Au cœur de la mort

Faire Science Avec Les Défunts

Bibliographic Data

ID4614526
AuthorsMarc-Antoine Berthod (0000-0002-3112-1556, HES-SO University of Applied Sciences and Arts Western Switzerland, corresponding author)
Year2022
Volume34
Issue1
Publication date2022-02-21
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueCahiers du Centre de recherches anthropologiques (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1297-7810 • E-ISSN: 1777-5469
PublisherOpenEdition (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.4000/bmsap.9433
OpenAlexW4213269664
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited19

Ever since the founding of anthropology as a discipline, the theme of death has nourished an abundant literature that puts into perspective the ways in which communities construct boundaries between the living and the dead: how they define intervals between the two categories while designating places reserved for the deceased. In this text, we first discuss how these boundaries and their transgressions have been considered by cultural and social anthropologists. We then suggest that a shift has occurred in perspectives on these aspects, through a commentary on the notion of techno-scientific immortalism and the emergence of certain ecological funeral practices. In parallel, we show the methodological importance of being present at the time of a passage from life to death, in this case at the time of an assisted suicide, in order to document how this boundary between life and death is established. Through these two illustrations, the aim is to bring the questions raised by cultural and social anthropologists into perspective with questions liable to be encountered by biological anthropologists and funerary archaeology when interpreting the relationship between the living and the dead over historical time

Humanities · Aging, Elder Care, and Social Issues · Death, Funerary Practices, and Mourning · Diverse Cultural and Historical Studies · Philosophy

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