article

Cross-cousin marriages

Journal of the African Society • 24 (94) • Published In 1925 • Pages: 31-48

By: Rattray, R. S. (Robert Sutherland), Dudley Buxton, L. H..

Abstract
Marriage customs and rules are analyzed in an attempt to answer the question...'why should a man (in the past at any rate) have been compelled to marry his mother's brother's daughter and/or his father's sister's darghter.' The tentative conclusion reached by the authors is that the solution lay in the importance of reincarnation into the same abusua (matrilineal exogamous division) and the same ntoro (patrilineal exogamous division) of which they were members on earth; a condition which could be achieved in the most satisfactory way by the marriage of cross-cousins. See Chapters XXIX and XXX in Rattray (1927) for modifications of these theories on the basis of further research by Rattray and Dudley Buxton.
culture
Akan
HRAF PubDate
2019
Region
Africa
Sub Region
Western Africa
Document Type
article
Evaluation
Creator Type
Ethnologist
Document Rating
4: Excellent Secondary Data
Analyst
Mary L. Bartlett ; 1953
Field Date
no date
Coverage Date
not specified
Coverage Place
Ashanti; Ghana
Notes
by R. S. Rattray and L. H. Dudley Buxton
LCSH
Twi (African peoples)