Philippe Aries was a French medievalist and author of various books. Most of his well known work is about western attitudes towards death and as a result, he categorized death into four attitudes. One of these attitudes of death mentalities is known as the ‘forbidden death’, or the denial of death. This is the phenomenon where dying and death itself have been transformed into a taboo. In some parts of the world, the acts of forbidden death are still very much alive. Reasons for this include people being ashamed of dying as it can and is associated with a disease due to the human body deteriorating and needing to be healed or even cured. Because of this mentality towards death, the denial of it has changed the environments in which people die as it is no longer a private act but an act that occurs in public institutions such as hospitals, elderly homes, remote villages and the like. These actions put a huge emphasis on the fact that death is a taboo and that life should only consist of happiness and good things, because death is quite the opposite. As a result, the act of dying itself is ignored until the end in order to protect the community from being humiliated, as well as from possible diseases.

While looking up articles about forbidden death, one stuck out in particular. There is a remote, arctic town in Longyearbyen, Norway where dying is 'forbidden' due to environmental reasons. In fact, it’s illegal and has been since 1950 and it is because Longyearbyen is so cold that bodies do not even decompose in cemeteries due to permafrost interfering with the decomposition process and allowing for dead bodies to stay completely intact in cemeteries.

In fact, the corpses have stayed so intact that scientists have even been able to retrieve live samples of the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic in the buried bodies. Longyearbyen is home to only 2,000 people and to prevent the dead to be buried, the local authorities have closed the cemeteries. People who are going to die, are taken to the Norwegian mainland .

The system is so developed and organized that the government is able to assist those who are dying, as well as their families in various ways to make the process easier. Funerals don’t work the way they are supposed to and neither do births, as women who are about to give birth have to leave for a small hospital in the mainland in advance of their due dates to ensure their babies are healthy before they can return to Longyearbyen. Although dying is 'forbidden' in Longyearbyen, citizens are able to apply to have their cremated remains (or cremated remains of their loved ones) put into the ground in Longyearbyen,  although it does require approval from the government.

Sources:

Death and Dying. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.deathreference.com/A-Bi/Ari-s-Philippe.html

Matthews, L. (2018, March 14). There's a Remote Norwegian Town Where You're Not Allowed to Die. Retrieved from https://www.menshealth.com/entertainment/a19423172/not-allowed-to-die-in...

Benedictus, L. (2015, September 30). Where in the world is it illegal to die? Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/sep/30/where-in-the-world-is-it-...

Peters, L. (2018, April 19). It's Illegal To Die In This Norwegian Town, And The Reason Is Straight Out Of A Zombie Movie. Retrieved from https://www.bustle.com/p/its-illegal-to-die-in-the-norwegian-town-of-lon...