Culture, Creation, and Procreation

Concepts of Kinship in South Asian Practice
1. Auflage 2001
ISBN: 978-1-57181-912-3
Verlag: Berghahn Books

Buch, Englisch, 336 Seiten, Format (B × H): 152 mm x 229 mm, Gewicht: 572 g

As reproduction is seen as central to kinship and the biological link as the primary bond between parents and their offspring, Western perceptions of kin relations are primarily determined by ideas about "consanguinity," "genealogical relations," and "genetic connections." Advocates of cultural constructivism have taken issue with a concept that puts so much stress on heredity as being severely biased by western ideas of kinship. Ethnosociologists in particular developed alternative systems using indigenous categories. This symbolic approach has, however, been rejected by some scholars as plagued by the problems of the analytical separation of ideology from practice, of largely overlooking relations of domination, and of ignoring the questions of shared knowledge and choice. This volume offers a corrective by discussing the constitution of kinship among different communities in South Asia and addressing the relationship between ideology and practice, cultural models, and individiual strategies.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Böck, Monika

Rao, Aparna

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Soziale Gruppen/Soziale Themen Gender Studies, Geschlechtersoziologie
• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Soziologie Allgemein

Inhaltsverzeichnis

List of Maps, Figures, and Tables

Preface

Introduction: Indigenous Models and Kinship Theories: An Introduction to a South Asian Perspective

Monika Böck and Aparna Rao

Part I: Community and Person

Chapter 1. We, the Brothers of Tiger and Bamboo: On the Notions of Person and Kin in the Eastern Hills of Nepal

Charlotte Hardman

Chapter 2. Village Bodies? Reflections on Locality, Constitution, and Affect in Rajasthani Kinship

Helen Lambert

Chapter 3. Blood, Milk, and Mountains: Marriage Practice and Concepts of Predictability among the Bakkarwal of Jammu and Kashmir

Aparna Rao

Chapter 4. Kinship, Creation, and Procreation among the Vagri of South India

Lukas Werth

Chapter 5. Nature, Nurture, and Kinship: Body Fluids and Experience in the Social Organisation and Identity of a Peripatetic People

Joseph C. Berland

Part II: Gender and Change

Chapter 6. Kinship and Gender Identity: Some Notes on Marumakkathayam in Kerala

Marion H.G. den Uyl

Chapter 7. Habitus and its Implications in Constructing Kinship Ties: Data from a Bangladesh Settlement in Britain

Sultana M. Khanum

Chapter 8. Kinship and Marriage in the Construction of Identity and Group Boundaries among Indians in Mauritius

Oddvar Hollup

Part III: Shared Knowledge in Practice

Chapter 9. Theatre of Memory: Ritual Kinship Performances of the African Diaspora in Pakistan

Helene Basu

Chapter 10. Kinship as Anger: Relations of Resentment in Kalasha Divination

Peter Parkes

Chapter 11. Marriage Strategies in Lahore: Projections of a Model Marriage on Social Processes

Michael Fischer and Wenonah Lyon

Chapter 12. Power and Fertility: Divine Kinship in South India

Anthony Good

Epilogue

Sylvia Vatuk

Notes on Contributors

Index

Über Autor(innen)

Böck, Monika
Monika Böck is Lecturer at the Institut für Völkerkunde, University of Cologne.

Rao, Aparna
Aparna Rao (1950-2005) was Research Associate,Department of Anthropology, Cologne University, Germany.

Aparna Rao (1950-2005) was Research Associate,Department of Anthropology, Cologne University, Germany.