African Studies Center - TUFS (ASC-TUFS) and Center for African Area Studies, Kyoto University (CAAS-KU) will hold the 12th TUFS-KU Seminar on October 10, 2019. This is also the 40th ASC Seminar and is jointly organized by Kanto branch of Japan Association for African Studies.

The speaker is Prof. Luc Mebenga Tamba of the University of Yaoundé I. Recently, funeral ceremonies can be used in order to demonstrate social status of the deceased in African cultures. Prof. Mebenga will analyze the consequences of this situation.

◆Title: Death as the Giver of Prestige in Cameroon: An Ethno-analysis of Contemporary Funerary Rituals in Africa

◆Speaker: Prof. Luc Mebenga Tamba (Professor, Department of Anthropology, Faculty of Arts Letters and Human Sciences, University of Yaoundé I)

◆Abstract: In African cultures, funeral ceremonies not only have the function of accompanying the dead to the realm of the ancestors, but also play an important cathartic role for the living. In recent time, however, it is clear that funeral ceremonies have evolved from an occasion to celebrate the dead into an opportunity for those close to the deceased to take advantage of periods of mourning to flaunt their social status. Thus, it is seen that expenses occasioned by these mourning ceremonies rival those of the most grandiose festive ceremonies in the society. The purpose is to demonstrate to those invited to the ceremonies that the dead person comes from a respectable family in the community. These attempts to demonstrate social status through opulent funerals has, of course, economic consequences that are particularly felt by less affluent families, who also feel under pressure to provide an unforgettable death ceremony.

◆Keywords: Corpse, death, prestige, funerary rituals

◆Date & Time: Thursday, October 10, 2019 5:40 - 7:10 pm

◆Venue: Room 111, Research and Lecture Building, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies

◆Language: English

◆Admission: Free

◆No pre-registration is needed.

◆Jointly organized by African Studies Center - TUFS, the Center for African Area Studies, Kyoto University, and Kanto branch of Japan Association for African Studies