Book
Conch shell bangles, iron bangles: an analysis of women, marriage, and ritual in Bengal
University Microfilms • Ann Arbor, Mich. • Published In 1992 • Pages:
By: Fruzzetti, Lina M..
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
This dissertation is based on the author's four years of fieldwork in the town of Bishnupur, in the District of Bankura, West Bengal, during the period of October 1967 to July 1969, and from December 1971 to June 1973. Basically this source is an analysis of women's activities in Bengali society, with emphasis on the relationships that developed among women through mutual residence in households, membership in kinship groups, and the sharing of various life cycle rituals and beliefs (particularly in reference to marriage and its symbolism). During the early stages of the fieldwork the author studied women's culture and models for action (the indigenous view of women's roles) as it applied in general throughout the town. Later Fruzzetti concentrated '…on the household roles of women, the domain of women's rituals, the role of women in the life cycle rites, BRATAS [a vow or a resolution by a devotee to a deity to perform a specific act], economy and politics' (p. 77). At this point in her analysis, the author attempts to isolate caste and class variables in the network of neighborhood relationships among women of different households. The final phase of the study involved the public roles of women in the town. These included participation in major public rituals and in women's associations. In addition, this portion of the source analyzes the position of women in the society, especially in regard to education, health schemes, and the attitudes of educated women to the maintenance of traditions and the existing traditional views of women. Although this study cuts across the different residential sections of the town, as well as the boundaries of class and caste, emphasis throughout the work is on Hindu women.
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Gift giving
- Gender status
- Marriage
- Household
- Kin relationships
- Lineages
- Clans
- Purification and atonement
- Organized ceremonial
- cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- Bengali
- HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
- 2002
- 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.
- Ethnologist
- 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
- John Beierle ; 1992
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- Oct. 1967-Jul. 1969, Dec. 1971-June 1973 (four years) [p. i]
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- not specified
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- Bishnupur, District of Bankura, West Bengal, India
- NotesAdditional notes
- [by] Lina Maria Fruzzetti
- Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Minnesota, 1975
- UM: AAC7614888
- Bibliography: p. 376-385
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- none
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Bengalis