Overview

Across Africa, funerals and events remembering the dead have become larger and even more numerous over the years. Whereas in the West death is normally a private and family affair, in Africa funerals are often the central life cycle event, unparalleled in cost and importance, for which families harness vast amounts of resources to host lavish events for multitudes of people with ramifications well beyond the event. Though officials may try to regulate them, the popularity of these events often makes such efforts fruitless, and the elites themselves spend tremendously on funerals. This volume brings together scholars who have conducted research on funerary events across sub-Saharan Africa. The contributions offer an in-depth understanding of the broad changes and underlying causes in African societies over the years, such as changes in religious beliefs, social structure, urbanization, and technological changes and health.

Full Product Details

Author:   Michael Jindra ,  Joël Noret
Publisher:   Berghahn Books
Imprint:   Berghahn Books
Dimensions:   Width: 15.20cm , Height: 1.80cm , Length: 22.90cm
Weight:   0.454kg
ISBN:  

9780857452054

ISBN 10:   0857452053
Pages:   244
Publication Date:   01 September 2011
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print  
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Table of Contents

List of Illustrations Foreword Jan Vansina Introduction: Funerals in Africa. An Introduction Michael Jindra and Joel Noret Chapter 1. African Funerals and Sociocultural Change: A Review of Momentous Transformations across a Continent Michael Jindra and Joel Noret Chapter 2. A Decent Death: Changes in Burial in Bulawayo Terence Ranger Chapter 3. Kikuyu Transformation of Death in Kenya: From Hyenas to Tombs Yvan Droz Chapter 4. Decomposing Pollution? Corpses, Burials, and Affliction among the Meru of Central Kenya Mark Lamont Chapter 5. The Rise of Death Celebrations in the Cameroon Grassfields Michael Jindra Chapter 6. Funerals and Religious Pluralism in Burkina Faso Katrin Langewiesche Chapter 7. Funerals and the Religious Imagination: Burying and Honoring the Dead in the Celestial Church of Christ (Southern Benin) Joel Noret Chapter 8. Of Corpses, Clay, and Photographs: Body Imagery and Changing Technologies of Remembrance in Asante Funeral Culture Marleen de Witte Chapter 9. Funerals and Fetish Interment in Accra, Ghana Jonathan Roberts Notes on the Contributors Bibliography Index

Reviews

This collection is of great benefit to scholars and students across a wide range of disciplines, including anthropology, sociology, development studies, economics, history, religious studies.A * Rebekah Lee, Goldsmiths, University of London

Author Information

Michael Jindra is an Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Anthropology and a visiting research scholar in the Center for the Study of Religion and Society at the University of Notre Dame. He has published in journals such as Africa, Sociology of Religion, Anthropological Forum, and Society and has also contributed chapters to a number of books. His current research focuses on the connection between lifestyle diversity, culture, and inequality in the US.

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