Making and managing femaleness, fertility and motherhood within an urban Gambian area Heidi Skramstad Dissertation submitted for the degree of Dr.Polit. Department of Social Anthropology University of Bergen March 2008 ISBN 978-82-308-0600-5 Bergen, Norway 2008 Printed by Allkopi Tel: +47 55 54 49 40 For Marit Skramstad, Mama Jamba, Aji Rugie Jallow and all other great mothers Contents CONTENTS........................................................................................................................................................... 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: ................................................................................................................................ 7 GENERAL INTRODUCTION.......................................................................................................................... 11 Organisation of the thesis............................................................................................................................ 14 SUBJECT FORMATION, DISCOURSES, HEGEMONIES AND RESISTANCE................................................................. 15 Ideology, hegemony or dominant discourses............................................................................................... 17 The discursive production of sex, gender, sexuality and fertility................................................................. 19 Women’s positions, mutedness and resistance ............................................................................................ 20 THE DISCURSIVE PRODUCTION OF RELATEDNESS .............................................................................................. 23 The ontologies of kinship and belonging..................................................................................................... 23 Claims, rights and obligations..................................................................................................................... 27 Reproductive health and fertility in anthropology....................................................................................... 29 THE GAMBIAN SETTING .................................................................................................................................... 30 THE FIELDWORK AREA ...................................................................................................................................... 31 Kinds of persons .......................................................................................................................................... 32 Compounds and residence units .................................................................................................................. 34 Residence patterns....................................................................................................................................... 36 RESEARCH SETTING AND METHODOLOGY ......................................................................................................... 37 Fieldwork – participant observation ........................................................................................................... 37 Extended cases ............................................................................................................................................ 38 Compound survey ........................................................................................................................................ 39 Interviews .................................................................................................................................................... 40 Rituals.......................................................................................................................................................... 40 Statistics....................................................................................................................................................... 41 Position within the field............................................................................................................................... 41 Language and (re) presentation .................................................................................................................. 44 PART I CREATING APPROPRIATE WIVES AND MOTHERS................................................................ 47 CHAPTER 1 SHAPING FEMALE BODIES AND PERSONS ...................................................................... 51 PRODUCING RESPECTABLE AND RESPECTFUL WOMEN....................................................................................... 52 Moral space – sexual signification.............................................................................................................. 55 Girls’ and women’s initiation rites.............................................................................................................. 57 SHAPING PERSONS THROUGH INITIATION .......................................................................................................... 59 A rite of passage .......................................................................................................................................... 60 Kumba’s daughter’s nyaakaa boyoo ........................................................................................................... 62 The teachings of the nyaakaa ...................................................................................................................... 68 Vulnerability and uncleanliness .................................................................................................................. 75 3 Reshaping the genitals through cutting ....................................................................................................... 78 Health effects............................................................................................................................................... 84 Nyaakaa and fertility ................................................................................................................................... 85 CHAPTER 2 MARITAL RELATIONS ........................................................................................................... 89 THE MARRIAGE PROCESS................................................................................................................................... 90 Relationships between spouses.................................................................................................................... 91 Contracting rights and duties through transactions.................................................................................... 92 Finding a wife.............................................................................................................................................. 94 Give first (W: mei bu njekka)....................................................................................................................... 96 Bride wealth ................................................................................................................................................ 96 Tying the marriage ...................................................................................................................................... 99 Making the young girl’s bed stand ............................................................................................................ 100 Transfer of the bride.................................................................................................................................. 102 MARRIAGES IN EVERYDAY LIVES .................................................................................................................... 121 POLYGAMY ..................................................................................................................................................... 124 PART II SOCIAL ORGANISATION OF CHILD CARE AND THE ONTOLOGY OF BELONGING 133 CHAPTER 3 KINSHIP AND SOCIAL ORGANISATION OF CHILD CARE ......................................... 137 Processes of making kin ............................................................................................................................ 137 GAMBIAN KINSHIP........................................................................................................................................... 140 Substantial links ........................................................................................................................................ 140 Metaphorical extension of substantive/substantial links ........................................................................... 144 Production of kinship through practice..................................................................................................... 145 From kin to families................................................................................................................................... 146 Parenting and fostering............................................................................................................................. 147 Residence units .......................................................................................................................................... 150 Dynamics of families and kinship.............................................................................................................. 152 Mariama ...................................................................................................................................................