Relations of Authority and Submission through Dance during Wedding Festivity

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to investigate and explore the developing relationships based on power/hegemony, inferiority and equality between the newlyweds’ families of different ethnic groups during the festivities connected with the wedding ceremony, and particularly with the traditional dancing. Data were collected largely based on the principles of ethnographic method as well as on the use of primary and secondary sources related to fieldwork with the form of participating observation from researchers’ point of view. For the analyses of data both the methodological model, proposed by Van Gennep (1960) and Gramcsi’s theory (1971) about cultural hegemony, were exploited. With respect to data analyses, it has been established that the groom’s parents gain leadership and dominance over the bride’s family during the wedding ceremony, and especially during the dancing procedures.

DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2016.v7n2s1p395