Performing Kinship: Narrative, Gender, and the Intimacies of Power in the AndesIn the highland region of Sullk'ata, located in the rural Bolivian Andes, habitual activities such as sharing food, work, and stories create a sense of relatedness among people. Through these day-to-day interactions—as well as more unusual events—individuals negotiate the affective bonds and hierarchies of their relationships. In Performing Kinship, Krista E. Van Vleet reveals the ways in which relatedness is evoked, performed, and recast among the women of Sullk'ata. Portraying relationships of camaraderie and conflict, Van Vleet argues that narrative illuminates power relationships, which structure differences among women as well as between women and men. She also contends that in the Andes gender cannot be understood without attention to kinship. Stories such as that of the young woman who migrates to the city to do domestic work and later returns to the highlands voicing a deep ambivalence about the traditional authority of her in-laws provide enlightening examples of the ways in which storytelling enables residents of Sullk'ata to make sense of events and link themselves to one another in a variety of relationships. A vibrant ethnography, Performing Kinship offers a rare glimpse into an compelling world. |
From inside the book
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... woman wonders how the child she helped raise has for- gotten that she is also his mother . Elderly couples sorrow ... women — tell folktales about young lovers who run away together only to meet with dire consequences . Women ...
... Women and men, young and old, put energy and effort into maintaining re- lationships and treasure their families and friends. The physical violence that i mention in this introduction and discuss more thoroughly in Chapter 6 occurs ...
... young corn plants. This transformation of the earth's aspect by the new growth is more than a beautiful sign of the ... female forces as well. in contrast, mountains (urqus) are male forces that control hail and thunder, produce wealth ...
... young single women were migrating in increasing numbers to urban regions of Bolivia to work as domestic servants . Young women often found work more easily than did single or married men . Although most women returned to the rural ...
... women , married and single , young and old - move through and live in various places other than Sullk'ata over the course of their lifetimes , as they make a living or seek an edu- cation or simply visit friends and family . Maintaining ...
Contents
1 | |
27 | |
Circulation of Care A Primer on Sullkata Relatedness | 55 |
Narrating Sorrow Performing Relatedness A Story Told in Conversation | 79 |
Storied Silences Adolescent Desires Gendered Agency and the Practice of Stealing Women | 99 |
Reframing the Married Couple Affect and Exchange in Three Parts | 129 |
Now My Daughter Is Alone Violence and the Ambiguities of Affinity | 161 |
Conclusion Reflections on the Dialogical Production of Relatedness | 183 |
Chapter 5 Narrative Transcriptions in Quechua and in English | 197 |
Chapter 6 Interview Transcriptions in Quechua | 205 |
Notes | 209 |
Glossary | 225 |
Bibliography | 229 |
Index | 257 |