article
Tembe-Thonga kinship: the marriage of anthropology and history
Cahiers d'études Africaines • 26 (4) • Published In 1986 • Pages: 611-632
By: Webster, David.
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
This article is concerned with the nature of Thonga kinship system since the advent of colonial powers in the region. It argues that prior to ca. 1750, the Thonga lived in small, scattered homesteads, practicing a mixed economy, based on the domestic unit, and with no polity of any size or significance. Over the years, however, the Thonga developed 'higher forms of social structuring' as they became a relatively wealthy and powerful society because of their advantageous position on trade routes. This was followed by the decline of the Thonga state as they were incorporated into the larger Swazi and Zulu States. With the advent of European capitalism in the region, many Thonga men migrated to towns in search of work for wages. This led to the increasing proletarianization of the Thonga which in turn led to the accelerated destruction of large functioning kinship groups into fragmented clans and small autonomous family homesteads.
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Cultural identity and pride
- Kinship terminology
- Kin relationships
- Community structure
- Traditional history
- History
- External relations
- Labor supply and employment
- Family relationships
- Acculturation and culture contact
- cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- Tsonga
- HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
- 2010
- RegionThe area the document pertains to
- Africa
- Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
- Southern 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.
- 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; 2010
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- 1975-1978
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- 1589-1986
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- Kosi Bay, Northern KwaZulu, South Africa
- NotesAdditional notes
- David Webster
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 631-632)
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- sn 86012778
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Tsonga (African peoples)