Dowry among Fishers in Tranquebar, south India: A study of an ethnographic collection of material objects from 1981 and life-story interviews from 2007. By Sofie Vilhelmsen
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Dowry among Fishers in Tranquebar, south India : A study of an ethnographic collection of material objects from 1981 and life-story interviews from 2007. By Sofie Vilhelmsen. / Fihl, Esther (Editor).
Copenhagen : Nationalmuseets Tranquebar Initiativ, 2016. 52 p. (Tranquebar Initiativets Skriftserie).Research output: Book/Report › Book › Research › peer-review
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TY - BOOK
T1 - Dowry among Fishers in Tranquebar, south India
T2 - A study of an ethnographic collection of material objects from 1981 and life-story interviews from 2007. By Sofie Vilhelmsen
A2 - Fihl, Esther
PY - 2016
Y1 - 2016
N2 - English abstract:In this publication, I compare dowry in the fishing community ofTranquebar – or Tharangambadi as it is also called - in 1981 and2007. I do this on the basis of ethnographer Esther Fihl’s collectionof material objects from 1981, and some of her life-storyinterviews from 2007. The aim is to discuss the structural aspectsof dowry as well as the pace of dowry inflation. I argue that thesystems of dowry in 1981 and 2007 share a series of structuralsimilarities relating to issues of class, social status and social mobility.However, the dowries in and of themselves have changed;they have grown bigger and the items have been adapted to modernconsumption. I conclude that this change happened graduallybefore the tsunami in 2004 and rapidly in the post-tsunami period,as Tranquebar experienced an influx of relief money. A highlevel of social mobility within the fishing community is depicted ingirl-families in both 1981 and 2007, where a daughter’s upwardsmobility was more likely if she had a low number of sisters and herdownwards mobility was more likely if she had a high number ofsisters. Social mobility is similarly depicted in the reconstructingperiod after the tsunami in Tranquebar, where families with a highnumber of men were more likely to experience upwards mobilitythan families with a low number of male members.Dansk abstrakt:I denne artikel undersøger og sammenligner jeg medgiftsystemeti Tranquebars fiskerlandsbydel gennem en genstandssamling fra1981 og en serie livshistorie-interviews fra 2007, begge indsamletaf etnografen Esther Fihl. Mit fokus er på de strukturelle aspekteraf medgiftsystemet samt inflation i medgiften. Det konkluderes,at mange af de strukturelle sammenhænge, som påvirker medgift,findes i fiskersamfundet i Tranquebar i både 1981 og 2007,f.eks. klasseforskelle, social mobilitet, social status og i de enkeltefamilier også nogle gange en grad af forandring i størrelsen aføkonomisk indtægt på tværs af generationer. Imidlertid påvisesdet også, at medgiften er blevet større, og genstandene, somgives i medgift, har ændret sig til at inkludere moderne forbrugsgoder.Det konkluderes, at ændringerne i medgift er foregået jævntfrem mod slutningen af 2004, hvorefter udviklingen gik rivendehurtigt. Tsunamien i det Indiske Ocean i december 2004 ramtefiskerlandsbyen hårdt og medførte store tab af menneskeliv ogenorme ødelæggelser. I kølvandet på dette modtog mange fiskerfamiliernødhjælp og kompensation for tab af familiemedlemmer,hus og fiskeudstyr. Høj nedadgående mobilitet ses i både 1981og 2007, når det kommer til familier med mange døtre, idet deter sværere for dem at skaffe penge til medgift. På samme mådeses den høje mobilitet i Tranquebar i rekonstruktionsperioden, derefterfulgte tsunamien, hvor familier med mange mandlige fiskereoplevede opadgående mobilitet, idet nødhjælpen blev fordelt efteren traditionel kønsopdeling.
AB - English abstract:In this publication, I compare dowry in the fishing community ofTranquebar – or Tharangambadi as it is also called - in 1981 and2007. I do this on the basis of ethnographer Esther Fihl’s collectionof material objects from 1981, and some of her life-storyinterviews from 2007. The aim is to discuss the structural aspectsof dowry as well as the pace of dowry inflation. I argue that thesystems of dowry in 1981 and 2007 share a series of structuralsimilarities relating to issues of class, social status and social mobility.However, the dowries in and of themselves have changed;they have grown bigger and the items have been adapted to modernconsumption. I conclude that this change happened graduallybefore the tsunami in 2004 and rapidly in the post-tsunami period,as Tranquebar experienced an influx of relief money. A highlevel of social mobility within the fishing community is depicted ingirl-families in both 1981 and 2007, where a daughter’s upwardsmobility was more likely if she had a low number of sisters and herdownwards mobility was more likely if she had a high number ofsisters. Social mobility is similarly depicted in the reconstructingperiod after the tsunami in Tranquebar, where families with a highnumber of men were more likely to experience upwards mobilitythan families with a low number of male members.Dansk abstrakt:I denne artikel undersøger og sammenligner jeg medgiftsystemeti Tranquebars fiskerlandsbydel gennem en genstandssamling fra1981 og en serie livshistorie-interviews fra 2007, begge indsamletaf etnografen Esther Fihl. Mit fokus er på de strukturelle aspekteraf medgiftsystemet samt inflation i medgiften. Det konkluderes,at mange af de strukturelle sammenhænge, som påvirker medgift,findes i fiskersamfundet i Tranquebar i både 1981 og 2007,f.eks. klasseforskelle, social mobilitet, social status og i de enkeltefamilier også nogle gange en grad af forandring i størrelsen aføkonomisk indtægt på tværs af generationer. Imidlertid påvisesdet også, at medgiften er blevet større, og genstandene, somgives i medgift, har ændret sig til at inkludere moderne forbrugsgoder.Det konkluderes, at ændringerne i medgift er foregået jævntfrem mod slutningen af 2004, hvorefter udviklingen gik rivendehurtigt. Tsunamien i det Indiske Ocean i december 2004 ramtefiskerlandsbyen hårdt og medførte store tab af menneskeliv ogenorme ødelæggelser. I kølvandet på dette modtog mange fiskerfamiliernødhjælp og kompensation for tab af familiemedlemmer,hus og fiskeudstyr. Høj nedadgående mobilitet ses i både 1981og 2007, når det kommer til familier med mange døtre, idet deter sværere for dem at skaffe penge til medgift. På samme mådeses den høje mobilitet i Tranquebar i rekonstruktionsperioden, derefterfulgte tsunamien, hvor familier med mange mandlige fiskereoplevede opadgående mobilitet, idet nødhjælpen blev fordelt efteren traditionel kønsopdeling.
KW - Faculty of Humanities
KW - dowry
KW - fisheries
KW - life-story
KW - material object
KW - Material culture
KW - Esther Fihl
KW - India
KW - Indien
UR - https://en.natmus.dk/historical-knowledge/historical-knowledge-the-world/asia/india/tranquebar/
M3 - Book
SN - 978-87-7602-173-3
VL - No. 9
T3 - Tranquebar Initiativets Skriftserie
BT - Dowry among Fishers in Tranquebar, south India
PB - Nationalmuseets Tranquebar Initiativ
CY - Copenhagen
ER -
ID: 209522157