Exhuming Bodies

Datos Bibliográficos

ID23403430
AutoresLeslie Bank (0000-0002-8506-7401), Vuyokazi Nelly Sharpley (0000-0001-7657-4033), Nelly Sharpley
Año2022
Páginas175-206
Fecha de publicación2022-09-15
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoCHAPTER
RevistaCovid and Custom in Rural South Africa (SOURCE_BOOK)
EditorialOxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1093/oso/9780197659618.003.0007
OpenAlexW4317410173
ISBN9780197659618
IdiomaEN
Referencias citadas90

The tightening of Covid restrictions in relation to the management of bodies and burial practices created great consternation in rural areas. Covid bodies were managed by mortuaries and funeral parlors which required that bodies be wrapped in multiple layers of plastic to avoid infection. Families of the deceased thus had very little access to the bodies of their loved ones prior to burial and could not wash them or communicate with them before they were buried in the ground. This challenged families whose belief system was based on direct communication with the dead to usher them safely into the afterlife and the cult of ancestors and spirits. Covid burials proved to be hopelessly inadequate vehicles for such rites of passage and social reproduction. As a result, many residents and returning migrants, tormented by dreams of their suffering deceased relatives sweating in plastic bags, exhumed dead bodies and instituted illegal reburials. Others reinitiated banned customary practices to begin to repair the spiritual wounds left by the pandemic. The chapter provides a detailed account of rural struggles to restore dignity and spiritual security in the time of Covid.

Afterlife · Ancient history · Archaeology · Art · Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) · Criminology · Cult · Dead body · Dignity · Political science · Sociology · Anthropological Studies and Insights · History · Law · Medicine