Celebrations of Death: The Anthropology of Mortuary Ritual

by Peter Metcalf, Richard Huntington

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.

Genres: Death, Anthropology, Nonfiction, History, Cultural, Research, Sociology

258 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1979

Reviews

[Jocelyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This helped me understand how fundamental the Hertz I'd read in a previous anthology was to the study of death in anthropology. I was hoping this volume was going to be more generally useful on the variety of human mortuary ritual traditions for Michael's Death class, but as it's (not unfairly) focused on the areas of the authors' study, I think all I'm going to suggest to him from it is the short section on the Dinka burying chiefs "alive" and the chapter on American deathways, which is useful for its anthropological approach to a culture most of his students have grown up in. There is a lot of material on secondary burial in this, another custom I wanted to gather something for him on, but as it's spread over much of the book it's not going to work a a source for that.

[Patricia Boyle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good book for anybody interested in the anthropological view of death and burial practices. Although a bit diffifult to read, it provides a discussion of death/burial rites particularly in Borneo, Madagascar, and Africa (one chapter is dedicated to American burial rituals).

[Dark · Rating 3 out of 5]

does not focus on thanatology based on north american views

[Brian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Drawing upon ethnographic accounts of funerary practices from Southeast Asia to North America, Metcalf and Huntington seek to extract the meanings within the collective representations that societies construct around death. The paradoxical nature of funerary significations emerging from those accounts consists in their sheer overdetermination, partaking at once of human biological universals and culturally-particular models, as well as entailing multiplicities of non-exclusive functional and symbolic explanations. In analyzing their comparative materials, the authors arrive at the valuable insight that each potential connotation and implication of a given ritual form may validly pertain to a different field of its performers' social or psychological needs, to say nothing of the very different emotional and cultural connotations evoked by similar symbols across different societies. The representations expressed around the process of death, in contemporary America as much as any other time or place, reveal a culture's definitions and evaluations of what constitutes a good life no less than what comes after it ends.

[Aidan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This has been on the back burner for a while now, but it was definitely a fascinating read. I need to learn to be more cri to cal with anthropology because ethnography is rather infallible, as far as I can see!

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I only read the American Deathways chapter, which was interesting and disturbing. A lot of the information comes from the essays of David Ariès, like this:

Today, the physician and the family conspire to keep all knowledge of impending death from the sick person. The truth is also kept from children, and indeed the terminally ill are reduced to the status of minors. Should they suspect the truth, they keep quiet about their fears so that the survivors can have the comfort of saying to themselves: "At least, he never knew."

[Hannah Graham · Rating 3 out of 5]

Difficult to get through, particularly the first section, I find that it skips around a lot. Eventually gets better, the last few chapters gets particularly interesting with discussing Egypt and kingship in France/England. Much easier to read and relate because they're cultures we're actually heard of, unlike most other cultures referenced in the book (Bara, Berawan, etc.) I actually read the book for Peter Metcalf's religion course.

[Jeannette · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting, but all too forgettable because of arid writing.