Narratives of Changes in Life : Revisiting the "Family" in San Studies

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Other Title
  • 転身の物語り : サン研究における「家族」再訪
  • テンシン ノ モノガタリ サン ケンキュウ ニ オケル カゾク サイホウ

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Abstract

This paper re-examines the concept of family/kinship in San studies by analyzing life-stories among the !Xun San living in north-central Namibia. Early researchers, who are now called traditionalists, considered the San to be contemporary hunter-gatherers who provided a key to the reconstruction of primitive forms of human society. They asserted that the Ju|'hoan, the most famous group of San, maintained social order through simple social organizations based on family ties. In the late 1980s, however, San studies reached a significant turning point. A group of researchers, often called revisionists, argued that the San were merely groups of people who had been transformed into an underclass within a larger politico-economic system that included neighboring Bantu agropastoral communities. They considered that membership in a Ju|'hoan kinship group formed the basis of entitlement to land and provided exchange networks for beadwork and other symbolically valued materials. In light of those research trends, study of the !Xun, a group of San living in north-central Namibia, provides a valuable perspective on San studies. Combining all of the following elements, comparison of the !Xun with the Ju|'hoan provides an unparalleled opportunity for intensive regional comparison [BARNARD 1992]: (1) The !Xun language is closely related both genetically and typologically to the Ju|'hoan language. (2) Although several cognate kinship terms are recognized between the !Xun and Ju|'hoan, their kinship and naming systems are also characterized by the following considerable differences: (a) Rather than the well-known homonymous method [MARSHAL 1976], the normal generational method predominates in the use of !Xun kinship terms; (b) the !Xun have a surname system that is passed on by cross-descent, whereas the Ju|'hoan have no such system; and (c) most !Xun individuals hold multiple names, such as the !Xun name, surname, teknonym, nurse name, Hai||om (a San group) name, Owambo name, and Christian name. (3) The Ju|'hoan adopted a nomadic foraging lifestyle in their semi-arid environment, whereas the !Xun have learned a sedentary lifestyle in which members cultivate crops and work for the neighboring Owambo agropastoralists. (4) The Ju|'hoan have remained relatively distant from other peoples until recently, while the !Xun have had multidimensional contacts with powerful authorities, such as the Owambo, colonial governments, and missionaries, for centuries. The following examples of life-stories enable us to examine the interplay between their ethnicity and familial/kin relationships with special reference to the applications of the surname system of !Xun (||'honi), the clan system of Owambo (epata), and the surname system of Hai||om (n!hao): (1) A male born of an Owambo father and a !Xun mother was raised as an Owambo. After his father passed away, however, he moved into a !Xun camp with his mother and siblings and lived as a !Xun, depending on Owambo people. (2) A male with Hai||om parents worked for the Owambo chief with his !Xun colleague for many years and then married a !Xun female. He then moved to a village founded by missionaries, where he was later chosen as the headman of the village's !Xun camp. (3) A !Xun girl born in a !Xun camp was fostered by an Owambo family for more than 10 years. She gave birth to two children, the first with an Owambo classmate and the second with an Owambo ex-soldier. When she was pregnant with her third child, by the Owambo ex-soldier, she went back to the !Xun camp and decided to settle there. The analysis of these examples elucidates the relationships among the ethnic groups living in the area, societal functions of familial/kin ties, and the features of ethnic identity, as follows: (1) Under apartheid regimes, colonial governments tried to facilitate segregation by ethnic group. Contrary to that political (View PDF for the rest of the abstract.)

<Special Theme> Parent-Child Relatedness: Rethinking Anthropological Approaches to Kinship and Family)

Journal

  • 文化人類学

    文化人類学 75 (4), 551-573, 2011

    日本文化人類学会

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