On Centrism and Dualism - Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

CENTRISM AND DUALISM
Figure 1. Schematized model of generalized/asymmetric exchange
P
U
P
U
Z
Z
A. Flow of women B. Flow of goods and services
What, now, is ‘generalized exchange’ It is, in fact, a system in which, between two defined
‘partners’, exchange is no longer reciprocal, but unilateral or oriented […]. In order for the system
to be viable, it is obviously necessary for the chain to be closed, i.e. the first giver in the chain, P,
receives from another partner, let us say Z. This is what Dutch authors working on Indonesia
called ‘circulating connubium’ […] while restricted exchange corresponds to marriage between the
bilateral cross cousin, generalised exchange corresponds exclusively to marriage with the
matrilateral cross cousin (mother’s brother’s daughter) (DUMONT 2006: 71 [1971]).
According to RUBEL and ROSMAN, LÉVI-STRAUSS’ three structural models are assigned to two
categories, viz. restricted and generalized exchange, in which the category of generalized
exchange includes two models: one based on the marriage of the patrilateral cross-cousin and
the other, based on the marriage of the matrilateral cross-cousin.
In my argument I follow Chris GREGORY (1994: 925-927), who presents a refined perception
of these structural models of affinal exchange, where the latter type (MBD marriage), together
with restricted exchange (bilateral cross-cousin exchange), are understood as constituting the
two extreme forms of affinal alliance in which the flow of women is fixed over generations,
and hence represent the means by which inter-group solidarity is attained.
Nevertheless, these two forms fix the flow of women in contrasting ways. In the case of
generalized/asymmetric exchange, with matrilateral cross-cousin marriage, women flow
exclusively in one direction between any two alliance-groups, whereas in the case of
restricted/symmetric exchange women are given and reciprocally received between the same
groups – they flow in both directions simultaneously.
On the structural level, marriage with the patrilateral cross-cousin may be understood as an
intermediate form, constituting what GREGORY calls delayed exchange (ibid.: 926), or in the
words of LÉVI-STRAUSS it “expresses discontinuity” (LÉVI-STRAUSS 1993: 599 [1969]). In
this special case 50 the direction of exchange gets reversed rather than repeated in each
50 “[…] but of all the three forms it is the least attested, yet the most discussed […] “(DUMONT 2006: 79 [1971]).
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