Grief as Social Fact

Notes from Southern Benin

Bibliographic Data

ID2137693
AuthorsJoël Noret (Université Libre de Bruxelles, corresponding author)
Year2012
Volume71
Issue2
Pages273-286
Publication date2012-08-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueAfrican Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0002-0184 • E-ISSN: 1469-2872
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/00020184.2012.702969
OpenAlexW2075558006
LanguageEN
Citations received5
References cited39

This article explores the socialisation of the experience of grief in Southern Benin. Drawing on field research conducted in Southern Benin since the beginning of the 2000s and mobilising interviews and participant observations with bereaved people, I argue that grief is profoundly shaped by interiorised dispositions to think, act and feel, as well as social experiences (from family relationships to religious practices and economic conditions, among other things). The article mainly exemplifies this contention with two ethnographic vignettes, which respectively emphasise the significant place that funerals take locally in the grieving experience, and approach the issue of the socialisation of infant deaths. © 2012 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC

Ethnography · Field research · Grief · Participant observation · Psychotherapist · Social science · Sociology · Anthropological Studies and Insights · Anthropology · Gender Studies · Grief, Bereavement, and Mental Health · Migration, Health and Trauma · Psychology