Death and dying as war experience in the war-diary Doberdo. Death and dying as war experience in the war-diary Doberdo
Death and dying as war experience in the war-diary Doberdo. Death and dying as war experience in the war-diary Doberdo

Summary/Abstract: This paper will examine how the horrors of the First World War influenced the tradition of mourning and the dealing with the deceased. The author of this paper analyses this on the basis of a literary source, a diary of a Hungarian officer who was fighting at Doberdo, Italy. Death and Dying are rather extensive subjects which can be examined from a completely different point of view. In order to narrow down this huge topic and to provide the examination with a logical course, the author made a model under which aspects death, dying and mourning appear in the diary. In case of death the following aspects can be found: the expectation of death, dying of heroes and the experience of killing; in terms of cemeteries and funerals there are also detailed descriptions; and last but not least how mourning is featured in the diary. At the end of the analysis of this war-diary it can be concluded that the demand of man to bury the deceased and to mourn over them is not diminished, even in case of war, where death and dying became a mass phenomenon.

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