In Cambodia, it is common to see public announcements in newspapers, on bulletin boards, or in public letters. This talk introduces preliminary research into a genre of announcements that disown family members. Why do Cambodians dissolve kinship claims in such public ways? Anthropologists have theorized that kinship, lineage, and genealogy are not merely biological; they are also social. From adoption (Clarke 2007), to organ donation (Sharp 2006), to artificial insemination and surrogacy (Roberts 2013), debates over who does—and does not—count as kin are not so clearcut (Feeley-Harnik 2019). Much of the literature on kinship focuses primarily on processes of inclusion or “kinning” (Howell 2006): how non-kin are integrated into the family when there is no prior lineage. What is rarely studied are the processes of exclusion or “dekinning” (ibid): how individuals are disowned and cast out of the family. Cambodian disownment announcements tell us that breaking family ties is not as simple as drifting apart or cutting off all forms of communication. Cambodians must make their claims public so that others may know that—contrary to descent, genealogy, and blood ties—the social bond between them and their ex-kin has been severed. This talk further juxtapose disownment announcements with missing persons announcements in the aftermath of the Khmer Rouge (1975-79) as Cambodians seek long lost relatives who were separated during the communist regime. What role do these announcements play in shaping kinship claims when they are used to both find missing family as well as separate from them?

Cheryl Yin is an Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Carleton College in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology. A linguistic anthropologist with expertise in Cambodia and Khmer (Cambodian) language, she is currently revising her book manuscript Language & Morality: Being Modern in Early 21st Century Cambodia (working title). Her research argues that contestations about Khmer (Cambodian) language are ultimately contestations about how to (re)define Cambodian national identity after decades of turmoil and then accelerated economic growth. Cheryl was born and raised in Long Beach, CA and is a first-generation scholar, earning her BA from Pitzer College before receiving her MA and PhD in Anthropology from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Before Carleton, she was Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Fellow at UC Berkeley in the Department of South and Southeast Asian Studies from 2021-2023.

Sponsor(s): Center for Southeast Asian Studies