The construction of the person in the funeral rites of culture Adjatado of Dogbo in Benin

• Grant number: 18/12176-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: September 01, 2018
• End date: December 31, 2019
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Psychology - Experimental Psychology
• Principal Investigator: Danilo Silva Guimarães
• Grantee: Kwami Fleury Serge Kiki
• Host Institution: Instituto de Psicologia (IP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The present research aims to prospect the notion of person in the Adja culture of Tado of Dogbo (Benin), through the analysis and interpretation of psychological processes involved in their funeral rituals. It is a deployment of a preliminary investigation, when observed, regarding the conduct of funeral rites, a division of roles between men and women. This division is part of the cultural foundations of Adjas. I have also observed that the Ifa - understood in the Adjatado culture as a science of divination - is present in people's social life and in several stages in the accompaniment of the dead. Cultural psychology, in its turns, presupposes that the development of the person is cultivate Dina social field, constituting and being constituted by culture (Boesch, 2007, Valsiner, 2012, Simão, 2010 and Guimarães, 2012). In according to this field of research, the understanding of the meanings that each person constructs from the events of life and death is guided by the cultural field that provides paths for the processes of subjectivation and meaning of human experiences. Thus, I consider that both the Ifa and the division of functions in funeral rites permeate processes of subjectivation of the person in the Adjatado culture. In the present investigation, the exploration of the notion of person will take place through the analysis of ethnographic texts and cultural works (music, videos, literary records, etc.) that the matizes the funeral rites and the role of Ifáin the Adja culture of Tado of Dogbo in the Benin. In analyzing the results, I will focus on the division of functions, comprising the different roles occupied by the people of the Adja culture at each stage of their rites.