ABSTRACT

Marshall Sahlins’ (2013) understanding of kinship has been hailed by some anthropologists as ‘solving’ the problem of what kinship is. For Sahlins, kinship is a mutuality of being; when you are united and participate in another’s life, then they are your kin. How does this understanding play out among Malays in a remote Australian territory?

On the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, personal names are passed down from the father. They are usually reserved for formal occasions. In daily life, another naming system is most commonly used. Specifically, Cocos Malays use the name of one’s oldest child or grandchild. For instance, I am known not as “Nick”. Instead, I take the name of my eldest child “Kiki”. So I am referred to and addressed as “Pak Kiki”. This literally means “Kiki’s Dad”. Learn more.

This kind of name is called a “teknonym” in the anthropological literature. In general, personal names come from an ancestor and go down through the generations. Teknonyms, by contrast, come from a descendant and go up through the generations.

The most sustained theoretical treatment of the topic of teknonyms is Hildred and Clifford Geertz’s 1964 article “Teknonymy in Bali”. In it, the authors foreshadow their later interpretive anthropology, arguing that, in Bali, teknonymy “is not just a set of beliefs, a mere theory, but is actually used as a template or blueprint in terms of which Balinese may pattern their concrete behaviour”(1964, 103).

In this presentation, I draw on the Geertzs’ idea and combine it with another approach to teknonyms. Drawing on the ‘New Melanesian Anthropology’, I argue that teknonyms and personal names make sense in relation to each other. In general, teknonyms reflect a dividual identity, which contrasts with the individual identity of personal names. But this runs in contrast with Sahlins, who insists that his understanding of kinship is distinct from dividual identity. So I try to unpack what Cocos teknonymy means for Sahlins’ treatment of kinship.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Nick Herriman lectures in Anthropology at La Trobe University. He recently published The Cocos Malays.

ADDITIONAL DETAILS

Our speaker will be presenting in-person at Deakin Waterfront: AD1.122 in the Sally Walker building or you can join us via Zoom:

Join Zoom Meeting

https://deakin.zoom.us/j/84436200390?pwd=VjRHUVZseTMvYWcrSFFJbU1LRDcrUT09

Meeting ID: 844 3620 0390

Please contact holly.high@deakin.edu.au for the password.