Set Texts - Chisungu

which tribe does Audrey Richards look at, and where from

Bemba, Northern Rhodesia

what do the Bemba divide their world into

village (civilisation) and bush (wilderness)

what do the bemba have strong beliefs in the strong potency and danger of

sex, blood, menstruation, fire

what sort of social structure do the bemba have

matrilineal

who holds a significant social role in matrilineal society, that can often conflict with patriarchal authority and make questions of living location and authority complicated

mother’s brother

what two conflicting groups does a man have to deal with in Chisungu

man’s matrilineal group vs his wife’s extended group

what determines hierarchy among the Bemba, given the lack of permanent property

ability to command service

what contradictory role do men experience having

dominant in society but son-in-law role is submissive

what does Audrey Richards term the issue with matrilineal societies

the matrilineal puzzle

what does Richards suggest might help resolve the matrilineal puzzle, allowing it to express its contradictions and dilemmas and perhaps find resolutions

chisungu ceremony

what is the chisungu ceremony

an individual nubility rite

name for the mistress of the chisungu ceremony — often a hierarchical role but also needs to prove herself

nacimbusa

example of 3 sacred emblem used in the chisungu cermony

pottery, wall designs , small bundles of objects representing domestic life

what does the chisungu ceremony open with

display of the hierarchy of the women present

what symbols do the sisters of the bridegroom carry

male symbols e.g. lion

example of a challenge a girl has to complete in her chisungu

jumping over branches

expression of the way the ceremony makes a girl a woman

that is not a woman. she is like someone who hasn’t been danced

what follows shrotly after the chisungu ceremony

wedding

word for what the performers think they are achieving in their ritual behaviour

expressed purposes

term for the secondary motives that certain actions in ritual might have e.g. ceremony gives daughter away in marriage but also creates a contract/shows prestige

secondary expressed purpose

word for what is gathered from the importance pf symbols, nature, participant’s emotional response, etc

deduced purpose

who argued that ritual behaviours reinforced tribal norms, saw them as a unifying process

radcliffe-brown

what is the primary expressed purpose of chisungu that Richards offers — the most absolutely necessary interpretation

girls status change to a woman

what do a lot of activities in the Chisungu ceremony do - symbolically more than literallly

teach girls how to be women and wives

example of secret terms and names girls learn — what gets a new name

whitewash

despite being a ceremony of status change, are the girls visibly distinguished after

no

example of secondary ways in which social status is expressed through the ceremony

nacimbusa offended at not being offered food

how many years before the writing of the book was Chisungu banned by missionaries, and yet it continued to happen

50

example of something the girl gains from the chisungu ceremony thats vital to the rest of her life and broader tribal values

marriage pot

what does the husband gain access to depending on the girl’s handling of the hearth

ancestral spirits

rather than ask for new things like most rites, what does chisungu do

represents and proclaims the established

what does Richards argue chisungu’s purpose is

maintain social relationships and the structure of the groups

what sort of taboos do weak matrilineal societies tend to focus on, rather than virginity or purity taboos

post-marriage anxieties

a lot of symbols in chisungu have double meanings, example of this

hoe, women gardening and male fertility

what do all statuses in Bemba society have (son-in-law / daughter / wife / husband / father / mother’s brother)

roles that accompany them

what brings social issues of the matrilineal puzzle to the fore

marriage

what does a rite of passage do to social status

takes you from one to another (but does it ever do this fully e.g. daughters become wives but never stop being sisters)

inbemba society, what distinguishes people of different hierarchies in the same class

age, social success

what order do the bacanimbusa line up in at the start of the ceremony (all about hierarchy)

age order

example of something expressing that things are naturally higher or lower than eahc other

the armpit is not higher than the shoulder