ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book is about the Nyakyusa people of Tanzania and the Ngonde of Malawi, who live on opposite sides of the Songwe river and who speak one language. It concerns how marriage relationships and relations between generations have changed between 1875, when written records began, and 1971, when a new marriage law for Tanzania was promulgated. The book outlines Nyakyusa-Ngonde society when first observed by professional anthropologists in 1934–8, together with an account of remembered history, archaeological evidence, and the written record. It discusses the significance of diversity as a key to the study of change, and the sources of evidence. The effects of employment for wages and of literacy are to draw men and women away from village preoccupations and engage them in the ideas and activities of a wider world.
