Description
Book Synopsis 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.
Table of Contents List of Figures
Foreword: The Politics of Beauty
Philippe Descola
Introduction: Forgotten Aesthetics
Chapter 1. Poetic of the Self: Anthroponomy
Chapter 2. The Colour Complex: The Network of Names
Chapter 3. The Time of Colours and People: Poems
Chapter 4. Revealing and Removing Beings: Ephemeral Adornments
Chapter 5. Displaying a Common Heritage: Lasting Adornments
Chapter 6. Pastoral Vitality on Show: Dances
Chapter 7. Complex Cattle Love
Chapter 8. The Poet and his Age
Chapter 9. The Restoration of Good Relations: Rituals
Chapter 10. The Resolution of Problems: Politics
Conclusion
References
Index
