Death and Modernity: Death in an African Context (Part B)
Introduction It was noted by French Anthropologist Bastide (1968: 104), that "if the structure of African cultures is that of a dialogue (between the living and the dead), then the structure of Western society is that of a monologue-but the monologue of the dead”. The latter half of this quotation concerning the ‘monologue of the dead’ quite firmly emphasises the argument made in the literature review (Part A) of this paper. The first part of the quotation however, concerning
Death and Modernity: Literature Review (Part A)
Abstract This paper firstly applies a literature review in order to address the question of how death is generally perceived within the Western framework of modernity. In light of this inquisition, the notion of ‘decontextualization’ in relation to death is introduced, whereby it is argued that the notion of death is deliberately avoided to the greatest possible extent, whether as a topic of conversation or as an imminent natural phenomenon in one’s life. Ultimately, it is po
