article
The Unequal brothers-in-law: Indonesia as a 'field of anthropological study' and the case of the Mentawai
Bijdragen tot de taal-, land-, en volkenkunde • 142 (1) • Published In 1986 • Pages: 69-86
By: Schefold, Reimar.
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
This article opens with an introductory section on the concept of Indonesia as a "field of anthropological study" using concepts of construction based on the writings of J. P. B. de Josselin de Jong, P. E. de Josselin de Jong, and Claude Lévi-Strauss. After a brief outline of certain culture elements relevant to his study (e.g., marriage patterns, kinship, etc.), Shefold turns to the main theme of this essay, the role of the brother-in-law in Mentaweian society. This discussion involves not only the relationship between brothers-in-law, but also their significance in marriage and inheritance. Although most of the data presented in this work are derived from the island of Siberut, the largest island in the Mentawei archipelago, some comparative information is also provided on the North and South Pagai Islands of the same group.
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Theoretical orientation in research and its results
- Cultural participation
- Inheritance
- Regulation of marriage
- Mode of marriage
- Parents-in-law and children-in-law
- Siblings-in-law
- Clans
- Community structure
- cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- Mentawaians
- HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
- 2000
- RegionThe area the document pertains to
- Asia
- Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
- Southeast Asia
- 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 ; 2000
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- 1967-1969, 1974, 1978, 1982
- 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)
- Siberut, Mentawei Islands, west of Sumatra, Indonesia
- NotesAdditional notes
- Reimar Schefold
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 85-86)
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- sn86000287
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Mentawai (Indonesian people)