Describe the structure of kinship in traditional African society

      

Describe the structure of kinship in traditional African society

  

Answers


Francis
Kinship included the following:
-Descent
-Social groups based on descent
-The family
-Marriage
-Beliefs and taboos.

Everybody has kinship in one form or another. The forms found in Africa are not unique to Africa, but they are important parts of African social organizations and culture. Kinship is also about economic life.

Forms of descent in african traditional societies includes;

-Patrilineality – for example the Zulu …
This means tracing your genealogy through males.
-Matrilineality – e.g. Ashanti and Yao …
Tracing your genealogy through females.
-Bilateral – e.g. Khoisan.
Tracing through both sides.

Features of descent groups were as follows:

-Lineages are segments of clans, which continue to be very important in African society today. Clans go back up to twenty generations, lineages only 5 – 10.
-There can be matrilineal or patrilineal clans and lineages.
-Descent groups in bilateral kinship are called (kindreds).
-Structural distance is an important feature of these lineal groups.
-The extended family is the most important unit of social organization.

Main forms of marriage in traditional african society are as listed below:

-Monogamy:where one man married only one woman.
-Polygamy:One man with two or more wives at the same time.


The Role of social life in traditional african society:


Rights – related to kin and marital roles as well as gender differential
Responsibilities – were expressed as expectationsand if not met brought about divorce.
Relationships-Sexuality and status were very complicated and variable from one culture to another.


Marriage is a rite of passage.

-It was marked by exchanges such as brideprice or bridewealth, dowry, son-in-law service and often an elaborate ritualized wedding.
-The status of both women and men is enhanced by marriage.
-Sometimes the marriage was not official until the birth of a child or even weaning.

Children were desired by everyone in traditional African society as they played a key role in the society.

-The communities within traditional african societies had different beliefs and taboos.

-The communities in traditional african societies had agegroups and agesets that marked a group of people within a specific period of time.

franco crick answered the question on January 26, 2018 at 07:07


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