Death And Death In Madagascar

Death is an unfortunate aspect of life that we have no control over. When it comes to death, this can be a sensitive topic to discuss. At one point, or another we have experience death first hand whether it is losing a loved one, losing a friend, losing a pet, or losing a family member. Death can bring fourth several different emotions, and actions. Each and every single individual handles death differently. Each and every culture handles death differently. Some individuals may be calm, angered, confused, distraught, or in denial refusing to believe they lost someone that was close to them. Within this paper, I will discuss about a culture in Madagascar and how they cope with the dying process, death, bereavement and their culture’s death ritual.

In a small village that is located in Madagascar, they have similar beliefs on what it means when someone passes away. Astuti mentions how, “adults and children’s conception of death appear to be antithetical to vezo ancestral beliefs, whom claims that when an individual dies that his or her body stops functioning and all his or her mental processes also cease” (Astuti et al., 728). Once we lose someone that was close to us, the process of bereavement or morning usually begins. Kastenbaum mentions how, “we are bereaved when someone close to us dies, and how grief, denial or anger is a common response to bereavement” (Kastenbaum, 342-343). Kastenbaum also mentions how, “morning is the culturally patterned expression of the bereaved person’s thoughts and feelings” (Kastenbaum, 345). An example of bereavement or morning within this culture would be, in this small village, Astuti mentions how, “in Betania, funerals are frequent for which the adults are expected to participate in a wake and two communal meals daily” (Astuti et al., 717). Astuti mentions how, “when an elderly individual passes away, the corpse may be kept for three or four days in the village, for which requires for the villagers to give up on their sleep and normal food for many nights and days” (Astuti et al., 717). Within these funerals, Astuti

An example of a communal ritual would be Famadihana. This is a common practice that is done after someone dies in Madagascar. Larson mentions how, “Famadihana is when a single tomb is reopened for ceremonies of a second burial that is usually done every five to seven years” (Larson, 124). Larson also mentions how, “during the famadihana, this ceremony consists of drum and pipe music being played, Malagasy national colors would be displayed, festing, drinking and dancing with the dead in hopes for the living to confront death and memories of the deceased loves ones” (Larson, 124). According to DiMaggio, famadihana “usually occurs when a living family member has a dream, or hears the calling of an ancestor’s name” (DiMaggio, 142); however, Graeber mentions how, “famadihana can occur even without the ancestor appearing in a dream or vision” (Graeber,