MULTIDISCIPLINARNI VIDIKI PREUEEVANJA SMRTI MULTIDISCIPLINARY ASPECTS OF THE STUDY OF DEATH 218 O VSEBINI SUICIDALNIH ZAPISOV SLOVENSKIH SAMOMORILCEV IN POSLOVILNIH PISEM RODOLJUBOV, USTRELJENIH MED DRUGO SVETOVNO VOJNO Robert Oravecz Kljuene besede: smrt, suicidalni zapisi, analiza vsebine, zanikanje, dekonstrukcija Petdeseta in .estdeseta leta na.ega stoletja so bila zlata leta sodobne suicidologije. Shneidman, Farberow, Beck, Ringel, kot tudi mnogi drugi raziskovalci, so bili prvi, ki so prinesli nekaj svetlobe v neraziskano temo presuicidalnega dogajanja. Zahvaljujoe njihovim teoretienim konceptom in empirienim dose.kom je danes .e splo.no sprejeto, da eustva in manifestacije suicidalnega posameznika niso nakljuena. Oeitno je, da presuicidalni proces ka.e jasna pravila in ima doloeene vsebinske elemente. Torej lahko zagotovo reeemo, da obstaja doloeen diskurz suicida, ki se sicer razlikuje od kulture do kulture. Ta suicidni diskurz, v smislu .realnosti, ki se ka.e v obliki znakovnega sistema. (Kézdi, 2) pomeni (v doloeenih okoli.einah) edini mo.en naein govorjenja, razmi.ljanja ali pisanja o samomoru. Suicidolo.ka tradicija doloeene kulture se ka.e skozi semantiene in sintaktie ne dimenzije tega diskurza. Presuicidalni proces torej ne vkljueuje le suicidalnega posameznika, ampak tudi vse .signifikatno. okolje, ki ga obkro.a. .Cry for help. fenomen (iskanje pomoei in podpore pred samomorilnim dejanjem) je dokaz za interpersonalno (konverzacijsko) naravo presuicidalnega procesa. Teoretieni koncepti, ki sta jih razvila Shneidman in Farberow, so v veliki meri prispevali k razvoju doloeenih preventivnih in terapevtskih metod, vendar so se ti koncepti pokazali kot neuspe.ni za pojasnitev nekaterih pomembnih vpra.anj suicidologije. Vseeno so raziskave suicidalnih zapisov zelo pomemben del suicidolo.ke tradicije 70-ih let. Proti koncu 50-ih let sta Shneidman in Farberow konstruirala raziskovalni projekt za primerjanje .pravih. in .simuliranih. suicidalnih zapisov, ki so jih napisali zdravi prostovoljci. Na .alost rezultati teh sicer precej sofisticiranih raziskav niso veliko prispevali k razumevanju pojava samomorilnosti. Drugi avtorji so raziskovali demografske in druge razlike med subpopulacijo samomorilcev, ki so pustili za seboj suicidalne zapise, in tistih, ki tega niso storili. Tudi izsledki teh raziskovalcev so se pokazali nerelevantni. .e najbolj zanimive so bile tiste raziskave, ki so temeljile na analizi vsebin suicidalnih zapisov. Te .tudije so namree nastale pod vplivom teoretienih konceptov in episte Robert Oravecz molo.kih znaeilnosti sodobnih humanistienih znanosti in pomenijo .iritev teh paradigem na podroeje suicidologije. Eden od najbolj kreativnih suicidologov, ki se je posvetil raziskavi suicidalnih zapisov, je vsekakor Antoon Leenaars iz Kanade. Je avtor vee pomembnih .tudij, ki potrjujejo prisotnost doloeenih kontekstualnih elementov in zrcalijo intrapsihiene in medosebne koncepte samomorilnosti. Leenaars je pomemben tudi zato, ker je eden od prvih raziskovalcev, ki so se posvetili transkulturalni analizi dokumentov, ki so povezani s samomorom posameznika. Primerjal je suicidalne zapise iz Kanade, Zdru.enih dr.av in Mad.arske. Suicidologija 80-ih in 90-ih let je prispevala tudi k razvoju kulturnoantropolo.ko utemeljene suicidolo.ke paradigme. Raziskave, ki temeljijo na tovrstni paradigmatski zasnovi, se posveeajo samomorilnim vsebinam, kot se manifestirajo v 220 medijih, v literaturi ter v presuicidalnih fenomenih. Zdi se, da transkulturna primerjava postaja zelo pomembna metoda za razumevanje narave samomorilnosti. Kézdi je bil prvi (mad.arski) suicidolog v zgodnjih 80-ih letih, ki se je posvetil raziskavi jezikoslovnih elementov v besedilih, ki so povezani s samomorilnostjo. Njegova metoda analize vsebine temelji na teoretienih konceptih .jezikovnega vedenja. (language behavior), semiotike in semantike. Vzorec raziskave je vseboval zapise dialogov s samomorilnimi posamezniki, suicidalne zapise in fragmente razlienih besedil, ki so relevantni za samomorilnost. Kontrolni vzorec pa je vseboval zapise intervjujev z nesamomorilnimi posamezniki in besedila, nerelevantna za samomorilnost. Kézdi je identificiral zanikanje kot najbolj relevanten element samomorilnega diskurza. Pomemben del njegove raziskovalne dejavnosti je tudi interpretacija diskurzivne vloge zanikanja v kontekstu kulture in tradicije. Fekete, drugi mad.arski suicidolog, je uporabil Kézdijevo metodo za transkulturalno primerjavo suicidalnih zapisov. Analiziral je mad.arske, nem.ke in angle.ke zapise. Kulturnoantropolo.ko zasnovani suicidolo.ki koncepti (med katere sodi tudi znanstveno delo Kézdija) so se pojavili v 80-ih in 90-ih letih, kot odgovor na pomanjkljivosti moderne suicidologije in suicidolo.ko utemeljenih konceptov. .e omenjene sociolo.ke in psiholo.ke teorije, ki so se pojavile v 60-ih in 70-ih letih, so bile nesposobne zadovoljivo pojasniti razlike v suicidalnosti kulturolo.ko razlienih populacij. Vsekakor pa so te (moderne) teorije prispevale k razvoju novih, interdisciplinarno zasnovanih paradigem, ki so sposobne odgovoriti na zelo pomembna vpra.anja o naravi suicidalnega procesa. Na te koncepte so vplivale lingvistiene teorije in hermenevtiena znanost. Te.i.ee teh raziskav se je premestilo z znaeilnosti suicidalnega posameznika na fenomenologijo samomorilnega procesa, ki se poka.e v samomorilnem diskurzu. Tak.no razmi.ljanje je vsekakor interdisciplinarno in multidisciplinarno ter usmerjeno v medosebni prostor. .Opazovalec. ni vee neodvisna in objektivna oseba, ampak je v easu observacije popolnoma involviran v dogajanja. Hkrati vplivajo nanj jezikovno preneseni elementi .splo.nega dru.benega diskurza.. Kot je namree razvidno iz sodobnih konceptov kulturne antropologije, pripadniki doloeene kulture lahko izpeljejo doloeeno komunikacijsko dejanje o samomorilnosti le v .harmoniji. s splo.nim dru.benim diskurzom. Kézdi in Fekete sta potrdila, da je zanikanje znaeilnost besedil, ki so relevantna za samomorilnost. Zanikanje se lahko ka.e kot element vsebine besedila, vendar ima negacija obenem tudi sintaktieno vlogo znotraj besedila. Veekratno zanikanje (npr. nikoli O vsebini suicidalnih zapisov slovenskih samomorilcev in poslovilnih pisem rodoljubov, ustreljenih . . . ne, niti ne itd.) je npr. prisotno prav tako v slovenskem kot tudi v mad.arskem jeziku, ne le v govorjenju suicidalno ogro.enega posameznika. Iz kulturnoantropolo.kega zornega kota je smiselno predvsem odgovoriti na vpra.anje .Kaj je namen pisanja suicidalnega zapisa in kak.en je pomen tovrstnih besedil?. Primerjanje suicidalnih zapisov s poslovilnimi pismi nesamomorilnih posameznikov je metoda, ki se lahko izka.e kot uspe.na v razre.evanju zgoraj omenjenih ugank. Slovenska raziskava, namenjena preueevanju suicidalnih zapisov, je primerjala 50 tovrstnih besedil napisanih v slovenskem jeziku, s 45 poslovilnimi pismi slovenskih rodoljubov, ki so bili ustreljeni med drugo svetovno vojno. Suicidalne zapise je zbrala policije v letu 1994, poslovilna pisma pa so bila izbrana po nakljueju iz javno dosegljive zbirke tovrstnih besedil. Po preliminarnem branju teh besedil je avtor ustvaril sistem 221 kriterijev, ki so se pokazali uporabni za detekcijo in interpretacijo psiholo.kih, semantienih in semiotienih znaeilnosti obeh vzorcev. Ti kriteriji zrcalijo doloeena intuitivna prieakovanja avtorja glede relevantnosti doloeenih variabel, vendar obenem zrcalijo tudi pozitivno tradicijo vee suicidolo.kih teorij. Poslovilna pisma rodoljubov Kot je to razvidno iz predstavljene raziskave, so poslovilna pisma talcev kazala precej homogen vzorec. Vsi ti spisi so pribli.no enako dolgi, vsebujejo iste strukturne in vsebinske elemente, izra.ajo podobna eustva itd. Veeina poslovilnih pisem je dolgih od 60 do 80 besed. Skoraj vsa so naslovljena na eno ali vee znanih oseb in se koneajo s frazo poslovitve in s podpisom. Prvi stavek pisma po pravilu sporoea dejstvo, da je avtor obsojen na smrt oz. da bo usmreen. Emocionalna vsebina se deli na izraze ljubezni in krivde. Krivda se veeinoma pojavi v kontekstu trpljenja, ki ga je avtor pisma povzroeil svojim bli.njim s svojimi preteklimi dejanji. Avtor po tem velikokrat prosi za odpu.eanje ali se tega odpoveduje z izrazom .kako ni potrebno .alovati za njim.. Veeina izjav, ki tvorijo poslovilna pisma (kar 60 %), se nana.a na avtorja oz. na naslovnika. Zanimivo je le, da pri tem uporabljajo relativno malo osebnih zaimkov. Kar precej izjav (20 %) se ukvarja z odnosi med avtorji in naslovniki. Ti odnosi se poka.ejo tudi skozi naravo avtorefleksij in refleksij. V kar 40 % vseh poslovilnih pisem se avtorji vidijo v negativni luei, vendar naslovnike skoraj vedno poka.ejo v pozitivni luei. Zanikanja se po navadi nana.ajo na zanikanje trpljenja avtorja ali na zanikanje namernosti v trpljenju, ki ga je domnevno povzroeil svojim bli.njim. Vee kot 60 % poslovilnih pisem vsebuje eno ali vee neposrednih izrazov za smrt ali umiranje. Odgovornost za smrt se omenja zelo redko, ee pa .e se, potem le v smislu nepredvidljive usode, ki se je .poigrala. z .rtvijo. Na podlagi opisanih znaeilnosti se poka.e, da poslovilna pisma rodoljubov enakomerno nosijo informativne izjave (o usmrtitvi, o zapu.eini, o prisotnih osebah itd.) kot tudi .vljudnostne. izjave, ki temeljijo na doloeeni lojalnosti, pripadnosti ali na gestah .dobre volje.. S pozitivno in z negativno samorefleksijo avtorji poslovilnih pisem sporoeajo, da se zavedajo relevance splo.nega dru.benega diskurza in da imajo svoje (odporni.ko) delovanje za deviantno (v smislu greha ali napake). Na ta naein se pravzaprav odrekajo pravici do .svoje. resnice. Iz tega lahko sklepamo ne le na to, da so (pred Robert Oravecz vsem mlaj.i ljudje) svojo konspirativno dejavnost opravljali proti volji svojih dru.in ali skupnosti, temvee tudi na to, da so se kar precej zavedali gorja, ki so ga povzroeali svojim bli.njim. Iz .e opisanih znaeilnosti poslovilnih pisem jasno izhaja, da je veeina teh spisov namenjena rekonstrukciji odnosov med avtorjem in skupnostjo. Iz podatkov o stopnji negativne avtorefleksije lahko sklepamo, da so se avtorji v precej visokem odstotku zavedali svoje pozicije .outsiderja. glede na diskurz dru.ine, skupnosti oz. dru.be. K tem stali.eem je zagotovo prispeval tudi proces sankcioniranja odporni.kega vedenja. Sankcije, nesorazmerne .krivdi., so spremenile pomen manj.ih ali veejih odporni.kih dejanj. Oeitno se je veeina avtorjev prepoznala kot kr.itelji doloeenih pravil. Poslovilna 222 pisma lahko torej razumemo kot dejanja ponovnega povezovanja s skupnostjo, ki daje gotovost pripadnosti doloeeni kulturi oz. tradiciji. Tovrstna dejanja verjetno prispevajo k zlivanju individualnega Selfa s kolektivnim. Na ta naein omogoeajo neko vrsto varnosti, ki je potrebna, da bi pogledali smrti v oei, kar se ka.e tudi v mo.nosti verbalizacije teh besed oz. v integraciji ideje minljivosti. K integraciji smrti v diskurz poslovilnih pisem je verjetno prispevalo tudi sprejemanje religioznega verovanja v obstoj .onstranskega. .ivljenja. Na ta naein se namree poka.e perspektiva, ki se v nekaterih pismih zrcali v izjavah, ee. da smrt pomeni sreeanje s sorodniki, znanci. Suicidalni zapisi Interpretacija poslovilnih pisem rodoljubov je zaradi precej.nje homogenosti vzorca dokaj preprosta. Podobne ugotovitve namree veljajo skoraj za vse. Suicidalne zapise bi bilo precej te.ko interpretirati na podoben naein, .e zaradi tega, ker je vzorec poslovilnih pisem precej nehomogen. To se izra.a tako v strukturnih raznolikostih kot tudi v vsebini zapisov. Suicidalne zapise slovenskih samomorilcev je mo.no razvrstiti na podlagi vee vzorcev. Iz podatkov, ki govorijo za .usmerjenost. besedil lahko razberemo, da kar 60% zapisov vsebuje izjave informativne vsebine, ki izra.ajo sporoeila samomorilca glede pogreba, zapu.eine oz. nahajali.ea posmrtnih ostankov. Suicidalni zapisi torej velikokrat funkcionirajo kot oporoke. Nekatere so podpisale tudi priee, iz eesar je mogoee sklepati, da posameznik takrat .e ni verbaliziral svojih samomorilnih namenov. Oporoke, sporoeila itd. sledijo strukturnim znaeilnostim in vsebinam tovrstnih besedil nesamomorilnih avtorjev. Ti zapisi kar precej odstopajo od zapisov, ki ka.ejo veejo relevantnost za presuicidalno dogajanje. Presuicidalni diskuz se oeitno ne manifestira v jasnih skriptih suicidalnih zapisov. Vendar iz nekaterih fragmentov lahko razberemo doloeene mehanizme, vzorce, kot tudi smisel posameznih besedil. Tovrstno delo namree ustreza logiki hermenevtiene raziskave, ki temelji na razumevanju drobcev, ki potem prispevajo k razumevanju celote, kar pa prispeva k razumevanju delov. V tem kro.enju tudi sama interpretacija predstavlja le ..tacijo. spoznavanja in razumevanja, ki se samoumevno nikoli ne konea. Iz primerjave s poslovilnimi pismi je razvidno, da so suicidalni zapisi manj znaeilno usmerjeni in vezani za doloeeno osebo (osebe) v vlogi naslovnika. To dejstvo podpira tudi pomanjkanje poslovilnih fraz in podpisov vsaj v polovici zapisov. Medtem ko je zgradba poslovilnih pisem ro O vsebini suicidalnih zapisov slovenskih samomorilcev in poslovilnih pisem rodoljubov, ustreljenih . . . doljubov precej .uniformna., pri suicidalnih zapisih ni mo.no zaslediti doloeenega vzorca. Manjko naslovnika in podpisa ru.i trojno zgradbo besedila, tako znaeilno za poslovilna pisma. Suicidalni zapisi pogosto dajejo vtis, da so v pisni obliki nadaljevani monologi, vodeni v prisotnosti ali odsotnosti poslu.alcev. Pisna oblika suicidalnih zapisov .e bolj ustvarja vtis dokonenosti in nespremenljivosti. Mad.arska suicidolo.ka tradicija izpostavlja pomembnost zanikanj kot statistieno .trdih. znaeilnosti suicidalnega diskurza. V slovenskem vzorcu se je potrdila znaeilnost visoke stopnje zanikanja v suicidalnem .znakovnem sistemu.. Pravzaprav se znaeilni suicidalni zapisi lahko loeijo od manj znaeilnih (testamenti, sporoeila o nahajali.eu posmrtnih ostankov itd.) po tem, da ti vsebujejo manj zanikanj kot tudi manj osebnih zaimkov, ki se nana.ajo na avtorja - samomorilca oz. na .signifikantne. osebe iz okolja, 223 ki niso nujno naslovniki. Kot je razvidno iz podatkov, se zanikanja pojavijo pribli.no v tretjini vseh izjav. Znaeilno je tudi to, da je razlika med .tevilom izjav, ki se nana.ajo na naslovnika oz. avtorja, in .tevilom osebnih zaimkov veliko manj.a kot pri poslovilnih pismih talcev. Iz tega lahko sklepamo, da je poudarjena uporaba osebnih zaimkov precej relevantna za suicidalni diskurz in je precej pogosto povezana z zanikanji. V poslovilnih pismih talcev se namree zanikanja po navadi nana.ajo na zanikanje trpljenja avtorja ali na zanikanje namernosti v domnevno povzroeenem trpljenju. Za suicidalne zapise to ni znaeilno, znotraj-tekstovno funkcijo zanikanj lahko zasledimo na vee vzorcih. Pomen zanikanja je v tem, da: -zanika dejstva, na katerih sloni mnenje drugih oseb o samomorilcu; -ugotov nerazumavanje s strani okolja; -zanika prej preferirana dejstva; -zanika mo.nosti sprememb; -naznani nezmo.nost .ivljenja. Zanikanje ima pogosto namen dekonstruirati realnost, zgrajeno na doloeenem .sistemu verovanj., ki je interpersonalno in kulturno utemeljen. Zanikanje je torej zelo pomembno orodje samomorilnega diskurza. Je naein, s pomoejo katerega je mogoee ambivalentnost spremeniti v doloeeno obliko gotovosti. Ambivalenca namree pomeni pomembno komponento kriznega in presuicidalnega dogajanja. Koincidence okoli.ein in preteklih osebnih izku.enj lahko spremenijo gotovost vsakdanjega .ivljenja v negotovost in rahljanje sistema pomenov, ki .ve.ejo. posameznika v splet odnosov in realnosti. V tem obdobju je v sredi.eu pozornosti problem prihodnost v smislu .Kaj bo z mano. ali .Kako bom .ivel v prihodnje...?. S easovnim potekom suicidalne krize upanje v prihodnost kopni, s eimer se do neznosnosti poveeuje stopnja anksioznosti. Vsem suicidologom je dobro znano dejstvo, da se samomorilci pred samomorilnim dejanjem velikokrat spremenijo. Na dan samomora ali kak.en dan prej postanejo umirjeni, poglobljeni in gotovi vase. Glede na eas nastajanja bi lahko suicidalni zapisi predstavljali pisne odtise tega stanja. Zanikanje je izredno priroeno sredstvo za hitro in ueinkovito dekonstrukcijo realnosti. Izjava v smislu .Mene nikoli nihee ni ljubil. je pravzaprav idealen vzorec, kako Robert Oravecz se izogniti dvomu v pomene, ki izhajajo iz aktualnih ali osebno-historienih povezav s svetom. Na novo odkrita .Realnost. samomorilca, ki temelji na tovrstnih negativnih sklepih, postane zagotovo trdna in nedotakljiva za ves zunanji svet. Vendar na ta naein ni mogoee ustvariti realnosti, ki bi prenesla izku.njo prihodnosti. Tako nastalo stanje se lahko imenuje .stanje odklopljenosti. ali .disconnectedness., referenene vezi in odnosi s .signifikantnim. okoljem so namree pretrgani. Simbolieno je mogoee tak.en konstrukt primerjati s sredi.eem hurikana, v katerem vladata bla.en mir in ti.ina, vendar brez prihodnosti, .svoboda. in .prihodnost. sta namree na drugi strani neprehodnega viharnega prstana. Te predstave se precej ujemajo z ugotovitvami Becka (23), ki trdi, da je izguba zaupanja v prihodnost bolj rele224 vantna za samomorilnost kot manifestna depresivnost oz. .alost posameznika. LITERATURA BECK A.T. et al.: JAMA dec. 15 1975 Vol. 234 No11 L: 1148. DURKHEIM E. (1967): Az öngyilkosság, Közgazdasági és Jogi Kiadó 1982. GEERTZ C.: Az értelmezés hatalma Századvég kiadó 1994. KÉZDI B.: Kódolási útmutató - kézirat 1986. KÉZDI B.: Öngyilkosság, nyelvi kommunikáció, kultura - Disertacija 1990. KÉZDI B.: Önpusztitás és lelki egészség. V.: Devianciák Magyarországon Közélet 1994. KÉZDI B.: A negativ kód, Pannonia könyvek 1995. LEENAARS A., LESTER D.: The Significance of the Method Chosen for Suicide in Understanding the Psychodynamics of the Suicidal Individua, Omega 19 (4) 311-314, 1988-89. LEENAARS A.: Suicide Notes, New York Human Sciences Press 1988. LEENAARS A.: Suicide Notes from Canada and the United States, Perceptua land Motor Skills 74, 278. LEENAARS A., FEKETE S., WENCKSTERN S., OSVATH P.: Suicide Notes from Hungary and the United States (rokopis). LESTER D.: Accuracy of recognition of genuine versus simulated suicide, Personality and Individual Differences, 1991, 12, 765-766. LESTER D.: Reliability of Naive Jugdes of Genuine Suicide Notes, Perceptual and Motor Skills 1991 73, 942. LUNAEEK M.: Etienost retrogradnih .tudij samomora - Rokopis 1987. MILEINSKI L.: Samomor in Slovenci, Ljubljana 1983. MILEINSKI L.: Psiholo.ka avtopsija da ali ne - (Misli k razmi.ljanjem M. Lunaeka), Ljubljana 1988. O.DONNEL I., Farmer R., Catalan J. (1993): Suicide Notes, British Journal of Psychiatry 163, 45-48. OSVÁTH P., FEKETE S., TIRINGER I. (1996): Szuicidium és szöveg, Addict. Hun. IV. évf. 1. sz. 5-13. POSLOVILNA pisma .rtev za svobodo. SHEIDMAN E., FARBEROW N. (1957): Clues to suicide, New York Mc Graw . Hill. TUCKMAN J., KLEINER R., LAWELL M.: Emotional Content of Suicide Notes, Am. J. Psych. 1959 116, 59-63. TUCKMAN J., KLEINER R., LAWELL M.: Credibility of the Suicide Notes, Am. J. Psych. 1960 116, 1104-1106. WEINTRAUB E.: Verbal behaviour: Adaptation nad Psychopathology, Springer V. New York 1981. ON THE CONTENTS OF SUICIDE NOTES AND THE FAREWELL LETTERS OF PATRIOTS, EXECUTED DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR Robert Oravecz Keywords: death, suicide notes, content analysis, negation, deconstruction The 60.s and the 70.s were the .golden era. of the modern suicidology. Shneidman, Farberow, Beck, Ringel and many others were the first researchers, who brought some light into the darkness of the presuicidal process. According to their theoretical concepts and empirical findings, today it is evident, that the feelings and expressions of the suicidal individuals are not arbitrary. The presuicidal process reflects some important rules and contents. It seems that the existence of a suicide discourse, (which differs from culture to culture), is obvious. The suicide discourse, in a sense of a .reality, expressing in signs. (Kézdi, 2) represents (in some circumstances) the only way of talking, thinking and writing about suicide. The tradition of the suicidogenity of a certain culture is occurring through the semantic, pragmatic and syntactic dimensions of the discourse. The presuicidal process involves the potential suicidal individual, and all the .significant. environment around him. The phenomenon of the .Cry for Help. (looking for help and support before committing suicide) is an evidence for the interpersonal (conversational) nature of the presuicidal process. The theoretical concepts of Shneidman and Farberow contributed to the development of some preventive and therapeutic methods, but they were unable to answer some very important questions of suicidology. The researches found out that the suicide notes are an important part of the suicidological tradition of the 70.s. At the late 50.s, Shneidman and Farberow constructed a scientific project to compare genuine suicide notes to the simulated ones, written by healthy volunteers. The result of the research was poorly relevant to the understanding of the suicide phenomenon. Other authors examined the difference between the subpopulations of suicide committing individuals, who left suicide notes behind and those, who did not. Those results were irrelevant also. The most interesting studies were those, based on the content analysis of the suicide notes. They reflect the influence of the theoretical concepts and the epistemology of the contemporary humanistic sciences on the research of the suicide notes. Robert Oravecz One of the most creative suicidologists, working in the field of the suicide notes is Antoon Leenaars from Canada. He is the author of many important studies, which consider the presence of some textual elements, reflecting the intra- and interpersonal concepts of the suicide. Leenaars is important also, because he was one of the first researchers, working in the field of the transcultural analysis of the documents, relevant to the suicide. He compared suicide notes from Canada and United States and from Canada and Hungary. The suicidology of the 80.s and 90.s developed a cultural.anthropologically based paradigm also. This kind of studies discovered the appearance of the suicide.related contents in presuicidal manifestations, in media and in literature. The transcultural comparison seem to be very important method in the understanding 226 of the nature of the suicidal behaviour. Kézdi was the first (Hungarian) suicidologist in the early 80.s, who studied the linguistic elements of the suicide relating texts. He made a content analysis, based on the theoretical concepts of language behaviour, semiotics and semantics. The sample of his research contained transcrited interviews, made with suicidal individuals, suicide notes and fragments of texts, relevant to suicide. The control sample contained interviews with non suicidal people and texts, irrelevant to suicidal manifestations. He identified the negation, (denial) as the most relevant element of the entire suicide discourse. An important part of his work was the interpretation of the discursive role of the denial from the viewpoint of the culture and tradition. Fekete, another Hungarian suicidologists used the method of Kézdi for transcultural comparison of the suicide notes. He compared Hungarian, German and English notes. The cultural-anthropologically based suicidological concepts increased in the 80.s and 90.s like the answer to the deficiency of the »modern«, sociologically and psychologically determined concepts. Namely, the above mentioned sociological and psychological concepts of the 60.s and 70.s were unable to sufficiently interpret the difference in suicidality of culturally different populations. But they supported the development of a new, interdisciplinary based paradigm which is able to answer very important questions about the presuicidal process. Those concepts are influenced by linguistic theories and hermeneutics. The viewpoint of the researchers changed from the suicidal individuals to the phenomenology of the suicidal process which appears in suicide.related discourse. This kind of view is certainly inter- and multidisciplinary based, oriented into the dimension of the interpersonal space. The »observer« is not an outstanding and »objective« person, but he is at the time of the observation completely involved in the situation and influenced by the language transmitted elements of the »main discourse«. According to the theoretical concepts of the contemporary cultural anthropology, the members of a culture are able to constitute a communicative act on suicide just in harmony with the relevant discourse, which contains the elements of »how«, »whom«, »when« and »why«. Kézdi and Fekete confirmed the role of the denial like a »hard« marker of the texts, relevant to the suicide. The denial (negation) can be imagined like an element of the content, but at the same time the negation has a syntactic function also. For example, the presence of the multiple negation is specific to some Middle-European cultures On the Contents of Suicide Notes and the Farewell Letters of Patriots, Executed during the Second World War with high suicidal rate, like Hungary and Slovenia, not just to some suicidal individuals, belonging to those cultures. From the viewpoint of the cultural anthropology it seems very important to answer the question: »What is the intention of someone writing a suicide note and what is the meaning of those kind of texts?« The comparison of suicide notes and leave . taking notes of some non- suicidal individuals seems to be a successful way to answer this questions. The Slovene study on suicide notes compared the sample of 50 suicide notes and 45 leave.taking notes of patriots, executed at the time of the second world war, written in the Slovene language by members of the Slovene culture. The suicide notes were collected by the police in 1994, and the notes, written in the Slovene language were included in the sample. The leave.taking notes were published in a collection and those, included in the 227 research-sample were chosen randomly. After the preliminary reading of the texts, author created a system of criteria for reflection and interpretation of the psychological, semantic, semiotical significance of both samples. The questionnaire, used in research was developed on the ground of some intuitive expectations to the relevance of certain variables, but they reflect the tradition of many suicidological theories also. The leave.taking notes of patriots The leave.taking notes of patriots are a very homogenous sample, according to the length, formal structure and the dominantly expressed feelings. The leave.taking notes contain 60 to 80 words in average. Almost all of the notes were addressed to one or more (identified) persons. At the and of the notes there is a kind of a leave.taking phrase and a signature of the author. Almost all of the notes contain an information about the expected execution of the author. (In a sense of »being killed«.) The emotional content of the notes reflects the expression of »love« and »guilt«. The »guilt« appears in the context of pain, caused by the author to they relatives, (by his illegal activity, seen from the viewpoint of the enemy.) The author very often begs for pardon or denies the need for compassion of the relatives. The leave.taking notes contain a great amount of utterances, (60% of all) relating to the author or to the addressee. Twenty percent of the utterances contain information, relating to the relationship between the authors and their relatives. The nature of the reflections and autoreflections is also indicating the perception of the relation between the author and the »significant other«. The negative autoreflection of the authors is present in 40% of the leave-taking notes. The majority of the authors reflect the .significant other. positively. The negation is very often used to deny pain or fear of the author, or to deny the intention of causing suffering and pain to the significant others. More than 60% of the notes contain one or more direct expressions of death and dying. The responsibility for the early and cruel death of the authors is not often mentioned. If it is, than it is in the sense of a destiny. The leave.taking notes contain utterances with informative values (about the execution, the testament, the significant others etc.) but many phrases with polite content also. This utterances speak about loyalty and .good will.. Listening to the narratives of the leave.taking notes becomes clear, that the conspirative patriotic activity was not a Robert Oravecz value for the majority of the (almost rural) population standing behind the authors of the leave.taking notes. The fear from consequences often divided the members of the same family. To join the patriot movement meant being different in the sense of rejecting the traditional values of the family and community. The main characteristics of the notes, for example the positive reflection (of the others) and the negative autoreflection (of the authors) suggest an intent of reaccepting the belief system, relevant to the main population by the authors of the leave.taking notes. That means also rejecting the appurtenance to the discourse of the patriot movement, to which they belonged before. The cause of the rejection are probably the feelings of guilt and the irrelevance of their belief system in the circumstances of expecting 228 the execution. The main reason for writing leave.taking notes is probably an attempt to reconstruct the original relationship between the authors and their families. The act of confession (in the sense of accepting one.s own mistake) may be seen like an act of reconciliation. The result of reconciliation is the harmonisation of the individual with the family and community, what is necessary to accept the cruel fact of death. The death was seen by the authors of the leave.taking notes like a chance to join some family or community members expired before. The acts of harmonisation probably cause confluence of the individual and the collective Self, resulting in the feelings of individual safetiness and in the possibility to integrate the idea and the experience of transience. The belief into the life after death is an important fact in the process of integrating the death, but not the only one. The harmony, reestablished between the individual and the community gives a feeling of immortality to the authors of leave.taking notes. Suicide notes The interpretation of the suicide notes seems more difficult, because of their structural and content inhomogeneity. The sample of the Slovene suicide notes contains various types of texts, according to the length, structure, expressed emotion etc. More than 60% of all notes contain utterances, expressing information about the funeral, the last will of the author or about the location of the corpse. Some suicide notes are identified like testaments. Some of those texts are irrelevant to the suicide of the individual, because they were sometimes written before the increasing of the presuicidal process. The testaments and messages are structured like the same texts of nonsuicidal individuals and they differ from the suicide notes, because they are more relevant suicide process. From the other hand, it is clear, that the discourse of suicide is not manifested through some clear scripts. The relevant meanings are hidden in some fragments of the suicide notes. The discovery of those fragments is the hermeneutic way of understanding. The hermeneutic circle is built up from the process of comprehension of the partial, which contribute to the understanding of the whole etc. Certain interpretation is just a station in the never ending process of understanding. Comparing the leave.taking and the suicide notes, it becomes evident, that the suicide texts are less oriented toward the addressee. The lack of leave.taking phrase and the signature supports this statement. The structure of the leave.taking notes is On the Contents of Suicide Notes and the Farewell Letters of Patriots, Executed during the Second World War more .uniform., the suicide notes do not contain specific structural elements. The lack of utterances, introducing the addressee and the lack of the signature at the and of the text destroys the trisequent structure, characteristic of the structure of the leave. taking notes. The suicide notes often look like a monologue, written in the absence of the audience. The written form of the suicide notes gives an impression of termination and unchangeability. The Hungarian suicidological tradition often accentuate the role of the denial as very important and statistically .hard. determinant of the suicide discourse. The research, made on the Slovene sample of the suicide notes confirmes the highly significant presence of the utterances, containing denials. The less relevant suicide texts (testaments, last wills, notes of funerals etc) contains less utterances, expressing denial. 229 Among the sample of suicide notes, the denial is present in the one third of all utterances. The narrative function of the negation (denial) is different from those, described in leave.taking notes. The role of denial is multiple: -denial of facts, which are important for the opinion of the significant others about the author -denial of facts, preferred before -denial of the possibility of changes -declaring the absurdity of life -declaring the rejectedness from the significant others. The main role of denial seems to be the deconstruction of reality, which is culturally and interpersonally determined. The deconstruction of reality is a process, strongly connected with the presuicidal crisis. The coincidence of the destructive and stressful circumstances and the personal experiences of the individual can initiate the process, which leads to the destruction of everyday feelings of safety, based on harmony of the meanings. The ambivalence is in some way the expression of the distorted harmony of the meanings between the individual and the environment, resulting in the indecisiveness of the suicidal person. The ambivalence is strongly connected to the changed, foreshortened perception of the future in a way of .what will happen with me in the future.? When the crisis is deepening, the negative perception of the possible future is even more dominant and the auxiety of the individual is increasing. The denial is an important weapon of the suicide discourse. Namely, the denial is a way to change the ambivalence into a special kind of .safetiness.. An utterance, for example: .Nobody, ever loved me,. seem to be the perfect model for the understanding the process of reality deconstruction. Ambivalence suggests the hesitation between the .loves me or loves me not. . for example. This kind of hesitation is sometimes the source of the anxiety of suicidal individuals. Solving the ambivalence in the above-mentioned way, the individual might construct a new reality, which reduces anxiety and makes him virtually safe in front of doubt regarding the interpersonally based feelings. The process of deconstruction causes the tearing of the referential connections between the individual and the social discourse, producing the state of disconnectedness. Robert Oravecz Sometimes, several hours or days before the act of suicide, the potentially suicidal persons changed the behaviour. They often became relaxed and more communicative than before. The suicide notes are probably the written impressions of those periods. The problem with the deconstruction of the interpersonally and culturally based reality is the elimination of the future. Namely, the deconstructed reality can not give a positive perception of the future. The disconnected individual is virtually safe and relaxed, but the freedom and the future is unattainable to him. Metaphorically, the position of the individual is just like at the .eye. of the hurricane. Safe, but without future. 230 BIBLIOGRAPHY see page 224 BESEDA O AVTORJU Robert Oravecz, dr. med., rojen v Vojvodini kot pripadnik mad.arske manj.ine. Medicinsko fakulteto je koneal na Mad.arskem. Od leta 1988 .ivi v Sloveniji. .tudiral je filozofijo in diskurzivne znanosti, dokoneal je specializacijo psihiatrije. Od 1995 .ivi v Ormo.u, sicer pa je na doktorskem .tudiju na Medicinski fakulteti v Budimpe.ti. Ukvarja se s problematiko travme, .rtev in beguncev kot tudi z adiktologijo in suicidologijo. Objavil je vee elankov iz omenjenih tem in sodeluje na nacionalnih in mednarodnih znanstvenih sreeanjih. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Robert Oravecz, M.D., was born in Voivodina as a Hungarian minority member. He graduated from Med. School in Hungary. Since 1988 he has been living in Slovenia, where he has been studying philosophy, discourse studies and has got a certificate in psychiatry also. Since 1995 he has been living in Ormo.. He is also a Ph.D. student at Medical University of Budapest. Robert Oravecz is interested in the field of psychotrauma, victimhood and refugees, also in addictology and suicidology. He has many publications on related topics and he has participated at many national and international scientific congresses.