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Visions of Apes, Reflections on Change: Telling Tales of Great Apes in Equatorial Africa

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 May 2014

Tamara Giles-Vernick  and
Stephanie Rupp
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Abstract:

This article explores stories that some central Africans in the middle Sangha River basin and in northern Gabon have told about gorillas and chimpanzees. Such tales have provided opportunities for Africans to debate the consequences of their engagements with outside people, resources, and processes. But their meanings have proliferated in different social, cultural, and historical contexts. Central Africans have used such stories to make claims about access to and control over human productive and reproductive labor, forest resources and spaces, and other forms of wealth; racial and ethnic relations; and human existence and death. These stories provide critical insights into the reasons people hunt or protect great apes, and they illuminate the complex social and political tensions generated by conservation interventions. Great ape tales thus offer conservationists insights into the challenges and promise of managing an important game population, as well as the potential social consequences of their interventions.

Résumé:

Résumé:

Cet article explore des récits racontés par des africains dans le bassin du milieu de la rivière Sangha et dans le Gabon du nord sur les gorilles et les chimpanzés. Ces types de récits ont permit aux africains de débattre des questions de leur contact avec des populations, des ressources et des modes de fonctionnement venant de l'extérieur. Cependant, les significations de ces récits se sont disséminés dans différents contextes sociaux, culturels et historiques. Les africains du centre ont utilisé ces récits pour renforcer leurs vision de l'accés et du contrôle de la production et reproduction humaines, des resources et espaces forestiers, d'autres formes de richesse, des relations ethniques et raciales, de la vie et de la mort. Ces histoires fournissent des aperçus significatifs sur les raisons pour lesquelles les gens chassent ou protègent les grands singes, et elles mettent en lumière les tensions complexes sociales et politiques générées par les initiatives de conservation. Les récits sur les grands singes offrent ainsi des vues conservatrices sur les défis et les promesses de la gestion d'une population importante de gibier, en même temps que sur les conséquences sociales possibles de leurs propres initiatives.

Type
Research Article
Information
African Studies Review , Volume 49 , Issue 1 , April 2006 , pp. 51 - 73
Copyright
Copyright © African Studies Association 2006

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