In this comprehensive and provocative study of maternal reactions to child death in Guinea-Bissau, West Africa, anthropologist Jonina Einarsdottir challenges the assumption that mothers in high-poverty societies will neglect their children and fail to mourn their deaths as a survival strategy. Based on ethnographic fieldwork conducted from 1993 to 1998 among the matrilineal Papel who reside in the Biombo region, this work includes theoretical discussion of reproductive practices, conceptions of children, childcare customs, interpretations of diseases and death, and infanticide. Einarsdottir also brings compelling narratives of life experiences and reflections of Papel women.
- ISBN13 9780299201302
- Publish Date 31 December 2004 (first published 30 November 2004)
- Publish Status Active
- Publish Country US
- Imprint University of Wisconsin Press
- Edition Second Edition
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 300
- Language English