Probably every student who has had to deal with Goethe's epistolary novel "The Sorrows of Young Werther" knows "Werther fever", supposed proof of the effectiveness of literature: reading the novel led to a "wave of suicides".

However, if you look at the specific data – communications in letters, magazines and tracts – what Katja Mellmann did in 2013 in the journal “Kultur-Poetik” on the basis of the work of Achim Hölter and Martin Andree, you cannot help but think of one speaking myth.

There may have been acts of imitation.

They just can't be proven.

The complementary story to the Werther suicides recently appeared in the British Medical Journal.

Viennese researchers led by Thomas Niederkrotenthaler examined the effect of the song "1-800-273-8255" by rapper Logic.

The title reflects the telephone number of the National Suicide Prevention Hotline in the United States.

While the song focuses on the phone conversation of a suicidal person, the music video embeds this conversation in the life story of a young black man who, because of his homosexuality, discriminates not only from his own parents and the parents of his lover, but also from his peers, yes being bullied.

The video continues the turn away from suicidal thoughts brought about by the help of a counselor and ends happily.

The data is provided by Twitter

The study can prove that not only the release of the song and the video, but above all the MTV Video Music Awards in August 2017 and the Grammy Awards in January 2018 led to an increase in public attention.

For the measurement, the researchers use Twitter posts.

The consequences are significant.

The song presumably led to an increased number of calls to the national emergency number via the media.

The number of suicides also fell (albeit to a lesser extent) during periods of heightened media attention.

The researchers therefore speak of a possible Papageno effect: referring to Mozart's "Magic Flute", a successful example of fighting off suicidal thoughts, i.e. the opposite of Goethe's novel, is recalled.

Discussing their data and conclusions in detail, the researchers explain how to understand the results, what can and cannot be inferred from them.

An actual reduction in the number of suicides as a result of the song cannot be proven - especially in this causal relationship - due to various limitations: For example, it was not possible to find out from the available data whether the callers heard the song from Logic at all or from it had taken notice of other ways.

The motivations that led to calling the hotline or not committing suicide cannot be recorded either.

But the researchers are also interested in something else: the topic of suicide does not lead directly to an increase in suicides.

Stories of resilience can also have positive effects.

This has also been shown by previous studies that deal with the effects of media reporting on suicides and confirm that a Werther effect can be meaningfully distinguished from a Papageno effect.

The results for "1-800-273-8255" do not contradict this and add a new facet to the picture, namely that elements of popular culture can also make a significant contribution to conveying a corresponding message.

This raises the question of the status of art once again.

What are the specific effects that the topic of suicide produces in different artistic formats such as a song, a novel or even a film?

With regard to the Logic song, it can be pointed out: to what extent is the important message of resilience conveyed by the images in the music video, what role does the text play, what role does the music play?

Song and video unfold a narrative that invites identification and leads the recipient to an emotional upsurge.

Shouldn't it be possible to measure this promise of art, which can also be summarized under the keywords of consolation and edification, which are currently being given more attention again?