Cognitive Study of Image Schema and Dying-mind in Tagore’s Near-Death Experience (NDE) Poems
Mohammad Shalauddin, Mohammed Shamsul Hoque, Touhid Bhuiyan
Rupkatha Journal on Interdisciplinary Studies in Humanities August 18, 2017 DOI: 10.21659/rupkatha.v9n2.31 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Selected verses written by Rabindranath Tagore in the last ninety days before his death |
| Topics | Near-death experience |
| Key points | Argues that a self-centered "Dying-mind" governs the type and frequency of image schemas in Tagore's late poems, and that the five Kubler-Ross grief stages—Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, and Acceptance—are present in these near-death poems. Contends that whereas Tagore earlier depicted death with the stature of "Shyam," the late poems present it as "A moving screen of varied fears," a shift the author says supports Kubler-Ross's theory. |
Abstract
This study aims at analyzing image schemas (Johnson, 1987) and stages of grief (Kubler-Ross, 1969) in Tagore's near-death experience (NDE) poems written in the last ninety days before his death.Selected verses of the period in question are analyzed using benchmarks set by Johnson and Kubler-Ross.Relation between the schemas and some linguistic forms, themes and moods of these poems are also analyzed.Findings include Dying-mind is centered to self and influences the type and frequency of all the schemas within it.Similar mental stages of grief-Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression and Acceptance -are also found in the NDE poems.Though death is depicted by Tagore even to the stature of "Shyam" in his earlier poems, it is presented as "A moving screen of varied fears" in the end, which is supported by the theory of Kubler-Ross.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on near-death experience, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Otherworld Journeys: Accounts of Near-Death Experience in Medieval and Modern Times | 1987 | Historical analysis | |
| Neuroscience and the Near-Death Experience: Roles for the NMSA-PCP receptor, the sigma receptor and the endopsychosins | 1990 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Implications of near-death experiences for a postmaterialist psychology. | 2010 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Near-Death Experience as a Probe to Explore (Disconnected) Consciousness | 2020 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Near-death experiences between science and prejudice | 2012 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |