Lecture 5: Families and Kinship

1. SC2218: Anthropology and the Human Condition Lecture 5: Families and Kinship Eric C. Thompson Semester 2, 2008/2009

6. Complexity of Kinship* among Dobe Ju/’hoansi *Many thanks to Dr. Stephanie Rupp for creation and use of the slides to follow.

7. !kun!a !kun!a tun tun !kuma !kuma tuma tuma !ko !kwi tsin tsin !hai =hai ba tai Basic Kin Relations – Dobe Ju/’hoansi ego 1 2 3 4 5 tsiu

8. !kun!a !kun!a tun tun !kuma !kuma tuma tuma !ko !kwi tsin tsin !hai =hai ba tai Reciprocal Relations – Dobe Ju/’hoansi “ old name” grandfather “ small name” grandson ego grandmother granddaughter

9. !kun!a !kun!a tun tun tsin !kuma !kuma tuma tuma !ko !kwi tsin !hai =hai ba tai tsu tsu //ga //ga !kun!a !kun!a tun tun !kun!a !kun!a tun tun ego Joking Avoidance Joking Avoidance Joking Reciprocal Relations between Alternate Generations

10. Man’s perspective Woman’s perspective Affinal* Relations **************************************************************************************************** Joking Kin Joking Affines Avoidance Kin Avoidance Affines =tum =tum /otsu /otsu /otsu /otsu *Related by Marriage

12. Dobe Camp Composition: Social Organization and Rights to Waterholes Based on Kinship core siblings spouses of core siblings siblings of spouses of core siblings spouses of siblings of spouses of core siblings

13. Another Layer of Complexity: Name Relationships Common Pattern - Naming Children after Grandparents, Aunts and Uncles 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

14. When a Man Is Named after His Father’s Brother … 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Joking Joking Avoidance Joking Avoidance Avoidance

15. Complicated Intersections of Kinship: Can =Toma and Chu/o Marry? (They must have a ‘joking’ relationship) =Toma Chu/o Joking Joking Chu/o =Toma Avoidance Avoidance

16. Concept of Wi – Relative Age Lee to !Xam: “When two people are working out what kin term to employ, how do they decide whose choice is to prevail? !Xam to Lee: “… it is always the older person who wi s the younger person. Since I am older than you, I decide what we should call each other.” (Lee 2003: 72)

17. Marriage – New Horizons of Kinship Based on Name Relationships All women named N=isa could call him “ husband” All husbands of women named N=isa could call him “ brother” or “co-husband”. All fathers of women named N=isa could call him “son-in-law”. All siblings of women named N=isa could call him “brother-in-law”. ego N=isa

18. Frameworks of Analysis Looking back over the description of Dobe Ju/’hoansi kinship, can you identify functional, structural, and structural-functional aspects of the system?

21. Patri- and Matri- (Some Terminology) Patri- (male) Matri- (female) -archy (rule, govern) -lineal (in the line of) -local (residence, location) Patriarchy: society in which power is disproportionately held by men Examples: Matrilineal: society in which property, names, status, etc. is inherited through women Patrilocal: society in which married couples live with the man’s side of the family *These are all different things; a society can be matrilineal but patriarchal

25. Why have patrilineal or matrilineal inheritance? What are the effects of these cultural rules?

37. 1980 2000 2020 China’s kinship structure – “One Child Policy” “ Uncle” “ Aunt” “ Cousin” Will All Structurally Cease to Exist (At least in theory)