The Metamorphoses of KinshipWith marriage in decline, divorce on the rise, the demise of the nuclear family, and the increase in marriages and adoptions among same-sex partners, it is clear that the structures of kinship in the modern West are in a state of flux. In The Metamorphoses of Kinship, the world-renowned anthropologist Maurice Godelier contextualizes these developments, surveying the accumulated experience of humanity with regard to such phenomena as the organization of lines of descent, sexuality and sexual prohibitions. In parallel, Godelier studies the evolution of Western conjugal and familial traditions from their roots in the nineteenth century to the present. The conclusion he draws is that it is never the case that a man and a woman are sufficient on their own to raise a child, and nowhere are relations of kinship or the family the keystone of society. Godelier argues that the changes of the last thirty years do not herald the disappearance or death agony of kinship, but rather its remarkable metamorphosis-one that, ironically, is bringing us closer to the "traditional" societies studied by ethnologists. |
Contents
Introduction | |
The Baruya of New Guinea | |
The Components of Kinship | |
Filiation and Descent First Component | |
Alliance and Residence Second and Third Components | |
Kinship Terminologies Fourth Component | |
The Functions and Field of Parenthood | |
Begetting Ordinary Humans Fifth Component | |
Freud and Lévi | |
Proposals for a Different Scenario | |
Assessing the Theories | v |
What Future for What Kin Ties? | xlviii |
Glossary | lxxxii |
Bibliography | ci |
Index of General Terms | cxxxvii |
Index of Personal Names | clv |
Begetting Extraordinary Humans Fifth Component | |
A Ventriloquists Dummy That Gives Voice to the Order or | |
And a Few Other Misuses of | |
Index of Societies | clxi |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
adoption affines alliance ancestors Anthropology Australian Baruya become belong biological birth body bonobos born brothers and sisters child Christian clan classificatory cognatic consanguines cross cousins culture daughter descent groups descent rule Dravidian Dravidian systems Ego’s example exchange of women existence exogamous exogamy fact father father’s father’s sister female foetus forbidden forms Françoise Héritier Freud gender genealogical gift give Godelier Guinea Héritier heterosexual homosexual human husband identity incest taboo individuals initiations Inuit Iroquois systems kin groups kinship relations kinship systems kinship terminologies L’Homme Lévi-Strauss lineage live male man’s marriage marry maternal matrilineal Mekeo Melpa men’s moiety mother mother’s brother Ngaatjatjarra Nuer one’s organization parallel cousins parents Paris persons primates principle prohibition relationship relatives representations reproduction rites ritual role sexual relations share siblings society soul sperm spouses Tonga tribe Trobriand Trobriand Islands union University Press village Western wife wife’s woman