American sociologist Stephanie Bosco-Ruggiero has studied the literature on near-death experiences published over the past half-century. Raymond Moody’s bestseller Life After Life, published in the 1980s, created a surge of interest in this topic. Prior to this, there were individual stories of survivors, and authors often associated this phenomenon with out-of-body experiences, stories about aliens, or ghosts (which, by the way, corresponds to the concept of phase states).
After analyzing about 1,500 works, the researcher compiled the following rankings:
1. Survivor stories remain the most popular genre. They can be written by a survivor, a family member, or a professional writer. Stories by doctors (because they are known to be skeptics), military personnel (due to their usual reserve), children (who have no knowledge of related theories), and blind people (who can describe vivid experiences despite their blindness) are especially popular.
2. Religious literature (often Christian literature) occupies second place. The author notes a significant increase in Christian interest in near-death experiences compared to the 1990s.
3. Accounts of the aftermath of clinical death (i.e., spiritual transformation, and its impact on subsequent life) also attract readers.
The author noted that new genres—for example, inspirational books about the lessons learned from near-death experiences—have emerged and have existed for a decade. Another important branch of literature comprises guides for medical personnel: doctors must understand this topic in order not to stigmatize survivors and to instead encourage them to be forthcoming immediately after resuscitation.
Have you read any books about near-death experiences?
The article was published in November 2023 in OMEGA – Journal of Death and Dying.
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