Web of Kinship Among the Tallensi

Meyer Fortes was a South African-born anthropologist, best known for his work among the Tallensi and Ashanti in Ghana. Originally trained in psychology, Fortes employed the notion of the "person" into his structural-functional analyses of kinship, the family, and ancestor worship setting a standard for studies on African social organization. His famous book, Oedipus and Job in West African Religion (1959), fused his two interests and set a standard for comparative ethnology. He also wrote extensively on issues of the first born, kingship, and divination.

• 1. Introductory 2. Kinship and the Lineage System 3. The Homestead and the Joint Family 4. Husband and Wife in the Structure of the Family 5. Parents and Children in the Framework of the Lineage 6. The Moral Basis of the Relationship of Parent and Child 7. The Genetic Development of Parent- Child Relationships 8. Tensions in the Parent-Child Relationship 9. Grandparents and Grandchildren 10. Siblings in the Social Structure 11. The Web of Extra-Clan Kinship