Abstract
The sumptuous ‘Great Marriage’ celebration in Ngazidja, Comoros, is a very dynamic social practice, but it is difficult to comprehend its attraction given the increasing cost. This paper argues that the ‘Great Marriage’ is the most salient part of an age system that should be carefully examined. The framework, in which collective commitment and individual achievement are managed simultaneously, and gendered conception of personhood and of human temporality are put into action, has no equivalent in Western life. Grounded in historical hierarchies, these institutions change under various influences without abandoning the core values on which they are based, which explains their enduring success.
Acknowledgements
A first version of this paper was presented in the European Swahili Workshop, ‘Contemporary Issues in Swahili Ethnography’, organized by Iain Walker in Oxford, UK, 2010. The author thanks the participants for their comments; and the anonymous referees of this journal for their numerous suggestions.
Funding
Fieldwork conducted from 1995 to 2006 was funded by the French Centre National de Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) with a total amount of €25,000.
Notes
2. Video-registered observation, Dembeni, Ngazidja, 2003.
4. These words of Arabic origin both mean tradition, custom. Ãda means customary payment, and mila, customary rank. Ada or adat is also used in Southeast Asia, mila in Eastern Africa; CitationCaplan, “Boys’ Circumcision and Girls’ Puberty Rituals,” 30–2 and CitationJunod, “Life of a South African Tribe.” The Comorian language, which has different forms on each island, is a Bantu language related to Swahili with many Arabic words.
6. It also underestimates positive effects on the informal economy analysed by CitationWalker, “Les aspects économiques du Grand Mariage.”
7. Migrants, 99% from Ngazidja, sent back €93 million in 2011, used for living expenses, education, health and Great Marriages expenses estimated at between €25,000 and €40,000; CitationBourenane et al., Réduire les coûts, 15. See also CitationVivier, “Les migrations comoriennes” and CitationBlanchy, “Les Comoriens, une immigration méconnue.”
8. For a summary, see CitationBlanchy, Maisons des femmes, cités des hommes.
15.
CitationShepherd, “Comorians in Kenya,” 173. Sharif is said in Comorian language sharifu pl. mazarifu.
27. The matrilineal descent group is called hinya, or daho (‘house’) or mba (‘belly’) depending on the context; CitationBlanchy, Maisons des femmes, cités des hommes.
28. Ben CitationAli, “Approche historiques des structures administratives,” 25; CitationBlanchy, “Cité, citoyenneté et territoire.”
29.
CitationWalker, “Is Social Capital Fungible?,” analyses the failure of a microcredit project.
37. Interview with Ali Chanfi, Djomani, 2004.
39. Fieldwork was conducted from 1995 to 2006 in more than 30 cities. Regular meetings occurred with the men who had a good knowledge of their age system rules; CitationBlanchy, “Seul ou ensemble?”; CitationBlanchy, Maisons des femmes, cités des hommes, 157–211.
40. Interview with Boinaidi Youssouf, Dembeni, 1996.
41. An additional grade cleverly allows adjustment between the Son's coup and that of the Fathers.
43. Interview with Naesha Youssouf Abdulalik in Moroni, 1998.
44. Interview with Yahaya Ibrahim in Mdjoyezi, 1999.
45. J. Martin's history of Comoros is central but does not mention local institutions. I used Henri Pobéguin's photograph collection (1897–1899) with its precise captions during fieldwork. It helped people remember old practices and explicitly talk about hierarchies in everyday life; CitationBlanchy, Grande Comore en 1898; CitationBlanchy, “Une expérience de retour d'archives.”
46. Interview with Moussa Issihaka, Ikoni, 1995; information was confirmed by photographs from Pobéguin's collection.
47. Archives d'Outremer (AOM), Aix en Provence, 6 (8) D15; CitationKari-Ngama, Flamme vive (editing the manuscript of the Mdombozi royal matrilineage in Fumbuni).
49. AOM, D 6(8) 15; AOM, 3D3, 49.
51.
CitationFair, Pastimes & Politics, 260–1. Fair bases this on both CitationSaleh, “Comoro Islands” and British archives. The shambe probably designated the elegant and gracious dance still performed during ãda feasts.
52.
CitationBlanchy, “Esclavage et commensalité à Ngazidja.” CitationRomero-Curtin observes the same facts in Lamu where, despite different kinship and residence rules, former slaves ‘have continued copying their former owners and have placed less emphasis on rising economically and more on emulating rituals”; CitationRomero-Curtin, “Lamu Weddings,” 152.
53. Interview with Ali ‘Shioni’ Moussa (born 1912) and Abdallah Himidi in Irungudjani, Moroni, 2005.
54. Interviews with Kassim Abdallah in Magodjuu, Moroni, 2005 and 2006.
56. Said Muhammad bin Sheikh Ahmed known as Al Maaruf.
58.
CitationAlpers, “A Complex Relationship: Mozambique and the Comoro Islands.”
59. Interview with Said Nassuir Said in Mdjoyezi, 1995. CitationBlanchy, “Les Darwesh aux Comores.”
61. This class of Kings of the Sons kept the power from 1976 to 1986, when the wazuguwa took it through a coup; Interview with Ahmed Ali by Moussa CitationSaid-Ahmed, Itsandzeni, 1986.
62. Very few studies have been done thus far about it; CitationMattoir, Comores de 1975 à 1990.
63. Interview with Msa Bwana, Mlali, 2004.
64. Collection of sermons written by Ibn an-Nubâta (946–984); CitationAhmed, Islam et politique aux Comores, 37, 79.
66. About Al Haramayn and other agencies in Comoros, see CitationAhmed, “Networks of Islamic NGOs.”
67. Interview with a man who had worked at the colonial sawmill established by Humblot near Djumwashongo, 2004.
68.
CitationRanger, Dance and Society in Eastern Africa, viii, 18. The beni (from the English ‘band’) is derived from old dance companies from the Kenyan coast, which had an elaborate hierarchy and organized dancing and singing competitions between local factions in the towns.
71.
La Tribune des Comores no. 9 (15 November to 10 December, 2006); Interview with Mohamed Said Abdallah Mchangama. He was using a very well-known formula. Mkavavo, “the one who is there,” also designates the one who is actively committed to ãda and city life; mkandziani, “the one who is on the path,” also means he who makes an effort to achieve ãda goals.
72. Preparatory documents communicated by Chamsidine Turqi in 2005.
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Funding
Funding: Fieldwork conducted from 1995 to 2006 was funded by the French Centre National de Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) with a total amount of €25,000.