Anthropos: Anthropos, 93.1998

Anthropos, 93.1998

Bibliographische Daten

Zeitschrift

Strukturtyp:: Zeitschrift

Werks-URN (URL):: https://digi.evifa.de/viewer/resolver?urn=urn:nbn:de:kobv:11-714820

URN:: urn:nbn:de:kobv:11-714820

Persistenter Identifier:: BV043334262

Titel:: Anthropos

Untertitel:: internationale Zeitschrift für Völker- u. Sprachenkunde

Erscheinungsort:: Fribourg

Verlag:: Ed. St. Paul

Erscheinungsjahr:: 1906

Sammlung:: Zeitschriften und Zeitungen > Zeitschriften zur Ethnologie

Wissensgebiet:: Sozial- und Kulturanthropologie > Allgemeines

Zeitschriftenband

Strukturtyp:: Zeitschriftenband

Werks-URN (URL):: https://digi.evifa.de/viewer/resolver?urn=urn:nbn:de:kobv:11-711897

URN:: urn:nbn:de:kobv:11-711897

Persistenter Identifier:: 1515154324621

Titel:: Anthropos, 93.1998

Erscheinungsjahr:: 1998

Signatur:: LA 1118

Sammlung:: Zeitschriften und Zeitungen > Zeitschriften zur Ethnologie

Zeitschriftenheft

Strukturtyp:: Zeitschriftenheft

Titel:: Bd. 93, 1998, Heft 1-3

Sammlung:: Zeitschriften und Zeitungen > Zeitschriften zur Ethnologie

Zeitschriftenartikel

Strukturtyp:: Zeitschriftenartikel

Titel:: Some Sociopolitical Aspects of Luo Funerals

Sonstige Person:: Kisiara, Richard

Sammlung:: Zeitschriften und Zeitungen > Zeitschriften zur Ethnologie

Anthropos 93.199$ 128 Richard Kisiara Reaggregation, following the liminal period, and also known as the postliminal stage, is the placing of the subjects, transformed in some ritual, or cultural or social way, into their new positions in society. Again, in the case of death, activities such as sharing meals after the funeral and at commemoration brings together members of the deceased’s group, reintegrating them back into so ciety. Burial may also be seen as reintegrating the deceased into the next world (Van Gennep 1960: 147, 164 f.). The limen stage or the liminality period is that time when the subjects have been detached from their old places but have not been reaggregated into their new positions in society. It is the in-between period, what Victor Turner has referred to as “between and betwixt” (Turner 1964; 1992: 49). Liminality is that period when subjects are neither here nor there, and thus many rules that would apply in the old phases or the new phases that the subjects are coming from and going to do not apply as much. Liminality is a kind of a “dead” stage, and as Turner (1992: 49) points out, many liminal stages have symbols of death. In death, the mourners and the deceased constitute a special, liminal group, according to Van Gennep. Victor Turner (1992: 51) also identifies two types of liminalities: sequestered and public. The former refers to initiation rites involving initiates being humbled to make them ready for the next stage, while the latter involves everybody in the society during society wide seasonal feasts. Communitas is a Latin word which Turner defines as a “modality of social relationship” (Tur ner 1969: 96). Communitas is the bond “between those ... undergoing ritual transition” (Turner 1974: 274). Communitas is distinguished from the more commonly used term community, which refers to “an area of common living” (Turner 1969: 96), thus community has a physical dimension as opposed to the social dimension that charac terizes communitas. The concept of communitas becomes clearer if it is contrasted with its opposite, structure. Whereas communitas is spontaneous and immediate (Turner 1969: 127), a reaction to a life crisis that has just occurred (for example a death), structure is the ordinary daily rules of conduct that people follow (Turner 1969). Structure, as Turner explains, “is rooted in the past and extends into the future through language, law, and custom” (1969: 113; also see Turner 1975: 22). Turner adds that bonds of communitas are unstructured in the sense that they are undifferentiated, equalitarian, and direct. Communitas tends to ignore, cut across, or reverse certain behavioral expectations, and this is reflected in some of the behaviors that have been observed in funerals across the world (Turner 1974: 274). There is, for example, some permis siveness in sexual intercourse in the fields during funerals among the Lugbara of Uganda, something that is normally forbidden (Middleton 1982). An important point that Turner makes that is at the very center of my argument is that the dialectic of communitas and structure is necessary for the adequate functioning of any society (Turner 1969: 129). The relative rigidity of structure is broken by the permissiveness of communitas and Turner believes this is a revitalizing experience: “men are released from structure into communitas only to return to structure revitalized by their experience of communitas” (Turner 1969: 129). The concepts of liminality and communitas have been most extensively used in what have been considered major life stages, namely birth, initiation into adulthood, marriage, and death. In many societies around the world, movement to and from these stages are marked with rituals. These rituals have very important social, cultural, eco nomic, religious, and political implications, not on ly to the individuals passing through these stages, but also to their families and their communities- In this paper, I examine the social and political implications of liminality and communitas in Luo funerals. A Brief History of the Luo The Luo are the third largest ethnic group in Kenya, numbering about 2.7 million people (Republic of Kenya 1994: 6-2). The Luo make their home mostly in western Kenya, but there are many Luo people who have migrated to and now live in various urban centers in Kenya, and also in some resettlement schemes. Nairobi and Mombasa, the largest and second largest cities in Kenya respectively, host thousands of Luo people- The Luo have settled in resettlement schemes in the Rift Valley Province and also along the coast of Kenya. Despite outmigration, many Luo migrants still consider western Kenya and the villages in this part of the country where their extended families live as their ancestral home. During major holidays such as Christmas and Easter, many Luo peopl e living in the cities go back to visit in the villages in western Kenya. This concept of ancestral hom 6 is particularly important when discussing funerals among the Luo, and I refer to this later in this paper.

Zugriffsbeschränkung

Nutzungslizenz

fullscreen: Anthropos, 93.1998

Zeitschrift

Zeitschriftenband

Zeitschriftenheft

Zeitschriftenartikel

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Downloads

Ganzer Datensatz

Diese Seite

Bildfragment

Formate und Verlinkungen

Formate

Links

Zitieren

Ganzer Datensatz

Diese Seite

Zitierempfehlung