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LAURARIVAL
ofKent
University
Everything thattheawareness
suggests ofsexualdifferences
andthedistinction
betweenthe
andthematernal
paternal function
areconstituted
simultaneously
(Bourdieu1977:93).
Genderdifferentiation
is,atthebottom, ofparentage
thisdifferentiation (Yeatman
1982:10).
Allourcustomscomefromlife,andaremadeforlife;we do notexplainanything,
we do not
believe(in) anything 1980:30,mytranslation).
(Saladind'Anglure
Inst.(N.S.) 4, 619-642
J. Roy.anthrop.
Men'sparticipation
inthebirth
process
Althoughthereis no nativetermfor'couvade',7theinstitution existsamongstthe
Huaorani in waysverysimilarto those describedin Amazonian ethnology.8 As
elsewherein Amazonia, Huaorani birthobservancesfundamentally consistin
perinataldietaryand activity restrictions
forbothparents.Some timetowardsthe
end of the pregnancy, the expectantcouple stop eatingfishand most typesof
meat. They are only allowed toucan (yahue', Ramphastog cuvieri)and curassow
(bare,Cracidde)meat.9In case ofpolygyny(men oftenmarrytwo or three[classi-
ficatory]sisters),the otherwifeor wives eat,workand sleep as usual, and so do
all the siblingsof the baby-to-come.From the timethe motherenterslabourto
some days followingthe birth,the fatherrestrictshis food intake to boiled
plantainor manioc broth.He avoids huntingand staysat home as much as
possible, preferablylyingin his hammock,where he spends the nightalone
(ratherthanwithhis youngerchildrenand wife,as usual).
When askedwhytheyrestrict theirdietand dailyoccupationsbeforeand after
childbirth, men invariablyanswerthat,first,theydo so because theirwives do;
and that,secondly,the newborn,who 'is one flesh'with its motherand father,
mustbe protectedfromwastingaway.The couvade is nota male ritebuta riteof
Hostingthenewborn
There is only one termin Huaorani, which literallymeans 'in the process of
beingborn' (tequeenaringa), to translatefoetus,newbornand infant.As in other
partsofAmazonia, the childis said to resultfromthecoagulationoffemaleblood
and male semen.17I feltduringconversationswith informants(observingthe
movementof theirscooped hands) thattheywere tryingto impresson me that
thereshould be an equal proportionof semen and blood, and hence repetitive
sexual intercourse.18 As the clot forms,it is activated- energized- by the
Creator's19 soul matterand becomes a child.So the child is all formedfromthe
start;thereis no processof transformation or metamorphosis, onlya processof
growth.Likewise,deliveryis not sufficientto give birthto the child, who is
definitivelyborn onlywhen the fatherand the motherhave ended the couvade
restrictions,and when a classificatory grandparent(a grandmotherfora girl,a
grandfather fora boy) has givenhim or her at leastone personalname. Going a
stepfurther, I would saythatthemomentof birthis not thebeginningof lifeper
se, but ratherthe transferfrom one dwelling (the womb) to another (the
longhouse).20The wordfor'guest'is actually'theone who is born' (neefnaca); the
word for'host', 'the one who is at home' (ne ocoinga);and theword forwomb,
Anthropological ofthecouvade
interpretations
The couvade is classicallydefinedas thecustombywhich'thefather, on thebirth
ofhis child,makesa ceremonialpretenceof beingthemother,beingnursedand
taken care of, and performingotherritessuch as fastingand abstainingfrom
certainkindsof food or occupations,lest the new-bornshould sufferthereby'
(Tylor1888: 254). More accurately, it has been describedas 'a set of ideas and
relatedconventionalbehaviourthatintimately associatesa man withthebirthof
his child' (Riviere1974: 425). It has fascinatedanthropologists, as botha typically
Amazonian rite and a particularly tellingpiece of anthropologicaltheorizing.
WVhat is strikingabout thedifferent interpretationswhichhavebeen proposedin
thecourseofthelast150years,is theirreconcilability oftheviewsgivingprimacy,
afterMauss (1979), to the idea of human individuation- fosteredand protected
sympathetically bycouvade restrictions - and thosereducingitall,afterBachofen
(1861), to a paternityritual institutionalizing the father'sright.It is clear,
however,thatin thelightofthecurrentunderstanding ofkinship,no longerseen
as a social identitygiven at birthand fixedin a set of structuralpositions,but,
rather, as a processofbecoming(Carsten1995; Strathern1989; 1992),we should
stoposcillatingbetweenthesetwo positionsand startthinkingaboutthecouvade
as a ritecorrespondingto theprocessbywhich a new human personis brought
to lifeand new relationships arecreated.It is onlybecause oftheentrenchedview
thatthe social is graftedonto the biological,withthe corollarypropositionthat
biology is woman's destiny,or thatfemale is to male as nature is to culture
(Ortner1974),21 thatthe two positionsare keptas rivalalternatives.
Withoutfullyreviewinghere the anthropologicaldebate on the couvade,22I
should simply like to stress that all the explanationsofferedso far have
naturalizedthe mother-childbond, and have eitherignoredor misrepresented
thejoint effortthroughwhich the husband-wifepair transfers lifeonto a new
human person,thusremodellingthe configuration of affinaland consanguineal
tiesin theirsocial group.This neglectis particularly obvious in theearlyreports
on Carib childbirths, which all revealthe (male) European astonishmentat,and
disapprovalof, the father's'sicklybehaviour',23seen as passive,cowardlyand
shocking,especiallywhen contrastedwiththeswiftrecoveryofthemother,who,
farfromconvalescingas a Europeanwoman would, resumesherdomesticwork
immediatelyafterdelivery.However, the Carib parturientshocks the seven-
teenth-century French,Dutch or Englishman farless thanherspouse does. She
might be very distant from her European, civilized counterpart,yet her
behaviouris intelligible:it is savageand animal-like:in one word, natural.But
the comportmentof the new father,which has no counterpartin the natural
thevalueofreproductive
Conclusion: sexuality
I have so fardiscussedthe role Huaorani people attribute to sexualityand child-
birthin the creationof parenthoodand the formationof intimaterelationships,
and criticallyreviewed past anthropologicalinterpretations of the couvade,
suggestingthattheirgreatestfailurehas been to overlookthefactthatprocreative
life-giving is alwaysrepresentedas involvingthecomplementary participationof
the two sexes, oftenimplyingthe constitutionof some kind of androgynous
agency.I would now like to summarizemy argumenton the birthprocess in
manyAmazonian societies,and conclude thatit should be analysedfromthe
viewpointofitstransformative effecton theprocreativecouple and,in particular,
on the father.This leads me to reassesstoday'sdominantthesisin Amazonian
anthropology thatwarfare,predationand devouringare thenecessarymeans for
the constitutionof collectiveidentitiesand fortheirsocial reproduction.Finally,
I will go back to thefeministand post-feminist quandarieswithwhich I started
thisarticleto arguethatsubjectiveidentitycannotbe properlyanalysedwithout
referenceto thebeginningand perpetuationof life.
As I havetriedto show,thenewbornchildis a keyelementin thereproduction
of Huaorani social life. The birthprocess - of which couvade ritesforman
intrinsicpart- representsa stateofinceptionas well as theincorporation ofa new
life at severallevels. First,thereis 'the social placing of the newborn' James
1997), thatis,therecognitionof thechildbeforeitsfullsocial integration which,
inAmazonia,occurswiththenamingceremony.In otherwords,theinceptionof
lifeis sociallymarkedpriorto the social recognitionof hereditary transmission.
Then thereis the factthat couvade restrictionsare meant to secure the child's
initial attachmentto life. Life, far from being taken for granted,is seen as
dependingas much on the attentionand care the child gets fromthe sharing
community,as on the child's will to live - and to live with a particularset of
parents(see Wagley1977: 135). The parentsdo not give lifeto the child, but
fosterits introductionwithin the longhouse communityof substance. It is
because newborn babies are guests of theirparents,on whom they exercise
exclusivedemand-sharing rightsas partoftheirprogressive incorporation within
the sharingcommunity,that Huaorani couvade restrictions, I have argued,
temporarily re-orderthe longhousesharingeconomy.Finally,thefatherand the
motherhave workedand made the babytogether;theyhave sharedthe capacity
to producekin. So the childcan also be said to createan enduringcouple out of
itsco-residingparents.The couvade,in thislight,represents a 'second marriage',
NOTES
I dedicatethisessaytomyCaneloQuichuafriend whohaspatiently
LeonardoViteri, explained
to me themeaningofAmazonianhusbandhood and to Ningui,my'littleson',
and fatherhood,
huinehiie,monitohuaponiquehuemonipa,
monitonanomoca, amonipa.Fieldworkamong the
manomay
Huaoraniwas supported bytheWennerGrenFoundation forAnthropological Research(Grant
#GR5146), withadditional funding fromtheLinneanSocietyofLondon.Theworkon whichthis
articleis basedwasoriginally presentedintheDepartment ofAnthropology atOxford,in October
1996.I amverygrateful to PeterRiviere,who inspired me towriteon Amazonianbirthrites,and
whocommented on earlierdrafts.
Manythanks alsotoMarilyn Strathern andEduardoViveiros de
Castrofortheirinvaluablecommentsand criticisms. I am grateful to SimonHarrisonforhis
editorial suggestions.
' Anydictionary definition (theone frommyPetit Robert forexample)mentions thattheword
'sexual'was coinedin 1742 froma Latinrootto describewhatis relativeto male and female
reproductive functions. The term'sexuality', coinedin 1838,was firstused by biologistsas a
synonym for'genitality',torefer tothesetoftraits characteristicofeachsex.Itwasnotbefore1924
thatsexuality came to meanall thebehaviours relating to sexualinstinct, sexualdesireand its
satisfaction. In otherwords,thenotionofsexuality as we knowithasdevelopedwiththebirthof
psychoanalysis.
2 Ironically enough,missionaries of theSummerInstitute of Linguistics (SIL) haveused this
wordto translate thehonourable, male-centred Biblicalterm'tobeget'.
I If livingtogether turnspeopleintothesamesubstance, theprocessis notirreversible. The
sharingof a commonsubstancelastsonlyas longas it is sustainedthrough continuous sharing
practices. It is notpermanent, andcanbe discontinued. However,reversing theprocessisa serious
matter. Individuals wholeaveone groupforanother undergoa changeofidentity, whichis usually
marked bytheadoption ofa differentpersonalname.Theyhavebecome'other'andcannotgoback
to thelonghousetheyleft,wheretheywouldbe takenformalevolent spirits,who havereturned
onlytokillanddevourtheirformer kin-associates.
4Da Matta (1982) was the firstanthropologist to stressthe importance of 'substance
relationships' in nativeAmazonia, andtodiscusstheconcomitant beliefthatparents influencethe
physical appearance andhealthoftheirchildren according to thefoodstheyeatoravoid.
I The brother-sister incestmyth,in whicha brother transforms himselfintoa mosquitoand
seduceshissisterbygetting intoherthroat,couldalsobe interpreted as a formofanimal-human
intercourse, butitdoesnothavetheeroticchargefoundin theothermyths(Rival1996b).
6 The suffix endingtapey derivesfrom- or at leastis relatedto - theexpression tey,which
indicates forceandvitality. The samesuffix is foundinmaney, theactionofinserting maniocstalks
intotheholeshastily createdwiththedigging stickintotheforest groundbeforetreefelling. The
expression teyisusedbyhunters whenblowinga dartthrough theblowpipe. Baromipa, on theother
hand,is alsousedtotalkaboutthemaking ofa blowpipeorspearbya manandthemaking ofa pot
REFERENCE
Department EliotCollege,
ofAnthropology, University KentCT2 7NS.
ofKent,Canterbury,
e-mail:l.m.rival@ukc.ac.uk