Papers by Mert Başoğlu
Conference Presentations by Mert Başoğlu
This paper is intended as a personal inquiry on how the idea of immortality, necroaesthetics, and... more This paper is intended as a personal inquiry on how the idea of immortality, necroaesthetics, and the concept of an afterlife came to be. We, as humans, are social and emotional beings. We create highly complex social circles and bond with one another in a close way. Thus, when we are grief-stricken after losing a beloved friend, partner, family member or a pet animal, we confide in the idea of immortality in the sense of 'an afterlife'. The magnitude of death is incomprehensible to us. In comparison to the infinite size and continuum of our universe, our individual existence is like fairy lights reflecting on glass; we suddenly pop up into existence and fade away in a measly second. Therefore, we have come up with various methods and belief systems in order to maintain our ontological security and change our perception of death. I will be drawing on certain literary materials, and Sir James George Frazer's Man, God and Immortality, in which he says: "Of all the many forms which natural religion has assumed none probably has exerted so deep and far-reaching an influence on human life as the belief in immortality and the worship of the dead." By the same token, we aestheticize and immortalize the dead. While its depiction differs among metaphysical models, most belief systems bring forward the idea that death is not the end of our existence. Some of us believe in an afterlife while some of us believe in reincarnation of the soul. Also, another related theme is necroaesthetics. We find a certain aesthetic appreciation in death. There are such examples as taxidermy, the art of preparing, stuffing, and mounting dead animals for decoration, or beautifully decorated funerary urns. Furthermore, this appreciation reflects in our works of art, i.e. John Keats' Ode on a Grecian Urn, or various sculptures and paintings, for which various images and information are provided in the presentation file.
Uploads
Papers by Mert Başoğlu
Conference Presentations by Mert Başoğlu