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Linguistically Speaking

How to Die Decently

jiigai

"[Japanese] women have their own ritual suicide, jigai. Here, the wife of Onodera Junai, one of the Forty-seven Ronin, prepares for her suicide; note the legs tied together, a female feature of seppuku to ensure a 'decent' posture in death." (Wikipedia: On Seppuku)

si1ja - 6. Jul, 13:12 2 comments - add comment

barbara... - 12. Jul, 16:49

brrr!

Reminds me of Handke's Wunschloses Unglück (also a woman who kills herself and worries about looking good in death...). *schauder*

si1ja - 13. Jul, 11:45

I guess it is also right up Bronfen's alley - the fascination with the 'beautiful body' (or the 'schöne Leiche')... here I guess it's got an additional (metaphorical) purpose, too: Japanese women were supposed to do this to preserve their honour e.g. when threatened with rape.