Family Kinship and Marriage in Mozambique
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1 Introduction............................................................................................................................................2
2 Kinship, Family, and Marriage in Mozambique.............................................................................3
2.1 Concept of kinship................................................................................................................3
2.2. Nomenclature of kinship or kinship terminology............................................................3
2.3. Symbolism and characteristicstfamily case.....................................................................................3
2.4. A family as a cultural phenomenon
3. References bibliographic...................................................................................................................5
1 Introduction
In the study of kinship of a group, both consanguinity relations are present.
As affinity relationships, such relationships find a translation in the designation systems.
mutual (the terminologies or nomenclature of kinship); in the rules of affiliation that determine
the quality of individuals as members of a group and their rights and duties within it
of the group, in the alliance rules that positively or negatively guide the choice of partner,
in the rules of transmission of the elements that constitute the identity of each one; and in the rules of
residence, that is, in the types of social groupings in which individuals are
affiliated (Heritier, 1989).
In Mozambique, we have three categories of blood ties, namely: Kinship bond
by consanguinity is the translation of the principle of affiliation, which groups people together.
share the same genetic heritage (parents, children, grandparents, siblings, etc). Kinship bond by
affinity; it translates the kinship relationship established between two distinct social groups, through
of a man's marriage to a woman, one from each group. Bond of kinship
fictitious, this category is used to create connections between people who are neither similar nor
consanguineous (includes adoption, godparenthood, and ritual kinship).
Parentage, however, is not the same as family. There is an important differentiation.
Kinship and family deal with the basic facts of life: birth, mating, and death.
But the family is a concrete social group and kinship is an abstraction, it is a structure.
This means that the study of kinship and the study of the family are different things: the
the study of the family is the study of that concrete social group and the study of kinship is the study
of this formal structure, abstractly constituted, that permeates this concrete social group, but
that goes beyond him.
2 Kinship, Family and Marriage in Mozambique
2.1 Concept of kinship
According to Maria Helena Diniz (2002), 'kinship is the binding relationship that exists not only between
people who descend from one another or from a common stock (consanguinity), but
also between the spouse and the relatives (affinity) of the other and between adopter and adopted (fictitious)
(of law). In human communities, the terminology designates the basic categories of the relationship.
biological, the means for recognizing and organizing social relations.
2.2. Nomenclature of kinship or kinship terminology
It is the system of designations for positions related to blood ties and affinity.
Examples of kinship terms: father, mother, brother, cousin, wife, brother-in-law, mother-in-law,
stepchild, son, grandson, niece, etc. We have two types of kinship nomenclature, namely:
Descriptive kinship nomenclature and classificatory kinship nomenclature:
i. Descriptive kinship nomenclature - it is one where a different term is used.
to designate each of the relatives. Example: dad (biological father), mom (mother)
biological), mana (biological sister, but older).
ii. Classification kinship nomenclature - it is the one that is used
indistinctly the same term to designate a group of people with whom one
there is a family tie. For example, when the term 'mama' is applied to
designate the biological mother, the mother's sister, or the stepmother. We are also facing the
kinship nomenclature classified when it comes to brother, to oneself
biological brother, to a cousin or to the son of a stepmother.
2.3. Symbolism and characteristics of kinship
Kinship is fundamentally characterized by a system of affiliation, a system of
alliance, a residency system and an attitudes system.
a) System of affiliation or descent - descent is the general term that designates the
social connection between ancestors and descendants. In most cultural contexts
known on earth, people trace their lineage or affiliation from two
principles or systems: unilinear and cognatic (or non-linear). The descent
unilinear recognizes only one line of ancestors, either from the male side or the female side.
female. It occurs in two ways: patrilinear, when it follows the male line, and
matrilinear, when it follows the female line. The most common form is patrilinear. In
cognatic descent considers both sides, maternal and paternal, equally.
paternal, and occur in four forms: bilinear, parallel, ambilinear, and bilateral.
b) Alliance system - the marriage or wedding is a type of alliance that
characterizes kinship. Marriage is a cultural universal and, according to some
anthropologists may have formed the basis of all human social organizations.
c) Residence system - this refers to the standard of residence adopted by the
individuals after marriage. The mentioned pattern is determined by a series of
rules, the rules of post-marriage residence. The term residence used here
corresponds to the term quintal or muti. Thus, according to Negrão (2003), 'the muti is the'
the smallest spatial unit of housing, production, and consumption of the rural family. It is
made up of an interconnected set of elements such as boundaries, houses, kitchens,
curds, shadows, sacred places bathroom and spaces for access to water, firewood and
other resources.
2.4. The family as a cultural phenomenon
In Ariés's (1978) view, the family came from natural evolution as birth, growth, evolution and
to die and carries within it its culture. Each society creates a sense and its values
representatives of each family, this behavior ends up becoming a cultural sphere, and
how a natural phenomenon is integrated into the society and thus into the culture of that city in which
live together. From creation, the family begins as natural and over time its life goes
being included in cultural life, that is why I believe it is Nature and Culture. Since the beginning
with the existence of life, it can already be called a natural phenomenon, the human species has already
it begins with disciplines and customs according to the life of that family or state in which they reside.
Ancient families used customs more as doctrines or rules to be
fulfilled and from them cultures were also made (Ariés, 1978).
While Pereira (2004) states that culture is linked to the natural precisely because the
a man, in search of achieving his own goals, ends up altering what is his
given, and also changing itself. Human life is always a quest for values. To live is
undeniably choose daily, permanently between two or more values. The family
as culture is a set of everything that, in both material and spiritual aspects, ends up
building the natural man, (Pereira, 2004).
3. Bibliographic References
Ariés, P. (1978). Social History and the Family, 2nd ed., Rio de Janeiro.
Heritier, F. (1989). Kinship, family, Einaudi encyclopedia. Kinship. Lisbon
Maria Helena Diniz. (2002). The Course of Brazilian Civil Law. Volume 4.
Pereira, R. C. (2004). Combined and Stable Union, 7th ed., Belo Horizonte.
