Ancestors and the afterlife

The purpose of this paper analyze beliefs in afterlife among the Vezo of Madagascar. This analysis purpots to be an empirical investigation by means of a combination of ethnography and the experimental methods of developmental psycology. The conclusion challenges the unqualified idea that Vezo believe in the survival of a person's spirit after death. Research shows that the belief is not held universally and it is interpreted and elaborated in a great variety of ways by different people. In addition, Vezo believe in the survival after death of a person's spirit in some contexts but not in others. This does not make belief in the power of the ancestors any less compelling, but it shows that such belief is best approached contextually, in terms of when and where it is deployed rather than in terms of when and where it is deployed rather than in terms of whether it is held.