Intertextuality and the Opposition to Suicide and Assisted Suicide in the Netherlands: The Case of Joost Zwagerman

Abstract

This chapter discusses the oeuvre of Dutch author Joost Zwagerman with regard to suicide and the provision of suicide assistance in the context of psychological suffering. Under the Termination of Life on Request and Assisted Suicide Act, doctors in the Netherlands may perform euthanasia or assist in the suicide of persons who are in a state of unbearable and lasting or hopeless suffering. At the same time, there is appreciation of the importance of suicide prevention, which is directed at mentally distressed persons who have a death wish. Using the theory of intertextuality as a framework, this contribution shows how Zwagerman used references to other writings to arrive at his own views about both suicide and assisted suicide. The author acknowledged the fact that the assisted suicide movement confronts those who work in or write about suicide prevention with an important question, namely, whether suicide in cases involving depression is always undesirable. Zwagerman’s position was that the reach of suicide prevention should be as broad as possible, in opposition to the many advocates of euthanasia and assisted suicide who, he felt, regarded life in a too lighthearted fashion. In this contribution, I show how Zwagerman’s oeuvre reveals aspects of the Dutch debate about suicide and assisted suicide, while at the same time it illustrates how both national and international influences shape Dutch reflections on death. I include in the discussion the broader biographical context of Zwagerman’s oeuvre, as well as publications—partly published after the author’s own suicide—in which the relationship between his life and work is the focus of attention.