Impacts of Contemporary Western Ideals on Minority Cultures: Defining Human-Animal Relationships Through the Lens of Funerary Rituals
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Date
2022-05
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The Ohio State University
Abstract
Across history and cultures there are countless instances of animals involved in human death rituals, where humans use these creatures in various ways in order to come to terms with death and the afterlife in their own way. In in the contemporary West it is believed animals should not be involved in death rituals; however, in many minority cultures they are crucial in processing how the world is viewed, including the event of death. In this thesis, I argue that people involve animals in funerary rituals because animals are liminal beings that have sacred connections between this world and the ones beyond. I analyze rituals of two types: those in which the animal is sacrificed, and those in which the animal consumes the corpse. Animal sacrifice can be seen in terms of whether the animal acts as a psychopomp for the deceased individual, a healing connection for the disrupted community, or both. In the consumption of the corpse, we are able to see how animals can be defined in terms of 'good' or 'bad' liminality based on how we view their everyday behaviors. Animals remain constant throughout life and cultures, and this connection is retained through these death rituals, such that the cycle of death is not complete until an animal is involved. Examining human-animal relationships in the context of death rituals will then allow us to look at how minority cultures and traditions are changing due to Western ideals.
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Keywords
Religion, Animals, Death, Funerals, Ritual, Minority Culture