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History of Human Marriage
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Historical SummaryThe problem of incest has been confused by the failure to distinguish two quite different sexual attitudes. The Trobriander just mentioned was interested in intrigues and new experience, and in the same line Westermarck says:
When I asked my Berber teacher from the Great Atlas whether marriages between cousins were frequent in his tribe, his answer was, "How could you love a girl whom you have always seen?"1
This attitude is in harmony with the whole body of Arabic poetry, which emphasizes the passionate episode on the carnal side and is paralleled by the Don Juan ideal in Europe.
Contrasted with this is the frequent marriage of cousins in primitive groups and the statement of Bogoras above that among the Chukchee children are married at a tender age, play together, grow up together, later tend herd together, become deeply attached, and often when one dies the other dies also of grief.
The individualistic, romantic, and play pattern of marriage and sex interest were historically developed, in Europe and the Orient. Among primitives the control of marriage was in the hands of families and sibs. It is true that personal inclination played a role; the girl was usually not given in marriage against her will. Passionate attachments were also not infrequent. But like the European "marriage of convenience" the exogamy pattern seems essentially an expression of family responsibility and policy.
1Westermarck, E.n/an/an/an/an/a, , 2: 194.
Chicago:
History of Human Marriage in Primitive Behavior: An Introduction to the Social Sciences, ed. Thomas, William I. (New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., 1937), Original Sources, accessed July 1, 2025, http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=Z3AYTFC883HFIGQ.
MLA:
. History of Human Marriage, Vol. 2, in Primitive Behavior: An Introduction to the Social Sciences, edited by Thomas, William I., New York, McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., 1937, Original Sources. 1 Jul. 2025. http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=Z3AYTFC883HFIGQ.
Harvard:
, History of Human Marriage. cited in 1937, Primitive Behavior: An Introduction to the Social Sciences, ed. , McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., New York. Original Sources, retrieved 1 July 2025, from http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=Z3AYTFC883HFIGQ.
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