Book
Marriage and the family in Kerala: with special reference to matrilineal castes
Dept. of Sociology, University of Calgary • Calgary • Published In 1977 • Pages: xvi, 246
By: Puthenkalam, J. (Joseph).
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
This book revisits two major features of marriage and family life among the Nayar and associated matrilineal castes in Kerala: one is a joint matrilocal family, primarily consisting of matrilineally-related women and their children; the other is a culturally-recognized union (but not marriage) that gave men rights to cohabit with women without claiming jural rights over children born of the relationship or a share in the property of the joint matriarchal family. Following the advent of British colonialism, with its expansion of modern education and rising employment opportunities, joint families split into smaller nuclear families, with gender roles and statuses showing striking resemblances to those of patrilineal societies. However, older matrilineal sentiments endured, especially in religion.
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Castes
- Community structure
- Lineages
- Rule of descent
- Regulation of marriage
- Arranging a marriage
- Mode of marriage
- Nuptials
- Special unions and marriages
- Household
- Family relationships
- Polygamy
- Extended families
- Termination of marriage
- Real property
- Inheritance
- Government regulation
- Political movements
- Inter-community relations
- Purification and atonement
- Avoidance and taboo
- Kin relationships
- Ethos
- Acculturation and culture contact
- Sociocultural trends
- cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- Kerala
- HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
- 2017
- RegionThe area the document pertains to
- Asia
- Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
- South Asia
- Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
- Book
- Evaluation
- Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
- Anthropologist
- Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
- 5: Excellent Primary Data
- AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
- Teferi Abate Adem ; 2016
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- 1961-1962
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- 1498-1973
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- Kerala, India
- NotesAdditional notes
- by Fr. J. Puthenkalam S. J.
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 236-241)
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- 79314136
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Matrilineal kinship--India--Kerala (State)
- Marriage customs and rites--India--Kerala (State)
- Nairs--Social life and customs
- Kerala (India)--Social life and customs