From Day of the Dead-- Encyclopædia Britannica Online

I’m starting to do some research on methods of mourning and dealing with grief in order to support my pcomp midterm. An article on mourning by Therese Rando in the Macmillan Encyclopedia of Death and Dying is helpful in understanding psychological approaches to mourning, particularly since it contradicts the the common notion that the grief associated with mourning decreases linearly over time. Instead, the article emphasizes that grief fluctuates and can be triggered by a wide variety of causes, which is part of what is inspiring this project. The article also clearly describes six steps of healthy mourning (based on the author’s research). I found the bracketed phrases particularly relevant to this project:

1. Recognize the loss. Recognizing the loss involves acknowledging the reality of the death and understanding what caused it.
2. React to the separation. This process involves experiencing the pain; and [feeling, identifying, accepting, and giving some form of expression to all the psychological reactions to the loss.] It also involves identifying and mourning the secondary losses that are brought about by the death.
3. Recollect and reexperience the deceased and the relationship. Healthy mourning involves reviewing and remembering realistically, with reviving and reexperiencing being the associated feelings.
4. Relinquish the old attachments to the deceased and the old assumptive world.
5. Readjust to [move adaptively into the new world without forgetting the old.] This process, involves revising the assumptive world, developing a new relationship with the deceased, adopting new ways of being in the world, and forming a new identity.
6. Reinvest. The [emotional energy once invested in the relationship with the deceased eventually must be reinvested into other people, objects, pursuits, and so forth] in order that emotional gratification can be received by the mourner.

Also from the same encyclopedia, an article, Grief and Mourning in Cross-Cultural Perspective, by Dennis Klass is helpful. Klass states that, “The human expression of grief is no less a product of culture than marital or religious customs or symbols.” When I brought up the concept for this project in class there was a lot of concern that it be culturally relevant as an expression of grief or mourning. I think that’s a really good point, so now I’m asking myself, “What culture does it need to be relevant to?” Does this project need to be recognizable as a memorial to be effective? Does it need to resonate emotionally for anyone who is not participating, or can it just be a pleasant experience? Who is my audience for this project and how do I want them to participate? Right now I’m thinking that it doesn’t need to be recognizably connected to mourning for anyone who is not using it to mourn (i.e. the casual observer), but it does need to resonate with anyone who is contributing to it.

I’m also looking at traditions like Dia de los Muertos, which allow for an ongoing connection to lost loved ones by acknowledging their passing every year. I think that by participating in a festival that combines dark humor with a genuine remembrance people can clear out a little space in the rest of their lives and get on with Rando’s steps five and six.

KLASS, DENNIS. “Grief and Mourning in Cross-Cultural Perspective.” Macmillan Encyclopedia of Death and Dying. Ed. Robert Kastenbaum. Vol. 1. New York: Macmillan Reference USA, 2003. 382-389. 2 vols. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Gale. New York University. 8 Nov. 2008.

RANDO, THERESE A. “Mourning.” Macmillan Encyclopedia of Death and Dying. Ed. Robert Kastenbaum. Vol. 2. New York: Macmillan Reference USA, 2002. 592-597. 2 vols. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Gale. New York University. 8 Nov. 2008.