Fanti Kinship and the Analysis of Kinship Terminologies

David B. Kronenfeld is a professor of anthropology at the University of California, Riverside. He is the author of Plastic Glasses and Church Fathers: Semantic Extension from the Ethnoscience Tradition and the editor of Sydney H. Gould's A New System for the Formal Analysis of Kinship.

"The author applies evolved, forceful analytical methods to the Fanti and the book would seem set to become a standard text for anthropologists who seek a commanding introduction to what vigorous kinship analysis looks like at the beginning of the 21st century."--Anthropos"Kronenfeld's mastery of Fanti kinship, including social, linguistic, and semantic aspects, is of the very highest quality. He has a wide and masterful knowledge of the details of the research he discusses. He exhibits total integrity in presenting data as well as objective criteria for its interpretation. The outcome is one of the richest descriptions and theoretical interpretations of how kinship terminology and behavior actually operate in society."--A. Kimball Romney, research professor, School of Social Sciences, University of California, Irvine"David Kronenfeld's Fanti Kinship and the Analysis of Kinship Terminologies is a ground-breaking and important addition to the anthropological literature on kinship systems, a formal analysis both of kinship terminologies and of social structures more generally, as well as an in-depth treatment of a particular ethnographic case. This book raises all the necessary questions about the nature and the goals of different versions of kinship theory and formal analysis, and at every turn it brings to bear Kronenfeld's splendid field ethnography. It should be an excellent textbook for new students; Kronenfeld makes it clear that formal analysis is relevant to the real issues of social and even political life."--F. K. Lehman (F. K. L. Chit Hlaing), professor of anthropology, linguistics, and cognitive science, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

• List of Illustrations   ixAcknowledgments   xiiiIntroduction   1PART 11. Fanti Kinship: The Structure of Terminology and Behavior   152. A Formal Analysis of Fanti Kinship Terminology (Ghana)   313. Particularistic or Universalistic Analyses of Fanti Kinterminology: The Alternative Goals of Terminological Analysis   534. Fanti Kinship Behavior: What a Fanti Needs to Know to Treat a Kinsman Correctly   71PART II5. Context in the Late 1970s: Schneider, Needham, Scheffler, and Keesing   1096. Morgan vs. Dorsey on the Omaha Cross-Parallel Contrast: Theoretical Implications   1537. Comparison with Tax's Theoretic Approach (1980)   1778. Krober vs. Radcliffe-Brown on Kinship Behavior: The Fanti Test Case   181PART III9. The Uses of Formal Analysis re Cognitive and Social Issues   20510. Computer Analysis of Skewed Kinship Terminologies   22711. Using Sydney H. Gould's Formalization of Kinterminologies: Social Information, Skewing, and Structural Types   255PART IV12. Sibling Typology: Beyond Nerlove and Romney   28113. Fanti Kinship: Language, Inheritance, and Kin Groups   30114. Some Observations Concerning Usage (1969)   319 Notes   325References   349Credits   361Index   363