Artwork Depictions of Drownings and Rescues

The Open Sports Sciences Journal, 2014

Introduction: Artists have depicted drowning episodes in drawings with a religious, mythological, historical, suicidal, homicidal and military context. We aimed to identify the messages that the paintings with a drowning scene during a military/combat situation deliver to viewers. Method: A criterion sampling method identified paintings that portray drowning episodes during military and combat situations (n=57). Chi-squared tests were used for comparison between categorical variables. Results: Ten statistically significant differences were identified between the bystanders at the time of occurrence (p=0.046), the bystanders by the depiction of military weapons (p=0.010), the bystanders by the number of casualties (p=0.049), the bystanders by the drowning stage of the casualty (p=0.014), the location by the means of transportation (p<0.001), the location by the drowning stage (p<0.001), the water depth during the rescue attempt (p=0.012), the water depth at the time of transpor...

The Open Sports Sciences Journal

Objective: The use of various rescue methods for coping with drowning as a subject of research is scarce. Method: With a chi-square statistical analysis in a criterion/convenient sample of film scenes (n=430), it was aimed to reveal how the various rescue methods relate to the rescuer and other related sub-variables. Results confirm that cinematography indeed passes several right and wrong hidden messages to their viewers. It was also found that although the rescue type was not related with the rescuer’s age (p=0.836), body composition (p=0.437) and ethnicity (p=0.849), it was related with the type of the rescuer (if any) that attempted to save the drowning victim (p<0.001; i.e., amateur or professional), the rescuer’s gender (p=0.027) and clothing (p=0.019) and the victim’s early approach (p<0.001). Result: To the degree that our findings correspond with reality, film scenes may be used as means of water safety education in lifesaving and lifeguard classes.

This article aims to identify swimming-related artwork from Paleolithic times up to the present day and to assess whether possible use of art could act as an aid to teaching. An art search obtained 50 paintings and sculptures. Results confirmed that artists have bestowed a wealth of related artwork on the world of aquatics. Depictions of people swimming competitively or recreationally, diving, bathing, working and fighting were found in Egypt, Greece, Persia, Italy, Spain, the USA, Japan and China. Depending on the particular society, the ability to swim indicated either a high or low socio-economic status. In some depictions, knowledge of swimming was accompanied by the ability to dive from high cliffs or into deep water, to hold one’s breath underwater, and to show physical endurance. A variety of swimming strokes were depicted throughout history in art. Various types of swimwear, or nude swimming, were evident in different societies.

Faces of death: visualising history, 2009

Faces of death: visualising history / edited by Andrea Petö and Klaartje Schrijvers. -Pisa: 704.949309 (21.) CIP a cura del Sistema bibliotecario dell'Università di Pisa by the Sixth Framework Network of Excellence CLIOHRES.net under the contract CIT3-CT-2005-006164. responsible for its contents or for any use which may be made of it.

Drowning as a mode of death has been the subject of limited research in cinematography. This study aimed to reveal the drowning related ‘hidden’ messages that arise by observing a sample of drowning episodes (n=296) that were shown in a convenience sample of Hollywood films. Table 1 contains frequencies of the most important variables that determine the outcome of a drowning episode (i.e. the rescuer, the casualty, the place and the circumstances of occurrence) and which were represented in these drowning scenes. In conclusion, these frequencies show that Hollywood passes several hidden messages about drowning and rescue to the film viewers. Most films containing drowning episodes are drama, thriller, horror, adventure and action. The victim survived in two thirds of the sampled cases. The rescuer was most often an amateur, adult, thin, white male who attempted an early rescue wearing clothes. The victim was often but not exclusively a thin, white, adult male, with varied behavior and needs in the water, who was not local to the area and fell into the water fully clothed and unintentionally. Most often victims did not shout for help and were alone. In terms of location, drowning occurred most often in normal water temperatures and calm conditions when victims were out of their depth in various aquatic environments and various distances from safety. Although in these films all types of rescue were portrayed, the most dominant was the least recommended or abandoned option by most lifesaving organizations for amateur lifesavers (i.e. body contact tow) possibly because it gave a heroic dimension and contributed to the development of the desired drama or action. The incidents occurred mainly during the day after engagement in various aquatic and non-aquatic activities. From these activities, particularly interesting was that drowning was repeatedly used as a means of suicide, homicide, bullying and torture. Most of those engaged in aquatics, did not wear a personal flotation device. A limited evidence of risk taking behavior, near-death experiences, paranormal after-effects and demonstration of resuscitation of the victims was also identified. Most incidents occurred during the summer. The average duration of the sampled drowning episodes was about 37 seconds. Overall, it seems that Hollywood contains a wealth of motion pictures that may be used as an alternative means of water safety, lifesaving, lifeguarding, aquatic research and education. In some cases, the films portray what ”not to do” and in some others “what to do”. Both can be used to trigger the interest of the viewers and constructive discussions in an entertaining way.

How do refugees feature in contemporary rhetoric? In the face of suffering the only way to keep borders closed, as Europe is beginning to discover, is to turn one's face away. The appeal constituted by the recent photograph of a drowned toddler functions as a counter to the dystopian imaginary that is increasingly being reflected in the European refugee crisis; and appeals to us to say that there might be others who can be saved.

Aim: The purpose of this article was to describe the prevalence of drowning as a cause of death in the mythology of ancient Greek history and under what circumstances it occurred. Method: From all the names and references (n= 40,000) recorded in a database of the ancient and mythological Greek literature (Devouros, 2007), a criterion sampling method (Patton, 1990), based on two criteria (first cases that mentioned drowning were identified and second, a subset of those cases that specifically referred to human drowning was compiled) identified a number of drowning incidents (n=37), 17 males (45.94%), 6 females, (16.22%), and 14 reports of multiple casualties (37.84%). Discussion: The review of the database confirmed that drowning was attributed to ‘acts of demigod’ but was more often due to human initiative or to ‘acts of God’ such as disasters like heavy rain, flooding, or tsunamis. Results: Based on this review, the male: female ratio of this study was 3:1. In Greece today the average is 2.69 per 100,0000 population. Although this number is much lower than the rate in ancient Greece and mythology (57.5 per 100,000 population), however it is still double the average rate in the EU (1.27 per 100,000 population) (World Health Organization, 2002).

Interventions International Journal of Postcolonial Studies, 2023

Following its substantial diversification over the past two decades, graphic literature now occupies numerous symbolic locations within both the artistic field and other areas of representation and social discourse. While notably (auto)biographical, testimonial, and non-fictional graphic storytelling has contributed to the medium’s increased legitimization and visibility, it has also become fertile in addressing complex political issues such as war, displacement, and migration. Yet these newly “engaged” productions of a polysemic medium touch on several complex, partly interrelated questions. On the one hand lingers the reduction to the solely illustrative, on the other the suspicion of simplification and superficiality – all of which cannot be easily dismissed when graphic texts become simple pre-texts for other presumably extra-textual matter: identity, politics, society, and so on. However, like in the case of literature, certain forms of fictionalization and aesthetic play may meet with (ethical) reservations for topical issues which seem to rather call for “serious” and “factual” attention. And, of course, discursive and visual expression entertains a multiple relationship, where one may compensate for, double, or strategically contrast the other. Informed by such interrogations about the specificity of the medium and the intricacy of its new “engaged” formats, this essay focuses on the graphic work on migration and displacement of selected contemporary Francophone authors (Edmond Baudoin and Troubs, Yvan Alagbé, Jean-Philippe Stassen) and discusses several ways of representing and reflecting on death of migrants and refugees in these narratives. It will demonstrate that writing about such sensitive problems does not have the same scenographical implications, nor does it trigger the same (empathetic and critical) response as drawing them. This ultimately reveals that the aesthetic and political relevance of these graphic works lies in the medium’s characteristic interplay between text and image.

In the late 18th century, the traditional concept of death as a sudden termination of life was put into crisis. Physicians described borderline conditions, in which vital functions appeared not to have completely vanished, but could be still reactivated. Drowning was treated as one of these cases of ‘life suspended’. In Italy, public health magistrates were called to define regulations for the rescue of drowned people. The political fragmentation of Italy did not allow both the adoption of unitary measures about the diagnosis of death from drowning and the implementation, once recognized, of residual signs of life, of the same resuscitation protocols. The experiences had a clear local characterization. This contribution aims to focus on the pathophysiological debate about drowning and its translation into medical police regulations in the Grand Duchy of Tuscany. The aim is to bring out the reasons given to support the medical practice of resuscitation, together with the suggestions received from foreign literature.

Forensic Science International: Reports, 2021

The present paper reports the case of a 72-year-old man who committed suicide by throwing himself into the sea after tying a large stone with a rope and tying the other end with a slipknot around the neck. The postmortem analysis revealed asphyxia as that the cause of death, resulting in a combination of strangulation and drowning. Even if the prevalence of different means of suicide changes widely among different reports, there is a lack of evidence of such a combination in the scientific literature. Surprisingly, in the catholic tradition, several martyrs died by combination of drowning and strangulation. The gospels of Luke and Matthew also describe this particular combination of lethal means, which was also represented in several Renaissance paintings showing the martyrdom of saints. Here we describe the forensic pathological findings of the case that we report, and we make some hypotheses to interpret the possible influence of literary and iconographic representations in the choice of lethal means.