JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.Annual Reviews is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Annual Review of Anthropology.PALGI & ABRAMOVITCH Powdermaker (167) writes about her field experience in Lesu " 'How can you take notes in the midst of human sorrow? Have you no feelings for the mourners?' I had a quick vision of a stranger walking into the living room of my Baltimore home at the time of a death. The notebook went back into my pocket. But I continued 'Are you not an anthropologist? . .. A knowledge of these rites is absolutely essential! I took the notebook out and wrote what was happening ...The Lesu people understood...." pp. 84-85.Thus, the works of the stout-hearted in the profession are reviewed or mentioned in this article which is the first to appear on the subject of death in the Annual Review of Anthropology. (Psychology and sociology, too, are latecomers in evaluating the state of their arts with regard to death studies; nevertheless they preceded the anthropologists in publishing on death in the 1977 Annual Review of Psychology (63) and in the 1983 Annual Review of Sociology.) However, already by the late nineteenth century anthropologists were paying detailed attention to belief in spiritual beings associated with life after death and attitudes to the corpse.Interesting ethnographic material was collected. The intellectual search was for the origin of religion and man's beliefs about his posthumus fate. From the 1960s onward, anthropologists stressed the socially restorative functions of funeral rites and the significance of the symbolism of death-related behavior as a cultural expression of the value system. Another important motif is the recognition and analysis of the ambivalence of the living toward the dead, involving the theme of transition and the concept of liminality.The pattern followed for most review articles is to collect the literature dealing with the research problems, summarize critically their findings, with the organization growing out naturally from the research topics. On the anthropology of death, however, there seemed to be little consensus on what are the seminal questions which anthropologists should ask; thus the range of data does not render itself easily for comparison. Furthermore, certain themes do not fit neatly into one category but rather fit into many places. Finally, a loose chronological organization was adopted featuring outstanding works at different periods of time. Works representing specific schools of thought have been grouped together wherever possible. Because a number of aspects of death have not as yet been studied by anthropologists, reference is made freely to work done in other disciplines, notably by sociologists, psych...

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This essay deals with the positive aspects of heightened awareness of the phenomenon of death in'society in general, and for mental health personnel in particular. It is suggested that as man lives by complex symbolic thinking developed within his culture and has the need for fantasy, he is capable of lowering his own death anxiety through certain social acts and creative works. Insights have been drawn from various thinkers who have dealt with this primary struggle of man. The analysis has been built on concepts such as &dquo;Meaning of life&dquo; (Frank ), &dquo;Identity and Psychohistory&dquo; (Erikson) and &dquo;Symbolic Immortality&dquo; (Lifton). The thesis that the successful resolution of the mourning process i may be an idea beyond one's individual self is expanded and applied to the Israeli context. The author brings examples from her work with war-bereaved families, research on mourning behaviour and from experience in the field of immigrant mental health problems. In view of the focus on &dquo;awareness&dquo;, the approach has been frankly subjective in parts as well as intellectual.Formal university courses in death education are advocated.As an anthropologist who has been working in the field of mental health in Israel for over 25 years, I feel the personal need and the intellectual necessity to engender an open and free-flowing discussion of death. My wish to give some inkling of the nature of my personal involvement in the subject is directly connected with what, I believe, is the scientific and philosophical obligation for thosd of us in the helping professions to confront ourselves with the phenomenon of death *and the mourning process.In this essay, I shall not attempt to present a well-worked out construct or paradigm based on the major theories and the namifold aspects of 'the phenomenon. I think this is a formidable but feasible task which can be achieved provided that a group of interested colleagues, with different intellectual backgrounds combine their insights and experience, to present a working model of study built on universal principles, though based, in particular, on Israeli experience. In the meanwhile, I would like to present some reflections on the subject in the hope that my experiences will be helpful for others who are still holding back, because of the natural reluctance which exists in all of us. In this regard, I see Kubler-Ross's ~ work as a &dquo;break through&dquo; primarily because of her determination and strength of conviction to carry out her research despite the resistance and opposition of her colleagues. The themes which I shall discuss in this essay are intrinsic to the study of the death phenomenon and, the confrontation of which, helped me to overcome my own inner misgivings and rendered me more receptive to new insights.While, as I stated at the outset, I have no paradigm to present, I do have a central motif which dominates my attitude to the phendmenon of death and around which I have organized my thinking and research in which I have been involved for the ...