Self-immolation: cause and culture

Abstract

Accounts of self-inflicted death by fire are numerous and are found from antiquity to present times. We review selected examples of self-immolation from historical record, in mythology and as part of religious and cultural tradition. We discuss the use of self-immolation as a literary device in the arts including fiction, opera, movies, and song. We offer motives for this horrifying act and discuss how it has been used as a form of protest for political reasons or for individual maltreatment or as a means to end intense personal suffering. Finally, we explore what setting oneself alight may represent from a psychodynamic perspective.