Wrestling beetles and ecological wisdom
Conference
Wrestling beetles and ecological wisdom:
exploring a political natural history in Northern Thailand
30 May 2019 – 10am
Auditorium, National Museum Bangkok
Members THB 100.-, Non-Members THB 200.-.
Beetle fighting is a game that builds upon an uncanny cooperation between human beings and Rhinoceros beetles (xylotrupes Gideon). It has developed at a high level of refinement and institutionalization in Northern Thailand for years if not centuries. Beetle fighting is even being widely presented as a regional pride, a marker of the local Lanna identity, a portrayal of local ecological wisdom. It will be shown that the intimate relationship between human beings and coleoptera suggests efficiently the "harmonious connection built by human populations with their natural environment" claimed by players in the name of Northern Thais.
This lecture will follow the way players build on an alterity or "otherness" between themselves and the insect, and how the technical and conceptual handling of the beetles resonate with local cosmology in an original way. We will shed light on a genuine and pragmatic aspect of Thai natural history and what occurs when one not only project human traits on coleoptera but is also attentive to the sensible world and the vibrating communication methods of insects. As such, we shall assess how beetles force humans to reflect on their engagement in the world to the point that brings this game on to the stage of political ecology.
11 April 2019
