THE PSYCHOLOGY OF DEATH IN FANTASY AND HISTORY This page intentionally left blank THE PSYCHOLOGY OF DEATH rN FANTASY AND HISTORY Edited by Jerry S. Piven PRAEGER Westport, Connecticut London Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data The psychology of death in fantasy and history / edited by Jerry S. Piven. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-275-98178-9 (alk. paper) 1. Death—Psychological aspects—History. 2. Fantasy—History. I. Piven, Jerry S. BF789.D4P79 2004 155.9'37—dc22 2003062438 British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data is available. Copyright © 2004 by Jerry S. Piven All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, by any process or technique, without the express written consent of the publisher. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 2003062438 ISBN: 0-275-98178-9 First published in 2004 Praeger Publishers, 88 Post Road West, Westport, CT 06881 An imprint of Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc. www.praeger.com Printed in the United States of America The paper used in this book complies with the Permanent Paper Standard issued by the National Information Standards Organization (Z39.48-1984). 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 21 To Byrne Piven Actor, Poet, Father, and Uncle Who faced death with rarest courage This page intentionally left blank Contents Acknowledgments ix Introduction: Approaching Death 1 Jerry S. Piven 1 Death, Fantasy, and the Politics of Self-Destruction 13 Siamak Movahedi 2 Buddhism, Death, and the Feminine 37 Jerry S. Piven 3 Uncanny Dolls: Images of Death in Rilke and Freud 71 Eva-Maria Simms 4 Death, Fantasy, and Religious Transformations 87 Benjamin Beit-Hallahmi 5 Europe's Culture of Death 119 Rudolph Binion 6 Creativity and Death in Psychoanalysis 137 Hans-Jurgen Wirth 7 The Idol and the Idolizers: Ernest Becker's Theory of Expanded Transference as a Tool for Historical Criticism and Interpretation with an Addendum on Transference and Terrorism 163 Daniel Liechty viii CONTENTS 8 Thoughts for the Times on Terrorism, War, and Death 177 Hans-Jurgen Wirth 9 Love, Separation, and Death in a Japanese Myth 203 Yuko Katsuta 10 Fundamentalism, Defilement, and Death 219 George Victor 11 Death, Neurosis, and Normalcy: On the Ubiquity of Personal and Social Delusions 245 Jerry S. Piven 12 Unveiling Mexican Cultural Essences: Death and Spirituality 267 Luz Maria Solloa Garcia 13 Adaptive Insights into Death Anxiety 275 Robert Langs 14 Laughing at Death 291 NeilJ.Elgee Index 311 About the Editor and Contributors 321 Acknowledgments Sincere thanks are owed those who encouraged and facilitated this anthology without desire for fame or financial reward. I would also like to express my gratitude to Debora Carvalko of Praeger Press for her patience and generosity Of course, I will always thank most my dear wife Miyoko for her love, intelligence, fortitude, assistance, and sense of humor.