Part of the 'London School of Economics Monographs on Social Anthropology' series.
This book presents a broad analysis of the symbolism of reproduction, an exploration of the core metaphors and practices of human sexual and social reproduction in their persona, social and cosmological contexts. It aims to offer specific cultural answers to a range of questions.
What is the relation of human fertility to that of plants, animals and the land? Which fluids must be present for a woman to become pregnant? How marginal or contingent is the male procreative role considered to be? What factors determine the gender, health or strength of a child? What metaphors are used to explain an act and a process historically held as both mysterious and essential? Are there any constraints to the ways in which different societies have answered these questions?
The book focuses on the construction of the gendered person, from foetus into childhood, and the wider implications of gender identity. Special attention is paid to the physical and symbolic role of certain substances - menstrual and arterial blood, semen, breast-milk and food - in the creation and character of foetus and infant.
This analysis of the gendered metaphors of procreation is illustrated with a wide range of case material, drawn from European peasant societies and from communities in Africa, Asia-Pacific and Latin America.
