The Kinship System
Kinship can be defined as a close connection marked by community of interests or similarity in nature or character. It is also a connection by blood or marriage or adoption. In this piece of work a Kannadiga family's kinship system in India will be described to illustrate and show the understanding of kinship.
In this assignment the family discussed is my family, who fall under the Kannadiga culture and religion: Hinduism. Families coming under this group of people, have a male ego which means that all kinship relationships are referred to the male of the family, that male being the eldest of the family, in his absence his wife is referred to as ego or the next eldest person of the family. In this case being my father. This culture follows a unilineal descent principle through the patrilineal descent of the family. The identity of the father (Fa) is passed on to the children or following generations and not the mother's (Mo). The children have the last name of the Fa's side. The marriage partners are decided by the parents and elders of the family, i.e. by Fa, Mo and grand parents from the Fa's side. This is known as the arranged marriage system which is widely followed in India, love marriages or selection of partner by choice is not very much appreciated and accepted in Indian cultures and religions. But in recent times the bridegroom has been able to select his own bride. After the marriage process the wife (Wi) has to leave her Fa's house and move's with the husband (Hu) in his or his Fa's house and joins his kinship system (Patrilineal descent). This is known as Virilocal or Patrilocal system.
The marriage preferably takes place only amongst the same cast; in this case Hindu Kannadigas which is the Endogamy way of marr ...