Porto-Novo : royauté, localité et parenté.

Abstract

M.-J. Pineau-Jamous — Porto-Novo: Kingship, Kinship and Locality. Porto-Novo city-State is considered here as a total entity centred upon the kingship through a couple of supernatural media: the lineage vodun and the ward ancestors. The structural value of these two media is elucidated by the study of one of the wards. The lineage vodun, as outward oriented, binds the ward with a place of origin, with other wards, and with the kingship. The founding ancestor, as inward oriented, is at the origin of internai ward-segmentation. Finally, a study of the royal palace shows how, within its confines, both media assume a peculiar meaning which makes it appear as a microcosm of the whole kingdom.

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