Publication

transmortale XIV - New Research on Dying, Death and Mourning

21/22 March 2025 at the Museum for Sepulchral Culture (Kassel)

The 14th transmortale took place at the Central Institute and Museum for Sepulchral Culture in Kassel in conjunction with the Institute for Empirical Cultural Studies at the University of Hamburg and the German Funeral Culture Foundation. The transmortale is an event that enables young academics to engage in an interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary examination of the topics of ‘dying, death and mourning’. This year's event was characterised by the cooperation with the Chair of Children's and Young Adult Literature at the Faculty of Linguistics and Literary Studies at Bielefeld University and the Chair of Children's and Young Adult Literature and its Didactics at the Institute for German Language and Literature II at the University of Cologne. The inter- and transdisciplinary collaboration at transmortale enables similarities and differences between different approaches to the topics of dying, death and mourning to be identified. In particular, the event serves to bring together empirical and theoretical approaches.

The first day of the 14th transmortale was dedicated to the topic of ‘Death and mourning in children's and young adult literature’. The second day was thematically more open and gave young academics the opportunity to present their research projects on the topics of dying, death and mourning. The conference took place in the columned hall of the Museum of Sepulchral Culture and thus between the historical tombs. This provided a unique setting for discussing this topic.

The event began with Dirk Pörschmann, the director of the museum, welcoming the participants. He was particularly pleased about the cooperation with the universities of Cologne and Bielefeld and emphasised the role of students in interdisciplinary exchange. Pörschmann also stated that the design of the Museum for Sepulchral Culture has a lot in common with children's books. Just like such a book, the museum is also characterised by the different chapters. Another similarity is the fact that children's and young people's books enable the thematic examination of a problem that would appear in the course of a lifetime. The Museum of Sepulchral Culture also fulfils this role. The preparation for something abstract and unimaginable – death – motivates both the museum and the corresponding literature.

LENA HOFFMANN (Bielefeld) and MAREN CONRAD (Cologne) then opened up important perspectives on the topic of ‘Death and dying in children's and young adult literature from a historical perspective and in the present’ in their input presentation.

Maren Conrad began the lecture with a look at the history of death and dying in children's and young adult literature. The medium of children's books initially promoted the Christian moralising education of children. One example of this development is Amos Comenius' work ‘Orbis Pictus’, published as early as 1658, which described the world in pictures and words in German and Latin. Here, however, references to death were still excluded. According to Conrad, death in children's and youth literature can be divided into three main motifs. Firstly, the motif of deceased parents is widespread (e.g. in the fairy tales ‘Cinderella’, ‘Snow White’, but also in more recent publications ‘Pippi Longstocking’ or ‘Harry Potter’).  A second variant is apparent death, which takes centre stage in the fairy tales ‘Snow White’ and ‘Sleeping Beauty’, for example. Thirdly, the death of evil often plays a decisive role - this can be seen in the fairy tales ‘Hansel and Gretel’, ‘Snow White’, but later also in ‘Harry Potter’, “Inkheart” or ‘Mio, my Mio’. Another dimension is the threat of death as an educational measure in the context of so-called ‘black pedagogy’ (e.g. in ‘Struwwelpeter’). Emancipated literature, such as that of Astrid Lindgren, began to deal with the issues of death/dying/illness against a comforting background.

Lena Hoffmann then turned her attention to contemporary children's literature. She noted that death is no longer a taboo subject in children's and young adult literature and focussed on the wealth of literature that deals with experiences of loss (e.g. the publications ‘Vogel ist tot’ by Tiny Fisscher or ‘Radieschen von unten’ by Katharina von der Gathen, which were nominated for the Children's and Young Adult Book Prize). Particularly striking at this point are the stories that include personified death as a character (e.g. ‘Alles Sense’ by Terry Pratchett or ‘Die Bücherdiebin’ by Markus Zusak). In picture books such as ‘Duck, Death & Tulip’ (Wolf Erlbruch), in which the friendship between a duck and a lovable death figure is thematised, or ‘A Visit from Little Death’ (Kitty Crowther), death is portrayed in a positive light. None of these works show death as a being to be feared – in fact, identification with personified death is often desired. Hoffmann summarised why this is the case: ‘Because it is not death that kills us, but life.’

The remarkable conclusion to the first day of the transmortale was the reading with comic artist JOSEPHINE MARK (Leipzig) on ‘Murr’ and ‘Trip mit Tropf’, which dealt with illness and death in comics. The illustrator from Leipzig touched the audience with her humorous yet thought-provoking style. In conversation with Lena Hoffmann, she talked about the enrichment that comes from reading comics in a playful way, especially in schools. According to Mark, reading comic books is a good way of overcoming pupils' rejection of classic reading. Mark often presents her works at schools and also draws with the children and young people. The author explained that her own fear of death led her to portray it as part of nature, making it pragmatic and human. When asked whether she sees her books more as children's or adult literature, Mark replied that she simply tries to write good stories - not for the book market, but for herself. This often results in works that can be read from multiple perspectives. Younger readers often recognise the humorous dimension of her books, while adults perceive the subtext of illness, threat, death and escape. Finally, the comic artist emphasised the role of comics for positive learning experiences in the school environment.

After this inspiring first day, the second half of the conference was characterised by a wide range of presentations by young researchers on their research projects.

HANNAH RABEA WAGNER (Detmold) kicked off the conference with a presentation on the (im)possibility of exhibiting mourning – a challenge that is of course relevant to the Museum of Sepulchral Culture on a daily basis. The speaker postulated that human behaviour in response to death is not innate, but learned. A museum that deals with the topics of dying, death and mourning must be understood as a safe space that enables visitors to come to terms with their own losses and confront the threat of death. Objects, especially works of art, could provide valuable access to an intensive examination of grief and finiteness. Objects, especially works of art, could provide valuable access to an intensive examination of grief and finiteness.

The stimulating lecture by JENNIFER PLUSKAT (Halle) focused on ‘The transformation of humanoid materials into mourning artefacts using the example of memorial jewellery’. The paper focused on memorial jewellery made from hair and synthetic diamonds made from cremation ash. The fact that memorial jewellery made from so-called human remains evokes a wide variety of reactions was also demonstrated by a spontaneous vote in the audience. Around half of the audience could imagine wearing hair jewellery, while the other half found it disconcerting. Pluskat offered an explanation for these reactions. Memorial jewellery made of hair has a much more direct materiality, a much more personal connection to the deceased person than the ‘commemorative diamonds’ mentioned. The perceptible physical connection to this person is also decisive for the relevance of hair in superstition. The lively discussion following the lecture testified to the interest of the audience in this controversial topic.

The contribution by NATALIIA CHUB (Berlin), who focussed on coping with loss through the erection of cenotaphs, was similarly moving. The archaeologist presented historical examples and put them in relation to coping strategies in the present. She also described current cases from Ukraine in which grieving people set up points of contact for personal remembrance after the loss of the body of a deceased person, e.g. through the symbolic burial of objects. The combination of historical and current perspectives was perceived as very enriching.

The doctoral project of KAREN KLOTZ (Esslingen), who is involved in the ‘Attention’ research project at the University of Esslingen, focuses on a very different, topical and much-discussed subject. The researchers there are focussing on requests for suicide assistance from older people in inpatient and outpatient long-term care. As such requests for help with dying often cause excessive demands and stress reactions on the part of care staff, the research project aims to develop guidelines for professional behaviour in response to these requests. However, the stress experienced by nursing staff has not yet been well researched in this context, particularly in Germany.

Stressful situations were also the subject of the contribution by ISABELL MESKE (Hanover), who works as a secondary school teacher. She reported on her experiences with school classes in dealing with the topics of ‘death, mourning and dying’ and pleaded for literature to be seen as an opportunity for dialogue with pupils on supposedly difficult topics. The practical experience report from everyday school life was considered very valuable by the other participants.

LAURA LEWALD-ROMAHN (Oldenburg) also provided insights into school lessons. Due to her personal experiences, the topic of ‘coma’ is particularly close to her heart. As a literary subject in children's and young adult literature, ‘coma’ should be understood above all as a sign of physical decline and imminent death. ‘Literature is not always sunshine and roses,’ the lecturer noted. Literature can be meaningful and enriching for school lessons, especially when dealing with difficult topics, and offer pupils low-threshold, concrete approaches.

The last lecture of the day was given by ELENA GUßMANN (Berlin), who took a philosophical look at the ‘doing death’ of societies. As a philosopher, she came up with the concept of ‘thanatosophy’ in her doctoral thesis. Gußmann summarised it briefly: ‘Tell me how you feel about death and I'll tell you what makes you tick’. The speaker argued that death is produced and reproduced every day through cultural processes. Ideas of death are manifested in all our actions: how we mourn, age, die, pray, live and remember. It is therefore necessary to examine the function in which death is presented in various narratives in order to locate our path as a society. In the discussion that followed, Gußmann placed her research work in the additional context of her voluntary work as an end-of-life counsellor.

The second day ended with the final discussion moderated by Norbert Fischer, in which various impressions of the previous days were taken up. In particular, the tension between symbol and materiality was repeatedly addressed. In addition, thanks to the instructive contributions of teachers, the mediation level was often discussed. The fact that children's and young people's literature on the subject of ‘dying, death and mourning’ is an important starting point for dealing with one's own self was emphasised by many contributions.

Particularly noteworthy was the practice-orientated exchange, which combined theory and real experiences and made the conference a valuable platform for knowledge transfer, new impulses and networking for all participants. The transmortale XIV showed how one of the most fundamental themes of human existence can be addressed in literature, art, science and education in a variety of ways and linked across disciplines.

Conference Overview

Initial Lecture

Lena Hoffmann (Bielefeld) / Maren Conrad (Köln): Tod und Sterben in der Kinder- und Jugendliteratur in historischer Perspektive und in der Gegenwart.

Workshops I & II (closed event)

Franziska Trapp: Tod und Theater – Inszenierung und Transformation von Bilderbüchern zu szenischem Spiel im Unterricht

Ayse Bosse: Das Potenzial von Kinder- und Bilderbüchern für Trauerarbeit und Trauerbegleitung im Unterricht

Krankheit und Tod im Comic. Lesung am Abend mit der Comic-Künstlerin Josephine Mark zu „Murr“ und „Trip mit Tropf“

Hannah Rabea Wagner (Detmold): „Darstellungsweisen von Tod und Trauer oder: Die Frage nach der Musealisierung von etwas nicht Sichtbarem“.

Jennifer Pluskat (Halle (Saale)): „Erinnerungskörper. Die Transformation humanoider Werkstoffe zu Trauerartefakten am Beispiel von Memorialschmuck“.

Nataliia Chub (Berlin): „Kenotaph als eine Strategie der Verlustbewältigung bei uneindeutigem Verlust“.

Karen Klotz (Esslingen): „Moralische Belastung von Pflegefachpersonen im Kontext von Suizidassistenz und Tötung auf Verlangen – Ergebnisse einer systematischen Übersichtsarbeit“.

Isabell A. Meske (Hannover): „Mit dem Tod im Dialog: Literarische Abschiedsnarrative von Märchen bis zur Gegenwartsliteratur“.

Laura M. Lewald-Romahn (Oldenburg): „Koma als Sujet der Sterblichkeit in der Kinder- und Jugendliteratur – eine vergleichende Untersuchung ausgewählter Ganzschriften“.

Elena Gußmann (Berlin): „Der Tod als Gleichmacher, Schlussstein, Trennnadel. Ein philosophischer Blick auf das ‚doing death‘ von Gesellschaften“.

Final discussion

Citation

Felicitas Birr, Tagungsbericht: transmortale XIV – Neue Forschungen zum Thema Tod, in: H-Soz-Kult, 02.06.2025, https://www.hsozkult.de/conferencereport/id/fdkn-155175.

Copyright (c) 2025 by H-NET, Clio-online and H-Soz-Kult, and the author, all rights reserved. This work may be copied and redistributed for non-commercial, educational purposes, if permission is granted by the author and usage right holders.. For permissions please contact hsk.redaktion@geschichte.hu-berlin.de. 

A project in co-operation between

Arbeitsgemeinschaft Friedhof und Denkmal e. V.
Central Institute and Museum for Sepulchral Culture, Kassel

University of Hamburg
Institute for Empirical Cultural Studies

with the kind support of the Stiftung Deutsche Bestattungskultur

This year in co-operation with the Faculty of Linguistics and Literary Studies at Bielefeld University and the Institute for German Language and Literature II at the University of Cologne.

The members of the transmortal XIV working group are: 

Dr Dirk Pörschmann, Kassel
Dr Dagmar Kuhle, Kassel
Prof. Dr Norbert Fischer, Hamburg
Dr Simon Walter, Düsseldorf
Karla Alex, Heidelberg
Dr Moritz Buchner, Berlin
Stephan Hadraschek M.A., Berlin
Jan Möllers M.A., Berlin

The Museum for Sepulchral Culture is funded by:

The Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media, Berlin
Hessian Ministry for Science and Research, Art and Culture, Wiesbaden
documenta City of Kassel 
Protestant Church in Germany, Hanover
German Bishops' Conference, Bonn
Senate Department for Mobility, Transport, Climate Protection and Research, Federal State of Berlin

The transmortale XIV is kindly supported by the Stiftung Deutsche Bestattungskultur.

Book table

We would also like to thank the Brencher bookshop for offering a book table as part of the Transmortale. 
Many thanks for the co-operation.