Celebrations of death : the anthropology of mortuary ritual

This revised edition of a cross-cultural study of rituals surrounding death has become a standard text in anthropology, sociology, and religion. Part of its fascination and success is that in understanding other people's death rituals we are able to gain a better understanding of our own. Peter Metcalf and Richard Huntington refer to a wide variety of examples from different continents and epochs. They compare the great tombs of the Berawan of Borneo and the pyramids of Egypt, or the dramas of medieval French royal funerals and the burial alive of the Dinka "masters of the spear" in the Sudan, and other burials which at first sight seem to have little in common. Many of these cases are anthropological classics, and the authors use these examples partly in order to illustrate the many different ways in which anthropologists have tried to interpret these rites. A new introduction reviews theoretical developments in the anthropological study of death since the book first appeared in 1979. This Revised And Updated Edition Of A Cross-cultural Study Of Rituals Surrounding Death Has Become A Standard Text In Anthropology, Sociology, And Religion. Part Of Its Fascination And Success-also Among A General Readership-is That In Understanding Other People's Death Rituals We Are Also Able To Gain A Better Understanding Of Our Own. Introduction To The Second Edition -- Ritual And Emotion -- Ritual And The Polity -- Life As A Political Resource -- The Universal And The Particular -- Death Rituals And Exchange -- Reconstructing Death Rites -- Death And The Longue Dur ée -- Death And Reflexivity -- I. Preliminaries -- Death In Life -- The Death Awareness Movement -- Death Ritual And Nineteenth-century Anthropology -- Durkheim And The Sociology Of Religion -- Van Gennep's Rites Of Passage -- Liminality -- Hertz's Study Of The Secondary Burial -- Modern Developments Of Hertz's Thesis -- The Format Of This Book. Part I. Universals And Culture -- 2. Emotional Reactions To Death -- Sentiments And Society: Radcliffe-brown's Theory -- Durkheim And The Aborigines -- A Passion Of Grief: Nyakyusa Funerals -- Culture And Sentiment -- 3. Symbolic Associations Of Death -- Drumming: Symbol Of Death, Liminality, Or Divinity -- Ritual Actions And Daily Activities -- Liminality And The Corpse -- Rotting, Fermenting, Dyeing, And Distilling -- The Universal And The Particular. Part Ii. Death As Transition -- 4. The Living And The Dead: A Re-examination Of Hertz -- Three Sides Of Hertz's Analysis -- An Application: Berawan Death Rites -- Variations On A Theme: Ma'anyan, Toradja, Balinese, Iban, And Mambai -- 5. Death Rituals And Life Values: Rites Of Passage Reconsidered -- Life Themes In Death -- Problems With The Approaches Of Hertz And Van Gennep -- Bara Life Values: Order And Vitality -- The Bara Funeral Sequence: Burial, Gathering, Reburial -- Symbolic Generation Of Vitality -- Resolution: Intercourse And Rebirth -- Transition And Life. Part Iii. The Royal Corpse And The Body Politic -- 6. The Dead King -- Royal Funerals In The Indic States Of Southeast Asia: Thailand And Bali -- Legitimization Through Death Monuments: The Berawan -- Pyramid Building And The Pharaonic State -- 7. The Immortal Kingship -- The Divine Kingship Of The Shilluk Of The Sudan -- Body Politic And Body Natural -- Le Roi Est Mort! Vive Le Roi! -- Regicide -- Dinka Burial Alive. Part Iv. Seeing Ourselves Anew -- 8. American Deathways -- Problems In The Study Of American Deathways -- The First Paradox: Ritual Uniformity And Indeterminate Ideology -- Critiques Of The Funeral Industry -- Fear And Guilt: The Inadequacy Of Psychology -- Collective Representations Of Death In America -- The Second Paradox: Puppet Death -- An Indigenous American Religion. Peter Metcalf, Richard Huntington. Huntington's Name Appears First On The Earlier Edition. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 215-230) And Index.

This revised edition of a cross-cultural study of rituals surrounding death has become a standard text in anthropology, sociology, and religion.

Part of its fascination and success is that in understanding other people's death rituals we are able to gain a better understanding of our own. Peter Metcalf and Richard Huntington refer to a wide variety of examples from different continents and epochs. They compare the great tombs of the Berawan of Borneo and the pyramids of Egypt, or the dramas of medieval French royal funerals and the burial alive of the Dinka "masters of the spear" in the Sudan, and other burials which at first sight seem to have little in common. Many of these cases are anthropological classics, and the authors use these examples partly in order to illustrate the many different ways in which anthropologists have tried to interpret these rites.A new introduction reviews theoretical developments in the anthropological study of death since the book first appeared in
1979.

This revised edition of a cross-cultural study of rituals surrounding death has become a standard text in anthropology, sociology and religion. Part of its fascination is that in understanding other people's death rituals we are able to gain a better understanding of our own. The authors refer to a wide variety of examples, from different continents and epochs. They compare the great tombs of the Berawan of Borneo and the pyramids of Egypt, as well as the dramas of medieval French royal funerals and the burial alive of the Dinka 'masters of the spear' in the Sudan, and other rituals which at first sight seem to have little in common. Many of these cases are anthropological classics, but the authors place them in an alternative context, so as to shape a novel synthesis on the anthropology of death ritual. A fresh introduction reviews theoretical developments in the field since the book first appeared in 1979