Ghosts, Ancestors and Individuals Among the Atuot of the Southern Sudan

Abstract

This article is concerned with Atuot concepts and expressions of individuality and personal identity. By focusing on the situation of death it is further demonstrated how the categories of ghosthood and ancestorship are distinguished in reference to human memory. Ghosts, ancestors and individuals are seen as participants in a single moral and spiritual world. The essential characteristics of these states of being are defined by reference to the factor of time, rather than as differences in character, essence or quality. The term 'soul' is hence inappropriate when translating Atuot beliefs about 'social immortality' after death.