Abstract

GONZALEZ ECHEVARRIA, Aurora. On the definition of transcultural domains: The Anthropology of kinship as a sociocultural theory of procreation. Alteridades [online]. 2010, vol.20, n.39, pp.93-106. ISSN 2448-850X.

Since the sixties the classic anthropology of kinship was severely criticized because the polisemic characterization of its contents and the uncritical repetition of XIXth century theoretical models. Although some of them are based on unsound science theories, we sustain in this article that based on the radical criticisms of needham and schneider, the anthropology of kinship in particular and anthropology in general, have to choose betweencarefuly defining their analytical concepts and boundaries or dropping transcultural theory altogether. A comparative study of kinship should begin with an analytical and transcultural definition of its domain that is not only relevant but also fruitful and able to provide a comprehensive theoretical explanation of the differences and similarities of kinship patterns.

Keywords : Anthropology of kinship; kinship theories; theoretical definitions; analytical domains; cross-cultural comparison; ethnographic theoretical models; comparative theoretical models.

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