A compensação matrimonial decorrente da prática do Lobolo no município da Matola: estudo de caso no bairro da Matola-Gare (2018-2020)

Abstract

The present study deals with the matrimonial compensation provided in the lobolo practice. The main argument states that the matrimonial compensation (financial and material goods) delivered to the bride's family group by the groom or his representatives, should not be conceived only as the recognition of the social value (prestige) and the bride's qualities defined by her family members, it can also be seen as a means used to legitimize the maintenance and control of patrilineal descent; as well as the acquisition of power by the bridegroom over the bride, starting to show leadership status in his family, and the instrument used in the woman's purchase. In this research, we resort to the phenomenological theory advocated by Schutz (1979) that advocates the study of human experiences, having allowed us to seek the subjective meaning that the relatives of the lobolo's protagonist brides attribute to the act of delivering matrimonial compensation at the lobolo ceremony. We believe that this perception emerges on the basis of subjective experiences arising from daily experiences culturally defined and codified by social actors, constituting their stock of knowledge from which one seeks to analyze, interpret and assign the meaning to the world around them. Using qualitative research for data collection, achieved by semi-structured interviews, direct observation, informal conversations and public opinion, relativity was found in the conception of the social phenomenon - matrimonial compensation delivered to the lobolo, among the social actors, product of their complexity