The Family among the Australian Aborigines, a Sociological StudyMalinowski, Bronislaw
History
The Family among the Australian Aborigines, a Sociological Study
Malinowski, Bronislaw
Aboriginal Australians -- Social life and customs; Ethnology -- Australia; Families -- History
The important distinction between kinship (_parenté_) and
consanguinity, which is one of the chief results of the foregoing
pages, has been made already by Prof. Durkheim.[578] Nevertheless
the exclusive stress that M. Durkheim lays upon the legal aspect of
kinship would not seem adapted to the complexity of the facts. "La
parenté est essentiellement constitué par des obligations juridiques
et morales que la société impose à certains individus." This is not
enough. There are certain ideas which affirm a strong bond between
parent and child, and undoubtedly these ideas, although neither of
legal nor moral character, exercise a strong influence on the relation
in question. Possibly the difference could be reduced to the broader
sense in which Prof. Durkheim uses the words _legal_ and _moral_; as
his remarks are necessarily short, being contained in a review, it
is difficult exactly to ascertain their sense. We have tried to show
that, especially in reference to low societies, both these terms must
be used with caution, and that a definite sense must be given to them.
Besides, I do not share Prof. Durkheim's view that by substituting the
word "kinship" for the word "consanguinity" all Morgan's deductions
could be rectified.[579] The constitution of the family is something
quite different from and much more complicated than the sexual aspect
of marriage, and it cannot be at once seen whether the nomenclature of
kinship (systems of kinship terms) could be shown to be rooted in the
former with the same ease as it can be shown in the latter case. This
would require a special study.
[578] _A.S._, i. p. 316.
[579] _Ibid._, p. 318.
M. A. van Gennep also clearly establishes the distinction between
_parenté sociale_ and _parenté physique_.[580] According to our
terminology the latter would correspond to physiological consanguinity,
while the former would be identical with what we called parental
kinship. We see that this distinction is quite in agreement with our
theory. Only we called social consanguinity a special case of kinship,
where the collective ideas on procreation play the essential rôle.
Obviously these ideas may be more or less physiologically correct or
erroneous. But where they are completely absent (as in Australia)
we prefer not to use the suggestive term _consanguinity_, and to
distinguish these cases from the former we use the term _kinship_.
M. A. van Gennep remarks further that the Central Australians do not
know the real cause of procreation in spite of some illusory appearances
(we shall deal with this question in detail below and solve it quite in
agreement with the author in question); he shows the wide extension of
this negative belief in the Australian continent, and speaking of the
South Australian tribes, points out that the most important aspect is
that they prove the independence of kinship and consanguinity.[581]
[580] _Loc. cit._, p. lxiii. (of the Introduction).
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