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Paraiyar Drummers of Sri Lanka: consensus and constraint in an untouchable caste
Author(s) -
MCGILVRAY DENNIS B.
Publication year - 1983
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 - 10.1525/ae.1983.10.1.02a00060
Subject(s) - caste , tamil , hinduism , sri lanka , kinship , honor , sociology , clan , gender studies , constraint (computer aided design) , anthropology , social science , geography , socioeconomics , political science , south asia , religious studies , law , mathematics , philosophy , geometry , computer science , operating system , linguistics
While a number of writers have argued that untouchable castes in South Asia are alienated from, and exploited by, the larger high‐caste society and culture of which they are the lowest part, Moffatt has recently argued that untouchables in Tamilnadu, south India, nevertheless share a deep “cultural consensus” with the higher castes concerning the basic values and assumptions of the caste system. Using contrasting data on untouchable Tamil Paraiyar Drummers in two locations in eastern Sri Lanka, this paper supports the consensus theory but also points to major constraints imposed on low‐caste culture and social organization by prevailing political, economic, and demographic conditions. [Tamil untouchable castes, Sri Lanka, cultural consensus theory, purity versus kingly honor, matrilineal kinship, Hinduism]