Suicides among young males at bahia blanca city, argentina (2010-2013). contributions from anthropology for the understanding of the phenomenon

Abstract

It is presented results of an anthropological research about suicides of young men occurred during the period 2010 to 2013, in Bahía Blanca, Argentina. The main purpose is to characterize suicide as a communicational fact following the postulates of Hjelmeland and Knizek. The methodology is qualitative, it is developed a semiotic approach on: 14 court cases entitled suicide, interviews to informants linked to such cases and facebook commemorative walls linked to 2 of the 14 deaths occurred. Results show that suicide is a perlocutory act, an imperative interruption on the ongoing dialogue which occurs when the young suicide does not find an argumentative strategy to sustain claims towards his other signifiers. These others modify their actions towards the satisfaction of those demands once death occurs. By destroying the physical person, the suicide, manages to preserve his social person.