ANTH/WMNS 326 Cross cultural families and households
31 March: Incest
Required readings: Hutchinson, Sharon (1985) "Changing Concepts of Incest among the Nuer."American Ethnologist, 12(4): 625-641. JSTOR
Gilgun, Jane F (1995) "We Shared Something Special: The Moral Discourse of Incest Perpetrators." Journal of Marriage and the Family. 57(2): 265-281. JSTOR.
What is incest?
- who and what
Why: What are the different reasons given in anthropology for why there is an incest taboo?
- psychological
- familiarity while young associated with sexual disinterest
- psychological distaste
- attachment
- evolutionary/genetic
- genetic problems
- social:
- alliance (Levi-Strauss’ idea that it is the basis of society)
- other social, political, economic factors
What do we learn about incest taboos from Hutchinson’s article on the Nuer?
- role of patrilineality
- role of bridewealth
- emic understandings of role of incest taboo
- circumstances under which incest taboo is broken
- role of history (colonialism, Nuer conquest, economic changes) in transforming the taboo and marriage in Eastern Nuerland
- what does Hutchinson conclude about the underlying logic of the incest taboo among the Nuer?
- how does this culturally situated example make us think about the role of culture in determining the reasons for incest taboos?
How does Gilgun approach incest?
- who are her research participants?
- how does she define and understand incest?
- the role of psychology
- what social and cultural features might lead to the type of incest taboo in evidence in this society?