Document Type
Article
Department
Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations, London; Faculty of Arts and Sciences
Abstract
Kinship is understood dynamicallyandprocessuallybutkinshipterminologies are remarkably stable idea systems. They provide cultural continuity over time and are more resistant to modification than many types of cultural instantiations.Miskituspeakers in Nicaragua, however, have adopted new kin terms that appear to have fundamentally changed the idea system used to generate their kin terms historically. The shape of the changes that have occurred in Miskitu kin terminologies over time are the result of powerful economic, political and social forces introduced, in part, as a consequence of the geography of Mosquito Coast economies, migrations and political processes. We argue that the current use of kin terms is atypically hybrid and is not the result of a single, algebraically derivable idea system. Rather than negating the validity of mathematical approaches to kinship terminologies, the case of Miskitu kinship terminology suggests that core idea systems, although subject to change over time, movebetweeninformationallyeconomicalforms adapted to socioeconomic changes.
Publication (Name of Journal)
Structure and Dynamics
Recommended Citation
Lyon, S. M.,
Jamieson, M.,
Fischer, M.
(2015). Persistent cultures: Miskitu kinship terminological fluidity. Structure and Dynamics, 8(1).
Available at:
https://ecommons.aku.edu/uk_ismc_faculty_publications/20
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Comments
This work was published before the author joined Aga Khan University.