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E-book Kinship and History in South Asia : Four Lectures
This equation suggests that if relationships 1 and 2 are opposedin type, then relationships 3 and 4 will be similarly opposed.A similarity in type between 1 and 2, or 3 and 4, though allowedby the formula, is taken to be a very rare occurrence. IndeedL6vi -Strauss suggests that this latter type of structure couldwell be expected to break down or at least to change rapidly intosome other form. The change would be caused by a "lack ofbalance" in such cases, in the structural tensions of variousparts of the nucleus. 5 Pierre Maranda carries these ideasone step further by suggesting that it becomes the function of thewife and children to mediate between a brother's and a father'sdescent group and their structurally opposed roles. 6In addition to these interesting theoretical developmentsit is important to note that the kin nucleus under discussion isnot meant to model an actual day-to-day kin unit. Instead it isconcerned with a set of preconceived connections between closerelatives. Members of the "nucleus" need not live together oreven see one another frequently. The pattern these analystshave attempted to describe, therefore, can not be linked directlyto action. It builds, rather, on concepts and feelings aboutkinsmen that are expressed less directly in mediums such asfolklore and ritual prescription. Previous studies of Dravidian kinship have made thecomplementarity of cross and parallel male groupings a funda-mental characteristic of South Indian kin organization. On theone hand, there are wife-givers and wife-takers, and on theother, egoTs own descent group members and their associates. ^The logic is binary in type, so that TTgiversTT to oneTs own giversbecome classified as members of one's own group. The cross/parallel distinction subdivides egoTs larger kin universe into twocomplementary halves. Despite repeated work on this aspectof South Indian kinship, however, the presence or absence ofa TTkin nucleusTT within this larger system of relationships hasnot yet been discussed.
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