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Secular Reinforcement in Aymara Death Ritual 1
Author(s) -
CARTER WILLIAM E.
Publication year - 1968
Publication title -
american anthropologist
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.51
H-Index - 85
eISSN - 1548-1433
pISSN - 0002-7294
DOI - 10.1525/aa.1968.70.2.02a00020
Subject(s) - fatalism , rite , symbol (formal) , set (abstract data type) , history , rite of passage , function (biology) , sociology , anthropology , epistemology , philosophy , theology , biology , linguistics , evolutionary biology , computer science , programming language
Death ritual offers a primary channel for the study of values and general life orientation. As a series of complex symbol sets, each of which has multiple referrents, it clarifies and reinforces relationships among the living as well as between living and dead. An analytical example is taken from the Aymara. Each symbol set is described in terms of its relationship to manifest function, social structure, ecology, dogma, and other ceremonies. The most consistently reinforced attitude is found to be that of negativistic fatalism. This tends to confirm much that has already been written about the Aymara, and, when combined with brief examinations of death ritual in other cultures, argues for the rite's plasticity, and therefore its analytical usefulness.