Azaghvana E-Book 2003 - Flipbook - Page 487
Dghweɗe exogamy rules as a condition for social marriage alliances. In Chapter 3.6 we listed
the Dghweɗe word mbthawa for patrilineal families who could intermarry in Ghwa'a,
while gwagha was used for exogamous clan or lineage groups across Dghweɗe. This raises
the theoretical question of whether the patrilineal descent groups formed by the Dghweɗe
were in fact secondary to the need of fathers in finding suitable wives for their sons to ensure
future socio-economic success.
We also stated in a footnote 6 as part of Chapter 3.6 that we do not adhere to descent theory,
but use the terms 'clan' and 'lineage' in a technical way to refer to more or less segmented
local descent groups. In the context of this, the Mughuze-Ruwa are the largest clan group
which segmented into local lineage sections by forming separate settlement units, mainly in
southern Dghweɗe, while the Hembe and Gudule are smaller clan groups which segmented to
a lesser extent into lineage wards. We also explained that the exogamy rules of the Dghweɗe
applied to their marriage alliances across clan and lineage sections, and that smaller clan
groups could be exogamous on the clan level while larger clan groups were exogamous only
on the lineage level. In the next chapter we use the expression 'marriage alliance' in a similar
non-theoretical fashion, as a technical term to describe the way Dghweɗe families once
formed social alliances to match their daughters as suitable marriage partners for their sons, to
bring about new kindred connections through systematic intermarriage across the ancestral
patrilineal divide.
6
We recommended Adam Kuper's (1988) critical discussion of descent theory, also known as lineage
theory. Kuper (ibid) also provides a short history of alliance theory, which he describes as a creation of
the French anthropologist Levi-Strauss from the late 1940s. We also recommend Edmund Leach (1970
[1978]) as a good introduction to Levi-Strauss' universalist way of thinking, especially in relation to his
ideas about elementary structures of kinship, where Leach critically points to shortcomings with regard
to some of Levi-Strauss' structuralist conclusions. We do not use the term 'marriage alliance' in the
universal structuralist manner, but only as a technical expression to describe the Dghweɗe marriage
system in a similar way to the non-theoretical application of the words 'clan' or 'lineage', but we will
sometimes refer to some of the relevant aspects, especially in relation to our understanding of the
Dghweɗe exogamy rules.
485
