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The Mbuti people, "the pygmies of the Ituri Forest", have long been considered the nucleus of pygmy groups in Equatorial Africa, and have been studied by Sche besta, Gusinde, Putnam, and Turnbull. to name a few. Most of these studies were mainly somatometrical or concerned with the society, culture and religion, for the most part overlooking the ecological aspect. Until this time, few studies made by researchers directly involved in observing and participating in the hunting-gathering style of life have gone into an in-depth, ecology-focused approach to that life. C. M. Turnbull, in his book, "The Mbuti Pygmies: An Ethnographic Survey" (1965a), divides the Mbuti people into net hunters and archers. and summarizes ethnographic data gathered by Schebesta and Putnam, which he then uses to compare the two groups. He makes the point that the hunting-gathering economy exerts a great influence upon Mbuti society and ideology, tending to regulate their way of life. However. his data and analysis of actual hunting activities do not seem sufficient enough to prove this point. The same is the case with previous research of band societies around the world: It has often been stated that a hunting-gathering economy brings forth nomadism, division of labor according to sex, co-operation of labor, egalitarianism, distribution of food among the group, etc. Subsequently, studies have been undertaken to discover how these factors work to regulate the social life, social structure and ideology of a given hunting-gathering group. However, each time substantial investigation of the various hunting and food gathering activities themselves. which support the hunting-gathering economy, seems to have been left out. Cultural anthropologists who take the standpoint of cultural ecology discuss the relationships between the culture of a given group and its natural environment, but they make only a general description of both the natural environment involved, and of the actual association of the culture to that environment. This paper. as the first report on the ecological-anthropological studies of the Mbuti people. deals mainly with hunting, one of their subsistence activities. illustrating its various features and attempting to discuss the data I have obtained. Since the focus of this paper is on hunting activities, I will not cover the general life of the Mbuti people; the more general economic activities, social life, ideology, and so on. I will deal with these problems in another report. Here, I want to make it the ultimate object to gain clearer comprehension of Mbuti life, society, and mentality by concentrating on Mbuti hunting, which is closely connected with nature. This account obtained by first-hand observation of hunting activities, will illustrate the general hunting methods of the Mbuti people, and discuss the mode of existence of the Mbuti band. T. Tanno is to make a more detailed analysis of net hunting.
The tale portrays the unhappy life of a dove. Constantly surrounded by enemies, hunted by human beings and animals, disappointed by friends and separated from her family, the dove despairs of her life. She ponders over her unjust fate in this world and in a monologue she begins to consider, whether it would not be better to end her own life. This tragic theme forms the climax of several episodes, in which the tension between life and death is described. The elaborate development of dramatic acts demonstrates the intertwining of guilt and innocence in human existence.
Tenkodogo, a township situated in the south-eastern part of Burkina Faso on the road leading from the capital Ouagadougou to the Togo border, has approximately 29,000 inhabitants. It is Burkina's seventh largest town and is the location of the regional government of the Boulgou-Province. This regional government is represented by a high-commissioner and a "préfet" as it is the residence of a traditional ruler, otherwise known as Tenkodogo-naaba. His sphere of influence covers many villages and hamlets in the region: in total he is the sovereign of nearly 120,000 people. The power of the traditional rulers was curtailed first by the arrival and following overrule of the French colonialists and then after independence by Sankara and his revolutionary government. The kings ceased to be the ultimate judges who were able to determine life and death of their subjects. Henceforth they were no longer allowed to recruit subjects for certain work on their fields, and they no longer could claim control over the allocation of resources. Their position was strengthened anew by Sankara's successor in office, Blaise Campaore, who quickly recognized that collaborating with the traditional rulers could only be of advantage: in fact they later proved to be his best supporters in the election campaign.
All over the world meat plays an important role in the nutrition of people. Mostly it is considered to be a special source of strength and health. In many peoples' minds the consumption of animal products, such as muscle, fat, blood, inner organs and bones, is much more associated with vital strength than a vegetarian meal. A reason for this may be the inherent physical similarity between human being and animal, especially mammals. There are other ways of producing meat, such as hunting and fishing, but today the most common method is butchering. The people in Tenkodogo consider beef to be an excellent meat. We will focus our comparative studies on special occasions, specialised butchers, locations, times, technical methods, distribution and ideas connected with the production and consumption of beef. Two fundamental reasons for the butchering of cattle can be identified: firstly, bulls are killed during the rituals of the year and secondly, cattle is slaughtered for daily commercial purposes on the market. In both cases almost the entire carcass of the butchered animal is consumed by people. In Tenkodogo we can actually compare those two different reasons, which have at least one common impact.
Our dichotomy of ‘nature’ and ‘culture’ is expressed in the Kanuri language with the terms al@ga for ‘creation’ and ‘creature’ which embraces trees, mammals, birds, insects, humans, in short the whole of the natural environment, and ada for ‘custom, habit, way of behaviour, family tradition’ for culture as a whole. There is no genre of oral literature, which would describe al@ga as such, but aspects of it can always be expressed in proverbs, riddles, toponymic praise phrases and songs, of which those performed by the hunters figure most prominently in reflecting upon al@ga. Yet, in these songs (and partly in other genres) ideas about al@ga are not purely descriptive in naturalists’ terms. They are much rather expressions, which centrally combine notions of the social and natural environment.