Doing Being Senior/Junior

In this article, I will reconsider the naming and kinship relationships of the !Xun San in north-central Namibia from the perspective of child socialization. I will thereby deconstruct the naturalized view in which ‘relative age’ (a concept to indicate the age sequence between two persons, positioned relatively from older to younger) and ‘generational distance’ (a concept to indicate the character of the relational space between relatives, positioned relatively from senior to junior) are conceptualized based on ‘absolute age’ (years objectively measured in terms of the time that has passed since one’s birth). I will then demonstrate a view in which relative age and even absolute age become socially explicit, although not always in the context of social relations ordered by generational distance. !Xun children are considered to be socialized as they participate in social relations associated with generational distance and become proficient in the appropriate conduct therein.