 59 suicides were observed in the sample of 3,093 artists who died. The comparison by profession shows […]

Writing as a way of Healing: how Telling our Stories Transforms our Lives

This book explores writing as a form of healing and therapy. Author De Salvo gives practical suggestions for those beginning to write as a form of catharasis in traumatic, grieving and painful situations. Writing can often become an outlet for those struggling with grief issues. DeSalvo offers up the works and thoughts of famed authors […]

After Daniel: a Suicide Survivor’s Tale

Touched With Fire: Manic-Depressive Illness and the Artistic Temperament

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Franz Kafka’s Resistance to Acting on Suicidal Ideation

The life, personality & writings of Franz Kafka are explored as a way of examining self-preserving processes in a person with chronic suicidal tendencies. His ways of coping are presented, emphasizing the close friendship with Max Brod, his altruistic character, & his writing. Resilience is differentiated from coping; his resilience enabled him to overcome suicidal […]

Margaret Laurence: Death of a Diviner

This commentary on the life of Canadian novelist Margaret Lawrence looks at entries in her journal prior to her suicide. Discusses the stresses in her life including, alcoholism, cancer & a leg fracture. The final excerpts deal with her attitudes toward death & the drug overdose that led to her death.

Borowski: “Love Circles Above me Like Human Smoke”

How Kafka Coped With Life-Long Suicidal Ideation

On Suicide: Great Writers on the Ultimate Question

This edited volume contains selections on suicide by the following authors: Philip Lopate, Plato, Alfred Alvarez, Sylvia Plath, Walker Percy, Albert Camus, Howard Kushner, Virginia Woolf, Langston Hughes, Gustave Flaubert, Cynthia Ozick, Primo Levi, Graham Greene, Dorothy Parker, Emile Durkheim, Shakespeare, Emily Dickinson, John Dunne, Jorge Luis Borges, Ambrose Bierce, Leo Tolstoy & William Styron.

Popular Novelist Wrote her own Steamy Farewell

This is a brief description of the suicide of romance author Sandra Paretti, 59, in Switzerland. Paretti had been diagnosed with cancer 2 years before her suicide.

Cultural Factors and Childhood Trauma in Suicide

Shulman reports on an exploratory study that tests the hypothesis that writers in the US, German-speaking countries, & Japan who commit suicide had experienced different types of childhood trauma, each type associated with a cultural stigma that varies by society. The hypothesis was tested by applying the sign test for matched pairs of writers. The […]

Premature Mortality Associated With Alcoholism and Suicide in American Writers

The age of 6 American writers who died from suicide or possible suicide was examined & compared with controls for the 70 deceased writers from a previous study done by Davis (1986). Results showed that both suicide & alcohol abuse are significantly associated with premature mortality in this sample of 70 American writers. Alcoholics died […]