article

The Social use of kinship terms among Brazilian Indians

American anthropologist, n.s.45 • Published In 1943 • Pages: 398-409

By: Lévi-Strauss, Claude.

Abstract
This is a comparative study of one aspect of kin term usage among the Nambicuara and the Tupi of the sixteenth century, devoted mainly to what Levi-Strauss terms the 'compérage' - a special 'brother-in-law' relationship between individuals not united previously by any kinship tie in order to insure intermarriage and by this means to amalgamate familial or social groups, previously heterogeneous, into a new homogeneous unit. He gives an instance where this relationship was brought into effect for uniting two distinct groups of the Nambicuara. He believes this institution once had a much wider distribution on the South American continent. At the time of publication, Lévi-Strauss was with the New School for Social Research in New York.
Subjects
Kinship terminology
Kin relationships
Standard of living
Siblings-in-law
Polygamy
Homosexuality
Social relationships and groups
Disasters
Community structure
Linguistic identification
Cultural participation
Regulation of marriage
Conception
Social placement
culture
Nambicuara
HRAF PubDate
2010
Region
South America
Sub Region
Amazon and Orinoco
Document Type
article
Evaluation
Creator Type
Ethnologist
Document Rating
5: Excellent Primary Data
Analyst
Timothy J. O'Leary ; 1958
Field Date
1938-1939
Coverage Date
1938-1939
Coverage Place
Mato Grosso state, Brazil
Notes
Claude Lévi-Strauss
Includes bibliographical references
LCCN
17015424
LCSH
Nambicuara Indians