The Younger Brother and the Stranger : In Search of a Status Discourse for Mande
Year: 1996
Type: article
Abstract: This article examines different categories of expression (genealogies, family histories, themes from the Sunjata epic, principles of segmentation, labour division) in Mande, and proves that they ail develop along lines of predictability, and are therefore products of the same discourse, lt is argued that genealogies are artificial kinship constructions which represent status daims. Any genealogy in Mande is operative only in a specifie context, as an argument in a struggle for interpretation, and thus the usual positivist, chronological interpretation of genealogies is contested. The relationship oldest/youngest in particular serves to express unity and tension in diplomatie relations between social groups, and relationship has been articulated politically in a functional way in relation to other oppositions such as mobile/immobile, interior/exterior. This status discourse is illustrated by the discussion on the position of the rulers of Kangaba, the alleged ancient capital of the Mali empire.
Source: Cahiers d études africaines
Author: Jan Jansen
Language: English
Subfield: Anthropology
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2032357134