Dual Symbolic Classification among the Gogo of Central Tanzania

Abstract

Opening ParagraphSince the work of Durkheim and Mauss on systems of classification, it has generally been recognized that there is some structural relationship or ‘concordance’ between the social and symbolic orders of any society. The present analysis establishes a system of dual symbolic classification for an East Africa people and further indicates the widespread incidence of this type of classification in Africa (cf. Needham, 1960a; Beidelman, 1961; Wieschhoff, 1938; Werner, 1904; Evans-Pritchard, 1953, 1956; and others). It also provides a closer ethnographic comparison with the neighbouring matrilineal Kaguru, with whom Gogo share some linguistic and cultural features, and whose system of symbolic classification has been described by Beidelman (1961).