Padrino e compadre: analisi di un rapporto di scambio tra i Huave di San Mateo del Mar, Oxaca, Messico

Abstract

The article examines the institution of compadrazgo in the culture of the
Huaves of San Mateo del Mar (Oaxaca, Mexico). It confirms the thesis that
compadrazgo can function as an element leading to the creation of group
alliances the same way that marriage does. The Huave ideal is two join two
groups, one the bestowers and the other the receivers of godparenthoods, in
a one-way asymmetrical relationship. The groups that enter into this relationship
are called « lines ›› in this article, because they do not coincide with
any corporate group but rather form sa thin line that descends from an
original bestower to his -son, his son°~s son, and so on. (Indeecl, there is no
corporate group in this society, Which has a bilateral parental system, albeit
With a strong patrilinear orientation).
The article also confirms Hamm-el°~s hypothesis (1968) that Latin-American
models of compadrazgo should resemble the Serbian ones he studied in areas
of agnatic empharsis, low mobility, ethnic homogeneity, and economic stagnation.
80