Shock, anger and bad deaths in Lihir: A reanalysis of grieving in Papua New Guinea

Abstract

This paper explores a revelatory moment in fieldwork—the death of a close friend and research participant who died suddenly in suspicious circumstances. Her mourning period challenged my understandings of grief in Lihir. In a previous article I argued that grief in Lihir is resilient and focused on remembering and forgetting, rather than emotions. However this particular mourning period was an emotionally charged space and time. I explore what made this death and grief distinctive, arguing that the nature of her death provoked shock and anger. This paper contributes to an ongoing discussion about how sudden or violent deaths might impact grieving both in the local context, and globally.

Disclosure statement

The author declares that they have no conflict of interest.

Notes

1 Anna Woklik is a pseudonym.

2 For clarity on the main Lihirian terms used in this paper:

mbie

Formal mourning period

mbiektip

Feast to end formal mourning period

Lil wirwir

Sadness, grief

Lil tua

Anger

Rbet

Shock

Rbet zket

Bad shock/deep shock

kanut

Corpse, deceased & their spirit

ihlio

Spirit of person who died violent death

3 Rbet zket can be varied by the addition of terms such as “lik” (small) or “tun” (truly or really). Hence rbet zket lik suggests minor negative shock, whereas rbet zket tun means deeply shocked.