AFRICAN WORLD-VIEW

THE AFRICAN FAMILY &

MARRIAGE

Lecture
 Class Interaction
1. Anyone here who has no father ?
2. Which of your relations is cross cousin
?
3. Which of your relations is your parallel
c o us i n?
4. Does your language have a distinct
term for ‘uncle’ or aunt?
5. Can a woman be a ‘father’ and a man a
‘mother’?
 Defining the African Family
Group of people related through perceived
‘blood’ ties, marriage, or adoption
(fosterage).
 Family members identify with each other
& may or may not live together,
 May cooperate on regular/irregular basis,
 Could share collective interests &
sentiments.
 Characteristics
Ideally, the morality of family imposes
reciprocity (visits, gifts etc)
- sharing & caring for one another;
- loyalty & commitment to members;
The closer the kinship bond, the greater
the commitment & the higher the degree
of reciprocity expected.
African people tend to boast about their
family.
 Remarks
The family is foundation of society & culture.
• Individuals are born into a family, grow up
within a family and are socialized to become
responsible members of society.
Though less significant than the past, Africans
still value their family.
– Newspaper obituaries celebrate kinship and family;
– Corpses are transported hundreds of miles
to family burial grounds in remote villages;
– Attachment to family accounts for many
societal/individual behaviours and attitudes.
 The Nuclear/Conjugal Family

A nuclear family comprises husband & wife and their

children, if any. It results from marriage.
 The Extended Family
A Network of relatives, be they on the father or mother
side, or both; even kin acquired through marriage
and adoption may count.

The extended family is large and may/may not be

formally constituted. It may/may not have a name;

• membership may be open-ended rather than strictly

defined. They may never meet as a body;
 The Lineage/Clan
In Africa importance is attached to tracing
relationship [descent] ties through men or
women to a common ancestor / ancestress.

On the basis of such ties socially recognised

groups of kin are constituted; members claim
either a common ancestor or ancest-ress,
Recognised kin groups emerge in this way.
Term for this kin group = lineage.
Clan is often large lineage with dispersed member-ship.
 Matrilineage
Akan people’s abusua is a lineage (It is a Matrilineage)
Abusua membership includes:
one’s siblings, mother, MM, M-siblings, sister’s
children and one’s own children [if one is
female] and much more.
It excludes spouses, fathers & their siblings,
one’s children [if one is male], etc.
Such a group claims descent through women i.e. Mother,
MM, MMM, etc., but not through men.
Societies that have such family groups are described as
matrilineal. In addition to Akans there are other
African peoples who are matrilineal – Yao (Malawi),
Bemba (Zambia), Lele (Congo DR), Gouro (Cote
d’Ivoire) etc. Women tend to be powerful here, they
are not matriarchal societies.
 Patrilineage
When kinship groups are formed based on ties traced
through fathers/men, patrilineages result.
• A patrilineage may include a person, the siblings, the
father, FF, F-siblings, children of males etc.
• Spouses are not core members, the children of
daughters may not be members.

In this case my father’s people are my people.

Societies that have corporate units composed in this
way are patrilineal societies. They are patriarchal.
African examples include the Dagomba, Konkomba,
Anufor/Chokosi, Ewe, Ga Yoruba, Maasai etc.
 The African vrs Western Family
In comparison with ‘Western’ family the African family
is more inclusive & larger.
• It is collective and lends itself to projection over the
wider community. The community, in some senses, is
the family.
– e.g. ‘father’ is not only the biological father, but
also his brothers & sisters, & people of father’s
generation to whom one owes respect within the
community.
Traditional African nuclear family lacks the autonomy
the Western family enjoys. Uncles, aunts, grand-
parents, etc. continue to have some say in affairs of
nuclear family in Africa.
 The African Family: Characteristics
 Parent-child bonds are strong & long lasting;
 Sibling-sibling bond is strong and lasting;
 Loyalty & commitment to family is strong, even
outweighing that to the state;
 The African nuclear family lives and grows
while the Western family withers with time;
 African expectation is that parents will fend for
their children, and children, in turn, would take
care of parents in the parents’ old age.
 The African ideology emphasizes the family’s
political, economic, legal, social and religious
aspects.


Inter-generational Reciprocities

Reciprocities are material and non-material
exchanges between parties. They could be immediate
or delayed.


Parent Child/Parent
Child AFRICAN
Generation 1 Generation 2 MO D E L

Parents Child/Parent Ch ild EUROPEANM

Generation 1 Generation 2 O DE L

Akans say, ‘you look after a child to grow teeth

so that he/she might look after you till you lose
yours’.
 African Family & Concepts of Property
Traditionally the family is central to property
ownership and use. Though changing, the
family has not relinquished its claims.
Property is anything of value, tangible or
intangible, that can be owned or possessed. It
may include:
• Material objects: livestock, landed property,
tools, house, utensils, cash, clothes etc.;
• Persons - spouses, children, relatives etc.
may be seen & treated as property. Note: child
-trafficking.
 Non-Material Objects as Proper ty
Property may be non-material items:
- Songs, dances, ritual capacities i.e. divinatory
exper tise, therapeutic skills or some idea that
you have invented or coined;
- A n o f fic e , s t a t u s o r r o l e s i . e . c h i e f t a i n c y,
priesthood or even a good name, etc.
• B oth c ol l e c ti v e f am i l y r i g h ts an d i n d i v i d u al
rights exist vis a vis property.
• N o te : p e r s o n al p r o p e r ty c an b e c o m e f am i l y
property, on a person’s death.









African Marriage







 DEFINING MARRIAGE
The Notes and Queries (1951) definition:
"a union between a man and a woman such that
children born to the woman are the recognized
legitimate offspring of both partners.”
How current or universal is this definition?
• Catholic & other churches accept it, but
Western Europeans now recognize other types
of marriage not covered by the definition.

• Islam accepts the definition??

 Recognized Ghanaian Marriages

• Customary or Traditional Marriages

• Marriage under the Ordinance.

• Islamic marriages.
 What the Standard Definition
Implies
1.Marriage involves a pairing of (2) two;
2. The partners are living individuals;
3. It involves an opposite sex couple;
4. The couple are adults;
5. The institution’s aim is reproduction.

Does it accommodate all marriage practices

known to Ghanaians?
 Why Definition is Unsatisfactory

1. Ghanaian Marriage involves not only

bride & groom but also their respective
extended families. African marriage is
not only an issue for individuals; it is
societal.

2. Note that forms of marriage exist in

Africa that do not conform to all the
characteristics in the standard definition.
 Deviant African Marriages. They
Deviate from the Definition
Child betrothal: in some Ghanaian societies
infants may be given out in marriage.
Woman-woman marriage: a woman may wed
another woman resulting in female husbands.
This is uncommon now, but once widespread
among African peoples – e.g. Lovedu, Nuer,
Dinka. [NB: It was not a lesbian issue]
Ghost Marriages: a woman may be married to a
person already dead– i.e. a ghost.
 Deviant Marriages: The Case of
: Secondary Marriages
L e v i rate - w i d o w i n c o n j u g al r e l ati o n s h i p w i th
deceased husband’s relative so as to produce
i s s u es th at wou l d be rec ogn i s ed as th e
deceased husband’s children.
Widow Inheritance: deceased husband’s relative
marries/inherits the widow. Any children born
would belong to the 2nd Husband - the relative.
There’s also Widower Inheritance- Sororate: the
d e a d w i fe’s f a m i l y r e p l a c e h e r w i th fe m a l e
relative to marry the widower.
 Other forms of African
Marriage
Espousal to a deity: A girl may be espoused to a
god or its priest, as in the case of trokosi.
Also priestesses serving in a shrine.

Polygyny: Men may be allowed to marry more

than one wife. This used to be common; in
some societies wives bring their sisters,
cousins & nieces into the marriage. Less
common now, but it used to be the ideal for
the wealthy.
 How Acceptable are these
deviant/exotic marriages today?
• Do these forms of marriage infringe rights or
deny choices and freedoms?
• Do any of them involve coercion: forcing
people into marriages that they object to?
• Do these marriages pose problems for any of
the parties - couples & children?
If answer is yes, then legitimate concerns for
development exist.


Issue of Concubinage & Cohabitation




Section 3 (1) of Property Rights of Spouses
Bill defines Cohabitatio
n as situation in which
man and woman hold themselves out to the
public to be husband and wife, though have
not wedded in the eyes of their families.
If marriage establishes conjugal rights & obliga-
tions, then traditionally cohabitation, i.e man &
woman merely living together, did not
prescribe conjugal rights and obligations.
 Reasons for Cohabitation
Many factors account for cohabitation:
1.Pair wish to marry but can’t get family
approval. WHY – ethnic & clan issues, religion,
or previous relationship?
2.The man does not have the means or desire
to settle bride-wealth demands.
3.The two partners are having a trial run before
they decide to marry or not.
4.Choice: The pair don’t want to marry; they find
marriage too demanding?
 Polygyny/Polygamy: What is it ?
Polygamy is marriage to more than one.
I t i s b i g a m y : i l l e g a l i n t h e We s t to h a v e m o r e
than one wife/husband.
But does this not amount to denying a choice to
individuals? [Christianity objects to polygyny
but Islam endorse it]
If in the West homosexual marriage is allowed,
why not polygyny?!

Many people condemn polygyny for being unfair

to women and militating against women’s
interests. But some people, including women,
see nothing wrong.
 Why Marry at all: African Reasons
Marriage may confer status, prestige and
recognition on the parties involved. In many
African societies, even today, full respect is
denied unmarried adults.
Marriage in the past was rite of passage for
some, marking transition from child-hood to
responsible citizenship.
Economic reasons:
A rigid division of labour according to sex
implies that a person was incapable of living
a customarily decent life if s/he had no
spouse.
 The Paradox of Wife Beating
A report of the Ghana Multiple Cluster Survey
(MICS) revealed that a significant percentage
of women said wife beating was justified.
47 % of women believed that a husband is
justified in beating his wife. "This belief is held
among ...women in rural areas (57%) .. urban
areas (36%)“ – Dep. Govt. Statistician.
The report indicated acceptance of domestic
violence was highest in Upper West region
(76%) and lowest in Gt Accra region (28%)


End of Lecture

THANKS !