Images of 'wildman' in Southeast Asia
IIAS Masterclass by Prof. Gregory Forth
Venue:
Leiden University
Faculty of Law, Kamerlingh Onnes Building, Room C004
Steenschuur 25
Leiden, the Netherlands
Southeast Asia has been the site of a series of representations of hairy manlike creatures, partly interpretable as ‘crypto- species' and comparable to the better known Himalayan ‘yeti' and North American ‘sasquatch' or ‘bigfoot'. Remarkably, however, these Southeast Asian figures have received virtually no attention from anthropologists or scholars in related disciplines working in the region. To the extent that local categories corresponding to these figures have been considered at all, they have typically been treated as entirely imaginary constructs, and subsumed in ethnographic writing as kinds of spiritual beings. The recent discovery of Homo floresiensis, and the hypothetical linking of the palaeoanthropological discovery with local categories of putative ‘wildman' - and most notably the Nage ebu gogo - suggest the need for a new consideration of indigenous representations of this kind.
PROGRAMME
8 - 10 February 2006
Wednesday 8 February 2006
Dr David Bulbeck (Dept. of Archaeology, Australian National University) Palaeoanthropology in Southeast Asia and its implications for the ‘wildman’
During the time of our species’ presence in Southeast Asia, we have shared the region with a variety of cousins, and this may be pertinent to the widespread reports of the existence of ‘wildman’ in Southeast Asian folklore. Orangutans, whose English name is a corruption of the Malay for ‘forest man’, ranged widely across Southeast Asia till after 10,000 years ago. Although controversial, radiometric dates suggest that Homo erectus survived on Java up to the last 40,000 years. Now with the newly described species of Homo floresiensis, which inhabited Flores till perhaps 10,000 years ago, the whole question is thrown wide open: how many more of our cousins may have co-existed with us in Southeast Asia?
9.00 - 9.30Registration and coffee
9.30 - 9.45Opening of the Masterclass by Prof. Wim Stokhof
9.45 - 10.30Introduction by Prof. Gregory Forth: ‘Images of ‘wildman' in Southeast Asia'
10.30 - 11.00Coffee break
11.00 - 12.30Lecture by Dr David Bulbeck: Palaeoanthropology in Southeast Asia and its implications for the ‘wildman'
12.30 - 13.00Discussion
13.00 - 14.00Lunch
14.00 - 15.00Presentation by Bernardus Wohangara
15.15 - 15.30Tea break
15.30 - 16.00Discussion
Thursday 9 February 2006
Dr Jet Bakels (Independent researcher, Amsterdam) Ethnobiological approaches to the ‘wildman': the case of the ‘orang pendek' of Sumatra
When encountered in local discourse, ‘wildmen' have usually been assumed to be a variety of spiritual beings. In this lecture, it is considered how an ethnozoological approach might allow us to transcend the assumptions on which the standard anthropological view is based. As ethnozoologists, also, have so far given no special attention to categories of ‘wildman', this will involve a discussion of the sorts of research that might need to be conducted in order to advance a distinctly ethnozoological approach. In this endeavour, some attention will be given to the contributions of cognitive anthropology, in regard to such questions as the intuitive bases of informant constructions.
9.30 - 10.15Lecture by Dr Jet Bakels: Ethnobiological approaches to the ‘wildman': the case of the ‘orang pendek' of Sumatra
10.15 - 10.45Discussion
10.45 - 11.15Coffee break
11.15 - 12.00Lecture by Prof. Barend ter Haar: ‘Wild men and wild women in Chinese lore'
12.00 - 12.30Discussion
12.30 - 13.30Lunch
13.30- 14.30Presentation by Annelieke Rintjema
15.00 - 17.00Visit to Museum Naturalis
18.00Dinner with masterclass participants
Friday 10 February 2006
Prof. Raymond Corbey (Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University) ‘Wildman', sapient humans, and humanity
Prof. Corbey will present some material from the history of European views - the European ethnozoology - of ape-like others: the satyr and the like from Antiquity, the medieval wild man, great apes since the 17th century, and early hominins since the 19th century. In the process, he will discuss some useful theoretical viewpoints: the articulation of identity in terms of (ape/animal) alterity, inversion as a mechanism of cultural expression, and the use of animals as metaphors.
Prof. Gregory Forth (Department of Anthropology, University of Alberta, IIAS) Wildman as artefacts of the imagination: hairy hominoids and cognate images.
Having questioned the validity of viewing ‘wildman' images as simply another kind of spirit, the focus of this lecture will be a consideration of local accounts of wildman in relation to varieties of spiritual and mythological figures commonly found in Southeast Asian cultures, as well as images of outsiders regularly encountered throughout the region. Besides a variety of malevolent spirits, included among such hypothetically cognate images are the ‘witch', ‘headstealer', ‘pontianak', ‘half-man', and putative child abductors. One purpose is to determine how far representations of hairy hominoids might yet be adequately accommodated by symbolic or interpretative approaches. Another is to develop a more sophisticated set of analytical distinctions for the comparative study of putative beings, in Southeast Asia and globally.
9.00 - 9.45Lecture by Prof. Raymond Corbey: ‘Wildman', sapient humans, and humanity (part 1)
9.45 - 10.15Coffee break
10.15 - 11.00Lecture by Prof. Raymond Corbey: ‘Wildman', sapient humans, and humanity (part 2)
11.00 - 12.00Discussion
12.00 - 13.00Lunch
13.00 - 13.45Lecture by Prof. Gregory Forth: ‘Wildman as artefacts of the imagination: hairy hominoids and cognate images' (part 1)
13.45 - 14.00Tea break
14.00 - 14.45Lecture by Prof. Gregory Forth: ‘Wildman as artefacts of the imagination: hairy hominoids and cognate images' (part 2)
14.45- 15.30Discussion and closure
Application
Accepted students may participate free of charge. Postdoctoral scholars and professional archaeologists / anthropologists may participate by registering and paying a registration fee of € 50.