Farewell to the World

Contents

Cover

Title Page

Introduction

0.1 Integration and social regulation
0.2 Concepts and data
0.3 Two unexpected changes
0.4 Types of suicide
0.5 A plurality of causes
0.6 Structure of the book
Notes

Part I In the West

1 The Worst Sin and the Gravest Crime
1. 1.1 The rise in suicide: ‘a most tragic fact’
2. 1.2 When did the figure start to rise?
3. 1.3 The reasons for this growth
4. 1.4 Past reactions
5. 1.5 Punishments for those who killed themselves or attempted to do so
6. 1.6 Dishonourable burial
7. 1.7 On the formation of Christian ethics regarding voluntary death
8. 1.8 Chastity, rape and adultery
9. 1.9 Arabs, Christians and martyrs
10. 1.10 Christian beliefs regarding the causes of suicide
11. 1.11 Despair and the Redcrosse Knight
12. 1.12 Pre-Christian beliefs on the consequences of suicide
13. 1.13 Suicide as theft and desertion
14. 1.14 A ‘new crime, that would hardly be believable’
15. 1.15 Internal and external controls
16. Notes
2 The Key to our Prison
1. 2.1 The lawfulness of suicide
2. 2.2 A changed sensitivity in the literature
3. 2.3 A new name for an old deed
4. 2.4 Natural and supernatural causes
5. 2.5 Melancholy, hypochondria and hysteria
6. 2.6 Depenalization de facto
7. 2.7 Depenalization de jure
8. 2.8 Saving endangered lives
9. 2.9 The freedom to take one’s own life
10. Notes
3 Killing God, Oneself and Others
1. 3.1 Two opposite trends
2. 3.2 Two channels of a single stream
3. 3.3 Public and private crimes
4. 3.4 What brought about these changes?
5. 3.5 At the forefront of change
6. 3.6 Despair, anger, hatred
7. Notes
4 When Poverty Does not Protect
1. 4.1 Sociology’s ‘one law’ and what remains
2. 4.2 When the Jews lost their ‘ancient immunity’
3. 4.3 The effects of Nazism and Fascism
4. 4.4 Concentration camps and prisons
5. 4.5 The Great Wars
6. 4.6 Emigrations
7. 4.7 Suicide is a ‘White thing’
8. 4.8 Has suicide become a little less male?
9. 4.9 Sexual orientation
10. 4.10 Economic depressions and crises of prosperity
11. 4.11 The unforeseen consequences of the shift to methane
12. 4.12 The trend inversion in central and northern Europe
13. 4.13 The medicalization of suicide and its effects
14. 4.14 The treatment of pain and other illnesses
15. 4.15 The steep rise in Eastern Europe
16. Notes

Part II In the East

5 Before Becoming a Widow
1. 5.1 Sati
2. 5.2 The rite
3. 5.3 The effects of polygamy
4. 5.4 Funeral and wedding ceremonies
5. 5.5 For love or through coercion?
6. 5.6 Suicides: condemned and admired
7. 5.7 The origin and spread of sati as a custom
8. 5.8 Sati or widow
9. 5.9 A clash of cultures
10. Notes
6 Making the Strong and Powerful Tremble
1. 6.1 The past
2. 6.2 Chinese peculiarities
3. 6.3 Continuity and change
4. 6.4 Old people and filial devotion
5. 6.5 Suicide among Chinese women
6. 6.6 Mao Zedong and the May Fourth paradigm
7. 6.7 The cultural repertoire of suicides
8. 6.8 The state and honouring the virtuous
9. 6.9 After a husband’s death
10. 6.10 Differences compared to sati
11. 6.11 Following the death of a fiancé
12. 6.12 A way of not submitting to enemies
13. 6.13 After assault and sexual violence
14. 6.14 Against arranged marriages
15. 6.15 The origin of the changes
16. 6.16 Against oneself and others
17. 6.17 Female suicide in the last two decades
18. Notes
7 The Body as a Bomb
1. 7.1 Suicide attacks and terrorism
2. 7.2 The modern phenomenon of suicide missions
3. 7.3 The rationality of weak players
4. 7.4 Nationalism and religious differences
5. 7.5 The globalization of suicide missions
6. 7.6 Cyberspace
7. 7.7 Becoming a suicide bomber
8. 7.8 For a noble cause
9. 7.9 An army of roses
10. Notes
Conclusions
1. Notes

Appendix

Statistics on suicide
Notes

References

Index

End User License Agreement

Graphs

1.1 Number of suicides per 100,000 deaths in London, from 1686 to 1750.

3.1 Homicides and suicides committed in Zurich from 1500 to 1798.

3.2 Suicide and homicide rates in Italy from 1864 to 2006.

4.1 Suicide rates per 100,000 inhabitants in western and eastern Germany from 1898 to 2007.

4.2 Suicide rates in Austria and Vienna from 1980 to 2004.

4.3 Suicide rates in Italian provincial capitals and peripheral towns from 1881 to 2006.

4.4 Suicide rates in central-northern Italy and southern Italy and the islands from 1881 to 2006.

4.5 Suicide rates in major cities in northern Italy (Turin, Milan and Genoa) and in southern Italy (Naples, Bari, Catania and Palermo) from 1881 to 2006.

4.6 Suicide rates per 100,000 inhabitants in Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Austria and Russia from 1960 to 2003.

4.7 Gender differences in suicide rates in Russia from 1956 to 2002.

7.1 Number of completed suicide missions in the world between 1981 and 2007.

A.1 Suicide rates in Italy in 1981, 1991, 2001 and 2006 divided by age cohorts.

A.2 Suicide rates of over-65-year-olds living in Italy in 1981, 1991 and 2001 divided by schooling level.

Tables

1.1 Ratio between the number of male and female suicides in some European countries (1250–1850).

1.2 Suicides and indirect suicides (preceded by a homicide) in Stockholm from 1600 and 1733.

4.1 Ratio between male and female suicides in some Western countries, from 1901 to 2001.

4.2 Suicide methods used by men and women in five European countries, in 1863–76 and in 2000–04.

5.1 Ratio between male and female suicides in British India (1907), by province, and in India (1967–97).

6.1 Ratio between male and female suicide rates in some countries of Asia and Latin America (1905–2011).

6.2 Principal moral choices of a Chinese woman following certain events during the Ming and Qing dynasties (1368–1911).

7.1 Percentage of persons who think suicide is never justifiable in some Western and non-Western countries (1999–2001).

7.2 Percentage of persons who think suicide is morally acceptable in France, Germany, United Kingdom, and in the Muslim population in Paris, Berlin and London, in 2008.

7.3 Suicide rates per 100,000 inhabitants in Ceylon (1946) and Sri Lanka (1996), and in other countries with Islamic, Hindu, Buddhist and Jewish religious traditions (1995–2002).

7.4 Levels of support among Muslims for suicide bombing (2002–13)

A.1 Suicide rate per 100,000 inhabitants in Western European countries, from 1841 to 1991.

A.2 Suicide rate per 100,000 inhabitants in Western European countries, from 2001 to 2011.

A.3 Suicide rate per 100,000 inhabitants in other countries, from 1841 to 1991.

A.4 Suicide rate per 100,000 inhabitants in other countries, from 2001 to 2011.

A.5 Suicide rate per 100,000 inhabitants in Italy (1981–2001) subdivided by schooling level, age and geographical area. A.6 Methods used by people to commit suicide in Italy (2001–02), subdivided by gender and schooling level.

Plates

1. Ajax prepares to impale himself on a sword in order to avenge himself on his enemies and regain his honour (amphora, 6th cent. BCE).

2. Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld, The Death of Saul (1851–60). Saul, first king of the Kingdom of Israel, fell on his sword in front of his soldiers following his defeat by the Philistines.

3. The ritual of the barrel and Rinnen. The corpse of a monk who had committed suicide is placed in a barrel and cast into the Rhine (Basle, early 16th cent.). Die Schweizer Bilderchronik des Luzerners Diebold Schilling.

4. Beliefs regarding the consequences of suicide. A man whose marriage failed committed suicide in Rossau, near Zurich, and was buried in the cemetery. Fearing that this would provoke disasters, the villagers disinterred the body and burned it (1581). Zentralbibliothek Zürich, Ms. F 29a, f. 178r.

5. Ira se occidit (Anger commits suicide, 12th cent.), a capital in Notre-Dame du Port, Clermont-Ferrand.

6. The suicide of Judas depicted on a capital in Saint-Lazare Cathedral, Autun (12th cent.).

7. Giotto, Despair (c. 1302), Scrovegni Chapel, Padua.

8. Master E. S., Consolation against Despair. St Peter, St Mary Magdalene, the good thief and St Paul gathered around the dying man’s bed to ward off the temptation of despair.

9. Giovanni Canavesio, The Suicide of Judas (1492), fresco, Chapel of Notre-Dame-des-Fontaines, La Brigue.

10. Anonymous Alsatian artist, The Suicide of Judas (1520), polychrome stained glass, The Art Institute of Chicago.

11. In 1742 Maria Elisabetta Beckensteinerin strangled her six-month-old son in order to die and at the same time save her own soul through repentance. Left: the infant’s soul rises to heaven where it is greeted by an angel with open arms.

12. In 1740 fourteen-week-old Maria Magdalena Bertzin was killed by her father, who wanted to die but also desired eternal salvation. Both engravings are taken from Stuart, 2008.

13. Benezur Gyula, Cleopatra (1911), Déri Museum, Debrecen.

14. Paolo Veronese, Lucretia (c.1580), KHM-Museumsverband, Vienna.

15. William Blake, The Wood of the Self-Murderers: the Harpies and the Suicides (1824–7), Tate, London.

16. George Cruikshank, The Poor Girl Homeless, Friendless, Deserted, Destitute, and Gin-Mad Commits Self-Murder (1848), Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

17. George Grosz, The End of the Road (1913), Museum of Modern Art, New York, (c)Photo SCALA, Florence.

18. Édouard Manet, The Suicide (1877–81), Foundation E. G. Bührle Collection, Zürich.

19. Frida Kahlo, The Suicide of Dorothy Hale (1939), Phoenix Art Museum.

20. Paul Lafargue and Laura Marx.

21. Primo Levi.

22. Prague: Monument to Jan Palach who killed himself by setting himself on fire on 16 January 1969 to protest against the Soviet occupation of his country.

23. Mario Mieli, militant of the gay movement, who committed suicide in 1983 at the age of thirty-one. Portrait by David Hill.

24. Handprints (made with the right hand) of widows who had decided to burn themselves on the funeral pyres of their husbands. On the gates of the ancient city of Jodhpur, Rajasthan.

25. ‘The Widow’s Gate’, Deopatan, Nepal; once a widow left the city through this gate, having declared her intention to self-immolate, she could not re-enter it.

26. Procession of the Indian widow towards the funeral pyre. Miniature, late 17th cent.

27. Drawings of funeral stele erected to commemorate widows who had burned on their husband’s pyre.

28. Sati stele at Waldhwan showing marriage bracelets, swastika, lemon, sun and moon.

29. Jasvanat Kanvar on the pyre, on 12 March 1985, with her head covered by a red veil, a symbol of marriage, and her right hand raised in blessing. The police forced the woman down from the pyre and the rite did not take place.

30–33. Four etchings (based on real life sketches) made in Calcutta, in 1796, by the Flemish artist Balthazar Solvyns. 30. Sati in the form of sahagamana (going with). After bathing in the river (in the background) to purify herself, the widow wears a white garment and is accompanied by two Brahmins as she walks around the pyre onto which she then ascends to be burned with her husband’s corpse. 31. Sati in the form of sahagamana. The widow, assisted by two Brahmins, throws herself into the flames where her husband’s corpse is burning. 32. Sati in the form of anumarana (dying after). A widow self-immolates some time after her husband’s death, holding objects that belonged to him. 33. Sati with interment. The widow of a man from the jugi or weaver caste is buried alive with her husband’s corpse. The pit, into which the woman descends by way of a ladder, is immediately filled with earth by the relatives. Les Hindous 4 vols. Paris: Chez L’Auteur, 1808–1812. Reproduced with permission from the collection of Robert L. Hardgrave, Jr.

34. Thomas Rowlandson, The Burning System Illustrated (1815). In this engraving the caricaturist criticizes the British government’s attitude to sati. In one of the cartoons, these words have been put in the mouth of a British official, who holds a large bag of rupees: ‘This custom, tho’ shocking to humanity, is still allowed in consequence of the revenue it brings in which is of importance! I have also private reasons for not suppressing the burning System immediately.’

35. After weeping copiously for her husband’s death, an Indian widow who has decided not to burn with her husband, is undressed by two women: her red robe and numerous bracelets are removed. She is washed for purification and then her head is shaved. Miniature, late 17th cent.

36. Commemorative arches in honour of chaste Chinese widows who committed suicide rather than remarry.

37. Chinese models of commemorative arches in honour of women who took their own life after the death of their husband, fiancé or to avoid rape.

38. A young Chinese woman disfigures her face by cutting her hair, ears and nose in order to remain faithful to her dead fiancé.

39. A young woman cuts her finger to draw blood to add to a healing soup (shown in the foreground being heated) for her sick mother-in-law.

40. A Chinese woman prepares to commit suicide.

41. Having mourned for ten days, a widow jumps into a river to drown herself.

42. Marriage of a ‘faithful maiden’ to her dead fiancé (1880).

43. The chaste Mrs Wang as she writes her testament on the rock, in her own blood, before taking her own life.

44. Print by Utagawa Kuniyoshi, showing the Samurai Taira Tomomori, defeated in the naval battle of Dannoura (1185), as he throws himself into the sea tied to a heavy anchor (detail).

45. General Nogi Maresuke on 11 September 1912, a few hours before committing junshi before a photo of the emperor.

46. Nogi Shizuko, his wife, who committed suicide with him.

47. Saigon, 11 June 1963. The Buddhist monk, Quang Duc, set himself alight after being covered with petrol by other monks. He is shown completely calm during this act of protest against the Vietnam regime, Ngo Dinh Diem. (c)AP/PA

48. Sriperumbudur, 21 May 1991. Dhanu exploded the belt of grenades worn under her robe, killing herself, Rajiv Gandhi and a further sixteen people.

49. Karbala, Iraq, October 2007: a failed suicide bomber, photographed with explosives after the incident.

50. A Taleban training camp for aspiring suicide attackers, in a tribal area on the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan, 9 June 2007.

51. A Palestinian boy wearing a belt of explosives during a protest.

52. January 2004. Reem Saleh al-Riyashi, the first female Hamas suicide bomber, who died on the border of Erez. She was the mother of two sons.

53. The Egyptian Mohamed Atta, head of the suicide unit that hijacked an American Airways plane on 11 September 2001 and flew it into the North Tower of the World Trade Center.

54. December 2007. A truck bomb driven by a suicide terrorist exploded in Kabul while a Nato convoy was passing, causing injuries to about a dozen civilians. © AP/PA

55. 7 July 2005. Ambulances at Russell Square tube station, London, after suicide attacks by four young Islamic terrorists caused the death of 52 people and injured 700 others.

First published in Italian as Congedarsi dal mondo. Il suicidio in Occidente e in Oriente © Società editrice Il Mulino, Bologna, 2009

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ISBN-13: 978-0-7456-8042-2

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Barbagli, Marzio, 1938-
[Congedarsi dal mondo. English]
Farewell to the world : a history of suicide / Marzio Barbagli. -- English edition.
pages cm
“First published in Italian as Congedarsi dal mondo : il suicidio in Occidente e in Oriente, Societa Editrice Il Mulino SPA, 2009”--Title page verso.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-7456-6244-2 (hardback) -- ISBN 978-0-7456-6245-9 (paperback) 1. Suicide--History. 2. Suicide--Sociological aspects. I. Title.
HV6545.B24513 2015
362.2809--dc23

2014049462

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A History of Suicide