| abstract |
This dissertation explores the fundamentals of grief, who and how we grieve, and
inspiration illustrated by authors and artists who have returned from their own grief
journeys to a new wholeness in their lives. To conceptualize grief and loss, the research
and examples of behavioral reactions are framed in the context of an interdisciplinary
spectrum. This compilation of objective findings examines the authenticity of written and
visual works, linking past experiences to current events to create new concepts and
support the argument of the relief and the resilient potential of literary and artistic
expressions.
To address the topic of healing, I have selected a specific group of post-World
War I authors and artists who are unified in their ideas of grief, loss, and resilience
through expressive forms. Kenneth J. Doka’s research into the psychosocial aspect of
grief and loss speaks to the possibilities for recovery, while the memoirs of C. S. Lewis
and Tom Crider relate personal experiences as inspiration by example. Paul Klee and
Pablo Picasso created visual diaries about the devastation of great loss for their audience
to witness. Each creative form brings forth the commonality in losses and the potential
for recovery.
Having experienced a number of personal losses, I searched through the broken
shards of my life by placing myself in conversation with literary and artistic figures to
seek inspiration and inspiration by example, so as to gain a new sense of healing the self.
Inherent in artistic and literary presentations are factors that have been proven to be
historically successful in recovering a healthy emotional state for those who have
suffered. Words and images can allow the individual to purposefully express ideas that go
beyond or challenge surface thinking, providing inspiration, permission to hope, and
validation. Expressive arts help us to welcome the painful truth and find the courage to
balance life’s adversities.
This study demonstrates that the art of reflection on the past is an important factor
in human recovery, whereby individuals may be able to get in touch with their own
feelings, linking their troubled past with new meanings in their present.
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