Funerals in Africa

Michael Jindra is an Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Anthropology and a visiting research scholar in the Center for the Study of Religion and Society at the University of Notre Dame. He has published in journals such as Africa, Sociology of Religion, Anthropological Forum, and Society and has also contributed chapters to a number of books. His current research focuses on the connection between lifestyle diversity, culture, and inequality in the US.

• List of IllustrationsForewordJan VansinaIntroduction: Funerals in Africa. An IntroductionMichael Jindra and Joël NoretChapter 1. African Funerals and Sociocultural Change: A Review of Momentous Transformations across a ContinentMichael Jindra and Joël NoretChapter 2. A Decent Death: Changes in Burial in BulawayoTerence RangerChapter 3. Kikuyu Transformation of Death in Kenya: From Hyenas to TombsYvan DrozChapter 4. Decomposing Pollution? Corpses, Burials, and Affliction among the Meru of Central KenyaMark LamontChapter 5. The Rise of Death Celebrations in the Cameroon GrassfieldsMichael JindraChapter 6. Funerals and Religious Pluralism in Burkina FasoKatrin LangewiescheChapter 7. Funerals and the Religious Imagination: Burying and Honoring the Dead in the Celestial Church of Christ (Southern Benin)Joël NoretChapter 8. Of Corpses, Clay, and Photographs: Body Imagery and Changing Technologies of Remembrance in Asante Funeral CultureMarleen de WitteChapter 9. Funerals and Fetish Interment in Accra, GhanaJonathan RobertsNotes on the ContributorsBibliographyIndex

“Thanks to its historical approach, this book is a valuable addition to the already rich ethnographic literature on African funerals.”  ·  JRAI“Jindra and Noret have assembled an excellent group of researchers to address funerals in contemporary Africa, and the result is a work grounded in ethnographic detail that reinterprets previous critical discourses on funerals and brings a fresh perspective at a time when HIV and AIDS have multiplied funerals in Africa…This book is highly recommended for all who seek a historical yet fresh interpretation of funerals in Africa today.”  ·  Religious Studies Review“This collection is of great benefit to scholars and students across a wide range of disciplines, including anthropology, sociology, development studies, economics, history, religious studies.”  ·  Rebekah Lee, Goldsmiths, University of London"Funerals in Africa is an excellent volume. Based on outstanding original research the collection shows how social and economic changes in Africa are illuminated through the analysis of burials, mortuary rites, mourning and remembrance. In this collection encounters with world religions emerge as the key theme. Death and burial are therefore employed to illuminate classic debates on conversion, reformism and local-global religious tensions. Highly recommended for anthropologists and historians and a major contribution to African studies."  ·  David Pratten, Director, African Studies Centre, Oxford University