Penser par les effets. Des morts équivoques

As a large number of scholarly studies show, many people today continue to converse with their deceased loved ones. This challenges theories of mourning according to which the bonds with the deceased persevere on a purely intrapsychic level. This phenomenon is not unrelated with the methodological approach adopted by the researchers who carried out these surveys and their failure to determine a priori the ontological status of the beings involved. An analysis of how people speak about the vitality of their deceased loved ones shows, moreover, that they themselves construct their speech in such a way as judgment is suspended, including the use of narrative strategies which maintain a sense of ambiguity. © 2013 L'Esprit du temps. All rights reserved.