Suku : FO46.
The Suku are a Bantu-speaking people living in hamlets and small villages scattered across the rolling savannas of the southwestern Democratic Republic of the Congo. This collection of 10 documents describes the Suku of the Kwango district of Bandundu province, Democratic Republic of the Congo (form...
Saved in:
| Corporate Author: | |
|---|---|
| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | eBook |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
New Haven, Conn. :
Human Relations Area Files,
2016-
|
| Series: | eHRAF World Cultures. Africa.
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | CONNECT CONNECT |
| Summary: | The Suku are a Bantu-speaking people living in hamlets and small villages scattered across the rolling savannas of the southwestern Democratic Republic of the Congo. This collection of 10 documents describes the Suku of the Kwango district of Bandundu province, Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly called Zaire) as observed by the anthropologist Igor Kopytoff from 1957 to 1959, supplemented by information ranging mainly from 1920 to 1970. The dominant theme of Kopytoff's works is the combination of contradictory principles, including matrilineal descent with patrilocal residence, centralized kingship with broadly autonomous matrilineages, and recognition of the power of the dead over the wellbeing of the living with a lack of interest in comprehending how this occurs. Each document in the collection is devoted to discussing the pragmatics of daily life through which Suku lineages and villages minimize and mitigate the disintegrating effects of these contradictions. Specific themes covered include family life, kinship and residential cycles (Kopytoff 1964, 1965, 1977), kinship rules and social relationships (Kopytoff 1961, 1971), beliefs about dead ancestors (Kopytoff 1981, 1991), religious rites (Kopytoff 1980) and the cultural meanings of womanhood and a gender-based division of labor (Kopytoff 1990). |
|---|---|
| Item Description: | Title from Web page (viewed November 7, 2016). This portion of eHRAF world cultures was first released in 2016. |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references. |
