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Gift Of Grief Essay

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Third crucial relationship which Anthropology attempts to understand is the relationship between living and the dead. This relationship is often expressed in the ritual or processes related to grief, bereavement and memory. Like body disposal and soul beliefs, styles and pattern of grief are highly variable and most dramatic in terms visualization. One of the best anthropological records exists of the Sora people. Sora community regularly engages the newly dead in animated post-mortem conversation facilitated by female shamans who voice the wishes (mostly complaints) of deceased. There are grievances to settle and these grievances are aired in lengthy public dialogues which show pain (sometimes humiliating and occasionally humorous). Reconciliation is achieved with the agreement of the dead to drop their demands and bless relief to the living. In western …show more content…

The newer studies like “Public Grief And The Politics Of Memorial Contesting The Memory Of 'The Shooters' At Columbine High School” by Grider Sylvia (2007); “Death's Door: Modern Dying and the Ways We Grieve” by Sandra Gilbert (2006); “Gifts Of Grief: Performative Ethnography And The Revelatory Potential Of Emotion” by Henry Rosita (2012); in anthropology attempts to conceptualize grief and mourning. Commonalty, these studies emphasizes on urge of continuing bonds. Though, some ethnographic studies like John Costello’s “Nursing Older Dying Patients: Findings From An Ethnographic Study Of Death And Dying In Elderly Care Wards” appeared in 2001; Jeanie Kayser-Jones’ “The Experience of Dying An Ethnographic Nursing Home Study” published in 2002 do not establish “continuing bonds” model as a norm. But under this model, living beings are encouraged to cultivate open ended relationship with dead, in such way that it is continuously revised and evolves over the years (Antze & Lambek,

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