Sex and Semiotics

SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY, FOLKLORE, AND LINGUISTICS are disciples interested in semiotic research work. Semiotics themselves are defined by Margaret Mead as patterned communications in all modalities,' a definition including all the communication forms and signs conducive to the development or the cessation of contact between the two sexes. By means of signs the girl and the young man obtain knowledge of the intention and the feelings of one another and let each other know that sexual intercourse is possible in certain situations. The signs inform of feelings and purposes and often express the opinion of the parents about the possibilities of marriage. The present paper includes some of my observations in this field as well as some data published in earlier ethnological literature and coming for the most part from the Hungarian culture area. In Sark6z, County Tolna, the girls go in bands to the vineyard when the grapes are ripening in autumn in order to drive off the birds by means of flappers and other noise. They are occasionally visited by the village lads, and they joke and sing together. The girls have ring-shaped bracelets of baked paste, while the lads have a stick in the hand. If a girl puts her bracelet on the stick of a lad, this is understood as an invitation for the evening to be spent in the halo tanya, (Model I, see conclusions). The sleeping house is actually a hut in the vineyard with bed linen for the girls to sleep on. In the evening the girls and lads enjoy themselves together under the supervision of an old woman. Nevertheless, it may happen that one or more of the girls get pregnant. The old women then take care of these girls and sooner or later marry them off.2 The sexual sense of the bracelet placed on the stick is quite obvious. In the Kalotaszeg region of Transylvania, the girls and lads meet in the evening at the common village well. If a girl ties a bunch of flowers on her water vessel when going to the well, she indicates that her lover will be welcome in the barn or the stable. If the lad accepts the invitation, he will fill the girl's vessel with

Linguistics · Semiotics · Sociology · Anthropology · Gender Studies in Language · History · Philosophy