Hetarism

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Hetaerism ( Greek ἑταῖραι hetairai ( Hetäre ) "mates" - ism ) designates one of Johann Jacob Bachofen constructed and based on a specific gender order historical period, the original natural state is intended to represent the human race.

In his main work Das Mutterrecht (1861), in which he reconstructed the emergence of society using a three-step sequence (see also the history of matriarchal theories ), hetarianism, characterized by irregularity and structural promiscuity , represents the first step. This social relationship based on “natural law” was the prerequisite for the introduction of monogamous marriage by women and the subsequent elevation of society to the second level, demetric (marital) gynecocracy ( matriarchy ). With the help of the demetric regulation of motherhood, the gynecocracy rose above the principles of hetarianism, with natural law increasingly being supplanted by positive law . Despite the contradicting and mutually exclusive characteristics, both levels are based on the “basic principle of the rule of the child-bearing body” and the material (material / physical) nature that Bachofen ascribes to the female sex, which is the most pronounced in hetarianism . Over an intermediate stage ( Amazone ntum) the paternity ( patriarchy ), guided by the spiritually masculine principle, developed from these relationships and with this progress ensured the ascent of humanity. The individual stages merge into one another in the course of development, the previous always being the prerequisite for the following.

In his theory, Bachofen polarized the "sexual characters" to the "sexual characters" of two world ages, with the gender relationships determining the flowering and decay of human development. He gained his knowledge through the interpretation of ancient myths. For him these were nothing more than representations of the "folk experiences" of that time and thus suitable for drawing conclusions about the respective living conditions. Bachofen's idea of ​​the gender order on which hetarianism is based is taken up in ethnology today and referred to as “community” or “group marriage”.

Social and living conditions

According to Bachofen, the various peoples and tribes of historical prehistoric times lived as nomads in natural gender associations. A union of the two sexes only served the satisfaction of instincts and was dissolved again after the often public execution. Marital connections or an orderly family life have therefore not yet existed. The people had constantly changing sexual partners. Inbreeding was not only allowed, it was even considered a natural imperative. According to Bachofen, the symbol of the sexually permissive conditions is the dog, which, thanks to its strongly pronounced sexual instinct, through which it is constantly ready to reproduce and uninhibitedly, uses every opportunity to satisfy its instinct, ideally the "principle of animal procreation that existed at this time" “Express.

The people are said to have lived in “swamp vegetation” and worshiped plants and animals on moist swamp grounds. The swamp is symbolic of this irregular epoch, which Bachofen also referred to as the "unworthy childhood of human history". Everyday life was a struggle for survival in which the community was determined by male violence due to the lack of established laws in the sense of the right of the strong ( natural law ). Personal property also did not yet exist in this epoch, which is why the belongings were in common ownership within a clan, which mostly consisted of blood relatives. Only sexual intercourse with a stranger was considered adultery and was punishable by death. Such a community consequently reproduces itself exclusively within the family, which strengthened the sense of unity. According to Bachofen, the group members see themselves as siblings as a result of the consequences of the promiscuous living conditions. The principle of love existing within a clan was thus contrasted with the principle of enmity against strangers, Bachofen attributing the latter to the man. The union, on the other hand, starts out from women, based on the love that connects them with their children, which for Bachofen represents "the only illumination of moral darkness" of this age.

Bachofen's portrayal of hetarianism as an "irregular" period contrasts with his remarks on the existing principles. To what extent everyday life was now lawless, or subject to higher-level guidelines such as natural law, remains unclear.

Position of woman

The natural law that existed at the time of hetarianism attributes to women, on the basis of their material nature, an indecent character through which they "long for continuous fertilization". On the basis of this assumption, unconditional sexual availability was expected from them and, if necessary, also forcibly demanded. Women with a high number of former sexual partners were particularly popular with men. On the other hand, older female virgins received less attention.

The children were raised together by the women of a community. The work involved, such as u. a. the erection of the houses was also done by the women, giving them an active role in production.

Women and children of a clan were seen as the common property of the men. Given the poor position of the female tribal members, it is not surprising that in the course of the introduction of individual private property in the further course of the hetarian period, trading in women was also common. Prostitution was also widespread (cf. hetaera ) and was a guarantee for marital chastity .

Because of their physical inferiority, the women were arbitrarily abused and dominated by the men. Frustrated and humiliated, they are said to have longed for more civilized conditions.

Nevertheless, maternal rights ( matrilineal descent, matrilocality ) already existed in this age . Through the birth, the children were automatically tied to the mother, from which the naming after this and the higher social appreciation of the birth result. This also resulted in the emphasis on the sister children, as well as in the further development of the gynecocracy .

Position of man

Due to the prevailing law of nature, the man had advantages over the woman due to his physical superiority, from which Bachofen also derived a higher position of power. On the basis of the right of the fittest, the entire age has been dominated and ruled by men. The claim to unconditional sexual satisfaction by the female tribal members, who are regarded as common property of men, was also enforced in this way.

The clans were ruled by a male leader, who was often the elder. His wives and children, unlike the others, are said not to have been in common ownership. Therefore, the abuse of the leader's wives was a criminal offense.

In tribal conservation, the influence and role of the man was limited to procreation , because under such conditions no concept of individual fatherhood could develop.

If at all, the mothers assigned the children to the fathers on the basis of outward resemblance, whereby the chosen man was formally declared the father and had no choice but to recognize the child. Since reproduction was in the hands of women because of the ability to give birth, the “power of man to produce” in contrast to the “power of woman to give birth” was regarded as irrelevant. The determination of family membership according to the mother also reflects the low position of the fathers.

End of the hetarian period

Bachofen sees the starting point for the further development of mankind in the humiliation of women. Out of anger and despair and longing for regulated conditions with pure morality, she had taken up the fight with the degrading hetarism. According to Bachofen, this violent Amazonian increase in hetarianism is a “degeneration” of the female sex.

The contradiction between the promiscuous female nature on the one hand and the degradation felt by women on the other persists in Bachofen's remarks.

After all, instead, the religious and peaceful nature that Bachofen assigned to the female sex had an educational effect on men, through which, with the introduction of monogamous marriage, it enabled the rise of the demetric gynecocracy dominated by women. This advance of the female sex was preceded by a considerable offense of the same.

The principles underlying the two cultural stages, the hetarian and the demetric, would also be in a mutually repressing competition in the further course of development. During the transition from gynecocracy to paternity, the hetarian again gained the upper hand and, with increasing moral decline, led to the dissolution of the political organization. Based on the Roman idea of the state against it but ultimately the Apollonian patriarchy ( Patriarchate enforced).

In contrast to other theories about the development of society (e.g. Plato ), this one initially has a disordered unity (perceived brotherhood through free gender mixing), which in the course of development differentiates itself into an orderly plurality (formation of individual partnerships).

Bachofen's method

Bachofen gained the knowledge for his theory from the interpretation of ancient symbols and myths. Among other things, he relied on Herodotus .

Herodotus reports about the Ethiopian Ausern, who are said to have lived on the Trionic swamp lake : "They secretly use women and mate with them like cattle without living with them at home." In this Bachofen sees the sexual irregularity of the hetarian times. The principle of animal procreation is also symbolized by the dog, which the Ethiopians revered as a deity. The terms "kyon (dog)" and "kyein (receive)", which are based on the same root, reinforce this interpretation.

Other Ethiopian tribes, on the other hand, would have been closer to the principle of mother law. Bachofen takes from a message from Nikolaos of Damascus : “The Ethiopians honor their sisters very well. The kings leave their rule not to their own children, but to their sister children. If there is no more inheritance, they choose the most beautiful and most arguable as their leader ”. According to Bachofen, the highlighting of the sister children is a necessary consequence of maternal law, because even if there was no individual inheritance system due to the lack of private ownership, the succession to the throne was already subject to a matrilineal principle and also illustrates the irrelevance of the father figure.

Bachofen interpreted the prerequisite for a hetarian period for the further development of society. B. on the basis of a report about the inhabitants of the Balearic Islands . It says: “They have a strange custom on wedding night. Namely, at the wedding feast, the oldest of the friends and acquaintances attends the bride first, and so the others in turn, depending on whether one is younger than the other, and the bridegroom is the last to receive this honor. ”This custom illustrates the religious idea on which these states are based. Since the exclusivity of marriage interferes with the natural law of mother earth , the unchastity of the wedding night represents a sacrifice for the mother of nature in order to appease her and convince her of monogamy . It was believed, therefore, that a man could only own a woman after he had left her to others. Transferred to the two ages, the hetarian period is consequently a necessary means to pass into gynecocracy . Even if Bachofen consistently rated this age negatively, it expresses the great importance that he nevertheless ascribes to hetarianism.

Bachofen’s theory of mother right is consistently based on such narratives. The number of his cited examples is considerable.

Receptions

In addition to Bachofen, other scientists (e.g. Lafiteau 1724, McLennan 1865, Lubbock 1870) dealt with the history of human development and the idea of ​​a female-dominated past. However, he was the only one who developed an evolutionist model based on the gender order.

A few years after the publication of the "Mother Law", the judge Albert Hermann Post (1839–1895) published his work The Gender Cooperative of Primeval Times and the Origin of Marriage. Taking into account Bachofen's results, he also examined the gender relations of prehistoric times. His investigation is limited to the premarital period and thus corresponds to the hetarianism in Bachofen's model. He comes to similar results, but also includes the custom of raping women in the premarital period. For him this forms the starting point for the introduction of marriage.

In the work Ancient Society published in 1877, the anthropologist Lewis Henry Morgan (1818–1881), who is also referred to as the second ancestor of the matriarchal idea , sketched three successive, universal stages of human development in the same way. It begins with the stage of savagery, which has characteristics similar to the period of hetaerism. In addition to the matrilineal inheritance practices, the people, hardly distinguishable from animals, were "poor in intellectual powers and even poorer in moral feeling". But even Morgan attaches a value to this level that should not be underestimated, despite the negative assessment, since for him, too, the germ for the further development of mankind lies in it. It was only through his work that the “mother right”, which had little success during Bachofen's lifetime, became more popular. This was followed by numerous new interpretations and further developments of his ideas from various areas of the social sciences. In addition to ethnologists ( Morgan , Schmidt), sociologists (Borneman), political philosophers ( Marx and Engels , who even praised Bachofen in the foreword of his work on the origin of the family, private property and the state for its ingenuity) via psychoanalysts ( Freud ) , Theologians and religious scholars (Frazer, Bernoulli) through to feminists of the 20th century (Göttner-Abendroth) and many others in the discussion around the matriarchy idea. The ideas about the origins of mankind are very different in the continuations.

In his research on matriarchy , the doctor and analyst Otto Gross (1877–1920) did not - like most - build on the demetric gynecocracy , but on heterism. Similar to Bachofen's model, violence and crime directed against women are at the beginning of human history. He concludes that “the inner suffering of mankind”, which currently exists, results from this oppression and that the way out can only be reached through the revival of the Astarten cult . Gross assigns monotheistic Judaism a share of the responsibility for the oppression. An idea that later found widespread use in the national women's movement.

In early ethnology (ethnology) the thesis of group marriage as a universal origin of marriage was widespread, but could be refuted by more recent studies. Group marriage (polygynandry) describes a special form of polygamy still practiced in primitive peoples today , in which a certain number of men and women enter into a relationship, whereby everyone is married to everyone and is considered a legitimate sexual partner.

literature

  • Johann Jacob Bachofen: The mother right: an investigation into the gynecocracy of the old world according to its religious and legal nature. In: Hans-Jürgen Heinrichs (Ed.): Suhrkamp-Taschenbuch Wissenschaft. Volume 135.Suhrkamp, ​​Frankfurt am Main 1980, ISBN 3-518-07735-X .
  • Beate Wagner-Hasel: Matriarchy theories of ancient studies. In: Ways of Research. Volume: 651. Buchges., Darmstadt 1992, ISBN 3-534-01496-0 .
  • Thomas Späth, Beate Wagner-Hasel: Women's Worlds in Antiquity : Gender Order and Female Life Practice. Metzler, Stuttgart 2006, ISBN 3-476-02175-0 .
  • Eva-Maria Ziege: The meaning of anti-Semitism in the reception of the mother-right theory. In: AG Gender-Killer (Ed.): Anti-Semitism and gender: of "effeminate Jews", "masculinized Jews" and other gender images. Unrast, Münster 2005, ISBN 3-89771-439-6 .
  • Sonja Distler: Mothers, Amazons & Triune Goddesses: A Psychological Analysis of the Feminist Matriarchy Debate. Picus, Vienna 1989. ISBN 3-85452-209-6 .
  • Irmgard Roebling: Lulu, Lilith, Mona Lisa ...: Images of women at the turn of the century. In: Women in History and Society. Volume 14. Centaurus-Verl.-Ges., Pfaffenweiler 1989, ISBN 3-89085-318-8 .
  • Karl Meuli, Fritz Husner: Johann Jacob Bachofens collected works. Letters. In: Johann Jacob Bachofen's collected works / with use of the estate. Volume: 10. Schwabe, Stuttgart / Basel 1967.
  • Albert Hermann Post: The sex cooperative of primeval times and the origin of marriage. A contribution to a general comparative political science and law. Verlag der Schulzeschen Buchhandlung, Oldenburg 1875.
  • Rudolf Grau: Group marriage, an ethnographic problem. In: Studies on Ethnology. Volume: 5th work group, Leipzig 1931.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Johann Jacob Bachofen: The mother right: an investigation into the gynecocracy of the old world according to its religious and legal nature . In: Hans-Jürgen Heinrichs (Ed.): Suhrkamp-Taschenbuch Wissenschaft . tape 135 . Suhrkamp, ​​Frankfurt am Main 1980, ISBN 3-518-07735-X , p. 34 ff .
  2. ↑ Eva-Maria Ziege: The meaning of anti-Semitism in the reception of the mother-right theory. In: HG Gender-Killer (Hrsg.): Anti-Semitism and gender: from "effeminate Jews", "masculinized Jews" and other gender images . 1st edition. Unrast, 2005, ISBN 3-89771-439-6 , pp. S146 .
  3. ^ Johann Jacob Bachofen: The mother right. An Inquiry into the Ancient World Gynecocracy by Its Religious and Legal Nature. A selection. In: Hans-Jürgen Heinrichs (Ed.): Suhrkamp-Taschenbuch Wissenschaft . 1st edition. tape 135 . Suhrkamp, ​​Stuttgart 1861, p. 34 .
  4. ^ Eva Maria Ziege: The meaning of anti-Semitism in the reception of the mother-right theory . In: AG Gender-Killer (ed.): Anti-Semitism and gender: of "effeminate Jews", "masculinized Jews" and other gender images . Unrast, Münster 2005, ISBN 3-89771-439-6 , p. 146 .
  5. ^ Peter Hug, Junkerngasse 34, CH-3011 Bern: Hetärismus | eLexicon. Retrieved May 15, 2017 .
  6. ↑ Johann Jacob Bachofen: The mother right: an investigation into the gynecocracy of the old world according to its religious and legal nature . In: Hans-Jürgen Heinrichs (Ed.): Suhrkamp-Taschenbuch Wissenschaft . 1st edition. tape 135 . Suhrkamp, ​​Frankfurt am Main 1975, p. 77 .
  7. ↑ Johann Jacob Bachofen: The mother right: an investigation into the gynecocracy of the old world according to its religious and legal nature . In: Hans-Jürgen Heinrichs (Ed.): Suhrkamp-Taschenbuch Wissenschaft . 1st edition. tape 135 . Suhrkamp, ​​Frankfurt am Main 1975, p. 33 .
  8. ↑ Johann Jacob Bachofen: The mother right: an investigation into the gynecocracy of the old world according to its religious and legal nature . In: Hans-Jürgen Heinrichs (Ed.): Suhrkamp-Taschenbuch Wissenschaft . 1st edition. tape 135 . Suhrkamp, ​​Frankfurt am Main 1975, p. 29 .
  9. ^ Eva Cantarella: Between Roman legal history and social sciences . In: Beate Wagner-Hasel (ed.): Matriarchy theories of ancient studies . Knowledge Buchges., Darmstadt 1992, ISBN 3-534-01496-0 , pp. 273 .
  10. ↑ Sonja Distler: Mothers, Amazons & Triune Goddesses: A Psychological Analysis of the Feminist Matriarchy Debate . Picus Verlag, Vienna 1989, ISBN 3-85452-209-6 , p. 63 .
  11. ↑ Johann Jacob Bachofen: The mother right: an investigation into the gynecocracy of the old world according to its religious and legal nature . Ed .: Hans-Jürgen Heinrichs. 1st edition. tape 135 . Suhrkamp, ​​Stuttgart 1975, p. 83 .
  12. ↑ George Derwent Thomson: Matrilinear kinship among the early Greeks . In: Beate Wagner-Hasel (ed.): Matriarchy theories of ancient studies . Knowledge Buchges., Darmstadt 1992, ISBN 3-534-01496-0 , pp. 76 .
  13. ↑ Johann Jacob Bachofen: The mother right: an investigation into the gynecocracy of the old world according to its religious and legal nature . In: Hans-Jürgen Heinrichs (Hrsg.): Suhrkamp-Taschenbuch der Wissenschaft . tape 135 . Suhrkamp, ​​Frankfurt am main, p. 1975 .
  14. ↑ Simon Pembroke: Women in supremacy . In: Beate Wagner-Hasel (ed.): Matriarchy theories of ancient studies . Suhrkamp, ​​Darmstadt 1992, ISBN 3-534-01496-0 , pp. 105 .
  15. ^ Eva Maria Ziege: The meaning of anti-Semitism in the reception of the mother-right theory . In: AG Gender-Killer (ed.): Anti-Semitism and gender: of "effeminate Jews", "masculinized Jews" and other gender images . 1st edition. Unrast, Münster 2005, ISBN 3-89771-439-6 , p. 145 .
  16. ↑ Johann Jacob Bachofen: The mother right: an investigation into the gynecocracy of the old world according to its religious and legal nature . In: Hans-Jürgen Heinrichs (Ed.): Suhrkamp-Taschenbuch Wissenschaft . 1st edition. tape 135 . Suhrkamp, ​​Frankfurt am Main 1975, p. 78 .
  17. ↑ Johann Jacob Bachofen: The mother right: an investigation into the gynecocracy of the old world according to its religious and legal nature . In: Hans-Jürgen Heinrichs (Hrsg.): Suhrkamp-Taschenbuch der Wissenschaft . 1st edition. tape 135 . Suhrkamp, ​​Frankfurt am Main 1975, p. 80 .
  18. ↑ Johann Jacob Bachofen: The mother right: an investigation into the gynecocracy of the old world according to its religious and legal nature . In: Hans-Jürgen Heinrichs (Ed.): Suhrkamp-Taschenbuch Wissenschaft . 1st edition. tape 135 . Suhrkamp, ​​Frankfurt am Main 1975, p. 90 .
  19. ↑ Johann Jacob Bachofen: The mother right: an investigation into the gynecocracy of the old world according to its religious and legal nature . In: Hans-Jürgen Heinrichs (Ed.): Suhrkamp-Taschenbuch Wissenschaft . 1st edition. tape 135 . Suhrkamp, ​​Frankfurt am Main 1975, p. 80 .
  20. ^ Samuel Salzborn: Classics of the social sciences: 100 key works in portrait . Springer, 2016, ISBN 978-3-658-13212-5 , pp. 49 .
  21. ^ Albert Hermann Post: The gender cooperative of primeval times and the origin of marriage. A contribution to a general comparative political science and law . Schulzeschen Buchhandlung, Oldenburg 1875, p. 54 ff .
  22. ↑ Beate Wagner-Hasel: Matriarchy Theories of Ancient Studies . In: Ways of Research . tape 651 . Knowledge Buchges., Darmstadt 1992, ISBN 3-534-01496-0 , pp. 5 .
  23. ^ Samuel Salzborn: Classics of the social sciences: 100 key works in portrait . 2016, ISBN 978-3-658-13212-5 , pp. 54 ff .
  24. ↑ Louis Gernet: The mother right. Review . In: Beate Wagner-Hasel (ed.): Matriarchy theories of ancient studies . Knowledge Buchges., Darmstadt 1992, ISBN 3-534-01496-0 , pp. 84 .
  25. ↑ Between legal history and social sciences . In: Beate Wagner-Hasel (ed.): Matriarchy theories of ancient studies . Knowledge Buchges., Darmstadt 1992, ISBN 3-534-01496-0 , pp. 263 .
  26. ^ Samuel Salzborn: Classics of the social sciences: 100 key works in portrait . 2016, ISBN 978-3-658-13212-5 , pp. 49 .
  27. ↑ Eva Maria Ziega: The importance of anti-Semitism in the reception of matriarchy theory . In: AG Gender-Killer (Ed.): Anti-Semitism and gender: of "effeminate Jews", "masculinized Jews" and other gender images . Unrast, Münster 2005, p. 153 f .
  28. ↑ Heinrich Schurtz: Age classes and male bands . Рипол Классик, 1902, ISBN 978-5-87929-599-3 ( limited preview in Google Book Search).
  29. ↑ Group marriage. Retrieved May 15, 2017 .
  30. ^ Dorsch Lexikon der Psychologie - Verlag Hans Huber - keyword detail page. Retrieved May 15, 2017 .