Aesthetic without artefacts

Many practices of East African pastoralists have been interpreted by anthropologists through the notions of “identification” or “imitation” with cattle, both grounded in psychological assumptions and the idea of an “obsession” with cattle. By retracing the emergence of these concepts and highlighting their limits, this presentation draws on extensive fieldwork conducted among the Mursi of the Omo Valley in Ethiopia to revisit the pastoral practices that originally inspired such interpretations. I argue that a close attention to anthroponymy, poetry, dance, and the graphic repertoire of body ornamentation is essential for understanding the sociological premises underlying both the central role of cattle in human life and the absence of artifacts.

Event location: Ethnographic salon

Lecture by:

Dr Jean-Baptiste Eczet
Associate professor
School for Advanced Studies in Social Sciences (EHESS), Chair of Political arts 
Paris, France 

Participation in the programme is free of charge.