Kuria Generation Classes

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Periodical article

Title:	Kuria Generation Classes
Author:	Ruel, Malcolm J.
Year:	1962
Periodical:	Africa: Journal of the International African Institute
Volume:	32
Issue:	1
Period:	January
Pages:	14-37
Language:	English
Geographic terms:	Kenya Tanzania
Subjects:	Kuria generations Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups)
External links:	https://www.jstor.org/stable/1157292 https://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&res_dat=xri:pao:&rft_dat=xri:pao:article:4011-1962-032-00-000002
Abstract:	Amongst the Bantu-speaking Kuria, inhabiting the country east of Lake Victoria, where they straddle the Tanganyika-Kenya boundary, two distinct forms of age-grouping exist: age-sets and generation classes, which are institutionally distinct and operate in different ways within the society. This paper deals with the generation classes and describes 1. The political context of the system, the provincial communities; 2, the formal arrangement of the classes as a system of ascribed statuses and relationships; 3. The sequence of class ritual which serves to maintain Glass Coevality, and the social features of this characteristic. The paper considers then the functions of class membership and in a concluding summary of the system draws certain parallels between the generation classes and the comparable institutions of other East African peoples. Map; Tables; Figures; Bibliography; French Summary.