Brésil(s) (Nov 2023)
Des bijoux de famille producteurs de dynasties affectives
Abstract
This ethnographic paper deals with the phenomenon of transmission of family jewelry and its effects, as a production of ancestry. It is the result of a broader research in which I show that a family jewel is not a ordinary jewel; it is a jewel « in the family », as it is constituted in connection with affective groups. Its transfers tend to transit vertically, propagate narratives and signal guardianship: it must be preserved, cared for, exhibited, recounted, and passed on. Moreover, family jewelry is a sacred and inalienable asset, entrusted to the person who cannot dispose of it freely. Because of its economic value, it is subject to the selling taboo, a device implemented to keep it in the family line.
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