المستخلص: |
Although death represents a cosmic inevitability; however, the human perception and responses towards it are different. Therefore, cultures differed in their view of death and dealing with it. Different cultures formulated some rituals and ceremonies related to death, and those rituals were passed on from one generation to the next, some of which disappeared due to the urgent changes taking place in societies, and other succeeded in survival and continuity. Therefore, this study aimed to monitor the African perspective of death, its classifications, the rituals associated with it, and the social function of those rituals related to death, whether for the deceased or his family. Two examples of death rituals among the Luo people in Kenya and the Yoruba people in Nigeria will be indicated through a review of the literature and previous studies on death in Africa. The study reached several results, such as; (1) death in the African context has a special character that differs from death in the Western context, (2) the impact of death on Africans was clearly manifested in their actions and behavior towards themselves and towards their dead. (3) Death rituals have many social and cultural functions, not only for the deceased; but for the family of the deceased as well.
|