Death: A Cross-Cultural Perspective

Abstract

De ath aware ne ss is a natural se quel to the de vel opme nt of self-aware ne ssan intrinsic attribute of humankind. The consciousne ss of man' s transie nce in its k nown e arthl y f orm is thus a unive rsal phe nome non and one which pose s intelle ctuall y tantal iz ing que stions f or the anthropol ogists . Strangel y e nough, rel ativel y fe w anthropol ogists conce rne d the msel ve s spe cif icall y and dire ctl y with the subje ct, and unl ike the phil osophe rs , manife ste d l ittle f ascination with the myste ry of de ath. Howe ve r, the ve ry omnipre se nce of de ath in socie ty cre ate s a situation that de ath-rel ate d beh avior is ine vitabil y incorporate d in various studie s and more ove r, in the past, le d to many of the ce ntral the ore tical de vel opme nts (60) . Whe n re ading through the anthropol ogical l ite rature in one l arge swee p, one is lef t with the impre ssion of cool ne ss and re mote ne ss. The f ocus is on the be re ave d and on the corpse but ne ve r on the dying. Fabian (29) pre se nts the the sis that approache s to de ath in anthropol ogy, l ike the conce pt of cul ture, have unde rgone a proce ss of parochializ ation which has had the effe ct of el iminating a unive rsal conce ption of the proble m le aving the discipl ine be ref t of a the ore tical pl ane on which to f ace challe nge s such as the subje ct of de ath. Thus he cl aims it was ine vitable that the studie s de al t with how othe rs die and more ove r at a safe distance f rom one 's own socie ty. It al so has bee n maintaine d that de ath is not a ce ntral issue f or anthropol o­ gists be cause of the ir natural rel uctance to intrude in pe ople ' s l ive s at a time of anguish ( 1 13 ) . T his opinion re ve al s the ex te nt to which de ath in We ste rn socie ty has be come a private aff air and al so de monstrate s the de pth of de ath anxie ty e nge nde re d by the conte mporary cul tural mil ie u .