1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910821182203321

Autore

Van Bemmelen Sita T.

Titolo

Christianity, colonization, and gender relations in North Sumatra : a patrilineal society in flux / / Sita T. van Bemmelen

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Leiden : , : Brill, , [2017]

©2017

ISBN

90-04-34575-2

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (xv, 574 pages) : illustrations, maps

Collana

Verhandelingen van het Koninklijk Instituut voor Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde ; ; v. 309

Disciplina

305.48899224620730922

Soggetti

Toba-Batak (Indonesian people) - History

Christianity and culture - History

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Front Matter -- Preface -- Chapter 1: Introduction -- A Historical Ethnography -- The Construction of Toba Batak Gender -- Customary Marriage -- Fertility, Mortality and the Pinnacle of Life -- Ruptures: Divorce and Widowhood -- Negotiations on Marriage Customs (1830–1942) -- The Encroachment on the Batak World (1830–1883) -- Negotiating the Future Social Order (1881–1885) -- Engineering Christian Toba Batak Marriage (1866–1913) -- Shifting Alliances, Revised Strategies (1892–1913) -- The Secular Takeover (1914–1934) -- Administrative Zeal Eroding Customary Marriage (1912–1942) -- Dynamite Disputes: Mirror of Change (1923–1939) -- Matching Partners (1920–1942) -- Conclusion: Toba Batak after All.

Sommario/riassunto

In this book Sita van Bemmelen offers an account of changes in Toba Batak society (Sumatra, Indonesia) due to Christianity and Dutch colonial rule (1861-1942) with a focus on customs and customary law related to the life cycle and gender relations. The first part, a historical ethnography, describes them as they existed at the onset of colonial rule. The second part zooms in on the negotiations between the Toba Batak elite, the missionaries of the German Rhenish Mission and colonial administrators about these customs showing the evolving views on desirable modernity of each contestant. The pillars of the Toba patrilineal kinship system were challenged, but alterations



changed the way it was reproduced and gender relations for ever.