This is from a blog post of a woman study fox bats in Madagascar, and what she's realized about the differing definitions of family in the western world and Madagascar. She studies at Princeton, and she and a colleague had been doing a fellowship in Madagascar with a guide, Christian. She said this guide welcomed them into his home, invited them to his wedding, and truly made them feel part of the family, in the spirit of fihavanana, or family, in Malagasy. She then came to realize the way that people in Madagascar truly do view family as more than just people you're related to by blood and marriage - it is something deeply related to shared experience and friendship. I'm curious to see how this will impact my life, as I've made one of the focal points of junior year to be friendship. I think the education we get from our friends is unique and special and should be valued for being educational. I think a lot of people at Stanford are told their social life should come before their school life because that's what drives success and ultimate well being, but I think I prefer to subscribe to the Malagasy view of Fihavanana - that those who we share experiences with shape us deeply and are truly a part of our family. It has always seemed arbitrary to me that families are based in blood or marriage (two very arbitrary parameters), and I'm excited to see how this manifests in Madagascar.
http://voices.nationalgeographic.com/2014/08/29/my-fihavanana-malagasy-at-home-on-the-eighth-continent/
Michaela, thanks for sharing this! Super interesting! You made me curious to find out more about the Malagasy understanding of family, so I looked up another source and found this:
ReplyDelete"A “family,” therefore, in Madagascar is much larger than in Europe and America. This is brought home more forcibly when we learn that the Malagasy language has no word for “aunt” or “uncle” or “cousin."
Cousins are all “brothers” and “sisters,” aunts and uncles are “mothers” and “fathers.” Children belong to the whole family, or clan, not more
Untitled-2.jpgto the parents than to anyone else. Everyone is related, in the very real sense that all the members in this extended family are truly in intimate relationship with one another. A child is precious to all, and grows up with a constant and profound sense of being accepted."
Imagine not only enlarging your family with your friends, but with as many mothers as aunts, as many fathers as uncles.:-)
Source:http://www.lasalette.org/index.php/la-salette-news/la-salette-news-worldwide/197-madagascar-and-family-life
Read with eyes open as there's a reference to a population of 8.5 million which is a bit off...but there also seems to be truth enough.
-E