Funeral Orations as Indicators of what a Good Life Ought to Be

• Authors: Chukwugozie Maduka
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

The central aim of this study was to uncover, based on funeral orations, what the Igbo of South-East Nigeria regard as the good life. Over two hundred and fifty funeral orations/tributes were investigated. These were classified into: tributes by spouses; by offspring; by close family members; by friends, associates and organizations. The study revealed that the notion of the good life among the Igbo was based on primary duties and obligations at each of the four levels identified above and on related secondary duties and obligations. The good life was measured by the extent to which these duties and obligations were discharged and in the way their performance manifested in the provision of social amenities, help to educate members of the community and so on. What would ordinarily be regarded as virtues were considered desirable only in so far as they helped people fulfill their primary and secondary obligations, otherwise they were regarded as sterile or "bottled" virtues.

Keywords

EN

funeral orations; tributes; close family members; duties and obligations; libation

• Publisher: Sciendo
• Journal: Human Affairs
• Year: 2008
• Volume: 18
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 197-213

Dates

published

2008-12-01

online

2008-12-29

Contributors

author

Chukwugozie Maduka

• Department of Philosophy & Religions, Faculty of Arts, University of Benin, Benin City Nigeria

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Identifiers

DOI

10.2478/v10023-008-0019-z