Stillbirth: Metaphors and Uncanny in They Were Still Born: Personal Stories About Stillbirth

ABSTRACT

The 2010 collection of autobiographical narratives edited by Janel C. Atlas – They Were Still Born: Personal Stories About Stillbirth – encapsulates the phenomenological experiences of stillbirth and its trauma. This paper analyses these memoirs to unveil the significance of the figurative language used to encapsulate the phenomenology of these bereaved family members. The World Health Organisation defines stillbirth as a baby’s death after twenty-eight weeks of pregnancy. It is either intrauterine or during labour death. This ubiquitous event leaves a long-lasting psychological impact on the family.

This paper aims to uncover the conceptual systems of metaphor that the parents employ to communicate their lived reality and emotional undercurrents. Further, the paper establishes the connection between their lived reality and the uncanny. The paper draws on Lakoff and Johnson’s conceptual theory of metaphors and Jentsch and Freud’s notion of the uncanny to demonstrate the enmeshment of experiencing stillbirth with the uncanny as foregrounded by the metaphors.

KEYWORDS:

• Stillbirth
• metaphors
• uncanny
• figurative language
• memoir

Acknowledgements

The research paper is allied to the scope of the research network titled Warblers: Network of Reproductive Pain Studies from Southern India. The author and the corresponding author are associated with the network as the principal investigator and research assistant. Warbler research network studies various aspects of reproductive phenomenologies. The network is funded by the Northern Network of Medical Humanities under the New Networks in Critical Medical Humanities funding scheme, United Kingdom. However, The funding agency is not involved in “study sponsor(s),such as study design; in the collection, analysis, and interpretation of the data; in the writing of the report; and in the decision to submit the paper for publication”. Grant/Award no. : New Networks in Critical Medical Humanities Funding Scheme (23/24 round).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Phillipa McGuinness. ‘Gel, wand, belly, ultrasound: the moment life as I knew it ended.’ The Guardian, 24 May. 2018. Web. 07 Jun. 2023.

2 ‘Stillbirth.’ World Health Organization, n.d. Web. 10 Jun. 2023.

3 ‘Stillbirth.’ United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund, Jan. 2023. Web. 18 Jun. 2023.

4 ‘Why we need to talk about losing a baby.’ World Health Organization, n.d. Web. 10 Jun. 2023.

5 Due to the unavailability of a universal definition of stillbirth across the globe and also across the states of some countries, the exact number of stillbirths per year remains unknown (see Fernanda Tavares Da Silva, Bernard Gonik, Mark McMillan, Cheryl Keech, Stephanie Dellicour, Shraddha Bhange, Mihaela Tila, Diana M. Harper, Charles Woods, Alison Tse Kawai, Sonali Kochhar and Flor M. Munoz, ‘Stillbirth: Case definition and guidelines for data collection, analysis, and presentation of maternal immunization safety data,’ Vaccine 34:49, (2016): 6057-6068.) Due to the differences in defining stillbirth, UNICEF calculates that these events are underreported (see UNICEF, ‘What you need to know about stillbirth’). Thus, the exact number of incidence and the consequent impacts are yet to be wholistically studied.

6 The psychological impact is further intensified in most instances due to societal stigma, which is also prevalent in high-income nations. See ‘A Neglected Tragedy: The global burden of stillbirths.’ United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund, 7 Oct. 2020. Web. 18 Jun. 2023.

7 ‘What you need to know about stillbirth.’ United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund, 10 Jan. 2023. Web. 18 Jun. 2023.

8 Emanuel Lewis and Anne Page, “Failure to Mourn a Stillbirth: An Overlooked Catastrophe,” British Journal of Medical Psychology 51:1 (1978): 237-241.

9 Kenneth Doka, Disenfranchised Grief: Recognizing Hidden Sorrow (London: Wiley, 1989), 4.

10 Alexander E P Heazell, Dimitrios Siassakos, Hannah Blencowe, Christy Burden, Zulfiqar A Bhutta, Joanne Cacciatore, Nghia Dang, Jai Das, Vicki Flenady, Katherine J Gold, Olivia K Mensah, Joseph Millum, Daniel Nuzum, Keelin O’Donoghue, Maggie Redshaw, Arjumand Rizvi, Tracy Roberts, H E Toyin Saraki, Claire Storey, Aleena M Wojcieszek and Soo Downe, “Stillbirths: economic and psychosocial consequences,” The Lancet 387:10018 (2016): 604-616.

11 Joanne Cacciatore, John DeFrain and Kara L. C. Jones, “When a Baby Dies: Ambiguity and Stillbirth,” Marriage & Family Review 44:4 (2008): 439-454.

12 Linda L. Layne, ‘“Troubling the Normal”: “Angel Babies” and the Canny/Uncanny Nexus.’ Understanding Reproductive Loss: Perspectives on Life, Death and Fertility. Ed. Sarah Earler, Carol Komaromy and Linda Layne, (Surrey: Ashgate, 2012), 129-141.

13 Nicholas Royle, The Uncanny (New York: Routledge, 2008), 1.

14 Further elaboration of uncanny theory is provided in section 3.

15 Ronald Fischer, Johannes Karl, Velichko Fetvadjiev, Adam Grener and Markus Luczak-Roesch, “Opportunities and Challenges of Extracting Values in Autobiographical Narratives,” Frontiers in Psychology 13:886455 (2022): 1-20.

16 Dan Zahavi, Phenomenology: The Basics (New York: Routledge 2019), 117.

17 Amia Lieblich, Rivka Tuval-Mashiach and Tamar Zilber, Narrative Research: Reading, Analysis, and Interpretation (London: SAGE Publications, 1998).

18 Janel C. Atlas, ed. They Were Still Born: Personal Stories About Stillbirth (New York: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc, 2010).

19 See appendix for an introduction to the memoir.

20 Figurative language is an expression in which the intended meaning is different from the word/phrase/statement’s literal meaning. See, Raymond Gibbs and Herbert L. Colston, Interpreting Figurative Meaning (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2012).

21 Vyjeyanthi S. Periyakoil, “Using Metaphors in Medicine,” Journal of Palliative Medicine 11:6 (2008): 842-844.

22 David Biro, Listening to Pain: Finding Words, Compassion, and Relief (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2010), ch. 5.

23 Commonly known as content analysis, this method exclusively focuses on a particular theme and its subthemes or subtext (Lieblich et al. 16-17, 112).

24 The discrete stylistic or linguistic units within the narrative are analysed (Lieblich et al. 13-14).

25 George Lakoff and Mark Johnson, Metaphors We Live By (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1980), 14.

26 The authors studied in this research utilise figurative language such as metaphors, similesfind, personification, and symbolism to express their lived reality. However, since metaphor is the understanding of a conceptual system through another, simile, personification, and symbolism are broadly classified as a category of metaphor for the purpose of this study.

27 Pragglejaz Group, “MIP: A Method for Identifying Metaphorically Used Words in Discourse,” Metaphor and Symbol 22:1 (2007): 1-39.

28 Susan Sontag, AIDS and Its Metaphors (Toronto: Collins Publishers, 1989).

29 Elena Semino, ‘Communicating Research On Metaphor and Illness.’ Communicating Linguistics: Language, Community and Public Engagement. Eds. Hazel Price and Dan McIntyre, (Oxon: Routledge, 2023), 143-155.

30 Raymond W. Gibbs Jr. and Heather Franks, “Embodied Metaphor in Women’s Narratives about Their Experiences with Cancer,” Health Communication 14:2 (2002): 139-165.

31 Zoltan Kovecses, Metaphor and Emotion (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000), 20.

32 Pradeep Sopory, “Metaphor and Affect,” Poetics Today 26:3 (2005): 432-458.

33 Elizabeth Brunton, ““I had a Baby, I Mean I didn’t, in an Air Raid”: War and Stillbirth in H. D.’s Asphodel,” Women’s Writing 24:1 (2017): 66-79.

34 Jeannette Littlemore and Sarah Turner, “Metaphors in communication about pregnancy loss,” Metaphor and the Social World 10:1 (2020): 45-75.

35 Ernst Jentsch, “Document: “On the Psychology of the Uncanny (1906): Ernst Jentsch”,” Trans. Roy Sellars. Uncanny Modernity: Cultural Theories, Modern Anxieties. Eds. Jo Collins and John Jervis (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008), 216-228.

36 Sigmund Freud, The Uncanny. Trans. David McLintock (London: Penguin Books, 2003), 124.

37 This section is subdivided based on the conditions contributing to the uncanny affect and the corresponding metaphors that the bereaved families’ use to express their lived reality.

38 David Punter, Metaphor (New York: Routledge, 2007), 87.

39 The metaphors articulated by the authors are underlined within the quotations.

40 Tim Nelson, “Invincible No More: What My Daughter’s Stillbirth Taught Me about Life,” Atlas 119-124, 119.

41 Marion J. Flores, “He Changed Our World,” Atlas 37-44, 40.

42 Virginia Williams, “What No One Tells You,” Atlas 1-5.

43 Kelly Krahling, “Living with (and without) Caleb,” Atlas 29-36, 32.

44 Sherokee Ilse, “Then Comes the Baby in the Baby Carriage,” Atlas 71-80, 73.

45 Kara L. C. Jones, “Grief and Creativity,” Atlas 141-150, 143.

46 Jo Collins and John Jervis (Eds.), “Introduction,” Uncanny Modernity: Cultural Theories, Modern Anxieties (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008), 1-9.

47 Janel C. Atlas, “Standing in the Shadows of Grief,” Atlas 135-140, 137.

48 Monica Murphy LeMoine, “A Plan Gone Awry,” Atlas 81-86, 82.

49 Candy McVicar, “Saying “Grace”: Family’s and Friends’ Responses to My Daughter’s Stillbirth,” Atlas 87-93.

50 Rachel Graham, “In a Wild Place,” Atlas 51-55, 52.

51 Joanne Cacciatore, “The Traumatic Contradiction: When Birth and Death Collide,” Atlas 19-28, 22.

52 A healing/ relaxation technique through the means of touch sense.

53 Suzanne Pullen, “The Year of Angels,” Atlas 151-170, 161.

54 Nina Bennett, “She Was Significant,” Atlas 103-107, 104.

55 Laura Villmer, “Our Christmas Angel,” Atlas 95-101.

56 Amy Abbey, “Reunion Group,” Atlas 125-133, 128.

57 Alan Goldenbach, “Blindsided,” Atlas 7-12, 10.

58 Angie M. Yingst, “Mothering Grief,” Atlas 45-50, 49.

59 Jenell Williams Paris, “Just One Family,” Atlas 65-69, 65.

60 Meng Kiat Tan, “Born, Again,” Atlas 57-63, 59.

61 Kathleen Skipper, “How Death Can Bring Life: A Caregiver’s Perspective,” Atlas 109-117, 109.

62 These bereaved family members express their inability to move on with their life (at least initially) after the death of their baby. However, although the dead baby is an integral part of their life, the baby’s presence in their lives is not socially acknowledged. Further, their lives among and as living and breathing individuals do not pause. Therefore, they live neither among the living nor the dead wholeheartedly.

63 Christy Burden, Stephanie Bradley, Claire Storey, Alison Ellis, Alexander E. P. Heazell, Soo Downe, Joanne Cacciatore and Dimitrios Siassakos, ‘From grief, guilt, pain and stigma to hope and pride — a systematic review and meta-analysis of mixed-method research of the psychosocial impact of stillbirth,’ BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth 16:9, (2016): 1-12.

64 We refer to the mothers’ cognitive understanding of the incident as the mind; we do not include their emotional affects since the metaphors used by the mothers is focused on their cognition of the baby’s death.

65 David Hlavsa, “Two Children, One Living,” Atlas 13-18, 17.

66 While the bereaved families might also be rendered speechless since they do not have the repertoire of words to describe their affects, this very absence also implies the absence of the socio-cultural script (languages and practices to express their loss in) and by extension, the underlying societal repression surrounding pregnancy loss.