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Funerals for the Living: Conversations with Elderly People in Kwahu, Ghana

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 May 2014

Sjaak van der Geest
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Abstract:

To understand the grandness and emotion of Ghanaian funerals we need to look at the living rather than the deceased; we should think less of religion and more of politics, particularly the politics of reputation. The author takes the discrepancy between premortem and postmortem care as a starting point for his exploration of the meaning of funerals in a rural Akan community of Southern Ghana. The essay is based on conversations with elderly and younger people and on personal observations and attendance at funerals during anthropological fieldwork. Funerals are first and foremost occasions for the family to affirm its prestige and to celebrate its excellence. When thinking about their own funeral, the elderly are ambivalent. On the one hand, they criticize the overemphasis on funerals at the expense of proper care during their lives. On the other hand, they would certainly not want to turn the tables. For them, too, a poor funeral would be an unbearable disgrace.

Résumé:

Résumé:

Afin de comprendre la grandeur et l'émotion des funérailles ghanéennes, il nous faut regarder les vivants plutôt que les morts; nous devrions penser moins à la religion et plus à la politique, ou plus précisément aux politiques de réputation. L'auteur prend comme point de départ pour son exploration de la signification des funérailles la contradiction entre les soins pre-mortem et post-mortem dans une communauté rurale Akan de la Guinée du sud. Cet article se base sur des conversations avec des personnes âgées et plus jeunes, ainsi que sur des observations personnelles recueillies lors de funérailles auxquelles l'auteur a assisté lors de sa recherche anthropologique sur le terrain. Les funérailles sont tout d'abord une occasion pour la famille d'affirmer son prestige et de célébrer son excellence. Quand ils pensent à leurs propres funérailles, les personnes âgées ont une réponse ambivalente. D'un côté ils critiquent l'importance exagérée donnée aux funérailles au détriment de soins décents dont ils aimeraient bénéficier pendant qu'ils sont vivants; de l'autre ils ne voudraient certainement rien changer. Pour eux, également, des funérailles médiocres seraient une disgrâce insoutenable.

Type
Articles
Information
African Studies Review , Volume 43 , Issue 3 , December 2000 , pp. 103 - 129
Copyright
Copyright © African Studies Association 2000

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