Polygyny as myth. Towards understanding extramarital relations in Lesotho.

Abstract

The nature and extent of "bonyatsi" (marital infidelity) in Lesotho is presented through the images of population. Because the practice is not morally normative, it cannot be readily explained as part of an earlier custom or as arising from the exigencies of dependency on migrant labor, but as images of the past which are regarded as their own "traditional extramarital relations." This gives meaning and cultural continuity to the present practice, and legitimizes the experience without condoning it. Thus there can be ideological control over a practice which was the result of political economic constraints. The account is in the tradition of rehumanization of ethnography and relates folk explanations to notions of the past. It is based on the author's experiences in Lesotho from the early 1970s to the 1980s. The exercise exemplifies Malinowski's notion of myth as social charter and Spiegel's idea that reformulated traditions are a response to changes in modern practices. Extramarital relations appeared widespread throughout Lesotho, and Bonyatsi individuals could be easily identified in Qacha's Nek villages where the author lived. The practice was recognized as a normal state of affairs only in private rather than in a public forum. Folk songs made reference to it. Bonyatsi is the abstract form, while nyatsi means paramour of any gender and linyatsi is the plural. The definition is one of a relationship, which may be longterm, between already married persons. Gifts may be exchanged between linyatsi, but this is different from the prostitute, who is an unattached woman who loves anyone anytime usually in urban areas, or botekatse (prostitution). The origins of bonyatsi were explained as being part of the Creation and a feature of all human social life. The ministers explained that the practice was a result of labor migration that might last for as long as 2 years. Women argued that this absence of regular sexual intercourse created severe psychological effects such as stopping the blood flow or losing one's sanity. There was an element of inevitability. Births were not uncommon. Other explanations are given as part of polygyny where a husband had access to other women; this was important during abstinence periods after a birth. The practice of clientship among chiefs was another, explanation, or exchange of wives for favors among chiefs. Political alliances were sometimes formed in this manner to establish friendly relations. The story of Moshoeshoe is related. Not all that was permissible is explained.