The Heat Of The Hearth: The Process Of Kinship In A Malay Fishing Community (Oxford Studies In Social And Cultural Anthropology)

The Heat of the Hearth: The Process of Kinship in a Malay Fishing Community (Oxford Studies in Social and Cultural Anthropology)

Review"This study is a pleasure to read, discusses the author's own experiences, and situates her account in current concerns about gender and society in Southeast Asia. All levels."--ChoiceJanet Carsten offers an original and very personal investigation of the nature of kinship in Malaysia, based upon her own experience as a foster daughter in a family on the island of Langkawi. She shows that Malay kinship is a process, not a state: it is determined partly by birth, but also throughout life by living together and sharing food. Carsten gives the reader a fascinating "anthropology of everyday life," including a compelling view of gender relations; she urges reassessment of recent anthropological work on gender, and a new approach to the study of kinship.About the AuthorJanet Carsten is at University of Edinburgh.