Miraculous tales of survival can surprise and inspire us. These experiences can also serve as stark reminders of our human limitations. However, those stark reminders do not necessarily need to be received negatively, as one might assume. In fact, these reminders can prompt us to look more deeply at what it means to be powerless, why we were created with limitations, and what might be required of us to transcend the negative connotations of our vulnerability.
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At first glance, the images and accounts of suffering in this collection will seem tragic. The stories represented will, on the surface, reinforce the natural inclination to see survivor guilt as a symptom of post-traumatic stress and a condition that requires treatment. However, it is often the case that when we are most uncomfortable with reality, it is then we ask ourselves the deepest, most significant questions. Who are we? Why are we here? Why do bad things happen?
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This exhibit argues that survival guilt is not an ill-conceived feeling to be suppressed and corrected but rather it is a natural response that can and should lead to a better understanding of what it means to be human.
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Visitors will confront the fragility of the human psyche as it is brought against destructive forces. Through story and through imagery, viewers will share in the discomfort that often accompanies the unexplainable randomness of survival. And, with a deeper look, guests will be encouraged to see beyond tragedy and contemplate mystery.
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In their book The Destroyed World and the Guilty Self, David Levine and Matthew Bowker state that “survivor guilt refers to the emotional consequences survivors experience as they go on living and, through the act of living, they necessarily create distance between themselves and those who did not survive.” Yet, in that paradigm, are we then all not guilty of surviving in some sense? Is the very act of living something that was divinely intended to be, at least in part, an experience that connects us to the dead?
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“Survivor guilt exerts a pro-social impact on human behavior,” notes Julia Glahn in her book The Presence of the Dead in our Lives. “It provides for a presence of the deceased in the life space of the survivor and it prompts the survivor to come to terms with his or her own mortality.”
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Glahn goes on to argue that survivor’s guilt is “an intrinsically human response to the occurrence of death which leads to pro-social behaviors that can strengthen the human bond and spur us on as we work to transcend the existential plight of limited existence.” And, as such, survivor guilt “should not be treated as a pathological phenomenon to be reduced, alleviated and mitigated at all costs.”
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I encourage audiences here to spend some time with each image and really think about what occurred. Make time for self-reflection. Consider your own answers to the questions provided throughout the exhibit. Ponder your own beliefs. Why do things like this happen and what might be understood from them about the human condition.
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Bibliography
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Hinerman, Nate. The Presence of the Dead in Our Lives. New York: Rodopi, 2012.
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Levine, David. The Destroyed World and the Guilty Self: A Psychoanalytic Study of Culture. Bicester, Oxfordshire: Phoenix Publishing House, 2019.
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Mayo, Virginia, Flanders Fields. May 8, 2014, Retrieved March 3, 2021, from https://www.ksl.com/?nid=1298&sid=30056968&page=2
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Lyrics, Stonehill. Weight of the Sky. Nashville: Myrrh Records, 2007
Smith, Timothy, Kelly Duncan. January 13, 1982, Retrieved March 3, 2021, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/commuting/air-florida-survivors-reflect-on-crash-that-changed-their-lives/2012/01/10/gIQAHnJDuP_story.html
Lyrics, Elias. Blink. Portland, Oregon: Pamplin Music, 1996
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Hancock, Paul, MS Herald of Free Enterprise. March 6, 1987, Retrieved March 5, 2021, from https://www.maritimecyprus.com
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Lyrics, Livgren. Point of No Return. New York: Sony, 1977
Kerlee, Charles, Sgt. Alan Magee. August 6, 1941, Retrieved November 11, 2014, from https://www.warhistoryonline.com/war-articles/wwii-gunner-fell-22000-feet-without-a-parachute-and-survived.html
Lyrics, Mullins. Songs. Brentwood: Reunion, 1996
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Jiuyang Zhu, Waiting for a Reconciled Day. 2013, Retrieved March 5, 2021, from https://www.westmont.edu/jiuyang-zhu
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Lyrics, Stonehill. Beyond the Veil. Nashville: Word Records, 2005
Frank, Mary, Seated Female. 1976, Retrieved March 5, 2021, from https://www.reynoldahouse.org/collections/object/seated-female?display=lightbox
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Lyrics, Hartman. Grave Robber. Nashville: Star Song Records, 1983
Ochs, Michael, Elvis Presley Portrait. 1960, Retrieved March 5, 2021, from https://elvisdaily.com/2020/02/03/best-100-elvis-presley-photos-ever/
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Lyrics, Heard. Eye of the Storm. Dallas: Home Sweet Home Records, 1983
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Terna, Fred, Untitled. 1946, Retrieved March 3, 2021, from http://jackbarrettgallery.com/placeimageobject
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Conklin, David, Every Man Knew. 1975, Retrieved March 3, 2021, from https://www.shipwreckmuseum.com/product/every-man-knew/
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Rajchman, Chil. The Last Jew of Treblink. New York: Pegasus Books, 2011
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Püttner, Johann Carl Berthold, Untergang des Auswandererschiffes. 1858, Retrieved March 5, 2021, from https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/untergang-des-auswandererschiffes-austria-am-13-september-1858/RQEunIU1TZ-iXw?hl=de
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Deraniyagala, Sonali. Wave: Life and Memories after the Tsunami. New York: Alfred A Knopf, 2011
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Peirce, Waldo, The Fire at East Orrington. 1940, Retrieved March 3, 2021, from https://collection.farnsworthmuseum.org/objects/854
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Bacigalupi, Paolo. The Drowned Cities. New York: Little Brown and Company, 2012
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