Premium
Patriarchy through lamentation in Azerbaijan
Author(s) -
GOLUBOFF SASCHA L.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
american ethnologist
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.875
H-Index - 78
eISSN - 1548-1425
pISSN - 0094-0496
DOI - 10.1111/j.1548-1425.2008.00007.x
Subject(s) - patriarchy , narrative , sorrow , gender studies , judaism , context (archaeology) , ethnography , sociology , identity (music) , history , anthropology , aesthetics , literature , art , archaeology
In this article, I analyze patriarchy through the lens of emotional discourse in and beyond death rituals among Mountain Jews in northeastern Azerbaijan. I argue that the time‐bound nature of female lamentation and the recent development of a popular narrative conceptualizing this genre as the custom defining Mountain Jewish identity in the Caucasus ultimately work to disempower women, reaffirming gender roles through narratives of suffering. Even though they use lamentations to address grievances within a context of increased outward migration, Mountain Jewish women cannot easily escape the conservative force that sorrow plays in their daily and ritual lives. [ Mountain Jews, Azerbaijan, death, feminist ethnography, emotion, women, mourning ]