TY - JOUR
T1 - The Hemeila riddle
T2 - Genealogical reconfigurations of pre-colonial encounters in Southwestern Mauritania
AU - Freire, Francisco
N1 - info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/FCT/5876/147310/PT#
UID/ANT/04038/2013
PY - 2017/3/15
Y1 - 2017/3/15
N2 - This article will focus on a seldom-considered aspect of Saharan social contexts: the incorporation of European/Christian characters into tribal sociopolitical frameworks. Supported by data from my fieldwork, I will discuss contemporary portrayals of a mid-seventeenth-century woman, Hemeila, whose mother is recognized as a European Christian of Iberian origin. These two women are presently incorporated in different genealogical narratives from Southwestern Mauritania. The research dealt with in this article also relates to discussions of social hierarchy familiar to Mauritania’s Arabophone populations, with a particular focus on groups holding a “religious” (zwaya) status. Additionally, this article discusses the role of the anthropologist as a producer of social facts, which in this context has led to a direct intervention in the reassessment of Saharan historical traditions.
AB - This article will focus on a seldom-considered aspect of Saharan social contexts: the incorporation of European/Christian characters into tribal sociopolitical frameworks. Supported by data from my fieldwork, I will discuss contemporary portrayals of a mid-seventeenth-century woman, Hemeila, whose mother is recognized as a European Christian of Iberian origin. These two women are presently incorporated in different genealogical narratives from Southwestern Mauritania. The research dealt with in this article also relates to discussions of social hierarchy familiar to Mauritania’s Arabophone populations, with a particular focus on groups holding a “religious” (zwaya) status. Additionally, this article discusses the role of the anthropologist as a producer of social facts, which in this context has led to a direct intervention in the reassessment of Saharan historical traditions.
KW - Anthropology
KW - Genealogy
KW - Mauritania
KW - Pre-colonial history
KW - Sahara
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84986215090&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - https://www.webofscience.com/wos/woscc/full-record/WOS:000395146200002
U2 - 10.1080/02757206.2016.1214824
DO - 10.1080/02757206.2016.1214824
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84986215090
SN - 0275-7206
VL - 28
SP - 149
EP - 165
JO - History and Anthropology
JF - History and Anthropology
IS - 2
ER -