article
Space, time and bodiliness in Dogon funerals: a praxiological view
Journal of the Anthropological Society of Oxford • 22 (2) • Published In 1991 • Pages: 101-117
By: Verboven, Dirk.
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
In this paper Verboven examines the bodily movements of Dogon funeral rituals and interpretes them in relation to the Dogon social and cosmological order. According to Verboven, cultural meaning is derived from the body. The body is the basis for relational, spatial, or orientational metaphors that connect bodily, social, and cosmological principles. Basic body/space oppositions include in/out, up/down, left/right, front/back, which can be metaphors for social oppositions. Furthermore, bodily movement can be interpreted as dynamic transgressions of the above oppositions: entering/leaving, ascending/descending, turning counterclockwise/clockwise, approaching/withdrawing, respectively. Verboven interpretes the movements in funeral rituals as embodiments of Dogon social order, with its divisions between young/old, men/women, lineage/clan, etc.
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Theoretical orientation in research and its results
- Burial practices and funerals
- Ethnophysics
- cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- Dogon
- HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
- 2000
- RegionThe area the document pertains to
- Africa
- Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
- Western Africa
- Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
- article
- Evaluation
- Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
- Unknown
- AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
- Ian Skoggard;1999
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- not specified
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- not specified
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- Bandiagara escarpment, Mali
- NotesAdditional notes
- Dirk Verboven
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 116-117)
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- sn92013022
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Dogons (African people)