|
|
AEGIS European Conference on African Studies
11 - 14 July 2007
African Studies Centre, Leiden, The Netherlands
Show panel list
Mourning in silence: Gender aspects of mourning in Zambia
| Panel |
55. Gender and death in Africa
|
| Paper ID | 717 |
| Author(s) |
Rasing, Thera
|
| Paper |
No paper submitted
|
| Abstract | In Zambia, many people are currently confronted with death and the loss of their beloved ones. Rituals surrounding death and attitudes toward dealing with death reveal the resilience and strength of both men and women, each in their own way. This is particularly prevailing in today's HIV/AIDS pandemic in Zambia. In this context, Zambians are confronted with death frequently. As a consequence, mourning periods have been curtailed and rituals surrounding death have changed.
Usually, during the mourning period rituals are preformed and people are allowed and expected to mourn. After this period, the bereaved ones are expected to continue normal life, although widows and parents who lost a child, should refrain from public activities until the cleansing ritual, to take away the death surrounding them, has been performed. The community expects bereaved ones to continue with their lives in a normal way. However, for the close relatives mourning continues for a long period of time silently, in a private sphere.
Today, even during the mourning period, the bereaved ones are counselled and told to cope with death and accept it, in order to continue normal life. At the death of a husband or wife, the remaining spouse is told not to cry, not to mourn for a long time, for s/he will get a new husband or wife soon. At the death of a child, the parents are told they (will) have more children.
Does this mean it is more important to have a husband or another child than to mourn about the beloved one? Does this mean that mourning is not important? Why are people not to mourn for a long period? What are the psychological aspects perceived to be related to (no) mourning? How is this for a woman, and how for a man? This paper seeks to answer these questions, focussing on coping with the death of a spouse and of children, including stillborn babies in Zambia.
In this paper I examine men and women's ways to deal with death, not only how they cope with death, but more specifically how they construct appropriate ways to facilitate to overcome the loss. In this paper I analyse how gender differences are institutionalised in death and mourning rituals and how they are 'performed' in these rituals. I show how gender identities come to the fore in the performance of rituals surrounding death, particularly for the close relatives, - the spouse and parents, - and how they construct the meanings of gender roles. Specific attention is paid to women's roles in dealing with death, since these are related to other female aspects, in particularly their fertility and reproductive roles.
|
|