An Anthropological Study of East African Pastoralists' Perception of the World through the Five Senses

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 23520980
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Cultural anthropology/Folklore
• Research Institution: Tokyo University of Foreign Studies
• Principal Investigator: Kawai Kaori 東京外国語大学, アジア・アフリカ言語文化研究所, 教授 (50293585)
• Project Period (FY): 2011-04-28 – 2016-03-31
• Keywords: 東アフリカ牧畜民 / 知覚 / 五感 / 環境 / 身の回り世界（Umwelt） / チャムス / ドドス

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This study explores how pastoralists in East Africa understand their 'umwelt', or surrounding world, through bodily senses, by employing an anthropological perspective and method. Humans perceive sensations through the five senses. The ability to integrate perception from different senses is the foundation of human nature and evolution, as well as a cultural and social construct. In this study, I analyzed the natural and cultural worlds that pastoralists experience through field studies of the Chamus pastoralists of Kanya and the Dodoth pastoralists of Uganda.

Free Research Field

人類学