Journal de la Société des Océanistes

124 | Année 2007-1

Hertz Revisité (1907-2007)

Robert Hertz’s seminal essay and mortuary rites in

the Pacific region
Eric Venbrux

Electronic version
URL: [Link]
DOI: 10.4000/jso.712
ISSN: 1760-7256

Publisher
Société des océanistes

Printed version
Date of publication: 1 June 2007
Number of pages: 5-10
ISBN: 978-2-85430-010-9
ISSN: 0300-953x

Electronic reference
Eric Venbrux, « Robert Hertz’s seminal essay and mortuary rites in the Pacific region », Journal de la
Société des Océanistes [Online], 124 | Année 2007-1, Online since 02 July 2008, connection on 10
December 2020. URL : [Link] ; DOI : [Link]

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Robert Hertz’s seminal essay
and mortuary rites in the Pacific region

par

Eric VENBRUX*

This special issue emerged from a session, in mortuary ritual: do changes in people’s
entitled ‘Spiritual material: Objects and change notions of an otherworldly spiritual existence
in mortuary ritual,’ that Pierre Lemonnier and I coincide with changes in the material aspects of
organized at the conference of the European mortuary ritual? And finally, why is it that peo-
Society for Oceanists (ESfO) in Marseille in June ple tend to adhere most strongly to their mor-
2005. In this session we explored the link tuary rituals, while paradoxically at an early
between the spiritual and the material in mor- stage introduced goods often become items of
tuary ritual in the Pacific region. Inspired by the mortuary exchange?
French anthropologist Robert Hertz (1881- Throughout the session there were lively dis-
1915), who in his 1907 essay on secondary fune- cussions that showed the actuality of Hertz’s
rals demonstrated a correspondence between the insights. A vivid demonstration of a bone-type
decay of the corpse and the fate of the soul, we of object was given at the end of the conference
focused on artifacts other than the human body. when a Tikopian fish-hook ornament associated
We returned to the basic tenet of his theory that with Sir Raymond Firth was handed down to
‘‘to make a material object or living being pass Maurice Godelier, who in turn contemplated
from this world to the next, to free or create the about the passing on of this heirloom of the
soul, it must be destroyed. [...] As the visible anthropological tribe. Here, however, we consi-
object vanishes it is reconstructed in the beyond, der Hertz’s 1907 essay an ‘‘enigmatic gift,’’ still
transformed to a greater or lesser degree’’ valuable in the twenty-first century.
(Hertz, 1960: 46). There are cases in which the The issue commemorates the centennial of the
deceased’s intimate possessions are destroyed, publication of Hertz’s seminal essay ‘Contribu-
but also instances in which objects of the dead tion à une Étude sur la Représentation Collective
are kept as relics or heirlooms. Why? de la Mort.’ The essay first appeared in L’Année
In line with Hertz’s argument we might make sociologique (vol. 10, pp. 48-137) in 1907. Trans-
a distinction here between flesh-type and bone- lated into English by Rodney and Claudia Need-
type of objects. The latter seem to mediate the ham ¢ and entitled ‘A Contribution to the Study
relationship between the living and the dead. of the Collective Representation of Death,’ it
They remain intact like the corpse’s dry bones. came out together with another essay in the
The other objects, being destroyed, resemble the book Death and the Right Hand in 1960. In the
vanishing flesh, seemingly considered one with same year Arnold van Gennep’s 1909 book Les
the imagery of the physical body or inseparable Rites de Passage was published in an English
from the deceased in one way or another. The translation. Both works would have an impact
connection between the spiritual (as expressed in on the understanding of ritual in the English-
verbal formulations or otherwise) and the mate- speaking world. Hertz’s essay already contained
rial was further examined by looking at change the idea of rites of passage, and Hertz thus pre-
* Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands, [Link]@[Link]

Journal de la Société des Océanistes 124, année 2007-1

6 SOCIÉTÉ DES OCÉANISTES

ceeded Van Gennep in recognizing the structural classic and seminal essay thus suggests that
commonalities of the rituals concerned. The tri- changes in ideas about death reflect in the adap-
partite structure, promoted by Van Gennep, tation of ritual practices, and vice versa.
might even be found in every ritual as Van Baal
(1971: 138) has argued. Hertz differs from Van
Gennep in considering a particular type of Continued relevance
ritual, secondary burial, in a particular cultural
area. Hertz also pays greater attention to the Recent anthropological studies of death ¢ ran-
emotional impact of a death in relation to the ging from Greece (Seremetakis, 1991) to Japan
deceased’s social position and to the survivors’ (Suzuki, 2000) ¢ continue to support the hypo-
work of mourning. thesis first advanced by Hertz. His essay forms
As Oceanists we of course focus on societies in an important source of inspiration even after
the South Pacific rather than on the Dayak peo- one hunderd years. ‘‘It now stands as a basic
ples of Kalimantan (Borneo), Hertz’s prime historical and key theoretical reference point for
example. Yet Hertz did make references to the sociological work on death,’’ according to
literature on mortuary practices and rites in Davies (2000: 97). Palgi and Abramovitch (1984:
Melanesia, Polynesia and Australia. While refer- 388) call the essay ‘‘one of the most original
ring to Codrington, for example, he states that in analyses pertaining to death’’ that ‘‘is still one of
‘‘several Melanesian islands’’ the decay of the the most cited and seminal works in the field.’’
corpse is speeded up in order to strengthen the And Robben, introducing his recent anthology
soul (Hertz, 1960: 47, 128 n118). It does help of death studies, notes that Hertz’s essay ‘‘endu-
Hertz to make a very important point: ‘‘Death is res as the single most influential text in the
fully consummated only when decomposition anthropology of death’’ (2004: 9). Parkin, howe-
has ended; only then does the deceased cease to ver, would not make such a strong claim concer-
belong to this world so as to enter another life’’ ning Hertz’s impact. He remarks, in addition,
(1960: 47). What is more, the shift in regional that ‘‘only a few have examined his thoughts at
focus allows us to toss with his ideas, examine all critically or sought to take them further’’
their applicability cross-culturally in a neighbou- (1997: 87). We agree with Robert Parkin that
ring geographical area, offering sufficient diver- Hertz’s essay contains ideas that may be further
sity for the purposes of comparison. Moreover, explored.
while inspired by Hertz’s thesis, particularly the As Metcalf and Huntington (1991: 36) point
condition of the corpse as a metaphor for the out, ‘‘the symbolic aspects of Hertz’s argument
fate of the soul or the dead person’s ‘‘non-mortal have been passed over.’’ They further remark
components,’’ we want to go beyond that: we ask that ‘‘The complex issues raised by the death
about the deceased’s personal belongings. Like essay have yet to be discussed.’’ To this end they
Hallam and Hockey, we are thus interested in the provide an invaluable contribution. Besides ela-
‘‘practices that engage bodies and their familiar borating on symbolism in mortuary rites, they
material ‘extensions’ (for example, clothing)’’ seek to clarify their underlying structure. Espe-
(2001: 197). If indeed ‘‘funerary behaviour and cially what Hertz termed ‘‘the intermediary
beliefs around the world read like an extended period’’ is of interest, because in this liminal
discussion of the notion of the person’’ (Barley, phase corpse, soul and mourners undergo a
1995: 27) we might ask to what extent the parallel transition. Thereby the interrelatedness
deceased’s intimate possessions are part of the of these three aspects of the pattern is demons-
concept of the person. More in general, we seek trated, while every side in this triangular model
to extend Hertz’s argument not only to the mate- provides a distinctive explanation. Metcalf and
rial objects associated with the dead but also to Huntington (1991: 83) summarize the three
ritual change. According to Hertz the decay of levels of explanation in Hertz’s essay in the
the corpse is associated to the fate of the soul of following figure.
the deceased (and the survivors’ period of mour- The final ceremony or secondary burial marks
ning). Following this line of reasoning changes the accomplishment of bodily decay as shown by
in the treatment of the corpse and related mate- the dry bones, the journey of the soul to the
rial objects should have consequences for peo- other world, and the work of mourning. As
ple’s perspective on death. Alternatively, it sug- Hertz puts it, ‘‘death as a social phenomenon
gests that changes in ideas about death (for consists in a dual and painful process of mental
example, due to conversion) might be reflected in disintegration and synthesis’’ (1960: 86). Tho-
the adaptation of ritual practices, that is, the mas Maschio (1998: 56) points out that in this
material aspects of funerary ritual. Hertz’s process an ossification or fixation of people’s
ROBERT HERTZ’S SEMINAL ESSAY 7

memory of the deceased takes place as well. In contradictory developments (Evans-Pritchard,

showing how religious ideas are expressed in 1960: 12, 21-22; but see Needham, 1979: 296).
materialized form, Hertz appears to have been Evans-Pritchard, however, also expresses his
way ahead of current scholarship concentrating appreciation for the skilful use of the compara-
on so-called material religion. tive method. Furthermore, although not in full
Bloch and Parry (1982) have also taken inspi- agreement with Hertz, he stresses the latter’s
ration from Hertz, but are more concerned with theoretical contribution. Hertz provides ‘‘stimu-
the issue of fertility in death rites. More names lating hypotheses which can [...] be put to the test
of scholars (e.g., Metcalf, 1982) could be men- by further research’’ (Evans-Pritchard, 1960:
tioned, it should be clear however that Hertz’s 21). It is our contention that such further
essay was a major achievement. ‘‘Here, for the research, preferably in another but related cultu-
first time, we are presented with a well formed ral region, will still be productive and perhaps
sociological and theoretical understanding of unexpectedly revealing.
funerary rites,’’ says Davies (2000: 98). Evans-
Pritchard (1981: 172) considers the works by
Hertz ‘‘a representative example of the culmina- Comparison
tion of two centuries of sociological thought in
France.’’ He recognizes Hertz as a brilliant stu- Hertz showed the way in his comparative
dent of Durkheim. But Evans-Pritchard also approach, which was restricted to a clearly cir-
points out what he regards as shortcomings of cumscribed cultural space or region. In 1935
the Durkheimian school, the master and his gif- Dutch anthropologist J.P.B. de Josselin de Jong
ted pupil alike. In the introduction to the English introduced the notion of ‘‘a field for ethnological
translation of Hertz’s essays on mortuary ritual study.’’ He did so with regard to the Malay
and the preeminence of the right hand, Evans- Archipelago, while his students Lex van der Lee-
Pritchard makes the following three points of den and Jan Pouwer applied it to New Guinea.
criticism. Both the ‘‘dichotomy of sacred and Such an area is described as ‘‘a limited part of
profane’’ and the so-called ‘‘collective cons- the earth’s surface with a population whose cul-
ciousness’’ are ‘‘vague and ill-defined’’ in his ture as a whole appears sufficiently homogenous
view. Thirdly, he criticizes the disregard of nega- and distinctive to form a special object of study
tive cases, including the explaining away of for ethnology, and which at the same time
8 SOCIÉTÉ DES OCÉANISTES

appears to exhibit enough local variations for an the debate, stresses the ongoing importance of
internal comparative investigation to be mortuary exchanges in the Massim.
fruitfully possible’’ (de Josselin de Jong cited in
Pouwer, 1961: 1). Hertz concentrated on what,
following de Josselin de Jong, might be termed a Emotions and embodiment
field for ethnological study.
One aspect of general importance for which
The advantage of this procedure is spelled out
Hertz certainly deserves credit is his argument
by Evans-Pritchard (1981): In spite of the varia- with regard to the way in which the emotions of
bility in the disposal of the corpse Hertz the bereaved tend to be socially determined.
demonstrated that in the different settings the Hertz (1960: 76) makes clear that the deceased’s
facts were interrelated and in all of them the age, gender, social status, type of death, and so
mortuary practices had a similar function and forth, matter concerning the social impact of the
goal. Next the findings could be compared with death. Henceforth it also influences how wide-
data from other regions in order to see whether spread and intense the emotions, if any are
these did hold water there as well or not (and had aroused at all, of the survivors will be.
to be modified). To this end, as mentioned, Hertz In addition Hertz’s model linking the period
also drew on the contemporary literature on of mourning to the procedure of bodily decom-
mortuary rites in Oceania. position and ideas about the journey of the soul
This does not mean, however, that in the strongly suggests a patterning of the bereaved’s
anthropology of death the Pacific region has emotions over time. Psychiatrist Daniel Lagache
been considered an ethnographic field of study has argued that Freud’s writings on melancholy
in its own right. Robben rightly notes that echo Hertz’s essay. Pierre Lemonnier (this issue),
Hertz’s and van Gennep’s comparisons have who notices this, further explores the interrela-
been generally accepted ‘‘but hardly anything as tion of the work of Freud and Hertz in addres-
daring has been attempted since then’’ (2004: sing mortuary practices and related sentiments
13). The volume Of Relations and the Death by of the Ankave in Papua New Guinea.
Barraud et al. (1994) might be the exception. Hertz’s emphasis on ‘‘ the collective represen-
This comparison of four societies contains two tation of death,’’ one could argue, connects it
Melanesian cases, but focuses on something more strongly to Jungian notions of archetypes.
given insufficient attention by Hertz, namely the And as far as the emotions are concerned, these
exchanges involved in mortuary ritual. These are are predominantly seen as social and not indivi-
seen as a means to get at thought and values in dual (let alone cultural, cf. Lutz, 1988) expres-
the particular societies. Albeit the authors do not sions. In this respect, according to Kan (1989:
mention Hertz, one of them elsewhere (de Cop- 14), ‘‘the legacy of Hertz is more an obstacle
pet, 1981) makes use of Hertz’s insight into than an inspiration.’’ On the other hand, as
death as transitional process. Davis (2000: 97-98) notes, Hertz was ahead of
Around the time Hertz met with his untimely his time in paying a great deal of attention to
death while leading an attack on the enemy in what has become known today as embodiment.
World War I, Bronislaw Malinowski was getting Hertz acquired his understanding from litera-
a grasp of mortuary rites and exchange in the ture study in the British Museum. He felt emo-
Trobriand Islands. Malinowski himself did not tionally attached to the Dayak people he
relate the two topics as much as did later anthro- encountered in his readings (see Evans-Pritchard
pologists working in the Massim (Milne Bay 1960: 10-11; Isnart 2006: 138). Had he not sacri-
Province, Papua New Guinea), an ethnographic ficed his life for his beloved France at the early
field of study. In the introduction to the edited age of thirty-three, Hertz might have astonished
volume Death Rituals and Life in the Societies of us with further ground-breaking works that like
the Kula Ring, Damon notes that for the contri- the death essay would not have been past the
butions ‘‘the most important work follows from expiry date even after a century. Let us now turn
Hertz’s famous essay on death’’ (1989: 14). to the papers inspired by Hertz’s essay, but focu-
Ritual change has taken place in the region. It sing on mortuary rites in the Pacific region and
counts as one of the reasons why the pattern based on field research.
discerned by Hertz is not explicitly dealt with in
the contributions. That is a pity, because the
wealth of data from within one region available The papers
for comparison here would make revisiting them
from a Hertzian perspective a worthwhile endea- This issue opens with Roger Lohmann’s arti-
vour. John Liep (this issue), who was involved in cle ‘Souvenir des morts : techniques de gestion
ROBERT HERTZ’S SEMINAL ESSAY 9

de la mémoire dans un village de Nouvelle- mats over a lengthy period of time. This ‘‘mobi-
Guinnée’, considering how the Asabano handle lization of material resources’’, according to
material objects of the deceased. He distin- Rio, enhances the transition of the deceased
guishes three strategies that survivors employ to from the world of the living to the world of the
create a memory of the relationship they once dead.
had with the dead as living persons or forget Teri Sowell’s contribution ‘Spiritual remains:
about it: curation, destroyal and gradual decay. Applying Hertz to Hawai‘i’ considers how in
Lohmann emphasizes people’s agency in opting eighteenth century Hawai‘i bones, teeth and hair
for one of these strategies, depending on what of high-ranking chiefs were preserved and mani-
kind of memory or none whatsoever they want pulated by ritual experts. These human artifacts
to retain. became powerful relics, used for the purposes of
Elisabetta Gnecchi-Ruscone’s fine article worship and of communication with the spiri-
‘Parallel journeys in Korafe women’s laments tual world, including the deceased. The objects
(Oro Province, Papua New Guinea)’ stresses the transmitted from generation to generation
important role of women in death-related prac- could gain more power than ordinary and even
tices that underline the idea of homologous tran- chiefly mortals, but all this changed when
sitions found in Hertz’s seminal essay. Here Hawai‘ians adopted Christianity: the relics
however the women by means of their laments turned into ‘‘sentimental mementos’’.
and accompanying ritual gestures give symboli- Thomas Widlok, in his article ‘The temporal
cally birth to new ancestors. Both the deceased’s dilemma of death’, takes us to northwestern
body and spirit are thus transformed, the former Australia. On the basis of ethnographic exam-
in relics, whereas the survivors are supported in ples he seeks to show how the gradual ritual
coming to terms with their grievous loss by the detachment of the deceased corresponds to the
female work of social repair. Local Christian similar treatment of the dead person’s belon-
and magical practices intermingle with these gings. ‘‘Property can be usefully considered to be
activities. the lasting objectification of memories’’, accor-
Pierre Lemonnier brings together Hertz and ding to Widlok, and ‘‘enshrines the same
Freud in his article, entitled ‘Objets d’ambiguïté. dilemma of continuity and clarity that is posed
Funérailles ankave (Papouasie Nouvelle- by the dead body’’.
Guinée)’. Due to the overwhelming presence of In his article ‘On bone and flesh type of
‘‘cannibal spirits’’ (ombo’), the Ankave-Anga of objects’ Eric Venbrux is concerned with the
Papua New Guinea find it necessary to chase off practice of destroyal of the intimate possessions
the spirits of the recent dead. What is more, of the deceased in contrast to the practice of
ambiguous objects reflect the deeply felt ambiva- maintaining these objects as keepsakes, heir-
lence towards the deceased in secondary funerals looms or relics. Drawing on Hertz’s essay and
and more particularly in the work of mourning. using ethnographic materials on the Tiwi from
‘‘‘The dead are looking at us’’. Food bowls as Bathurst and Melville Islands, in northern Aus-
the dead in postfuneral wakes in Aorigi (Eastern tralia, he focuses on the ritual use of objects of
Solomon Islands)’, Sandra Revolon’s article, is the dead and the production of metaphorical
concerned with secondary funerals held once bodies for the dead (or better: disembodied spi-
every five to ten years in the Solomon Islands. rits). Ritual actions with material objects of the
Revolon ‘‘explores the cognitive mechanisms deceased, he proposes, result in two distinctive
involved in the transformation of subjects into types of objects that are either inalienable or
objects’’. An object that stands central is a food serve as mediators between the living and the
bowl that together with its contents represents dead.
the deceased temporarily brought back to life in Finally, John Liep in his contribution ‘Massim
the context of the ritual. In gratitude for the mortuary rituals revisited’, argues that due to a
inherited land and wealth the surviving descen- plethora of exchanges, including marital
dants then perform a ceremonial wake analo- exchange and exchanges of money and other
gous to the one held for the newly dead. valuables, mortuary rituals continue to be ‘‘the
On Ambrym Island, Vanuatu, Knut Rio prime cultural focus of the Massim’’. This in
makes clear in his rich article ‘Exposer la vie spite of the demise of exhumation and secon-
après la mort’, a recreation of social rela- dary burial, the theme central to Hertz’s essay,
tionships following a death takes place in cere- due to colonisation and missionisation. The
monial prestations of mostly perishable items. In ongoing importance of mortuary feasting in the
great detail he outlines these exchanges (in the region makes clear that the related exchanges
context of mortuary rites) of food, money and still have a vital social and political function in
10 SOCIÉTÉ DES OCÉANISTES

Massim societies. Liep’s revisit of the region of H Robert, 1960[1907]. A Contribution to the
the Kula Ring, a follow-up of the compara- Study of the Collective Representation of Death, in
tive volume mentioned earlier, concludes this Death and the Right Hand, Translated by R. and C.
issue. Needham, Glencoe, IL, The Free Press, pp. 27-86 et
pp. 117-154.
Death rites convey people’s most important
values and the basic assumptions of their world- I Cyril, 2006. ‘‘Savages Who Speak French’’:
Folklore, Primitivism and Morals in Robert Hertz,
view, including their notions of self, power, and
History and Anthropology 17, 2, pp. 135-152.
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K Sergei, 1989. Symbolic Immortality: The Tlingit
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Potlatch of the Nineteenth Century, Washington,
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