Vol. 33 No. 4 (2024): NJAS Special Issue: Becoming (Un)Equal in Age: Seniority and Superiority in African Societies
Special Issue: Becoming (Un)Equal in Age: Seniority and Superiority in African Societies

Doing Being Senior/Junior: Reconsidering Naming and Kinship Relationships Among the !Xun of North-Central Namibia

PDF
Akira Takada
Kyoto University
Bio
DOI: https://doi.org/10.53228/njas.v33i4.1147

Published 2024-12-19

Keywords

  • San,
  • generational distance,
  • relative age,
  • absolute age,
  • Africa

How to Cite

Takada, A. (2024). Doing Being Senior/Junior: Reconsidering Naming and Kinship Relationships Among the !Xun of North-Central Namibia. Nordic Journal of African Studies, 33(4), 406–416. https://doi.org/10.53228/njas.v33i4.1147

Copyright (c) 2024 Akira Takada

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Abstract

In this article, I will reconsider the naming and kinship relationships of the !Xun San in north-central Namibia from the perspective of child socialization. I will thereby deconstruct the naturalized view in which ‘relative age’ (a concept to indicate the age sequence between two persons, positioned relatively from older to younger) and ‘generational distance’ (a concept to indicate the character of the relational space between relatives, positioned relatively from senior to junior) are conceptualized based on ‘absolute age’ (years objectively measured in terms of the time that has passed since one’s birth). I will then demonstrate a view in which relative age and even absolute age become socially explicit, although not always in the context of social relations ordered by generational distance. !Xun children are considered to be socialized as they participate in social relations associated with generational distance and become proficient in the appropriate conduct therein.

PDF

References

  1. Barnard, Alan. 1992. Hunters and Herders of Southern Africa: A Comparative Ethnography of the Khoisan Peoples. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  2. Boden, Gertrud, and Akira Takada. 2014. “Kx’a Kinship Classifications: A Diachronic Perspective.” In Southern African Khoisan Kinship Systems, edited by Alan Barnard and Gertrud Boden, 141–160. Cologne: Rüdiger Köppe.
  3. Dieckmann, Ute. 2007. Haiǁom in the Etosha Region: A History of Colonial Settlement, Ethnicity, and Nature Conservation. Basel: Basler Afrika Bibliographien.
  4. Dieckmann, Ute, Maarit Thiem, Erik Dirkx, and Jennifer Hays,(eds.) 2014. “Scraping the Pot”: San in Namibia Two Decades After Indepencence. Windhoek: Legal Assistance Centre.
  5. Güldemann, Tom. 2014. “Khoisan’ Linguistic Classification Today.” In Beyond ‘Khoisan’: Historical Relations in the Kalahari Basin, edited by Tom Güldemann and Anne-Maria Fehn, 1–40. Amsterdam: Benjamins.
  6. König, Christa, and Bernd Heine. 2001. Khoisan Forum, Working Paper: Vol.17. The !Xun of Ekoka: A Demographic and Linguistic Report. Cologne: University of Cologne.
  7. König, Christa, and Bernd Heine. 2008. Research in Khoisan Studies: Vol. 21. A Concise Dictionary of Northwestern !Xun. Cologne: Rüdiger Köppe.
  8. Lee, Richard B. 1979. The !Kung San: Men, Women and Work. New York: Cambridge University Press.
  9. Lee, Richard B. 1986. “!Kung Kin Terms, the Name Relationship and the Process of Discovery.” In The Past and Future of !Kung Ethnography: Critical Reflections and Symbolic Perspectives: Essays in Honor of Lorna Marshall, edited by Megan Biesele with Robert J. Gordon and Richard B. Lee, 77–102. Quellen zur Khoisan-Forschung Vol. 4. Hamburg: Helmut Buske.
  10. Lowie, Robert H. 1928. “A Note on Relationship Terminologies.” American Anthropologist 30: 263–268.
  11. Marshall, Lorna. 1976. The !Kung of Nyae Nyae. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
  12. Takada, Akira. 2008. “Kinship and Naming Among the Ekoka !Xun.” In Khoisan Languages and Linguistics: Proceedings of the 2nd International Symposium, 8–12 January 2006, Riezlern/Kleinwalsertal, edited by Sonja Ermisch, 303–322. Cologne: Rüdiger Köppe.
  13. Takada, Akira. 2014. “Kinship and Caregiving Practices Among the Ekoka !Xun.” In Southern African Khoisan Kinship Systems. Research in Khoisan Studies Volume 30, edited by Alan Barnard and Gertrud Boden, 99–120. Cologne: Rüdiger Köppe.
  14. Takada, Akira. 2020. The Ecology of Playful Childhood: The Diversity and Resilience of Caregiver–Child Interactions Among the San of Southern Africa. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan.
  15. Takada, Akira. 2022. Hunters Among Farmers: The !Xun of Ekoka. Windhoek: University of Namibia Press.
  16. Tanaka, Jiro. 1980. The San: Hunter-Gatherers of the Kalahari: A Study in Ecological Anthropology. Tokyo: University of Tokyo Press.
  17. Widlok, Thomas. 1999. Living on Mangetti. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  18. Widlok, Thomas. 2000. “Names That Escape the State: Haiǁom Naming Practices Versus Domination and Isolation.” In Hunter-Gatherers in the Modern World: Conflict, Resistance and Self-Determination, edited by Peter Schweitzer, Megan Biesele, and Robert Hitchcock, 361–379.Oxford: Berghahn.
  19. Williams, Frieda-Nela. 1994. Precolonial Communities of Southwestern Africa: A History of Owambo Kingdoms 1600–1920. (2nd ed.). Windhoek: National Archives of Namibia.