Anth/wmns 326 13 January 2010
MARRIAGE
Required reading: Bossen, Laurel (1988) “Toward a theory of marriage: The economic anthropology of marriage transactions.” Ethnology 27(2): 127-144 JSTOR
What the heck is marriage?
http://www.canadianbride.com/wedding-info-advice/
What do we need to consider?
- how a society celebrates or ratifies marriage, if at all
- what social events accompany marriage?
- e.g. Bossen
- how a marriage comes about
- e.g. next week, Applbaum and Bourdieu (20 January)
- who gets married
- e.g. gender, Sullivan and Epprecht (27 January)
- could also consider age, wealth, etc.
- how many are in a marriage
- e.g. Falen, Levine and Silk, Sheff (3 February)
- whether after marriage they live happily ever after
- e.g. Griffiths, Merry
Tonight: economic transactions at marriage
- what is Bossen arguing?
- what are the types of marriage transactions traditionally recognized in anthropology and how have they been understood?
- brideservice
- bridewealth
- dowry
- what variations does Bossen present that challenge these simple definitions?
- what does she think needs to be taken into account?
- Bossen does not mention economic transactions in Western societies.
- what are these?
- if we apply her approach to them, what might we discover?
A possible definition:
Marriage is a socially binding contract that usually involves some definition of sexual relationship, access to property, mutual obligations for the provision of income or services, and outlines obligations and rights to children.