DOCSLIB.ORG

J. Pouwer ,,Loosely Structured Societies in Netherlands New Guinea

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
J. Pouwer ,,Loosely Structured Societies in Netherlands New Guinea J. Pouwer ,,Loosely structured societies in Netherlands New Guinea In: Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde 116 (1960), no: 1, Leiden, 109-118 This PDF-file was downloaded from http://www.kitlv-journals.nl Downloaded from Brill.com10/02/2021 10:25:54PM via free access "LOOSELY STRUCTURED SOCIETIES" IN NETHERLANDS NEW GUINEA* he book under review, for which Van der Leeden was awarded a doctorate at Leiden University, contains only part of the Tresults of the thorough and intensive research carried out between 1952 and 1955 in the Sarmi area (northern New Guinea) by the author, then Government Ethnologist in Netherlands New Guinea. This doctor's thesis only deals with the western interior of the Sarmi area, viz. the region between the Mamberamo in the west and the Woske in the east. The culture of this area differs from that of the eastern part. Then, the author concentrates on two communities in the western interior, and only compares them with the rest of the western inland region in two brief paragraphs. Finally, after giving a rapid survey of the culture as a whole, he limits his discussion to the social aspect of the culture concerned. In other words, his study is limited both geographically and thematically. The reader may wonder what the ethnographic and theoretical value may be of such an intensive study of the social life of two miniature communities, the Samarokena and the Mukrara which have 68 and 71 members respectively. In my opinion, its value lies in the fact that it is a study of man and community in a marginal situation. We learn that the population of the western interior has to make, maintain and give content to its living in natural surroundings which are "merciless and in some respects even hostile, and which supply the inhabitants with little more than the barest necessities of life" in this case sago and pork. The landscape consists of marshlands and steep hills, and is characterized by erosion of the cultivated soil, floods and earthquakes. The semi-nomadic way of life of these communities, the very slight density of the population, the diffused settlement pattern, and the small Review of A. C. van der Leeden, Hoofdtrekken der socuJe struktuur m het Westelijke bmnenlcmd van Sarmi (i.e. "The principal features of the social structure in the western inland regions of Sarmi") Eduard IJdo, Leiden 1956. Downloaded from Brill.com10/02/2021 10:25:54PM via free access 110 DR J. POUWER. size of the local groups — seldom more than 100 individuals — are undoubtedly all connected with the scantiness of the natural resources. One of the dangers always threatening these small communities in their unfavourable habitat is that of becoming extinct (p. 158). The great merit of this study is that Van der Leeden has always kept this marginal situation in mind when analysing and synthesizing his data. He does not deal with kinship and marriage as an abstract system, existing in vacua, but he projects them onto the concrete reali- ties of human beings and their world. It is for this reason that the book, in spite of its highly specialized and technical character, which makes it unsuitable for the general reader, yet presents us with the almost infinitely varied and always fascinating spectacle of living human beings, whom we recognize and appreciate as fellow-men.2 An intense interest and warm sympathy for his Papua fellowman is the foundation of Van der Leeden's scholarship and was the stimulus for his field research, which he carried out in extremely difficult cir- cumstances, and while suffering from ill-health. Such intensive studies of man as bearer of culture in a marginal situation are rare in cultural anthropology. It is my conviction that they can give us a more profound insight into the main subject of anthropological research, i.e. the way elements are integrated in, and into, culture, and the interaction of individual and community. In fact, they can do so better than many descriptions of larger communities, which always run the risk of too much generalization, and thus of becoming little more than blueprints. A second point in favour of this work is the writer's scrupulous and objective manner of collecting, analysing and presenting his facts, and the great theoretical knowledge he displays. When one knows from one's own experience how, even in his undergraduate years at Leiden, Van der Leeden was "steeped in Levi-Strauss" as no other, it is simply comical to read the review of his thesis by Rodney Needham in Man (Vol. LVIII, June 1957, nr. 112), in which he is advised to read Levi- Strauss ! His painstaking, systematic presentation and interpretation of his ;1 A. C. Van der Leeden, Hoofdtrekken der socicde structuur in het westelijke bmnenland van Sarmi, Leiden; IJdo N.V., 1956. 168 pages, with 3 appendices, a map and a summary in English. 2 See also Fischer's review of this thesis in Nieuw-Guinea Studivn, year 1, nr. 2, April 1957, p. 172. Downloaded from Brill.com10/02/2021 10:25:54PM via free access LOOSELY STRUCTURED SOCIETIES IN NETHERLANDS NEW GUINEA. Ill material allows the reader to follow the argument — which at times is very compact — step by step; it also permits the reader to form a reasoned opinion differing from the author's own, on the grounds of the same data. This is the greatest compliment one can make the writer of a scholarly work. Like other workers in the labyrinth of New Guinea cultures and communities, Van der Leeden was also hampered in drawing up the pattern of the community (Linton's "construct pattern") by the tre- mendous variability of behaviour, and also, in particular, by the strong bilateral tendencies. Both factors tended to make the over-all picture confused and hazy. Prominent ethnologists as Van Baal and the late Professor Held in this connection even spoke of loose social structure. The influence of bilateral kinship reckoning comes to the fore on almost every page of Van der Leeden's work. In the first place, there is the kinship terminology with its marked bilateral features, particu- larly in the generations of the grandparents, children, and grand- children, and with respect to distant relatives. The terminological system resembles the Hawaiian type. It is true there are separate terms for fa-younger-si and for mo-br, but these are to be explained by the prevalent marriage type, involving exchange of sisters. The fact that the partners in the exchange are terminologically distinguished, results, in the next generation, in distinctive terms for cross-cousins. In every-day life, however, these terms are only used in situations which demand an exact determination or classification of kinsfolk (p. 42). It is considered quite normal to address cross-cousins by the same terms one employs toward siblings. This also applies to mo-si-children, for whom there is also a distinctive term, remarkably enough. There are few unilineal indications in the terminological system. Furthermore one notes the great structural importance of the rela- tionships between siblings (br-si, br-br, si-si). The sibling group is a closely-knit unit, after as well as before the marriage of its members (p. 72). This is most strikingly shown up by the prohibition of cross- cousin marriage. The informants themselves explain this prohibition in a purely bila- teral manner: cross-cousins are of the same blood, being descended from a man and a woman, who call each other brother and sister. So we need not be surprised at the ease with which siblings and cross- cousins are terminologically identified. Downloaded from Brill.com10/02/2021 10:25:54PM via free access 112 DR J. POUWER. In this connection the entirely bilateral inheritance of food plants deserves separate mention (for particulars see p. 88). The rules of inheritance illustrate the importance of the parent-child and sibling relationship. With the parent-child and the sibling relationships so heavily stress- ed, a considerable bilateral elaboration of these relationships in the wider contexts of kinship is almost unavoidable, the more so as the superstructure is only slightly developed, and the nuclear family has a remarkably independent position, and acts independently. There are no units at a clan level or higher. To quote Van der Leeden: "One of the greatest problems I faced in my fieldwork was caused by the vagueness of the larger kinship groupings among the Samarokena and Mukrara. Some of these groups proved hardly to be recognized at all, due to bilateral influences, and it seems that among the Samarokena and Mukrara "kin group" means practically the same as "kinship" (p. 88). There is no clearly-defined term meaning "lineage". Of the six "lineages" (geslachten) which appear as corporate units in the two communities, only two are predominantly patrilineal, and the two smal- lest ones are completely bilateral. Van der Leeden himself attributes the vagueness in distinguishing kin group to the fact that one considers oneself a member of father's as well as of mother's kin group (p. 93). Finally, Van der Leeden observes on very good grounds, that the distinction between traceable and traditional relatives, so important for the regulation of marriage, also shows bilateral features. The result is that the exogamous and endogamous groups cannot be sharply defined either. It is obvious that the author met considerable difficulties when he had to interpret these data in order to draw up a structural model. He was very much aware of these difficulties, as is proved for instance, by the following sentence: "I n spite of these bilateral fea- tures (my italics, P.) I believe we must study the lineages from a unilineal point of view" (p.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Flexibility in Hare Social Organization
    FLEXlBILITY IN HARE SOCIAL ORGANIZATION ¹ GUY LANOUE Department of Anthropology, University of Toronto, 100 St. George St., Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M5S 1A1 ABSTRACT/RESUME The Hare Indians of the NWT are characterized in terres of domestic groupe by two conflicting bases: those of the sibling groups which must co-operate, and those of conjugal units. The importance of both types of allegiances naturally creates a degree of tension and imposes care upon the negotiation of allegiances. La société des Indiens Hare des Territoires du Nord-Ouest est caractérisée par la présence de deux structures familiales en conflit: celle des enfants d'une morne famille, obligées à coopérer entre eux, et celle imposée par les liens conjugaux. La présence de ces deux orientations de ridE.litS crée naturel.lement chez les membres de cette société une certaine tendon et exige qu'ils portent à cet aspect de leurs relations une attention constante. 260 GUY LANOUE INTRODUCTION One striking feature of the anthropological descriptions of Athabascan Indian bands with bilateral, bifurcate-merging kinship terminology is the apparent lack of definite structurally-produced ru.les which might serve to provide an orientation for an individual's social action (cf. Helm 1956:131; Savashinsky 1974:xv, 194). The flexibility and negotiability of social relationships that usually appear to be associated with such systems are hot seen as positive features resulting from tendencies produced by structural regularities but rather are characterized as being the product of an absence of well defined sociologial reference points for the individual actor. This "definition by absence" does not appear to provide any useful insights into Athabascan social structure, as anthropological observers readily adroit that this negotiable feature of social relation- ships varies with the type of kin involved in the bilaterally-defined universe (cf.
    [Show full text]
  • Reconsidering Clan in Tibet
    Are We Legend? Reconsidering Clan in Tibet Jonathan Samuels (University of Heidelberg) 1. Introduction ibetan Studies is relatively familiar with the theme of clan. The so-called “Tibetan ancestral clans” regularly feature in T works of Tibetan historiography, and have been the subject of several studies.1 Dynastic records and genealogies, often labelled “clan histories,” have been examined, and attempts have been made to identify ancient Tibetan clan territories.2 Various ethnographic and anthropological studies have also dealt both with the concept of clan membership amongst contemporary populations and a supposed Tibetan principle of descent, according to which the “bone”- substance (rus pa), the metonym for clan, is transmitted from father to progeny.3 Can it be said, however, that we have a coherent picture of clan in Tibet, particularly from a historical perspective? The present article has two aims. Firstly, by probing the current state of our understanding, it draws attention to key unanswered questions pertaining to clans and descent, and attempts to sharpen the discussion surrounding them. Secondly, exploring new avenues of research, it considers the extent to which we may distinguish between idealised representation and social reality within relevant sections of traditional hagiographical literature. 2. Current Understanding: Anthropological Studies and their Relevance Current understanding of Tibetan clans and descent rules has been 4 informed by several anthropological studies, including those of 1 Stein 1961; Karmay [1986] 1998; Vitali 2003. 2 Dotson 2012. 3 Oppitz 1973; Aziz 1974; Levine 1984. 4 The “current understanding” referred to here is that prevalent amongst members of the Tibetan Studies community; I address the way that evidence from Jonathan Samuels, “Are We Legend? Reconsidering Clan in Tibet,” Revue d’Etudes Tibétaines, no.
    [Show full text]
  • R. Brumbaugh Kinship Analysis: Methods, Results and the Sirionó Demonstration Case
    R. Brumbaugh Kinship analysis: methods, results and the Sirionó demonstration case In: Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde 134 (1978), no: 1, Leiden, 1-29 This PDF-file was downloaded from http://www.kitlv-journals.nl Downloaded from Brill.com10/02/2021 02:22:46PM via free access ROBERT C. BRUMBAUGH KINSHIP ANALYSIS : METHODS, RESULTS,AND THE SIRIONO DEMONSTRATION CASE A likely exarnple of 'cultural devolution', the Sirionó hunters and gatherers of Bolivia were best known for the whistle-talk they have developed until Needham (1962) drew attention to their kinship system, which he cited as a rare case of matrilineal prescriptive alliance. His interpretation was subsequently weakened as it becarne clear that there is no evidence in the Sirionó ethnography (Holmberg 1950) for social correlates which are an essential part of the 'prescriptive alliance' scheme (Needham 1962, 1964). -Meanwhile Scheffler and Lounsbury had chosen the Sirionó system as the demonstration case for a new approach to kinship, called 'trans- formational analysis', which aims to discover the underlying cognitive structure of the system through semantic analysis. The Sirionó case study (1971) contrasted the results of this method with the failure of Needharn's model; and since prescriptive alliance theory itself is Need- ham's modified version of Lévi-Strauss' kinship theory (which I will cal1 'structural' theory), the case seemed to vindicate their semantic approach where 'structuralism' had already proved inadequate. The purpose of this paper is to compare
    [Show full text]
  • Reconstructing the History of Marriage Strategies in Indo-European
    Human Biology Volume 83 | Issue 1 Article 6 2011 Reconstructing the History of Marriage Strategies in Indo-European–Speaking Societies: Monogamy and Polygyny Laura Fortunato Department of Anthropology, University College London, 14 Taviton Street, London WC1H 0BW, UK, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/humbiol Recommended Citation Fortunato, Laura (2011) "Reconstructing the History of Marriage Strategies in Indo-European–Speaking Societies: Monogamy and Polygyny," Human Biology: Vol. 83: Iss. 1, Article 6. Available at: http://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/humbiol/vol83/iss1/6 Reconstructing the History of Marriage Strategies in Indo- European–Speaking Societies: Monogamy and Polygyny Abstract Explanations for the emergence of monogamous marriage have focused on the cross-cultural distribution of marriage strategies, thus failing to account for their history. In this paper I reconstruct the pattern of change in marriage strategies in the history of societies speaking Indo-European languages, using cross-cultural data in the systematic and explicitly historical framework afforded by the phylogenetic comparative approach. The analysis provides evidence in support of Proto-Indo-European monogamy, and that this pattern may have extended back to Proto-Indo- Hittite. These reconstructions push the origin of monogamous marriage into prehistory, well beyond the earliest instances documented in the historical record; this, in turn, challenges notions that the cross-cultural distribution of monogamous marriage reflects features of social organization typically associated with Eurasian societies, and with “societal complexity” and “modernization” more generally. I discuss implications of these findings in the context of the archaeological and genetic evidence on prehistoric social organization. Pay-Per-View Download To access this article as a PDF pay-per-view download via BioOne, please click here.
    [Show full text]
  • Descent Among the Wayú. Concepts and Social Meanings
    Journal de la société des américanistes 94-1 | 2008 tome 94, n° 1 Descent among the Wayú. Concepts and social meanings Alessandro Mancuso Electronic version URL: http://journals.openedition.org/jsa/9143 DOI: 10.4000/jsa.9143 ISSN: 1957-7842 Publisher Société des américanistes Printed version Date of publication: 15 July 2008 Number of pages: 99-126 ISSN: 0037-9174 Electronic reference Alessandro Mancuso, « Descent among the Wayú. Concepts and social meanings », Journal de la société des américanistes [Online], 94-1 | 2008, Online since 10 June 2013, connection on 30 April 2019. URL : http://journals.openedition.org/jsa/9143 ; DOI : 10.4000/jsa.9143 © Société des Américanistes DESCENT AMONG THE WAYÛ. CONCEPTS AND SOCIAL MEANINGS Alessandro MANCUSO * Ta king thecontemporary rethinking of the descent notion in Lowland South Amcrican ethnography as a starting point, the article provides an analysis of matrilineal desccnt among the Wayù. Using new ethnographical data, special attention is paid to indigc- nous concepts a nd to the way matrilincal descent articulates with other principles of social classifica tion. By virtue of the rolc that matrilineal descent plays in defiuing tcrritoriality and in feuds, the Wayù offer a very interesting case for rethinking the theoretical a nd comparative debate about the iudigenous societies of Lowland South America and fo r rellecting on the complexity of the interactions between structure and history in this arca. [Key words: Wayù lndians, desccnt and kinship, Lowland South America.) La filiation chez les Waytl. Notions indigènes et significations sociales. Reconsidérant le débat contemporain sur la notion de filiation ( descent) dans l'ethnographie des Basses Terres sud-américaines, l'article fait une analyse de la filiation matrilinéaire chez les \Vayù et de son articulation avec les autres principes indigènes de classification sociale.
    [Show full text]
  • J. Pouwer the Structural and Functional Approach in Cultural Anthropology
    J. Pouwer The structural and functional approach in cultural anthropology. Theoretical reflections with reference to research in western New Guinea In: Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde 122 (1966), no: 1, Leiden, 129-144 This PDF-file was downloaded from http://www.kitlv-journals.nl Downloaded from Brill.com09/27/2021 07:54:02AM via free access THE STRUCTURAL AND FUNCTIONAL APPROACH IN CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY' THEORETICAL REFLECTIONS WITH REFERENCE TO RESEARCH IN WESTERN NEW GUINEA he publication of Van Logchems doctoral dissertation presented at the University of Utrecht (discussed elsewhere in this issue) Tmarks the end of an epoch of anthropological and linguistic research undertaken by the Bureau for Native Affairs in Hollandia from 1951- 1962. In its comparatively short existence, that bureau has greatly contributed, directly and indirectly, to the broadening and deepening of our knowledge of what used to the sketehily known or unknown Papua cultures. In this connection, we may refer to the work done by Anceaux, van Baal, de Bruyn, Galis, van der Leeden, Oosterwal, Pouwer and Schoorl. The scope of this research, and of the extensive investigations carried out in Eastern New Guinea, is wider than monographs and regional ethnography. In this respect, cultural anthropology can claim a great wealth which may often have been gathered in vain. The pressing question is: what can we do with it? How can these reports benefit general theory? It is becoming more clearly and widely recognised that New Guinea material is excellently suited to the testing of the theoretical value and operational utility of concepts and methods of analysis, synthesis and comparison current especially in social anthropology.
    [Show full text]
  • En Volkenkunde 116 (1960), No: 1, Leiden, 119-149
    A. van der Leeden Social structure in New Guinea In: Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde 116 (1960), no: 1, Leiden, 119-149 This PDF-file was downloaded from http://www.kitlv-journals.nl Downloaded from Brill.com10/05/2021 02:51:06PM via free access SOCIAL STRUCTURE IN NEW GUINEA am glad to comply with Pouwer's request for a reply to his review of my doctor's thesis. I shall begin with a survey of the discus- Isions on the structural looseness of the Papua cultures; next, I shall consider Pouwer's criticism of the characterization I gave of the social structure in the western interior of Sarmi; and finally I shall compare various forms of social organization in New Guinea in a search for structural similarities which may perhaps serve as a starting-point for a general characterization of the social structure in this area of study. It is mainly due to the work of the late Professor Held that discus- sions on "structural looseness" in New Guinea have come to play such a large part particularly in the Dutch literature. Held was the first writer to consider structural looseness an important characteristic of the Papua cultures.* He based this on the widely held opinion that New Guinea shows great cultural differentiation. Held was of the opinion that the Papua cultures are so little related to one another, that one cannot find general cultural similarities which could serve as an over-all characterization. According to him, the only general simil- arity was precisely this "differentiation" and "variability" of form.
    [Show full text]
  • The Human Family—Its Evolutionary Context and Diversity
    social sciences $€ £ ¥ Review The Human Family—Its Evolutionary Context and Diversity Karen L. Kramer Department of Anthropology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA; [email protected] Abstract: The family defines many aspects of our daily lives, and expresses a wide array of forms across individuals, cultures, ecologies and time. While the nuclear family is the norm today in developed economies, it is the exception in most other historic and cultural contexts. Yet, many aspects of how humans form the economic and reproductive groups that we recognize as families are distinct to our species. This review pursues three goals: to overview the evolutionary context in which the human family developed, to expand the conventional view of the nuclear family as the ‘traditional family’, and to provide an alternative to patrifocal explanations for family formation. To do so, first those traits that distinguish the human family are reviewed with an emphasis on the key contributions that behavioral ecology has made toward understanding dynamics within and between families, including life history, kin selection, reciprocity and conflict theoretical frameworks. An overview is then given of several seminal debates about how the family took shape, with an eye toward a more nuanced view of male parental care as the basis for family formation, and what cooperative breeding has to offer as an alternative perspective. Keywords: behavioral ecology; family studies; cooperative breeding; patrilineal Citation: Kramer, Karen L. 2021. The 1. Introduction Human Family—Its Evolutionary Family formation shapes many aspects of our daily lives—who we work, eat and sleep Context and Diversity.
    [Show full text]
  • Downloaded From
    J. Pouwer Social structure in the Western interior of Sarmi (Northern Netherlands New Guinea): a response to a response. (Zie nr. 1552) In: Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde 116 (1960), no: 3, Leiden, 365-372 This PDF-file was downloaded from http://www.kitlv-journals.nl Downloaded from Brill.com09/25/2021 11:14:11AM via free access SOCIAL STRUCTURE IN THE WESTERN INTERIOR OF SARMI (NORTHERN NETHERLANDS NEW GUINEA): A RESPONSE TO A RESPONSE forthcoming article of mine,1 devoted principally to a discussion of New Guinea as a field for anthropological researchA, will link up with the admirable observations of a more general tenor by A. C. van der Leeden contained in a rejoinder to my review of his doctoral thesis.2 I wish here to go further into his reply con- cerning the interpretation of the data published in his thesis about the social structure of two tribes in the interior of Sarmi. In doing so I shall follow as far as possible the lines of his own exposition. Van der Leeden is of the opinion that, given the minimal stability in the composition of the local kin groups, nothing is contributed to their characterisation by calling them ambilateral ramages,3 and that no new element is thereby added to the interpretation. I think, how- ever, that something is indeed added. If we look at the situation from the point of view of lineal or bilineal descent, as does van der Leeden, then it will certainly give the impression of "structural looseness". But if, on the contrary, we approach it from the angle of non-unilineal descent, based on bilateral reckoning of kinship, with the continuity of the kin groups through the generations guaranteed by the aid of territorially-limited membership, then the conclusion is obvious that we are dealing with a peculiar type of structure; one which has moreover the merit of according excellently with an unstable demo- graphic, economic and territorial situation.
    [Show full text]
  • Unilineal Descent and the House – Again the Ngadha, Eastern Indonesia
    Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde Vol. 167, no. 2-3 (2011), pp. 270-302 URL: http://www.kitlv-journals.nl/index.php/btlv URN:NBN:NL:UI:10-1-101390 Copyright: content is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License ISSN: 0006-2294 OLAF H. SMEDAL Unilineal descent and the house – again The Ngadha, eastern Indonesia The phenomenon in its specificity should be explored before de- claring the relevance or not of already accepted understanding. Bruce Kapferer 1997:11 Discussion among anthropologists about the criteria for differentiating be- tween and thus the criteria for classifying various kinds of kin-based group composition has recently lost much of the intensity it once had. However, even if work on kinship has now moved in directions unforeseen until the 1960s, the debates of the mid-twentieth century have not lost their relevance. Thus while we now have a far more sophisticated understanding of Euro- American kinship in particular and cognatic kinship more generally, we are also in a position to reappraise some remaining conundrums beyond the Euro-American sphere, thanks to an insightful intervention by Claude Lévi- Strauss (1982, 1987). I refer to the notion of ‘house-based societies’ (see also the contributions in Carsten and Hugh-Jones 1995). In this article I wish to backtrack a little from important work on ‘the house’ (although I take it up towards the end) because it seems to me that the lessons of the earlier discussions I alluded to have not quite sunk in. I have in mind the debate between descent theorists and alliance theorists over, to put it simply, the question of which phenomenon is more fundamental, descent or alliance.
    [Show full text]
  • Tetradic Theory: an Approach to Kinship
    TETRADIC THEORY: AN APPROACH TO KINSHIP I 1. Kinship I 1.1. Social anthropology is the collective attempt to come to I terms with the diversity of the societies the world has I seen. 1.2. One aspect of this diversity is the variety of ways in which societies have elaborated on the biological atives to mate and reproduce. The study of kinship the study of what sreieties make the relations between the sexes and generations. 1.3. From these relations a society not only makes a kinship system; it makes itself. To merit the name of a society must endure, normally by the continuing produc­ new generations to replace old. Nothing that a society produce could be more fundamental to it; and the mode of production imposed by biology involves both sexes. Thus kinship is necessarily fundamental among social phenomena. 1.3.1. The production of its new members con.stitutes a soc In contrast, the production or provision of a food supply, which is also a biological imperative and various elaborated, is merely a cor~ition. for social continuity; it is not u,hat we mean by the continuity. 87 88 N.J. Allen 2. What sorts of kinship phenomena are basic to the theory? 2.1. Societies handle the relations between the sexes and generations in two ways which are logically different: egocentric (relativistic, local, individual) and socio­ centric (absolute, global, holistic). The egocentric system pertains to the relatives of an individual, ego, the sociocentric to the structure of scciety as a whole. 2.2. Occasionally 'kinship' is used in the narrow sense of 'consanguinity as opposed to affinity' .
    [Show full text]
  • Al-Ḥasan Al-Hamdānī and the Historical Formation of the Shākir Tribe (Wā�Ilah and Dahm) in Al-Jawf, Yemen Marieke Brandt*
    Heroic History, Disruptive Genealogy: Al-Ḥasan al-Hamdānī and the Historical Formation of the Shākir Tribe (Wā�ilah and Dahm) in al-Jawf, Yemen Marieke Brandt* Genealogies are emic forms of social representation among many tribes in the Arab world. The formability of these genealogies for the purposes of politics and alliances is a common phenomenon. It becomes particularly obvious if one looks at the case of the Shākir tribe and its main divisions Wā�ilah and Dahm in the region of al-Jawf in northernmost Yemen. A comparison of their tribal genealogies and settlement areas in the tenth century CE, as described by the Yemeni scholar and historian al-Ḥasan al-Hamdānī, with their tribal struc- tures and territories in the twenty-first century shows the enormous extent of change to which the Shākir, especially Dahm, have been subject in the past millennium. These changes seem to reflect in part the continuous immigration of external tribal groups to which the fringes of the Rubʿ al-Khālī desert have historically been exposed, and their inclusion into the local societies and thus the evolving genealogy of Shākir. These elements of residential discontinuity and mobility contrast with the more general pattern of territorial continuity and stasis prevailing in the central areas of Yemen. Yet the genealogy of Shākir proved to be more open towards these intrusive groups than towards the original inhabitants of the area itself: in contemporary al-Jawf remain descendants of ancient groups who are considered the aboriginal inhabitants of the area and who were neither given equal status to Shākir nor included into the Shākir genealogy.
    [Show full text]