The evolution of death perception through disaster worldviews: an interdisciplinary analysis

Анотація

The study presents a comprehensive interdisciplinary analysis of the problem of death through the prism of catastrophe discourse. The work reveals the evolution of death perception from primitive forms of fear in prehistoric societies to modern interpretations in a globalised world. The research explores the interconnection between anthropological, religious, philosophical, psychoanalytic, existentialist, and sociocultural approaches to understanding death. Special attention is paid to how catastrophic events transform the collective perception of mortality. The analysis begins with the anthropological origins of death awareness in primitive societies, tracing the emergence of ritual practices in funeral culture. Religious interpretations of death are examined through concepts of animism and beliefs in the afterlife. The philosophical dimension is presented through the evolution from classical to modern interpretations of death, particularly Heidegger's concept of "being-toward-death." The psychoanalytic approach is revealed through Freud's theory of thanatos and Jung's archetypes of the collective unconscious. The existentialist understanding of death is analysed through the works of Camus, Jaspers, and Sartre, who consider death an integral part of authentic existence. Of particular value is the analysis of the sociocultural dimension of the death problem in the context of contemporary global catastrophes, where not only individual but also collective perception of mortality is transformed. The biopolitical, symbolic, and mediatised aspects of death in the era of technology and global risks are explored. The research demonstrates that in the discourse of catastrophes, death acquires additional dimensions — collective traumatic experience, biopolitical regulation, and mediatised consumption—making its perception more complex but potentially more alienated from personal experience.