Celebrations of Death: The Anthropology of Mortuary Ritual.

Humphreys, S. C.; Huntington, Richard; Metcalf, Peter

doi:10.2307/2801367

Cited by 45 publications

(20 citation statements)

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“…Anthropologists and other social scientists studying funeral ceremonies in traditional societies hâve focused mainly on social and religious aspects and hâve not treated économie aspects sufficiently (see also Rosenblatt et al, 1976:121;Huntington and Metcalf, 1979). With a few exceptions such as Goody (1962) and Bloch and Parry (1982), the primary concern has been the rôle of funeral célébrations in fostering social cohésion and solidarity among peoples, and their religious or ritual significance.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The death and funeral rites of an individual are not the concern of his or her family and lineage alone. The event has enough implications (social, religious, political, and éco nomie) for the wider community to warrant the total population's active participation in the ceremonies that take place (Huntington and Metcalf, 1979). Upon the death of an individual, a member of the deceased's household first notifies the head of the segment of the bereaved matrilineage, usually the wofase (mother's brother) or abusuapanyin (lineage head), as well as the obaapanyin (senior woman of the lineage).…”

Section: Death Burial and Funeral Ritesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Economics of Death and Funeral Celebration in a Ghanaian Akan Community

Dei

2021

culture

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This study examines the economic aspects of death and funeral celebration in the Akan town of Ayirebi, near Akyem Oda, in southeastem Ghana. It illustrates the extent of social responsibility that exists in a contemporary stratified society that has a mixed form of property holding. It shows how a traditional institution functions as an effective response to socioeconomic stress, alleviating the hardships of the poorer segments of the population while allowing local capitalists to assert status and prestige. The examination of the processes involved in the preparation of the corpse, burial and observance of the final funeral rites, as well as what happens to productive resources after the owner’s death, shows an elaborate division of labour, and economic costs and benefits within the bereaved family, the lineage and the wider community.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Death Burial and Funeral Ritesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Economics of Death and Funeral Celebration in a Ghanaian Akan Community

Dei

2021

culture

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“…However, it could last for up to 2 weeks, depending on the age of the widowed, usually lasting longer with a younger widow(er)s. A variant of the reason for Àìsùn is that anyone who sleeps during the Àìsùn will continue to have vivid imaginations/dreams of the departed leading to a prolonged mourning period. Sometimes the vigil lasts only one night 2,3 …”

Section: àìSùn Okumentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Àìsùn is a Yorùbá word that means vigil. 2,3 The concept of Àìsùn Oku (translated: vigil for the dead) is a traditional practice in Yorùbá culture, predominant in South-Western Nigeria but may also be found in other parts of West Africa and some subcultures in Brazil and Cuba. It is a special vigil specifically to provide emotional support to a bereaved spouse.…”

Section: àìSùn Okumentioning

confidence: 99%

The potential beneficial effect of sleep deprivation following traumatic events to preventing PTSD: Review of current insight regarding sleep, memory, and trauma resonating with ancient rituals—Àìsùn Oku (African) and Tsuya (Japanese)

Cohen

Ephraim-Oluwanuga

Akintunde

et al. 2023

Neuropsychopharm Rep

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Sleep figures in numerous ancient texts, for example, Epic of Gilgamesh, and has been a focus for countless mystical and philosophical texts. Even in the present century, sleep remains one of the most complex behaviors whose function still remains to be further explored. Current hypotheses suggest that among other functions, sleep contributes to memory processes. Memory is a core topic of study in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other stress-related phenomena. It is widely accepted that sleep plays a major role in the consolidation of newly encoded hippocampusdependent memories to pre-existing knowledge networks. Conversely, sleep deprivation disrupts consolidation and impairs memory retrieval. Along this line, sleep deprivation following a potentially traumatic event may interfere with the consolidation of event-related memories and, thereby, may reduce long-term post-traumatic stress-related symptoms. This review consolidates clinical and animal studies on the relationships between sleep, sleep deprivation, memory processes, and trauma exposure while introducing new contemporary insights into an ancient African tribal ritual (Àìsùn Oku) and Japanese ceremony ritual (Tsuya). We propose that these findings, focusing specifically on the effects of sleep deprivation in the immediate aftermath of traumatic events, may be explored as a possible therapeutic measure. Along with a summary of the field questions on whether sleep is performed "to remember" or "to forget" we lay the rationale for using sleep deprivation as a clinical tool. A tool that may partially prevent the long-term persistence of these traumatic events' memory and thereby, at least partly, attenuating the development of PTSD.

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“…While volumes have been written about the ways in which people have grieved historically (both in North America and cross-culturally; see Metcalf & Huntington, 1991;Parkes, Laungani, & Young, 1997;Rosenblatt, 1993), in this article, I trace the development of grief as a psychological construct as it has historically evolved within the discipline. Before delving into this trajectory, it is necessary to situate contemporary grief research within the field as it is understood today.…”

Section: Human Versus Natural Kindsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Grief as pathology: The evolution of grief theory in psychology from Freud to the present.

Granek

2010

History of Psychology

105

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The emergence of grief as a topic worthy of psychological study is an early 20th century invention. Freud published his influential essay on mourning and melancholia in 1917. Since he proposed the concept of "grief work," contemporary psychologists have examined his theory empirically and have claimed that grief is a pathology that should be included within the psychological domain. How, and why, has grief theory evolved within the discipline of psychology in this way? In what ways do these changes in the understanding of grief coincide with other historical developments within the discipline? In this article, I trace the development of grief, originally conceived by Freud within a psychoanalytic and nonpathological framework, to the current conceptualization of grief within the disease model. I show how grief theory has evolved within the discipline of psychology to become (a) an object worthy of scientific study within the discipline, and subsequently, (b) a pathology to be privatized, specialized, and treated by mental health professionals.

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Celebrations of Death: The Anthropology of Mortuary Ritual.

Cited by 45 publications

References 0 publications

The Economics of Death and Funeral Celebration in a Ghanaian Akan Community

The Economics of Death and Funeral Celebration in a Ghanaian Akan Community

The potential beneficial effect of sleep deprivation following traumatic events to preventing PTSD: Review of current insight regarding sleep, memory, and trauma resonating with ancient rituals—Àìsùn Oku (African) and Tsuya (Japanese)

Grief as pathology: The evolution of grief theory in psychology from Freud to the present.

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