Robert Hertz, Anthropophagic Practices and Traditional South Fore Mortuary Rites in Papua New Guinea

Bibliographic Data

ID13628845
AuthorsJerome Whitfield (0000-0003-4878-0897, MRC Prion Unit at UCL, corresponding author), Wandagi H Pako (Papua New Guinea Institute of Medical Research), Michael P Alpers (Papua New Guinea Institute of Medical Research)
Year2024
Volume93
Issue1
Pages420-438
Publication date2024-03-08
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueOMEGA - Journal of Death and Dying (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0030-2228 • E-ISSN: 1541-3764
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/00302228241239210
PMID38458237
OpenAlexW4392581495
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited15

In this paper we examine the traditional mortuary rites of the South Fore people of Papua New Guinea using Robert Hertz's theory of secondary burial and the three mechanisms of mourning identified by Daniel Lagache. The ethnographic data that we obtained on South Fore interpretations of their own mortuary rites showed that all forms of corpse handling achieved the same end results through the process of secondary burial. Furthermore, the three mechanisms of mourning applied equally to all forms of corpse disposal and we found no evidence to support psychosexual interpretations of mortuary anthropophagy which emphasise aggression. South Fore interpretations of mortuary anthropophagy show that the dead were eaten out of love, and to protect the mourners from the painful emotion of witnessing the decomposition of the corpse. These findings affirm the relevance of the concepts of Hertz and Lagache to the universal human experiences of death and mourning

Ancient history · Archaeology · Ethnography · Ethnology · Hertz · New guinea · Sociology · Anthropological Studies and Insights · Anthropology · Engineering · Grief, Bereavement, and Mental Health · History