article
The appropriation of fertility: descent and sex among the Gusii
Creative communion : African folk models of fertility and the regeneration of life • Uppsala • Published In 1990 • Pages: 187-199
By: Håkansson, Thomas.
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
Quoting from Karp (1978), the author states that 'a descent ideology must transform the facts of biological relatedness through both maternal and paternal ancestors into a symbolic model which emphasizes the identity of people transmitted through a parent of one sex (p. 187). How the patrilineal Gusii of Kenya solve this problem cognitively, constitutes the major portion of this document. According to Håkansson 'the male usurpation of female fertility which is evidenced in the symbolic material points to a cognitive transformation of women into agnates. The Gusii have a patrilineal descent ideology which inhibits the development of matrilateral ties. Human proliferation and regenerative powers are subsumed under the shadow of the patrilineal and agnatic filiation. Unilineal descent ideologies present a problem in representing the transmisson of fertility and in how to relate uterine and agnatic descent to the fact that only the latter is used for the definition of categories of people' (p. 187).
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Domesticated animals
- Nonalcoholic beverages
- Music
- Regulation of marriage
- Mode of marriage
- Nuptials
- Polygamy
- Lineages
- Clans
- Conception
- Puberty and initiation
- cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- Gusii
- HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
- 2000
- RegionThe area the document pertains to
- Africa
- Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
- Eastern Africa
- Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
- article
- 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.
- 4: Excellent Secondary 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 ; 2005
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- 1982-1983, 1985
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- 1900-1950
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- southwestern Kenya
- NotesAdditional notes
- Thomas Håkansson
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 199)
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- 91174326
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Gusii (African people)