Sundanese - Kinship



The Sundanese reckon kinship bilaterally, and the kinship terminological system is geared more toward the distinctions between generations and age than between lines of collaterality or gender. Peasants rarely acknowledge kinship ties more distant than two ascending generations and one degree of collaterality; nobles, on the other hand, have an interest in their genealogies for the purpose of establishing their kinship to ancient Sundanese kings. The nuclear family ( kulawarga ) is the basic unit of society; it is to the kulawarga that the individual has the greatest obligations. There is also the golongan, or kindred, who function occasionally in the performance of life-cycle ceremonies. Finally, there is the bondorojot, an ambilineal kin group that exists among some members of the higher social classes and functions in the context of ancestor-worship ceremonies.


Also read article about Sundanese from Wikipedia

User Contributions:

Comment about this article, ask questions, or add new information about this topic: