Abstract
The big house is a potent symbol of rural Minangkabau life, embodying the centrality of Minangkabau women to the continuity and reproduction of the matrilineage. But big houses are not simply sites of social reproduction. Mothers and daughters negotiate and contest the ties of kinship embodied in the big house. Where big houses represented mother's power to control their daughters, national discourses of domesticity have reoriented daughters’ desires toward a house of their own. Daughters assert the importance of their own nuclear households as a way to resist their mother's control. Yet daughters have not become the housewives and mothers of national fantasy. They are reworking matrilineal ideology to gain the right to control their own small houses, ultimately reconstituting big houses in new forms.
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.