Berghahn Books
Cattle Poetics
About this book
Loving cows, then killing them. The relation with cattle in Mursi country is shaped by the dichotomy between the value given to it during life and the death imposed upon it. The killing of cattle may be brief and inflicted with few words, but it is preceded by a series of intense aesthetic practices, such as body painting and adornments, colour poetics, poems and oratory art. This book investigates the link between the nurturing and killing of cattle with Mursi daily life and finds that these rituals cut across pastoralism, social organisation and politics in forming the very fabric of Mursi society.
Author / Editor information
Jean-Baptiste Eczet is a lecturer at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales in Paris where he is the Chair of Political Arts. He has been carrying out research in Ethiopia since 2008.
Topics
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Frontmatter
i -
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CONTENTS
v -
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ILLUSTRATIONS
viii -
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FOREWORD The Politics of Beauty
xi -
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Introduction: Forgotten Aesthetics
1 -
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1 Poetics of the Self: Anthroponomy
18 -
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2 The Colour Complex: The Network of Names
41 -
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3 The Time of Colours and People: Poems
66 -
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4 Revealing and Removing Beings: Ephemeral Adornments
90 -
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5 Displaying a Common Heritage: Lasting Adornments
109 -
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6 Pastoral Vitality: Dances
138 -
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7 Complex Cattle Love
161 -
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8 The Poets and Their Ages
182 -
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9 The Restoration of Persons: Rituals
203 -
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10 The Resolution of Problems: Politics
227 -
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Conclusion
256 -
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References
262 -
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Index
269
