תרבות הקינה של נשים יהודיות בנות תימן: מבחן לקטגוריות חברתיות: מבחן לקטגוריות חברתיות

This article examines the significance of the wailing culture of Jewish-Yemenite women in Israel in the light of the 'modern' patterns of grief with which it coexists. Scholars hold that compared to 'traditional' cultures, 'modernity' is characterized by a symbolic depletion that imposes silence in grief situations. A detailed ethnography is presented about wailing in Yemenite mourning customs and about wailing as a practice with well-defined patterns. Wailing is shown to be a specialty with characteristics that can mediate between 'modern' and 'traditional' social ideas. As the 'traditional' is assimilated into the 'modern' at the 'last moment' before this cultural phenomenon disappears, we should inquire into the psychosocial virtues of wailing women and ask whether the phenomenon should be recognized and readopted.