Consuming Grief: Compassionate Cannibalism in an Amazonian Society - Softcover

Conklin, Beth A.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0292712367 ISBN 13: 9780292712362

Publisher: University of Texas Press, 2001

Synopsis

Mourning the death of loved ones and recovering from their loss are universal human experiences, yet the grieving process is as different between cultures as it is among individuals. As late as the 1960s, the Wari' Indians of the western Amazonian rainforest ate the roasted flesh of their dead as an expression of compassion for the deceased and for his or her close relatives. By removing and transforming the corpse, which embodied ties between the living and the dead and was a focus of grief for the family of the deceased, Wari' death rites helped the bereaved kin accept their loss and go on with their lives.

Drawing on the recollections of Wari' elders who participated in consuming the dead, this book presents one of the richest, most authoritative ethnographic accounts of funerary cannibalism ever recorded. Beth Conklin explores Wari' conceptions of person, body, and spirit, as well as indigenous understandings of memory and emotion, to explain why the Wari' felt that corpses must be destroyed and why they preferred cannibalism over cremation. Her findings challenge many commonly held beliefs about cannibalism and show why, in Wari' terms, it was considered the most honorable and compassionate way of treating the dead.

About this title

About the Author:

Beth A. Conklin is Associate Professor of Anthropology and Religious Studies at Vanderbilt University.

Review:

"This is probably the most significant ethnography of cannibalism. Period. . . . I expect this book to become a classic, an ethnography of exceptional depth and clarity by an anthropologist whose sensitivity and insight are apparent on every page." (Donald Pollock, Associate Professor of Anthropology, SUNY Buffalo)

About this edition

• Publisher: University of Texas Press
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0292712367
• ISBN 13: 9780292712362
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 368