Ethnographics Gallery University of Kent

Turkish Village

Copyright 1965, 1994 Paul Stirling. All rights reserved.

Paul Stirling
CHAPTER NINE

MARRIAGE

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Page 178


Ceremony and Custom

Both as an event and as a relationship, marriage is at the centre of village society. The household is founded directly upon it, and its internal structure shaped by the marriages of its members. Almost all except agnatic relations between households result from marriages. From the moment when a couple are united, they direct their long-term plans to the marriages of their children. This central position of marriage is matched by the great ceremonial emphasis it receives. Weddings are the most conspicuous occasions in village life, and almost the only opportunity for organised merry-making. Their social and ritual importance is consistent with their cost - one wedding may cost almost the total annual income of a household.

No two weddings are arranged and, celebrated in precisely the same way. They vary with social standing, with the social distance between the parties, and with area. Even within a single village, two normal weddings of similar scale may vary in a number of details. The season for proper weddings is the winter, preferably early, before the severe snow, or late - after the thaw has begun. The winter I passed in Sakaltutan was one of acute economic shortage and very severe weather; I witnessed only two full-scale weddings within the village, and the departure of two brides to other villages. In Elbashï, a homicide prevented any weddings at all in the autumn of 1951, though twenty were planned. Summer weddings are always limited affairs, and I only saw one of them in each village. I did, however, attend two full-scale weddings in other villages as a guest from Sakaltutan. The composite account which follows is based partly on observation

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