[Xmca-l] Re: kinship

[Greg Thompson]

Martin,

Yes, I agree that Sahlins didn't offer much in the way of cross-cultural
cognates of "family". But I'm still a little at a loss for why you are so
interested in this English word (e.g., why not "kin"? why not the preferred
word in some other culture that extends to a different set of
relationships). Without a good working definition of what you mean by
"family". Do the other examples that people have given "count" as "family",
e.g., sports teams, brothers-in-arms? Or are you taking the approach that
family=father(biological?)+mother(again, biological, and what about a
second father? or a second mother?)+child(biological? and today, would a
dog do in place of a child - e.g., a couple at the park with their dog who
refer to their grouping as a "family"?).

I guess I'm not sure where you are going with this interest in "family"
(and what has it got to do with the kinship relations of this here family?).

-greg

On Sun, Jan 7, 2018 at 5:33 PM, Martin Packer <mpacker@cantab.net> wrote:

> Yes, I’ve been reading Sahlins. Very interesting take on kinship, along
> the lines of the ‘ontological turn’ in cultural anthropology. Greg can
> explain that..  :)
>
> But does Sahlins define family?  (No!)
>
> Martin
>
> "I may say that whenever I meet Mrs. Seligman or Dr. Lowie or discuss
> matters with Radcliffe-Brown or Kroeber, I become at once aware that my
> partner does not understand anything in the matter, and I end usually with
> the feeling that this also applies to myself” (Malinowski, 1930)
>
>
>
> > On Jan 7, 2018, at 7:07 PM, Greg Thompson <greg.a.thompson@gmail.com>
> wrote:
> >
> > <image.png><Sahlins, Marshall - What is Kinship.pdf>
>
>


-- 
Gregory A. Thompson, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Anthropology
880 Spencer W. Kimball Tower
Brigham Young University
Provo, UT 84602
WEBSITE: greg.a.thompson.byu.edu
http://byu.academia.edu/GregoryThompson