Conceptualizing "Death" in Children's Books: Based on Pragmatic Schemas

Document Type : Scientific- research

Author

Master of ,Children ̓s and Young Adults ̓ Literature, Payame Noor University, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

Deploying pragmatic schemas is contingent on the given situational and utilitarian context. This research aims to categorize the pragmatic schemas under the conceptual framework of "death." The research's purview includes narratives that ponder the notion of death within age groups "B" and "C" (+7 & +10). Each narrative is a tangible scenario for eliciting the schema associated with death. Through a blend of descriptive and analytical methods, this study probes the influence of a narrative's contextual backdrop in molding and eliciting the death schema. The study delineates seven pragmemes defining the concept of death: self-annihilation, homicide, thanatophobia, evasion of death, suspended death, mourning, and natural death. Given the inherently abstract and philosophical nature of the concept of "dying," which typically triggers adverse emotional responses, the mode of its communication to a youthful audience has, historically, been a matter of debate. The findings indicate that stories can utilize various pragmatic schemas to generate a secure environment for the assimilation of life's distressing events, like "death." In a pioneering exploration, this document delves into the study of thanatology within children's literature.
Keywords: Children's Story, Cognitive Linguistic, Schema, Conceptualization, thanatology, death.
Introduction
This study explores how narratives for children portray the concept of death. Using categories, conceptual metaphors, and schemas serves as three fundamental analytical instruments to probe into such conceptualizations. This paper explicitly employs schemas—particularly pragmatic schemas—to scrutinize the representations of "death."
The essence of pragmatic schemas lies in their role as foundational structures guiding the interpretation of meaning in linguistic interactions. These schemas are hierarchically associated with speech acts, pragmemes, and practs.
Pragmemes are identified as core, universal, and context-dependent exemplars of pragmatic acts, which are realized in one or more distinct contexts (Mey, 2010: 2884). Practs are the concrete realizations or particular instances of pragmemes (Sharifian, 2019: 63).
Research Methodology
An extensive review of scholarly sources has shaped this analytical-descriptive study with a schema-centered approach. Out of one hundred and eighty storybooks targeted at "B" and "C" age categories, forty-three texts were found to explicitly integrate concepts related to contemplating death.
Discussion and Analysis
1- Self-destruction
These pragmemes interpret the notion of self-inflicted demise not as an occurrence that seeks out the protagonist but as a choice that the protagonist willingly makes. In certain narratives, self-inflicted demise stems from profound love rather than ennui, meaning the protagonist opts for death driven by the intensity of their affection.
2- Homicide
As outlined by these pragmemes, the narrative's protagonist deliberately kills other characters (with a reminder that this investigation attributes significance to the protagonist for the purpose of conceptualization, not to the secondary characters).
In such narratives, acts of deliberate killing by the hero are often driven by a desire for retribution, yet these acts are not confined to personal vendettas nor limited to individual circumstances. Within anti-war narratives, the killing transforms from an individual act to a collective phenomenon, framed not simply by the usual context of murder but by particular pragmemes related to widespread slaughter and warfare.
3- thanatophobia
Here, the protagonist is characterized by their aversion or profound phobia of death, sentiments that are typically altered by the narrative's conclusion. The story portrays death as a progression to a superior state of existence. The protagonist's transformation in perception underscores the narrative's didactic import and ideological, often religion-centric undertones.
4- Evasion of Death
While thanatophobia centers on the protagonist's psychological stance and existential dread about death that evolves by the story's conclusion, the flight from mortality emphasizes the behavioral response to such dread. It depicts the protagonist as confronted with imminent death and engaged in a dynamic struggle to evade it, anchoring the narrative. Ultimately, death fulfills its inevitable role. The protagonist is typically depicted as recognizing or coming to understand the impending threat to their life and actively engages in evasive maneuvers.
5- Suspended Death
In the case of transitory demise, the cessation of life is temporary, providing the deceased with the potential to resurrect or undergo bodily transformation. At times, such suspended states of death manifest as a downward metamorphosis. However, unlike reductional transformations that imply a decline in the being's status, transitory demise can alternatively be depicted as a posthumous ascent or rebirth.
6- Mourning
This concept deals with the protagonist experiencing the grief associated with losing a dear one, leading to sentiments of vulnerability and despondency, which they eventually confront and reconcile after overcoming a series of challenges (akin to traversing stages in a traditional rite of passage). The object of the protagonist's bereavement does not necessarily need to be human.
7- Natural Death
In instances where death stems from a natural occurrence such as an accidental fall or from inherent processes like aging or disease, the narrative conveys this as a natural departure. Natural demise includes two tiers: one grounded in sudden events and the other rooted in gradual processes.
Conclusion
Children's literature reflects on death functions as practs, founded on more nuanced schemas derived from the comprehensive schema of death. The study suggests that variations in these micro-schemas within individual narratives result in different pragmemes, thereby reshaping the notion of "death." The research establishes seven key pragmemes that underpin the conceptual framework of death: 1- Self-destruction 2- Homicide 3- thanatophobia 4- Evasion of Death 5- Suspended Death 6- Mourning 7- Natural Death.

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References

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Thinking and Children
Volume 15, Issue 1 - Serial Number 29
Spring and Summer 1403
February 2024

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