French Kinship

160 Pages·1974·12.986 MB·English

by  Pierre Maranda

JANUA LINGUARUM
STUDIA MEMORIAE
NICOLAI VAN WIJK DEDICATA
edenda curai
C. H. VAN SCHOONEVELD
Indiana University
Series Practica, 169

FRENCH KINSHIP
Structure and History
by
PIERRE MARANDA
University of British Columbia
1974
MOUTON
THE HAGUE • PARIS
© Copyright 1974 in The Netherlands
Mouton & Co. N.V., Publishers, The Hague
No part of this book may be translated or reproduced in any form, by print, photoprint, microfilm
or any other means, without written permission from the publishers.
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOG CARD NUMBER: 72-88199
Printed in Hungary by Franklin Printing House, Budapest
FOREWORD AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This book was written in 1965 and slightly revised in the following year. Delays in
publication have rendered some substantive parts obsolete. Yet, the formal approach
and the model sketched in this essay, as well as the combined used of diachronic data
and synchronic methods, seem to retain some interest. It is therefore proposed not so
much as a modest stimulus for further studies of French kinship than as an equally
modest contribution to anthropological and historical analyses.
I should like to thank the following colleagues, who are not to be held responsible
for my mistakes, for their generous help during the composition of this work: Pro-
fessors G. C. Homans, D. Maybury-Lewis, and D. L. Oliver, Harvard University;
Professeurs C. Lévi-Strauss, Collège de France, H. Mazeaud, Faculté de Droit et
Science Economique, and M. L. Wagner, Faculté des Lettres, Sorbonne; Professeur
M. Cohen, Emeritus; M. I. Chiva, Laboratoire d'Anthropologie Sociale, Collège
de France et Ecole des Hautes Etudes Economiques et Sociales; M. L. Bernot, Ecole
des Hautes Etudes Economiques et Sociales ; Mmes M. L. Tenèze et C. Marcel Dubois,
M. H. Raulin, et M. G. H. Rivière, Musée des Arts et Traditions Populaires; Dr. R.
Needham, University of Oxford; J. L. Verdier, Faculté des Sciences, Orsay; Professor
A. R. Diebold, Stanford University; M. P. Menget, Université de Nanterre; Dr. L.
d'Azzevedo, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; and Professor E. Kôngâs
Maranda, my wife.
Paris, 22 VI 71

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Foreword and Acknowledgements 5
0. Introduction 11
0.1 Purpose 11
0.2 General Remarks on the Study of Kinship Terminologies 12
0.3 Abstract 14
0.3.1 Sociological Data 14
0.3.2 Verbalized Systems 15
0.3.3 The Measurement of Meaning 16
0.3.4 Leach's "Topological" Model 17
1. Medieval French society 18
1.1 Physical and Economic Geography 18
1.2 Brief Reminder of French Political History 19
1.3 Social Organization 20
1.3.1 Settlements and Communications 20
1.3.2 Lineage 22
1.3.3 Vassalage 25
1.3.4 Demesne and Manse 27
1.3.5 Knighthood and Nobility 33
1.3.6 The Church 35
1.3.7 The Bourgeoisie 36
1.3.8 Social Structure 41
1.4 Collective Representations 45
2. Formation of French kinship terminology 48
2.1 Notation System 48
2.2 Linguistic Context 50
2.3 Philological Survey 51
2.3.1 Frère, soeur 53
2.3.2 Fils, fille 53
8 TABLE OF CONTENTS
2.3.3 Père, mère 56
2.3.4 Parrain, marraine 57
2.3.5 Epoux, épouse 59
2.3.6 Veuve, veuf 61
2.3.7 Neveu, nièce 62
2.3.8 Oncle, tante 62
2.3.9 Gendre, bru 63
2.3.10 Couple 63
2.3.11 Jumeau, jumelle 63
2.3.12 Cousin, cousine 63
2.3.13 Parastre, marastre 63
2.3.14 Petit-fils, petite-fille 64
2.3.15 Aïeul, aïeule 64
2.3.16 Généalogie 67
2.3.17 Beau-, belle 67
2.3.18 Fiancé, fiancée 69
2.3.19 Lait, mère de - 69
2.3.20 Tu and vous 69
2.4 Conclusion 69
3. The structure of French kinship terminology 71
3.1 Semantic Structure and History 71
3.2 Kinship as Semantic System 72
3.2.1 The Universe of Kinship 72
3.2.2 The Analysis of the Dependent Variables 76
3.3.1 The Modern French Kinship Terminology 83
3.3.2 Diachrony 89
3.4 Categorical Terms 93
3.5 Conclusion 94
4. Kinship relationships in French folk literature 96
4.1 Stable Messages 96
4.1.1 Paradigmatic Sets and Syntagms 96
4.1.2 The Stability of Folk Literature 97
4.1.3 The Documentary Value of Oral Literature 97
4.1.4 The Sociological Content of Folk Literature 99
4.2 Proverbs 99
4.2.1 The Data 99
4.2.1.1 Relatives in General 100
4.2.1.2 G/G-1 100
4.2.1.3 Other Specific Kinship Relationships 101
4.2.1.4 Marriage: Affinal Relationships 101
TABLE OF CONTENTS 9
4.2.1.5 Women as Marital Partners 102
4.2.2 Analysis 104
4.2.2.1 Relatives in General 104
4.2.2.2 GIG'1 105
4.2.2.3 Other Specific Kinship Relationships 107
4.2.2.4 Marriage: Affinal Relationships 107
4.2.2.5 Women as Marital Partners 109
4.2.3 Conclusion 110
4.3 Folktales 110
4.3.1 The Data 110
4.3.2 Analysis Ill
4.3.2.1 Relatives in General 112
4.3.2.2 G/G"1 112
4.3.2.3 Relationships between Siblings 113
4.3.2.4 Alliance Relationships 114
4.3.3 Conclusion 116
4.4 Folk Customs Surrounding Marriage 116
4.5 Conclusion 118
5. The evolution of domestic law and the formation of the modern family.... 120
5.1 The Evolution of Domestic Law 120
5.1.1 Law and Folklore 120
5.1.2 The Formation of French Civil Law 120
5.2 The Contents of Medieval Domestic Law 123
5.2.1 Residence 123
5.2.2 Land Ownership 124
5.2.3 Inheritance 125
5.2.4 Marriage 127
5.3 The Family after the Revolution 131
5.3.1 The French Domestic Law since the Revolution 131
5.3.2 The Modern Family 132
5.4 Conclusion 134
6. Conclusion 136
Bibliography 140
Appendix one - French Kinship in the Thirteenth Century: the Lineage as
Defined by Philippe de Beaumanoir 149
Appendix two - I = 0.5R-^+1> 151
10 TABLE OF CONTENTS
Appendix three 152
Index of Names 156
Index of Subjects 159
Map 1 - Formation of the French Territory 21
Map 2 - Frereche de la Baudriere in 1789 32
Map 3 - Fairs in France and in Flanders, circa 1114 38
Map 4 - The First Communes in France 39