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Doglientiri: an institutionalised relationship between women among the Bulsa of northern Ghana

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 December 2011

Barbara Meier
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Extract

This article focuses on the institutionalised relationship between a married woman and a younger woman of her lineage. This alliance implies that the older woman incorporates her clan sister into her household and later marries her off to a man of her choice, preferably her own husband or one of his (classificatory) brothers. This specific form of sororal polygyny is firmly based on rituals and the structure of kinship relation among the Bulsa of northern Ghana. Women bear the ritual responsibility for their brothers' offspring and therefore acquire the right to adopt their daughters.

Résumé

Cet article examine les rapports institutionnalisés entre une femme mariée et une femme cadette de sa lignée. Cette alliance implique que l'aînée intègre sa ‘sœur de clan’ dans son foyer et la marie plus tard à un homme de son choix, de préférence son propre mari ou un de ses fréres (classificatoires). Cette forme particulière de polygynie sororale repose solidement sur des ritues et sur la structure des liens de parenté qui prévaut au sein de la communauté Bulsa du nord du Ghana. Selon ces rites, les femmes sont responsables des enfants de leurs frères et acquièrent par conséquent le droit d'adopter leurs filles.

Type
Women's practice of Kinship in modern Ghana
Information
Africa , Volume 69 , Issue 1 , January 1999 , pp. 87 - 107
Copyright
Copyright © International African Institute 1999

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