ABSTRACT
The Traditional and the Kristevan ‘Family’ In Le féminin et le sacré (Kristeva and Clément 1998b), Catherine Clément suggests that the separation between maternal and paternal function in contemporary society begins with the separation between maternity and paternity. Maternity is the mother’s unquestionable domain, with gestation and birth giving her indubitable maternal claim upon the newborn. Paternity, however, is more problematic. Paternity claims rely solely on the mother’s word and that uncertainty on the father’s part regarding his paternity has given rise to an array of cultural events aiming at reassuring him and securing his claims over the child’s paternity.
