Avant-propos

Starting from the publication, before Christmas 2006, of arrogantly advertised picture books dedicated to the painted bodies of Surma men, women and children, the author discloses, from the recent scientific history in the Lower Omo Valley, Sout-West Ethiopia, the reasons behind the commercial succe...

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Główni autorzy: Dumézil, Claude, Covindassimy, Shandra, David Boueihl, Marielle, Israël, Paul, Lerude, Martine, Lévy, Robert, Lew, René, Nacht, Marc, Strauss, Marc
Format: Article ou chapitre numérique
Język:Français
Wydane: 2002
Dostęp online:Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM
Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM
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spelling cairn-AFP_005_07AFPAnalyse Freudienne Presse https://shs.cairn.info/revue-analyse-freudienne-presse-2002-1-page-7?lang=fr https://doi.org/10.3917/afp.005.07 Avant-propos Dumézil, ClaudeCovindassimy, ShandraDavid Boueihl, MarielleIsraël, PaulLerude, MartineLévy, RobertLew, RenéNacht, MarcStrauss, Marc2002 fre Analyse Freudienne Presse | 5 | 1 | 2002-03-01 | p. 7-9 | 1253-1472 AFP_00567 Starting from the publication, before Christmas 2006, of arrogantly advertised picture books dedicated to the painted bodies of Surma men, women and children, the author discloses, from the recent scientific history in the Lower Omo Valley, Sout-West Ethiopia, the reasons behind the commercial success of such catalogues. The discovery of prehistoric human fossils and the study of little known contemporary « tribes » led explorers, photographers and tourism managers to create an attractive mythology : being one of the « craddles of mankind » that remote part of Ethiopia has supposedly preserved to this day its human populations in a condition of primeval innocence, the « state of nature ». The Horn of Africa by C. Beckwith and A. Fischer, published both in English and in French in 1990, was a important landmark in the fabrication of that mythology. In France, Alain Chenevière pioneered the myth since the mid eighties and developed it in general public magazines. The Omo populations are the descendants of Lucy – the famous pre-human fossil which was discovered not in the Lower Omo but in the opposite corner of Ethiopia, the Afar country. Kara men are the giants alluded to in the Bible, and Hamar women, as their beauty demonstrates, are the daughters of the Queen of Sheba. Thus it is not surprising that the area is attracting crowds of visitors, among whom celebrated photographers, in search « of the origins of mankind ». Concerning the picture books, the author demonstrates that the innocent spontaneity of the Surma painting their bodies is a strategy for eating the bread of affliction, nothing to compare with the profits of the photographers and their publishers. Thus an alleged artistic activity is analysed as an lawless merchandising of the body images of people not prepared to take any advantage from the intrusion of such predatory vanguards of a globalizing world.Cairn free access
language Français
format Article ou chapitre numérique
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description Starting from the publication, before Christmas 2006, of arrogantly advertised picture books dedicated to the painted bodies of Surma men, women and children, the author discloses, from the recent scientific history in the Lower Omo Valley, Sout-West Ethiopia, the reasons behind the commercial success of such catalogues. The discovery of prehistoric human fossils and the study of little known contemporary « tribes » led explorers, photographers and tourism managers to create an attractive mythology : being one of the « craddles of mankind » that remote part of Ethiopia has supposedly preserved to this day its human populations in a condition of primeval innocence, the « state of nature ». The Horn of Africa by C. Beckwith and A. Fischer, published both in English and in French in 1990, was a important landmark in the fabrication of that mythology. In France, Alain Chenevière pioneered the myth since the mid eighties and developed it in general public magazines. The Omo populations are the descendants of Lucy – the famous pre-human fossil which was discovered not in the Lower Omo but in the opposite corner of Ethiopia, the Afar country. Kara men are the giants alluded to in the Bible, and Hamar women, as their beauty demonstrates, are the daughters of the Queen of Sheba. Thus it is not surprising that the area is attracting crowds of visitors, among whom celebrated photographers, in search « of the origins of mankind ». Concerning the picture books, the author demonstrates that the innocent spontaneity of the Surma painting their bodies is a strategy for eating the bread of affliction, nothing to compare with the profits of the photographers and their publishers. Thus an alleged artistic activity is analysed as an lawless merchandising of the body images of people not prepared to take any advantage from the intrusion of such predatory vanguards of a globalizing world.
author Dumézil, Claude
Covindassimy, Shandra
David Boueihl, Marielle
Israël, Paul
Lerude, Martine
Lévy, Robert
Lew, René
Nacht, Marc
Strauss, Marc
spellingShingle Dumézil, Claude
Covindassimy, Shandra
David Boueihl, Marielle
Israël, Paul
Lerude, Martine
Lévy, Robert
Lew, René
Nacht, Marc
Strauss, Marc
Avant-propos
author_facet Dumézil, Claude
Covindassimy, Shandra
David Boueihl, Marielle
Israël, Paul
Lerude, Martine
Lévy, Robert
Lew, René
Nacht, Marc
Strauss, Marc
author_sort Dumézil, Claude
title Avant-propos
title_short Avant-propos
title_full Avant-propos
title_fullStr Avant-propos
title_full_unstemmed Avant-propos
title_sort avant-propos
publishDate 2002
container_title
container_issue
url https://ezproxy.univ-orleans.fr/login?url=https://shs.cairn.info/revue-analyse-freudienne-presse-2002-1-page-7?lang=fr
https://ezproxy.univ-orleans.fr/login?url=https://doi.org/10.3917/afp.005.07
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