When a new baby arrives among the Beng people of West Africa, they see it not as being born, but as being reincarnated after a rich life in a previous world. Alma Gottlieb’s new book is The Afterlife is Where We Come From: The Culture of Infancy in West Africa. Gottlieb is an anthropologist at the University of Illinois.
» Read an excerpt of Gottlieb's book in the Reading Room
» View color photographs from the book The Afterlife Is Where We Come From
» More on the book
Music: Pieces of Africa performed by Kronos Quartet
» Read an excerpt of Gottlieb's book in the Reading Room
» View color photographs from the book The Afterlife Is Where We Come From
» More on the book
Music: Pieces of Africa performed by Kronos Quartet