Death Rituals among the Karanga of Zimbabwe
Praxis, Significance, and Changes
- World Religions
- Publisher: Resource Publications (Wipf and Stock)
- Published: 2021
FritzSearch.com earns a commission on purchases made through Bookshop.org links.
Publisher's Description
One of the inescapable truths that humanity has to grapple with is the reality of death. The manner in which we die, or the cause of our death, may differ, but death remains inevitable. We may be afraid of it or not; we may try to evade it, or not, but death still comes. Although most religions promise the possibility of another life in the hereafter, there is no scientifically verifiable evidence about the reality of that life. Despite that lack of evidence, every culture performs death rituals meticulously to prepare the spirits of its deceased for whatever form of life that may be available. Death Rituals among the Karanga of Zimbabwe: Praxis, Significance, and Changes explores the causes of sickness and death, and the praxis of pre-burial, burial, and post-burial rituals of the Karanga of Zimbabwe in an attempt to unearth their original form and significance, to identify the changes that have taken place. It also provides a brief manual for the performance of some selected Karanga death rituals.
Endorsements (6)
“Chitakure brings a fresh breath to the study of death rituals. He combines personal reflections with rigorous ethnographic research and postcolonial theory to articulate the praxis, significance, and possible changes in the death rituals as they are performed and understood by the Karanga people to record them for future generations. A great scholarly contribution to an often-oversimplified debate.”
“This book makes a critical contribution to the study of death rituals in the Karanga culture. I know of no other book on this subject deeper than what Chitakure has achieved here.”
“This book . . . explores the various changes embraced over time as Africans grapple with the reality of death. Cognizant that indigenous traditions are gradually getting lost due to lack of written records, Chitakure presents a detailed manual on Karanga traditional death rituals. This is an immensely enriching resource addressing pertinent issues for both academics and non-academics.”
“Written in a lively, engaging, and exuberant style by an insider of the Karanga community, this is an invaluable contribution to Shona philosophy. It discusses the Karanga pre-death, burial, and post-burial rituals in a nuanced way, exploring shifts and continuities of their praxis and significance.”
“Chitakure’s book . . . could provide the impetus that the Karanga need to rediscover and reaffirm their battered cultural identity and integrity. The study could also help to revitalize and underline the importance of indigenous African knowledge systems.”
“Chitakure’s book provides the much-needed ethnographic study of Karanga death rituals. Employing postcolonial theory in the study and therefore underlining the need for respect of certain traditional rituals, the book promotes Karanga . . . identity by providing a manual for death rituals that ‘eternalizes’ these rituals that were otherwise fast disappearing because of the stranglehold of Christianity and general modernity.”
See something wrong on this page? Report a problem