Death

In recent years, the line of research on the socio-pragmatic aspects of language and language use has been increasing very rigorously. In this regard, taboos as well as euphemisms, due to their significant role in impacting on the interactions among interlocutors, have been the subject of research in various societies and cultures from a vast variety of aspects. That being so, the present study was an attempt to explore the perceptions of Iranian adult speakers of linguistic taboos and euphemisms in Iranian society. To achieve this aim, a convenient sample of 48 Iranian adult speakers, 24 males and 24 females, from Shiraz, Iran was recruited to participate in the study. The researcher interviewed them one by one and audio recorded their answers for further analysis and to determine their perceptions of linguistic taboos and euphemisms in Iranian society. The findings indicated that: a. Most of the participants believed that sex is the most offensive topic in Iranian society; b. All of the participants believed that people should use euphemisms in their speech and should take after of their speech especially in formal situations; c. Most of the Iranian adult speakers believed that the most important factor which leads to the use of taboo words is anger; and d. Most of the participants, both male and female, said they do not discuss taboo topics in mixed-sex groups.

Modern-minded man, as the modern time necessities, believes in the concrete world, and if does not deny metaphysics, he finds it unperceivable and unreachable and hence, ignores some of his potential and spiritual abilities. Metaphysics form man’s spiritual life, absence of which results in mental nervousness and leads to nihilism, and thus death, men’s inevitable final destiny, appears like a monster. To be away from which and forget it, man requires engaging himself in the concrete, and not reflecting upon death at all. This paper attempts to investigate the questions as: How does Molavi perceive metaphysics? How does he engage himself with it? And while he follows his religious and spiritual way of thinking, how the face of death is displayed in Molavi’s thoughts? Molavi’s works represent a human’s perception and experience gained from the Prophets’ teachings which were put into practice in Molavi’s own life. One can find lots of Molavi's couplets dealing with the same, pondering upon which can smooth the harshness of the concrete world in the light of the spiritual world, and generate yet another type of world

In this article, it will be shown that philosophers/theoreticians of justice, such as John Rawls, are engaged in a kind of performative contradiction, since despite their implicit call for justice, their mere academic activities in developing a theory of justice, does not really help the cause of justice in society. Then by referring to thoughts of Heidegger, Levinas, and Nietzsche, among others, it will be shown that although the struggle to achieve social justice is necessary and has the highest priority, it is an impossible task; and yet human beings are existentially obliged to engage in this unavoidable task. Finally, it will be shown as why this "task of social justice" will be best achieved as, what could be called, "authentic development" or horizontal development at the bottom, and playing chess with the powers that be. In defining "authentic development," it will be compared with what Denis Goulet calls by the same name; where he defines the desired development with its results, rather than its process.

Sohrab Sepehri's poetry is a rich source of novel metaphors. As a poet deeply preoccupied with convincing us to see things differently, Sepehri redefines such key concepts as life and death in his poems. To give us a new understanding of these concepts, he creates numerous metaphors. Probing into his metaphors through a Cognitive Poetic approach helps find out how he constructs them. Cognitive Poetics is a new literary discipline which, among other things, tries to find the relationship between literary works and everyday language. This paper aims to disclose the underlying cognitive structure of Sepehri's metaphors of life and death in his "Water's Footsteps." Such an analysis reveals how the poet rejects the common way of comprehending the concepts of life and death to give them new meanings. The authors argue that the poet resorts to a kind of cognitive defamiliarization by refusing to employ the common Conceptual Metaphors for death and life. Instead, he constructs the metaphor of DEATH IS LIFE. Also discussed is wherein the poem the poet comes round to the common conceptual metaphors of death.   Keywords : Sohrab Sepehri, Conceptual Metaphor, cognitive poetics, death, life

What ethical stance would be appropriate in today’s messy situation of health crisis, global warming, social and economic antagonisms, etc.? The first one is that of an expert who deals with the specific task imposed on him by those in power, blissfully ignoring the wider social context of his activity. The second one is that of pseudo-radical intellectuals who criticize the existing order from a comfortable morally superior position, well aware that their criticism will have no actual effects. How, then, are we to go on living after we get rid of the illusions of a false critical stance? Not just by accepting our reality: the fascination with the end of our civilization make us spectators who morbidly enjoy the disintegration of normality. A way out of this deadlock is signalled by a line from a song by the German rock band Rammstein: “we have to live till we die”. We have to fight against the pandemic and other crises not by way of withdrawing from life but as a way to live with utmost intensity. Is there anyone more ALIVE today than millions of healthcare workers who with full awareness risk their lives on a daily base? Many of them died, but till they died they were alive.

Objective: The main aim of this research was to investigate the effects of quality of life therapy on increasing the coping ability with stressful situations, reducing anxiety and irrational fears in at risk workers of electricity distribution companies in Isfahan. Method: This research was of semi-experimental with pre-test, post-test and follow-up with the control group. Population were consisted of 250 at risk workers of Isfahan Electricity Distribution Company. Five people were randomly selected from each unit, and a total of 40 people were randomly assigned to the experimental and control groups. The experimental group participated in 90 minutes’ sessions of quality of life improvement training for 8 weeks, held at the New Technology Park of Isfahan Electricity Distribution company. Experimental group was compared with a waiting control group. measurement tools were consisted of Endler and Parker Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations (CISS) and Mental Disorders Symptoms Checklist (SCL-90-R) that were administered on at risk workers in the pre-test, post-test and follow-up phases. Repeated measure analysis of variance was used to analyze the data. Results: Data analysis showed that the intervention sessions had a significant effect on the all scales of coping with stressful situations, anxiety and irrational fears in the experimental group in the post-test and follow-up stages. Conclusion: The results indicate that psychotherapy based on improvement of quality of life was effective on tranquility, mental health and the quality of life of at risk workers in Isfahan electricity distribution company.

The aim of the present study is to show how language and narration function in the selected works by Lydia Davis based on Blanchot’s theory. Lydia Davis is an American writer known for her idiosyncratic and extremely short stories often characterized by clear observations of mostly material and daily events. One aspect that Blanchot points out is the spacing among a literary text. This spacing or distance refers to how a literary text resists interpretation and reaching the singular truth by the reader. The more, the reader attempts to understand the text, the further the meaning slips. As a result, a relation between the text and the reader is created. The present essay shows how Davis experiences death or becoming through her writings. The author shows her sacrifice and becoming the other in her short stories; in Meat, My Husband, Davis becomes no one and every one at the same time; she becomes the wife, the cook, and the meal but she is not any of them as well. In Jack in the Country, Davis reflects the field where no transcendental being is detected. Davis’s stories manifest Blanchot’s theory of language and narration in which the author is engaged with dying process, yet ironically neither he dies nor she is reborn. The aim of the present research is to show how Davis experiences the dying process and becoming the other.

The folk culture of southern Kerman tribes has a vibrant history, and examining the religious content of these rituals and beliefs can open a new perspective in anthropological studies and ethnography. In this geographical area, there have always been various taboos related to the rites of birth, death, and other daily activities that all people were required to observe these taboos. Following the taboos and publishing them guarantee the survival and cohesion of rural communities. There were nomads in the past. The primary purpose of this research is to introduce the beliefs and taboos in the rituals and folk beliefs of the people of southern Kerman. The main question is, what types of taboos exist in the behaviors and folk beliefs of the people of south Kerman, and how have they guaranteed the survival and cohesion of this region? The method of collecting information is "documents and fieldwork.” In the first step, the authors of this article conducted interviews with native and local people to identify the beliefs related to taboo matters. Then they were categorized according to their function in each section. In the next step, the data, while describing and compared with other parts of the world, have been analyzed and examined using articles and books related to this field.    

This paper deals with Wallace Stevens’s first collection of poetry, Harmonium, in light of Heidegger’s philosophy, with a particular emphasis on Da-sein as the place of negativity. The focus is particularly on Heidegger’s later philosophy, where he defines Man as the juncture where the four constitutive elements (earth, sky, divinities, and mortals) converge to let Da-sein appear as the futural authentic animal whose Being matters to him as his distinctive mark. Stevens’s poetry in Harmonium displays an experimental development along the same lines. The collection consists of poems dealing with the effect that the prospects of death and finitude have on its protagonists. Stevens achieves authentic protagonists who accept the nihilating power of death in order to save themselves from any form of social, poetic, and philosophical closure. This is significant because Stevens conceives a creative potential that not only runs counter to the romantic nostalgia for a return to an innocent past, but also openly embraces the idea of finitude as the only way out of any logocentric and metaphysical forms of thinking. This study, therefore, aims to show how in Harmonium Stevens poetizes an endless creative power that sets upon reproducing the non-closure associated with nihilation and nothingness.

The story of the Original Sin that is Adam and Eve and their sin of eating from the Forbidden Fruit is mentioned in the Bible as well as the Quran. . Although there are some similarities in the narration of this event in these holy books, there are some nuances in some significant points. One of the significant differences is the consequences of Adam's Original Sin in eating the Forbidden Fruit. Traditional narratives of the Bible emphasize human death as one of these consequences. This belief has been considered one of Christian theology's fundamental assumptions. However, there is no narrative in the Quran. This paper discusses that human physical death is not necessarily the result of Adam's Sin, as narrated in Torah. Instead, the spiritual death that is considered a result of human sin is the consequence of Adam's Original Sin, like other human sins. Despite some Christian interpretations that completely changed the story, this study shows that the Torah's statement is entirely interpretable and reasonable. In this respect, the Quran has never mentioned anything about Adam and his progeny's physical and spiritual death. Instead, the Quran states that merciful God forgave his fault in eating the Forbidden Fruit, and God will never punish people for the sins of others; thus, sin is not hereditary.

While Hegel would agree with existentialist philosophers that anxiety testifies to an existential condition, applying to any human being as such, he believes that the experience of anxiety is shaped by social and cultural institutions and changes over history. The paper offers a reconstruction of Hegel’s account of the social conditions of anxiety. While my focus is the modern period, I use Hegel’s comments on death in previous epochs—and especially in ancient Greece—to bring out the peculiarity of modernity. In the first half of the paper, I discuss the nature and conditions of anxiety. In the second half, I trace Hegel’s critique of a common way to avoid—of flee from—anxiety in modernity, which results in social isolation, boredom, and emptiness. As long as the modern individual is only an economic actor in civil society, she is prone to anxiety. To confront her finitude, Hegel argues, she must endorse her political affiliation, namely, be an active and sacrificing citizen of the state.

The American ecopoet, Mary Oliver (1935 – 2019) has never been read in the light of the concepts the French philosopher, George Bataille (1897 – 1962) introduced into the world of philosophy and literature even though the enterprise could be abundantly rewarding. Bataille poses the question of general economy as opposed to particular economy. The latter is narrow, rational, self-centered and pivoting around gathering and storage, while the former takes the whole sphere of life into account and concentrates on excess of energy, expenditure, universal wisdom which is far broader and more inclusive, sacrifice and permanence of the sum total of energy available in the living sphere as well as that of the living matter. Oliver, the poet, uses none of the philosopher’s terms, but the scenes she describes in her own poetic style and the language and discourse she uses concerning death reveal the same position and point of view as those of Bataille. That is the gap the present qualitative, library-based study tries to cover at least partially and in particular with regard to the question of death which with the help of an Oliverian stance and in the light of such Bataillean concepts as general economy, excess and expenditure, can turn into a moment of rebirth, vital to the health and a proper functioning of the whole universal system. This two-fold approach will hopefully contribute to both Oliver studies and to the body of research, done on Bataille.

The present paper examines Nadine Gordimer's The Conservationist (1974) in order to present a postcolonial reading of it in light of Homi K. Bhabha's ideas. It firstly discusses the significance of this novel and its narrative style, along with its context (Apartheid and the Zulu culture). Then it examines the central characters (Mehring and Jacobus) with the help of Bhabha's key concepts of hybridity and mimicry. The paper analyzes the relationship between the foreign white master, Mehring, and his native black servants, and underlines that the displaced colonial subjects (such as Jacobus) can, through mimicry, defy the oppression of imperial hegemony from within. In the text of Gordimer’s novel we can witness the formation of new cultural hybrids. It is characteristic of Gordimer’s fiction to reflect upon interactions between European and indigenous cultures. It is also argued that the funeral at the very end of the novel is in fact a transformation; for one, it brings about a change of focus and the readers shall end the novel bearing the memory of the black man in their minds.