Year: 2017
Type: article
Abstract: The Baka is one of the Pygmy hunter-gatherer groups who live in the rainforest of central Africa and is known for its non-hierarchical society. They have numerous scars on their skin, such as tattoos that are only for decoration and scars caused by traditional medical treatments or accidental injuries. A popular traditional medical treatment of the Baka is bloodletting, which makes massive scars on their skin. On the other hand, tattoos, which are called 'tele' in the Baka language, are a traditional way to decorate their bodies. This paper provides ethnographic description about the practice of tattooing among the Baka people and aims to figure out the socio-cultural meanings of tattoos for them. During interviews and daily chatting with the Baka, they always assert that tattoos are for achieving fashion (nyanga), and therefore they consider their tattoos to be 'women's fashion.' However, through ethnographic observation of the practices of tattooing, I found the Baka share a similar style at the present moment and have a high interest in the process of tattooing, but often ignore its result. Thus among the Baka, the performance of tattooing should be understood as a process of connecting individuals. The mismatch found between their interpretation and carving behavior implies that the symbolic evaluation for scars might not be inevitably related to the scarifying behavior among the Baka people. It is suggested that, individuals are connected through performing scarification, but they might not be categorized into different groups only by the carved bodily symbols in Baka society.
Author: PENG, Yujie
Institution: Kyoto University
Language: Japanese
Subfield: Cultural Studies
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7208538208