Distant Villages Research Articles

Monsters in the Village? Incest in Nineteenth Century France

This essay examines the understanding of the incest by the rural community and the judicial system in the nineteenth century France. Traditionally presented as the taboo of mankind and likened to monstrosity and horror, incest is prone to several glances and attitudes within the promiscuity of the French villages. Thus, this analysis intends to understand the behavior towards the crime, but also the opinion that surrounded it in the distant villages of France. Based on an analysis of 163 trials and the expert literature on the incest, this paper explores the complex attitudes of the family, the neighborhood and the magistrates during an incest case. Far from the image of the taboo, incest is an ordinary crime. These cases tell us the story of an ordinary rural community: the feeling of protection, the fear of change that transcends the crime's construction. Undoubtedly, incest is a crime in nineteenth century France, but, until the 1880s, it didn't appear like a strong prohibition or a taboo.

Role of seed flow on the pattern and dynamics of pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum [L.] R. Br.) genetic diversity assessed by AFLP markers: a study in south-western Niger

We studied the regional genetic diversity and seed exchange dynamics of pearl millet landraces in south-western Niger. The genetic study was based on AFLP markers. We found significant genetic differentiation between landraces in different geographical areas of south-western Niger. However, the degree of differentiation was low insofar as only 1.9% of the total molecular diversity was due to regional differentiation, suggesting a relatively high gene flow. Anthropologic studies on farming practices have suggested that seed exchanges between farmers on a large geographical scale probably make a considerable contribution to this result. In order to test this hypothesis, the effects of seed exchange on the genetic diversity of landraces was analyzed on seed samples from two distant villages in contrasting areas of south-western Niger. Seeds imported by farmers into the southern village of Sina Koara did not differ significantly from locally grown landraces. By contrast, in the northern village of Alzou, several samples were genetically different from locally grown landraces and closer to southern accessions. These data suggest that the seed flow is preferentially from south to north, i.e. from an area with more favorable rainfall conditions. The potential consequences for the genetic diversity and adaptation of northern pearl millet landraces are discussed.

Effect of a large dam on malaria risk: the Koka reservoir in Ethiopia

To determine whether the Koka water reservoir in the Rift Valley of Ethiopia contributes to the malaria burden in its vicinity. Frequency of malaria diagnosis in fever clinics was correlated with distance of residence from the margin of the Koka reservoir. Annual as well as seasonal malaria case rates were determined in cohorts residing < 3, 3-6 and 6-9 km from the reservoir. Plasmodium falciparum risk was compared with that of Plasmodium vivax. A multiple variable regression model was used to explore associations between malaria case rates and proximity to the reservoir, controlling for other suspected influences on malaria transmission. Malaria case rates among people living within 3 km of the reservoir are about 1.5 times as great as for those living between 3 and 6 km from the reservoir and 2.3 times as great for those living 6-9 km from the reservoir. Proximity to the reservoir is associated with greater malaria case rates in periods of more intense transmission. Plasmodium falciparum is most prevalent in communities located close to the reservoir and P. vivax in more distant villages. The presence of the reservoir, coupled with inter-annual climatic variations, explains more than half of the region's variability in malaria case rates. Large water impoundments are likely to exacerbate malaria transmission in malaria-endemic parts of sub-Saharan Africa.

Gornja Studena village in the context of sustainable development

The paper analyzes the present condition of the sustainability elements at the level of a village, and then on the relevant representative sample of the households, according to the parameters defined in advance. By definition, such analysis of natural, economic, human and spatial resources provides the picture of the present status, but also defines the sustainability degree, and the capacities and potential directions of development. The obtained results and drawn conclusions served as a platform for the analysis of the future development and transformation of the village, the households, that is, the courtyards as they are spatial frame of a household and a central stage where these processes take place. Gornja Studena belongs to the group of spontaneously formed, sparse/dense hill villages. It was formed in the upper part of the Jelasnica valley, on the slopes of Suva planina mountain, under the Mosor peak, along the way leading from Nisa to Bojanine Vode, on the east and west side of Studenica stream, flowing through the middle of the village, parallel to the road. The nature has been, as always, both generous and miserly taking on one side and giving on the other. There are rich complexes of forests and pastures, and favorable conditions for livestock keeping, mild climate, as well as many other natural and environmental values in the village locality, the ski resort and other tourist destinations of Bojanine Vode, which are nearby, did not help the village development. It is situated on the periphery of the region, and it is one of the most distant villages from the city, far away from the main traffic routes (though it has not always been like this) with poor public utilities and infrastructure systems and structures, with an elderly population which is economically weak., of small land resources and unfavorable terrain configuration f or an intensive development of agriculture. It is impoverished in demographic terms and the remaining young population is mostly oriented towards the city. .

How narrowly adapted are the products of decentralised breeding? The spread of rice varieties from a participatory plant breeding programme in Nepal

Acceptable rice varieties for high-altitude areas of Nepal were bred by participatory plant breeding (PPB). One of the most adopted varieties, Machhapuchhre-3 (M-3), performed much better in the formal trials system than the products from centralised breeding and was released in 1996. From 1996 to 1999, the spread of M-3 was monitored in high-altitude villages along with unreleased variety Machhapuchhre-9 (M-9), derived from the same cross. The study was done by interviewing individual households, groups, and field verification. Both M-3 and M-9 spread from farmer-to-farmer and through interventions by Non-Government Organisations (NGOs) and Government Organisations (GOs). Their adoption had steadily increased and their spread commenced five to six years earlier than would have been the case in a conventional system. The PPB programme was decentralised – all selection was in only two villages in the same valley – but this did not result in specific adaptation. The varieties were adopted in distant villages situated at much lower altitudes to the original PPB sites and the greatest yield advantage of the varieties over the local landraces was also at these lower altitudes.

Differential perpetuation of malaria species among Amazonian Yanomami Amerindians.

To determine whether malaria perpetuates within isolated Amerindian villages in the Venezuelan Amazon, we surveyed malaria infection and disease among 1,311 Yanomami in three communities during a 16-month period. Plasmodium vivax was generally present in each of these small, isolated villages; asymptomatic infection was frequent, and clinical disease was most evident among children less than five years of age (odds ratio [OR] = 6.3, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.4-29.2) and among persons experiencing parasitemias > or = 1,000 parasites/mm3 of blood (OR = 45.0, 95% CI = 5.5-370.7). Plasmodium falciparum, in contrast, was less prevalent, except during an abrupt outbreak in which 72 infections resulted in symptoms in all age groups and at all levels of parasitemia, and occasionally were life-threatening. The observed endemic pattern of P. vivax infection may derive from the capacity of this pathogen to relapse, while the epidemic pattern of P. falciparum infection may reflect occasional introductions of strains carried by immigrants or residents of distant villages and the subsequent disappearance of this non-relapsing pathogen.

Border malaria characters of reemerging vivax malaria in the Republic of Korea.

Since 1993, the number of vivax malaria cases has increased every year in the northern part of the Republic of Korea (ROK). This study was designed to characterize factors related to the reemergence of malaria in the ROK. A total of 21 cases diagnosed in 1993 and 1994 distributed sporadically in the narrow zone along the demilitarized zone (DMZ). Of total 317 civilian inhabitant cases reported in 1994-1997, 287 cases were studied and 80.8% of them resided within 10 km from the southern border of the DMZ. The frequency distribution of anti-Plasmodium vivax antibody titers using indirect fluorescent antibody test was compared in three villages in relation with distance from the DMZ. The number of inhabitants with high antibody titers was larger in the village nearest to the border than that in more distant villages. The present results highly suggested that the reemerging vivax malaria start in the border area, most possibly caused by infected mosquitoes which flew across the border. This pattern of transmission repeated year after year.

Metsovo lung: Pleural calcification and restrictive lung function in northwestern Greece. Environmental exposure to mineral fiber as etiology

Pleural calcifications are described in 122 of 268 (45.5%) inhabitants of four villages (Metsovo, Anilio, Milea, and Votonosi) in a small area of northwestern Greece (total population about 5000). All affected individuals are of one ethnic group. Vlachi. Calcifications were not noted in any of the 103 persons in the control group made up of 73 non-Vlachi inhabitants from the same and neighboring villages and 30 Vlachi from distant villages. The calcifications were seen in both sexes, equally, and their frequenty increased with age, from 28.6% between 30 and 39 years to 81.0% in individuals over 70 years of age. When plaque development was extensive, a small restrictive pulmonary function defect was noted. Because of its prevalence in the Metsovo area we call this clinical pattern Metsovo lung. The identification of tremolite, related amphibole fibers, and traces of chrysotile fiber in settled dusts and soil specimens and of identical fibers in tissue specimens obtained at lung biopsy from 8 people with plaques supports the hypothesis that abestiform minerals are the agents responsible for these disease processes. Further, reports of the occurrence of mesothelioma and benign pleural effusions in inhabitants in the Metsovo area, along with the striking similarities to disease patterns observed in the Karain area of Turkey, add further weight to the hypothesis that mineral fiber(s) in the environment of the four villages are agent(s) in the etiology of Metsovo lung.

The Use of Socio-economic and Accessibility Information for Improving MCH/FP Services--The Nigerian Case

A survey of 247 female respondents (15 to 45 years of age) ik the IKot Omin Development Area show that women in the younger age groups (15 to 19 and 20 to 24) tend to be more educated have smaller family size lower mortality rate of child ever born and visit the health center more often than women in the older age groups. Age and education significantly accounted for the differences. Occupation was also a factor that accounted for the difference in average number of children ever born. Exposure to health center tends to be influenced by age education accessibility and home contact. The sample was divided into 3 strata by distance from the health center. Those who live closer to the clinic tend to make more visits than those who live far away. Also those living in the 1st 2 strata where home contacts are made by family health workers make more visits. Socioeconomic factors and accessibility to health facilities are vital factors which must be considered in planning for health education campaigns. Because the majority of the women are uneducated the vernacular should be used as the medium for education. Pictorial design may be more effective than written words. Home visits provide a more informal situation which may bridge the social distance between clinic and home. It may be necessary to open mobile clinics in distant villages to increase coverage. This survey shows that family health workers were able to double coverage through home visits over that achieved by community midwives. The training given to them at the start was cited as the main source of their motivation.

India’s Second Revolution

M ARCH 22, 1977, marked the second revolution in India's contemporary history. Like the first in August 1947, the transfer of power from one regime to another took place peacefully and without bloodshed. The difference was that on the earlier occasion, the Indian people were able, under Mahatma Gandhi's leadership, to terminate British rule and replace it in due course with a republic of their own making. On this occasion, led by Jayaprakash Narayan, on whom the mantle of Gandhi has now fallen, the Indian people were able to terminate an authoritarian regime and return to the path of democracy under the constitution of the republic. This was a ballot-box revolution. On January 11, 1977, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, who had ruled under emergency powers since June 26, 1975, suddenly dissolved parliament and called for fresh elections. After a brief campaign, the people voted freely in the middle of March; and on the 22nd of that month, as the results streamed in from distant towns and villages, the figures revealed that the ruling Congress Party had lost disastrously, being reduced to a mere 153 seats in the Lok Sabha, while the opposition coalition under the banner of the Janata Party, along with its ally the Congress for Democracy, got 298 seats-a clear majority in a house of 542. The results were greeted by great crowds celebrating in public places and watching the electric signs reporting on each successive result as it came in. This was a liberation for which most of them had prayed for almost 19 months.

Sur le purpura hémorragique observé dans l'Azarbaidjan-Est de l'Iran

Durant les années 1974 et 1975, 43 cas de la maladie connue sous le nom autochtone de « Hasbeh Ghara-Mikh ont été étudiés dans l'Azarbaidjan-Est de l'Iran. La maladie est un purpura thrombocytopénique qui ne peut pas être causé par un agent viral mais pourrait être dû à un spirochéte d'une espèce nouvelle. An endemic focus of hemorragic purpura is reported to exist for several years in the North-Eastern part of iranian Azerbeidjan, at an altitude of 1.700 m, among farmers living together with domestic animal in crude brick houses were ectoparasites are abundant. The disease has a seasonal periodicity, from June to August ; both sexs are equally affected, mainly young people ; sporadic cases often occur simultaneously in distant villages. The main clinical symptoms are purpura and hemorrages with thrombocytopenia and extended bleeding time. No arbovirus has been isolated and serological tests for Crimean Hemorragic Fever remained negative. From one of the patients, in the acute phase, one spirocheta has been isolated whose etiologic role is discussed. This spirocheta is different from all others previously known in Iran. Its possible vectors are yet unknown.

Status and the Spatial Range of Marriages in a North Indian Area

From the hypothesis advanced by Miller (1954) that a highly ranked caste will display greater spatial range of intracaste relations than a lowly ranked one, Gould (1960) inferred that the former should establish marital alliances in more distant villages than the latter. He tested this inference in Sherupur, a north Indian village, and concluded that his data supported Miller's hypothesis. We have tested the hypothesis with data from Shanti Nagar, a village in northern India, and have found no statistically significant, direct correlation of marital distance and caste rank. When the data were examined from the point of view of two other components of socio-economic status, literacy and landownership, they indicated that the distance at which marriages were contracted varied inversely with regard to status.

Living Legends in Romania

LYING in the northwestern corner of Romania, the mountainous province of MaramureS has traditionally been the country's most isolated region. Legend has it that the Dacians, tribal ancestors of today's Romanians, were able to maintain their way of life secluded there during the Roman occupation and the subsequent Gothic invasions. There, too, the Robin Hood of Romania, Pintea the Brave, performed his daring exploits in the seventeenth century. Today, the physical aspect of the area bears witness to the centuries of isolation. Distant villages along the valleys are first discerned by soaring steeples of elegant wooden churches dating as far back as 1364. Extensively-carved gates mark the entrance to every farmyard, and colorful costumes are testimony to the high level of weaving and embroidery skills. In December of 1971, and again in April and May of 1972, I accompanied the team of researchers of Bucharests' Institute of Ethnography and Folklore into MaramureS. The village they chose was Breb, a community of 450 families situated approximately twenty miles south of the Soviet border. Breb was chosen because it is one of the few places in Romania where farming has not been collectivized, and also because it lies far from the main highway and other influences which transform customary life. My first view of the village was from a snow-covered road built for the visit of Maria Theresa to Transylvania. Steep shingle-roofed houses were scattered across a slope leading to the rugged 4,700 ft. peak known as 'Crest of the Cock.' The only sound we heard as we walked the last mile to the village was of bells ringing on horsedrawn sleighs as they brought manure to the fields. Every horse wore a red tassel by its ear to ward off evil spirits. Women leaned over a stream, washing clothes for the Christmas celebrations, and farther on our 'gazdas' waited for us with warm plum brandy and bacon. 'Gazda' is an age-old social term denoting a villager who

Los viajes y los dilemas del parentesco yaminawa (Amazonía peruana)

Sea para visitar a parientes radicados en aldeas lejanas, o sea para ir a conseguir trabajo a otros lugares o a comprar mercancías en la ciudad, los Yaminawa parecen estar impelidos a un continuo desplazarse. Argumento en este texto que este movimiento incesante por un espacio definido antes como social y afectivo que como geográfico, tiene como motor la experiencia dilemática del parentesco, que presenta dimensiones tanto productivas como sociales y afectivas. A partir de la etnografía de estos dilemas, el texto plantea consideraciones sobre el significado de la Comunidad Nativa — como entidad territorial y social jurídicamente definida — para los Yaminawa.