Why did you send me like this? : Marriage, Matriliny and the ‘Providing Husband’ in North Kerala, India

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

This paper argues that in the study of matriliny in Kerala, insufficient attention has been paid to the post-marriage residence norm of virilocality in which a woman goes to reside in her husband’s house after marriage. This has led to considerable romanticization of what matriliny meant for women in everyday life. In focusing on a caste called the Thiyyas, who have a history of matrilineal descent and inheritance, the paper explores the way the norm of virilocality is coupled with the idea of the ‘providing husband.’ I consider the idea of the ‘providing’ husband as both central to the image of a normative conjugality among the Thiyyas and also as an idea that has characterized legislative changes in matriliny and marriage since the late nineteenth century. Further, I argue that the idea of the ‘providing husband’ and post-marriage virilocal residence are coupled not only with a strong sense of a dependent wife but a husband’s unequivocal authority. However, what marks out this context is that women inherit property and have a right to return to their natal homes. These practices in turn enable considerable flexibility in residence in everyday life.

목차 (Table of Contents)

• Introduction
• Legislative Changes and the Imperative of the ‘Providing' Husband
• ‘Providing’ and the Normative Structure of Conjugality
• The Rule of Virilocality, Women’s Inheritance and the Negotiation of Residence
• Remembering their Marriage: Two Stories of ‘Providing’
• Shamala
• Yeshoda
• Conclusion
• Acknowledgements
• Notes
• References

참고문헌 (Reference)

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