Subject Of Marriage Research Articles

Philosophical about Marriage: Women Writers and the Moralist Tradition ASECS Presidential Address, 2013

Philosophical about Marriage: Women Writers and the Moralist Tradition ASECS Presidential Address, 2013 Julie Candler Hayes (bio) When we think of early modern women’s intellectual and cultural production, we are probably more likely to think of genres other than moralist writing—letters and novels, translation, even history and science. Women left their mark in all of these domains. Moralist writing, however, possessed an innate cultural capital derived from the authority of Montaigne, a modern classic, and classical antecedents in Cicero and Seneca, yet it eluded the increasingly pejorative connotations, especially for women, of “erudition”—however erudite the moralist’s allusions might be—by assuming a worldly, detached form of spectatorship. Thus, even as other genres, notably the novel, were assuming the moralist role of social commentary and analysis of the human heart, the novel explicitly blurred the lines between subject and object, between the spectator and his or her world, lines that moralist discourse sought to maintain. By writing in this older mode, women writers engaged with a distinguished tradition and claimed for themselves the right to observe and to analyze. Thus, the choice of genre is in itself a statement on women’s participation in intellectual life and their relationship to the production of knowledge. William Reddy and Jerrold Seigel have commented on the fraught nature of interpersonal relationships, “laced with intrigue and a wounding struggle for preeminence,” as Seigel puts it, as a distinctive feature of élite [End Page 1] French social life under the ancien régime.1 Classical moralist writing has indeed been one of our chief means for imaginatively recreating this world through the eyes of François de La Rochefoucauld and Jean de La Bruyère. Eric Méchoulan has argued that moralist writing comes into its own in the wake of the sixteenth-century Wars of Religion, the retreat of the Church as guarantor of state morality, and the new location of personal morality within the individual.2 The moralist practices the courtier’s “art of prudence” both as a form of self-regulation and, through deeper understanding of their motives, as a means to control or surpass others. In the longer project of which this is a part, I look at the ways in which women take on some of the great topoi of traditional moralist writing: friendship, the passions, old age, knowledge of oneself and of the world. One topic, however, runs through their works far more prominently than in those of their male interlocutors and predecessors: marriage. Classical moralist thought, whether ancient or modern, has remarkably little to say on the subject of marriage. Montaigne describes a good marriage as “representing” the conditions of friendship—as analogous to friendship, in other words, but not quite the same. He tells us that one marries not for oneself, but rather for one’s posterity, one’s family. Under ideal conditions, marriage can be a source of profound happiness, but it is not to be confused with love. “These things are distantly related [ont quelque cousinage], but they are very different.”3 The leading moralists of the following century are less nuanced on the subject, and indeed not particularly interested in it. As usual, in his one maxim on marriage, La Rochefoucauld sums up the thinking of an era with devastating concision: “Il y a de bons mariages, mais il n’y en a point de délicieux.”4 La Bruyère scatters reflections on marriage in various chapters of Les Caractères, where it is invariably linked to questions of wealth, social advancement, and hypocrisy. Among eighteenth century moralists, Luc de Clapiers, marquis de Vauvenargues, and Chamfort both take a jaundiced view of marriage, seeing it simply as a “commerce” of material interests, and hardly conducive to personal (masculine) happiness. Take Chamfort, for example: “Le mariage et le célibat ont tous deux des inconvénients: il faut préférer celui dont les inconvénients ne sont pas sans remède.”5 Much of the 17th and 18th century iconography of marriage further suggests ways in which the topic lent itself to comic, misogynistic, or sentimental representations. Not surprisingly, marriage is a subject on which the female moralists...

Образ Афины в изобразительном искусстве и литературе модерна

The image of the goddess Athena in fine art and literature of Art Nouveau is analysed through the lenses of the archetypal plot of sacred marriage. The evolution of the image development in Art Nouveau is considered within the framework of interrelation between literature and fine art. Monumental figure of Athena does not fit the style canons of the epoch, differing drastically from feminine images of Art Nouveau. In the Art Nouveau literature — from the goddess in O. Wilde’s poem “Charmides” to Sophia in the works by Vladimir Soloviov, and the mysterious Lady-love of the Russian symbolists’ poems (A. Blok, V. Ivanov) — Athena appears to be presented quite different from her ancient prototype. “Charmides”, which is often falsely referred to as erotic poetry, demonstrates the specific treatment of the sacred marriage theme by the Art Nouveau literary tradition and the importance of Athena’s role assigned by this tradition. The origins of the Art Nouveau vision in painting are revealed in “Perseus Cycle” by Edward Burne-Jones, and the climax of its development is evident in posters, pictures and mascarons created by the artists of German and Austrian Secession — F. Stuck, G. Klimt, and K. Moser. Important are erotic versions of the goddess’s image presented in mass culture of fin de siecle (picture-cards by Louis Theophile Hingre et al.), as well as the comparison of Athena’s and Gorgo’s images. In Burne-Jones’s creations they are depicted as correlatives, whereas presentation of Gorgo and chtonic attributes (the owl and the snake) in the art of Secession displaces Athena from her hypostasis of the goddess of reason. The analysis of the archetypal images in the Art Nouveau literature and fine art shows the strict logical conditionality of Athena’s image development, which seems paradoxical at first glance: despite the stable mythological concept of Athena’s virilism and asexuality, she is given the power of bestowing creativity through symbolic connection with a creator.

Participatory video drama research in transitional Vietnam: post-production narratives on marriage, parenting and social evils

Based on two years of participatory video drama (PVD) research with men and women in the city of Huế, this article explores perspectives on, and experiences of, socio-economic transition and its influence on domestic life in Vietnam. Through a combination of output analysis, group screening sessions and individual interviews, it concentrates on the themes of marriage, parenting and ‘social evils’ which emerged in the PVD. It demonstrates how familial tensions collectively identified in the workshop and told in a single video-narrative are complicated by the more nuanced discourses that emerge from co-produced analysis in the post-production period. These illuminate a greater plurality of voices towards the liberalisation of the Vietnamese economy and the new life choices that this brings.

The Trauma ofThe Making of Americans:

The self-absorption with which Gertrude Stein read literature and philosophy was reflected in the autobiographical interests of her literary production.1 The scope of this production has inspired some psychoanalytic approaches to analyzing her work, such as research by Merill Cole and Priscilla Wald; while Cole focuses on a more semiotic analysis through the Oedipal signifier of the Name of the Father in Stein’s work, Wald explores her literature through the historical context of Stein’s autobiography as a lesbian and second generation American immigrant.2 In this article, I am interested in reading Stein’s work psychoanalytically, but with a particular consideration of the relation between her language practice and her Jewishness.3 Inspired as Stein was by visual artists in her Paris community, her experiments in representing people repeating themselves “insistently,” led her to devise a unique history of American migration in The Making of Americans: Being a History of a Family’s Progress (TMA) (1925).4 Evident in Stein’s stylistic signature of repetition in her portrait making are repetitive motifs in her works based on her life, which Wald brings to light in her analysis.5 One motif in particular is emphasized in Barbara Will’s paper on Stein and Zionism in which she observes that the race-centered focus in Stein’s “more explicitly Jewish autobiographical novel Q.E.D. (1903)” is repeated in the representation in Melanctha.6 While this race-thinking may explain an avoidance Maria Damon sees in Stein scholarship, my attention is drawn to the fact that the recurring racial narratives would

Trollope’s adulterous Irish–English texts

The essay will look at Anthony Trollope’s adulterous Irish texts, examining how Trollope challenges both the traditional forms of the novel and the standard ideologies of marriage in Victorian society. Particular emphasis is placed on the theme of marriage as an allegory of the contested political Union between Ireland and England.

Where sexuality and spirituality meet: An assessment of Christian teaching on sexuality and marriage in relation to the reality of 21st century moral norms

Christians and the church tend to shy away from talking about sex, premarital sex and sex outside of marriage. God and sex are rarely mentioned in the same sentence, and yet people still have a deep need for spirituality, to experience God in their lives and to seek guidance on sexual matters. It becomes a dilemma when the question is posed: where do sexuality and spirituality meet? One way to answer this question is to attempt to find a link between spirituality and sexuality. In this way, spirituality could gain relevance, and expressing one’s sexuality could find a moral foundation. People are both spiritual and sexual creatures – with the need to express their spirituality and sexuality in a moral, but unashamedly natural way. This article attempts to find alternative solutions for our complex society – on the subject of marriage and sexuality. The intention is not to dismiss the institution of marriage, but rather to renegotiate the terms and structure of marriage in the 21st century.

Kenilworth, King Arthur, and the Memory of Empire

AbstractThis essay challenges current accounts of the revels staged at Kenilworth Castle by Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, during Elizabeth I's summer progress in 1575. Critics have argued that Elizabeth was offended by a planned masque on the theme of marriage and prevented its performance, although there is no evidence to support this claim of censorship. While many critics have seen the political situation on the Continent as the key political context to the revels, this essay argues that the appointment of a new lord deputy in Ireland and a skirmish on the borders of Scotland were more pressing concerns for those gathered at Leicester's estate. In staging the revels, Leicester was creating a new mythology for an imperial England, combining elements of Arthurian legend, Ovidian poetry, and folk custom, and grafting this mythology onto a sculpted landscape. The purpose of the revels was to remake Kenilworth as a mental map of empire, and to install this map in the minds of the court. (J.E.)

Recht und Dichtung: Funktionen und Fiktionen. Beobachtungen zur höfischen Literatur des Mittelalters

How does the reception of legal aspects, institutions and fictions (iudicial ordeal, trial by single combat, God is law) change the fictional status of literature? First of all, by this reception a novel can pretend to be closer to the factual reality. Secondly, the legal aspect (resp. fiction) assumes a new function within a romance and therefore loses its correspondence with the legal reality. Thirdly, the two subjects love and marriage have different relations to the world of law. Whereas love hasn’t been a subject of debate within the public law or in the real law courts, marriage was mainly a matter of law. The consequence of the integration of the marriage theme into a romance was that the legal status of marriage was assimilated in the principles of love. Conversely, the juridical debate of love raised the fictional status of a novel.

A Severed Head: As Freudian Drama and as Restoration Comedy

A Severed Head, published in 1961, by the Anglo-Irish author Iris Murdoch, has proved one of her most commercially successful works. One of its primary attractions is that it is about sex. With its themes of marriage, incest and adultery within a group of educated and civilised people dwelling in well-to-do areas of 1950s London, it has been said that A Severed Head anticipates the sexual revolution of a period subsequently dubbed the “Swinging Sixties”. But its roots lie even deeper. It is also possible to see Murdoch's novel as a modern reworking of the licentious Restoration sex comedies penned in the late seventeenth century by such writers as William Wycherley, Sir George Etherege and William Congreve. Murdoch is indebted, too, to Freud. While Freud and Schnitzler believe that man engages in sex because of his fear of death, for Murdoch, love can enlighten and elevate the individual, allowing him to transcend the selfish limitations of self. This possibility is also hinted at in such a Restoration comedy as Congreve's The Way of the World, in the union of Mirabell and Millament. Although A Severed Head is one of the most popular of Murdoch's twenty-five novels because of its emphasis on sex, the author depicts the physical act to explore a wide range of philosophic topics, including the dangers of solipsism and egotism and the life-affirming nature of unselfish love.

Sexuality, pregnancy and midwifery care for women with intellectual disabilities: A pilot study on attitudes of university students

Women with intellectual disability have historically not been provided the opportunity to become mothers. Attitudes held by future professionals will determine the level and quality of support these women are provided. This study was designed to evaluate and compare the attitudes of students from Education, Disability and Midwifery towards the sexuality and parenting of people with an intellectual disability, and to further examine the attitudes held by Midwifery students following a lecture strategy. A questionnaire assessing attitudes towards the sexuality and parenting of people with intellectual disability was implemented and contained the themes of marriage, parenting, sexual intercourse and sterilization. Significant differences were found between student groups on the themes of sterilization and parenting, with further analysis indicating that Disability students held significantly more positive attitudes than the other two groups. Students reported less positive attitudes towards parenting than marriage, sterilization and sexual intercourse. Respondents’ age was significantly associated with their attitudes on parenting, indicating that older students held more conservative attitudes towards the ability of people with an intellectual disability to parent. In addition, this research indicated that the attitudes of Midwifery students became more positive following a lecture delivered after the questionnaire.

The Theme of Marriage in Dear Ramatoulaye as a Response to Mariama Ba\'s So Long a Letter

In this present modern society, it is noted that women writers world over, use their works to expose the ills of patriarchy to womanhood thereby raising gender consciousness in the people. The African women writers are particularly noted for this since the African society generally is gender bias. African male writers project this image of subservient on the woman. This image, the woman writer tries to correct by exposing the experiences of the woman through their works in such society. Mariama Ba in her So Long a Letter written from a Senegalese/Muslim socio-cultural milieu has triggered off this campaign although not very much welcome by masculinist or gender bias sexist like Umunnakwe in Dear Ramatoulaye. This lively debate between Mariama Ba and Umunnakwe is what is termed gender war, a war of words. An attempt to moderate the powers of patriarchy which is strongly resisted by Umunnakwe is seen through his utterances in his characters in the novel. This paper highlights issues raised in both novels and the response of the masculinist to such issues as polygamy, wife's battering, mental touchor in words and actions etc. Analysis of words and interpretation of their useage is also made. LWATI: A Journal of Contemporary Research Vol. 5 2008: pp. 192-203

Corresponding with the city: Self‐help literature in urban West Africa

Contemporary West African self‐help literature is preoccupied with the theme of marriage. The reader’s correct choice of marriage partner and subsequent happiness in the home are fundamental concerns of the genre. This article asks about the extent to which locally published self‐help literature – and popular literature more generally – is inseparable from urbanization in West Africa. Do these pamphlets arise as a direct consequence of urbanization in the late 20th century? What kind of “self” is produced to be “helped” in this literature? In addressing these questions, the article situates locally published self‐help literature in relation to recent theorizations of urbanization and popular culture in Africa, and in relation to the fierce current debate about the usefulness of “modernity” as a term to describe postcolonial urban cultures. Popular misogyny is also addressed, and the controlling role played by God in West African discussions of marriage and relationships. The article suggests that the authors of self‐help pamphlets in West Africa can be regarded as “urban correspondents”, corresponding with the city as its writers, its products and its cultural echoes.

Mixed choruses and marriage songs: a new interpretation of the third stasimon of the Hippolytos

AbstractThis article uses evidence drawn from hymenaios and wedding ritual to reach a new interpretation of the third stasimon of the Hippolytos, and its rôle in the play. There is longstanding contention about whether a second (male) chorus participates in the ode, singing in antiphony with the existing tragic chorus. Even scholars who accept that a second chorus is present have tended to regard it as an aberration which needs to be explained away, rather than a deliberate choice with poetic significance. I discuss the cultural implications of such a chorus, examining our evidence for real-life mixed choruses, and then applying this to the ode itself. The evidence for mixed choruses suggests they are strongly associated with marriage. Looking more closely at the language and imagery of the ode, there are allusions to the topoi of wedding songs and ritual running through it. The ode can use these as a device to trigger deep-rooted responses and associations from the audience, as these motifs are drawn from the cultural tradition which the audience shares. The topoi tie in with the theme of marriage and sexuality within the Hippolytos as a whole. But while their usual purpose is to set up conventional models and ways of thinking, the way they are deployed in the ode in fact serves to undermine these models, and to put a darker spin on the norms of sexual behaviour. This strand of imagery therefore also provides a filter for interpreting Hippolytos' own attitude towards sexuality, and a guide to how we are meant to respond to it.

Patriotic Womanhood: The Culture of Feminism in Modern Iran, 1900–19411

In 1909, an Iranian journalist conceded that his countrywomen were less valued than ‘the animals of other nations.’ Although granted various privileges through Islamic law, or sharia, they were non...

Incest and Lust in Luther's Marriage: Theology and Morality in Reformation Polemics

Clerical marriage during the time of the Reformation raised issues of theology for the reformers, but for the Catholics it flagged issues of morality in its verdict that theology was simply being used in the service of immorality. This is best underscored in the matrimonial case involving Martin Luther and Katherine von Bora. Luther's writings on the subject of marriage had to be applied to his own life. Protestants defended Luther, while Catholic polemicists, especially Thomas More, attacked the matter of clerical marriage relentlessly. In more strident denunciations, Luther's marriage specifically, and clerical marriage generally, was rooted in charges of lust and disobedience to God. As for the Luthers, who had been under holy orders, their union, by definition of canon law, was blatant and deliberate incest. The reformers regarded clerical marriage as an act of faith, a work of God, and a witness to the gospel. Catholic theologians perceived it as sin, the breaking of faith, an offense to God, and an abuse of the freedom of the gospel. The Luther marriage is a test case for exploring one dimension of the social implications of theology.

La preparación para la celebración del matrimonio en la diócesis de Barcelona (1983-2003)

cese of Barcelona (1983-2003). To day, faced with the rampant secularisation of our society, a serious preparation for the celebration of marriage at both human and Christian levels is more necessary than ever; this is not only in order to avoid breakdowns but also to achieve the survival and growth of the marriage itself as it develops into a family. The current Code has recognised this need in cc. 1063-1072 where basic norms are laid down which guarantee the correct catechetical preparation for marriage and its valid and licit celebration, remitting the majority of different practical issues to the particular legislation of each local Church, given that it knows its own needs, the best means available to achieve them and the realistic possibilities of bringing these about. One of the areas to which the Diocese of Barcelona has devoted most time and energy since Vatican II and the publication of the new Code until the present has been precisely that of a pastoral marriage service; as far back as 1974 a Diocesan Secretariate for Family Matters was created and the theme of marriage and the family has always been present in all diocesan planning, given that the family is the primary social cell and vital to society. At the same time pastoral suggestions and norms have been given and established for specific moments: principally about the immediate preparation for the celebration of marriage, the filling in of the compulsory pre-nuptial enquiry, the place of celebration, the liturgical celebration etc., without forgetting those individual situations which merit special attention, such as the different circumstances in which couples find themselves who request marriage because they are expecting a child or who are only married civilly. The Vicariate General has publishes various Notes over this period which tried to clarify different points (e.g.: the minimum age for contracting marriage, couples who get married outside their own parish, the inscription of the wedding in the Civil Register etc.). Furthermore, given that couples' real difficulties do not arise from getting married but rather from what happens afterwards, not only have those more usual circumstances been pointed out to priests and deacons when families tend to renew their contact with the ecclesial community and which they must turn into privileged moments of pastoral attention but different services have also been set up in the diocese -both the Diocesan Secretariat for Pastoral Attention to the Family and the Ecclesiastical Tribunal- in order to help new families seek the best solutions to those problems and overcome those crises which inevitably arise after marriage.

Rereading Romanticism (review)

438 Book Reviews such as Nestroy's Einen Jux will er sich machen (Simon) and Hofmannsthal's libretto to Ariadne aufNaxos (Nolle), while the concise, well-selected bibliography of scholarship dealing with the dramas of German Romanticism (281 -87) will prove useful for the reader interested in doing further investigation into a field that clearly merits further study, but which already has benefited a great deal by this excellent collection of essays. University of Vermont Dennis F. Mahoney Martha B. Helfer, ed., Rereading Romanticism. Amsterdamer Beiträge zur neueren Germanistik, vol. 47. Amsterdam and Atlanta: Rodopi, 2000. 406pp. This impressive volume will be of interest to anyone working in the field of Romanticism. Its main goal is to analyze "the structure of Romantic critical discourse, as well as its ties to twentieth-century discursive paradigms, in a series of case studies" (9). The sixteen "case studies" (which are arranged chronologically ) span the full time-line of German Romanticism and address various disciplines, including philosophy, literature, aesthetics, gender theory, science, and economic theory. The volume begins (Jane K. Brown) and ends Oürgen H. Petersen) with essays focusing upon Goethe, who, in many ways, serves to frame the Romantic era. Each of these essays, in turn, offers a completely different perspective on Goethe. Brown analyzes Goethe's earliest novel as a precursor to Romantic tales and argues that "the Romantic paradigm is already implicit in Werther, and that the Romantic tale is the true heir of Werther's plot and psychological insight" (12). Thus, whereas Werther is generally treated as the "climax of sensibility," Brown, by tracing Goethe's treatment of subjectivity and Werther's relationship to nature, argues that Werther is instead "the originary text of German Romanticism" (12). Petersen, in turn, closes the circle by examining the influence of Romantic works upon Goethe. He focuses upon Goethe's last novel, Wilhelm Meisters Wanderjahre , and traces the influence of earlier Romantic works, especially those by Friedrich Schlegel and Novalis, upon its nanative structure. He suggests that Friedrich Schlegel's famous discussion of "Universalpoesie," which emphasizes processes and continual change, is reflected (albeit unconsciously) in the style and form of Goethe's novel. A third essay on Die Wahlverwandtschaften rounds out the treatment of Goethe within this volume. This essay, by Helmut J. Schneider, examines the theme of landscape gardening from a social/cultural perspective and contends that the novel reflects Goethe's dramatic tum against English-style, sentimental landscaping . Goethe's rejection of such landscaping, Schneider argues, reflects Goethe's political views—especially regarding modern questions of mobility. (Tt is here interesting to note that Werner Schlick's book on Die Wahlverwandtschaften— also published in 2000—similarly probes the political aspects of Goethe's rejection of English-style gardening.) As many have done before, Schneider links the theme of marriage and its historical state of transition with the landscape projects: "Den Wahlverwandtschaften entsprechen die Wahllandschaften" (287). In his discussion, however, he especially focuses upon the themes of change and motion: Thus, for example, the opening up of the old walled gardens represents Goethe Yearbook 439 for example, the opening up of the old walled gardens represents the new social and political mobility of the modern age. The central focus of the volume, however, is on philosophy. While the majority of the essays reflect the monumental influence of Kant upon the Romantic era, several essays directly examine Kant's influence in various fields, including geography (Helmut Müller-Sievers), political philosophy (Jonathan Hess), and literary nanative (Winfried Menninghaus). Claudia Brodsky Lacour's essay is especially notable for its sophisticated discussion of the interplay between Hegelian and Kantian aesthetics. In this essay, she unpacks Hegel's rather cryptic claim to have built his aesthetics upon the "foundation" of Kant's philosophy. A leitmotiv throughout many of the more philosophical essays is the Romantic sense of movement, change, and process. Michel Chaouli's excellent and wellwritten essay examines the Romantic fragment within the framework of natural philosophy. He focuses especially upon the fragments as part of an inorganic (rather than organic) system that is characterized by oscillation, processes without teleological progression, and becoming rather than being. Two essays within this volume analyze the...

Weeping at the water's edge

W HEN Monteverdi's Arianna stood on the rocky shore and wept for her fate at the wedding of Francesco Gonzaga and Margherita of Savoy on 28 May 16o8, all the ladies of the court were said to have wept with her. And whose heart could have steeled itself against her, given the image of the talented and reportedly beautiful Virginia Andreini on stage, imploring them, 'Let me die, let me die'? 'What comfort', she asked, 'can I take in such harsh fate, in such cruel suffering? Let me die, let me die.' Surely these words and this tale of betrayal and abandonment were not meant to represent either the bride's thoughts on entering matrimony or the court's hopes for the success of the alliance between the two dynasties. But embedding the story of Arianna and Teseo within celebrations of Margherita's fruitfulness and Francesco's virility inextricably bound the tale to themes of marriage, heredity, dynastic expansion and the representation of state. And although the lament's outward characteristics-Arianna's desperation and tears, her extended soliloquy, and her confinement to the rocky shoreseem at odds with these expectations of future prosperity, they are capable of conveying powerful meaning as ritualistic symbols of the spiritual, philosophical and legal enactment of the couple's passage into adulthood and their initiation into decision-

Paul on marriage and celibacy: the Hellenistic background of 1 Corinthians 7

Paul is traditionally seen as one of the founders of Christian sexual asceticism. As early as the second century C.E. church leaders looked to him as a model for their lives of abstinence. But is this a correct reading of Paul? What exactly did Paul teach on the subjects of marriage and celibacy? Will Deming here answers these questions - often in provocative new ways. By placing Paul's statements on marriage and celibacy against the backdrop of ancient Hellenistic society, Deming constructs a coherent picture of Paul's views. He shows that the conceptual world in which Paul lived and wrote had substantially vanished by 100 C.E., and terms like sin, body, sex, and holiness began to acquire moral implications quite unlike those Paul knew. Paul conceived of marriage as a social obligation that had the potential of distracting Christians from Christ. For him, celibacy was the single life, free from such distraction, not a life of saintly denial. Sex, in turn, was not sinful but natural, and sex within marriage was both proper and necessary.

Joking in Researcher-Resident Dialogue: The Ethnography of Hierarchy among the Tuareg

The A. examines the use of joking in relationships shot through with inequalities, such as that between Tuareg noble and smith, and that between himself the visiting ethnographer and local residents, in a highly stratified community characterized by client-patron relationships. Institutionalized praise-songs, jokes, and pranks between persons of different social segments and between researcher and Tuareg contain themes of marriage and war, topics germane to positioning and power relations in the field. They also raise issue concerning efforts of others to negociate how they will be represented.