| armed, who are quick to resent insult, and for some of whom at least quarrelling may serve to maintain the coherence and even enhance the prestige of their lineages, this leads to a considerable amount of violence. Up to date, the comparative light sentences given by the courts has certainly made State action against feuding ineffective. The purpose of this article has been mainly descriptive. But it does, I think, also leave us with the large question, how so uncontrolled a system of feuding can exist at all in such small communities, and whether the commonly accepted 'functional' explanations of the control of feuding within small communities are adequate. NOTES 1. In 1949 and 1950, I spent about nine months in a village of central Turkey of roughly 100 households, and 640 people, which I here call Blackrock. In 1951, I spent three months in a second village, not far from the first here called Folkhead, to which I returned for about six weeks in the summer of 1952. Blackrock was fairly remote and poor, Folkhead was richer, more sophisticated, and larger than most villages in the area. I paid a further flying visit to both villages in the summer of 1955. 2. Headmen are elected every two years, and very rarely stand for office for a second term. 3. Remarks of Professor Daryll Forde in a seminar. 4. See Fortes (1953:25) for a discussion of the "corporate" nature of unilineal groups. Evans-Pritchard (1940: 203 ) remarks, however, that Nuer lineages are not corporate. 5. The reason for this lies in the effects of household fission and egalitarian inheritance rules. This matter will be dealt with in a future publication. 6. See e.g., Fortes (1953) 7. See p. 67 below. 8. Aga (pronounced in Turkish, roughly, 'ah') is often, as here, used to mean a man of substance and importance. But it has many other uses, for example, it is a common form of address in the villages for any adult man. |
| 9. See especially Toynbee (1923); and Stirling (1958). 10. This was the first time most people had heard of political parties and they used the word tarts which to the villagers at first meant the racers. 11. Turkish Nahiye Muduru. This village was the administrative centre for about sixteen villages, that is, one educated townsman was in residence, and was responsible for the affairs of the district or nahiye. It also contained a gendarme post, with a corporal in charge. 12. See above, page 54. 13. M. S. Salim ( 1955: 129) reports a similar custom from the Marsh Arabs of Iraq. 14. He had made no move by 1955. 15. e.g., Evans-Pritchard (1940:156) "Corporate life is incompatible with a state of feud." 16. e.g., R. D. Robinson (1949), especially No. 37, 5th Sept. 1949. 17. In fact, quite apart from traditional mutual aid, villagers are beginning to found joint economic enterprises—so far mainly motor driven flour mills, and lorry and bus services. 18. '. . . in all Moslem countries . . . the village . . . has hitherto been neglected. No Moslem writer in either mediaeval or modern times, has condescended to describe the organization of village life in his country....' Gibb and Bowen (1950). There are, however, one or two recent exceptions to this. REFERENCES CITED EVANS-PRITCHARD, E. E 1940 The Nuer. Oxford University Press. FORTES, MEYER 1953 The structure of unilinial descent groups American Anthropologist 55: 17-41 . |
| GIBB, H. A. R. AND BOWEN, HAROLD 1950 Islamic Society and the West, Vol. I Part I. Oxford University Press. ROBINSON, R. D. 1949 Unpublished letters to the Institute of Current World Affairs. New York. No. 37 Sept. 5th. SALIM, M. S. 1955 Economic and Political Organisation of Echchbaysh, A Marsh Village Community in South Iraq. University of London doctoral thesis unpublished. STIRLING, A. P. 1958 Religious change in Republican Turkey. Middle East Journal (Autumn). TOYNBEE, ARNOLD 1923 The Western question in Greece and Turkey. |