The path of marriage : journeys and transformation in Manggarai, eastern Indonesia

Abstract

This article outlines the signficance of marriage in Manggarai, west Flores, as a series of journeys along paths. The notion of marriage as a 'path', widespread in eastern Indonesia, blurs the boundaries between real and symbolic trails. The complex intertwining of these paths and 'rooted' places, such as houses, dynamically constitutes Manggarai kinship and marriage