Seminar – Challenges in Cultural Exchange and Communication
SEMINAR/SÉMINAIRE
Challenges in Cultural Exchange and Communication between Muni (Mursi) Community and its Outsiders.
Insights from Linguistics and Social Anthropology.
Tuesday 13th September, 2 PM
@ CFEE – French Center for Ethiopian Studies, Berhanu Abebe Library / JanMeda
By Marion Langumier (PhD candidate – Paris Nanterre University / CFEE)
& Barkede Kulumedere Dedebe (Linguistics BA – Africa International University, Nairobi).
“Do the Muni (Mursi) people of South-West Ethiopia see themselves as the root of all human peoples ?” By bringing to those first concerned the content of three self-help books written in French about indigenous people, such as Paroles des peuples racines (Sabah Rahmani, 2020), our research triggered complex situations of communication.
On the one hand, central to these coffee-table books are elaborated ideologies about self (Westerners as modern and having destructive and unhealthy relationships with themselves and their environment) and other (indigenous people as close to nature and holders of ancient wisdoms). On the second hand, the metaphor of “root-people” (peuples racines) posed thorny translation problems when brought in a completely different cultural context.
In this presentation, we will reflect on the process and methodology of a participatory research aiming at bringing Mun’s point of view on content written about them in a foreign context. On what terms can cultural exchange and communication happen? These notions will be enlightened by a blended approach drawing on linguistics and social anthropology.