Will they still be dancing? (1982)

Strategies to conserve the multigenerational, extended household as a productive
and reproductive unit, entail strongly enforced control over offspring in
order to secure that at least one child marries and begets children on the
homestead. This, above all, makes it necessary to control reproduction; that is,
the sexuality of male as well as female offspring. In Wallachian villages,
agreements for marriage are still made between families-i.e. parents and
grandparents while the potential spouses are still children. A variety ofinstitutions
for public mating and parental guidance and manipulation of sexuality
aim at the realization of parental marriage plans among young adolescents.I'
A continued practice of very young marriages-a traditional feature of
Wallachian peasant society-is connected to the elders' strategies of
household sustenance and their strivings to extend their position of authority
and control into the lives of new generations. 20
It is thought to be much easier to manipulate and control the choice of
partners of young adolescents than that of adult offspring. The marriage and
procreation of very young partners also makes it easier for the older generations
of the household to extend their authority and control even to their
grand-or great-grand children.
Given low natality early marriages have become an important element of
strategies to solve labour shortages of peasant households. 21 A short span of
years between alternate generations means that several generations can be of
full working capacity at the same time. In Wallachian peasant households, it is
common that three and even sometimes four adult generations of a single
household are fully active in agriculture and supplementary sources of subsistence.
In the Wallachian multigenerational households the transmission of
household authority and property rights to the younger generation is limited
until the physical death of the parental generation." This entails a deprived
position in decision-making and is the basis for outspoken intergenerrational
tensions.
Even though the younger generation has so far accepted the multigenerational
household as a framework for family reproduction, the specific constellation
ofpower between the generations has always been open to contest.
This is most clearly manifested in a struggle between the generations over the
question of control over sexuality and the subversive counter-strategies of
marriage conducted by the younger generation.
The marked contradiction between parents' efforts to control mating and
the traditionally liberal view on sexuality, marriage and divorce in Wallachian
peasant society makes divorce a likely outcome of many alliances. Typically,
many arranged first-time marriages break up rather quickly, after which the
two partners will enter new marriages (MilanoviC 1965).
Moreover, no embracing system of corporate kinship groups prescribes and
sanctions certain types of preferential marriage alliances and bans others.
Marriage alliances in Wallachian villages are typically of an ad hoc and
47