VIDA E TRANSCENDÊNCIA: UM ESTUDO SOBRE A CONCEPÇÃO DE MORTE NA CULTURA BALANTA PATCH DA GUINÉ-BISSAU

Abstract

This dissertation explores the cosmologies of death and the ritual devices of transcendence among the Balanta Patch of Guinea-Bissau, examining how this ethnic subgroup constructs meanings concerning physical finitude and organises ceremonial practices that mediate the passage between the world of the living and the ancestral realm. The study is guided by the hypothesis that, within the Balanta Patch worldview, death does not signify a definitive rupture, nor an absolute end, but rather a relational process of cyclical reintegration into the ancestral sphere, grounded in local ontologies and specific regimes of transcendence. Fieldwork followed an ethnographic approach and was conducted in the community of N’tátilai (João Landim, Cacheu region) across two periods: from 15 to 25 February 2024 and from 5 January to 5 February 2025. In addition to informal conversations, semi-structured interviews were carried out with five interlocutors,primarily elders who are custodians of traditional knowledge,alongside participant observation and field diary entries. The analysis identified three causal categories of death,natural, through witchcraft, and by transgression of spiritual pacts with Irã,each requiring specific ritual procedures. The Sing Ni Gritch ritual (also known as “toka-choro”) emerges as a central ceremony, ensuring communication between the material and spiritual realms and facilitating the deceased’s incorporation into the ancestral collective. This ritual is reserved for those who have completed initiation cycles: fanado (circumcision) for men and marriage for women. The absence of such rites may result in systemic imbalances affecting the living community. The findings reveal a social structure organised by age-based phases that determine ritual status and the type of funeral ceremony. The research also documents mechanisms of selective adaptation that preserve ancestral values amid socio-cultural transformations. In doing so, it contributes to contemporary socio-anthropological debates on African cosmologies, ancestral regimes, and non-Western elaborations of death as mediated through cultural and religious practice. Keywords: Ancestry; Cosmology of Death; Rituals of Transcendence; Balanta Patch; Guinea-Bissau.