While studies of San children have attained the peculiar status of having delineated the prototype for hunter-gatherer childhood, relatively few serious ethnographic studies of San children have been conducted since an initial flurry of research in the 1960s and 1970s. Based on the author’s long-term field research among several San groups of Southern Africa, this book reconsiders hunter-gatherer childhood using “play” as a key concept. Playfulness pervades the intricate practices of caregiver-child interactions among the San: immediately after birth, mothers have extremely close contact with their babies. In addition to the mother’s attentions, other people around the babies actively facilitate gymnastic behavior to soothe them. These distinctive caregiving behaviors indicate a loving, indulgent attitude towards infants. This also holds true for several language genres of the San that are used in early vocal communication. Children gradually become involved in various playful activities in groups of children of multiple ages, which is the major locus of their attachment after weaning; these playful activities show important similarities to the household and subsistence activities carried out by adults. Rejuvenating studies of San children and hunter-gatherer childhood and childrearing practices, this book aims to examine these issues in detail, ultimately providing a new perspective for the understanding of human sociality.
Author(s): Akira Takada
Series: Palgrave Studies on the Anthropology of Childhood and Youth
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Year: 2020
Language: English
Pages: 244
City: Singapore
Preface
Notes on Orthography
Praise for The Ecology of Playful Childhood
Contents
About the Author
List of Figures
List of Tables
List of Extracts
Part I
1 Children in the Wild
1.1 Introduction
1.2 Ethnography of Children and Childcare
1.3 Anthropology of Childhood
1.4 Overview of This Book
References
2 The Last Hunter-Gatherers of the Kalahari
2.1 The San of Southern Africa
2.2 Broad Living Area and Low Population Density
2.3 Dietary Habits and Food Sharing Based on Hunting and Gathering
2.4 Time Budgets and Sense of Time
2.5 Low Birthrate and Long Intervals Between Births
2.6 The Shift to Sedentary Life and Concentrated Living Arrangements
2.6.1 The JuǀʼHoan
2.6.2 The !Xun
2.6.3 The Gǀui and Gǁana
2.7 Conclusion
References
3 Minding Hunter-Gatherer Childhood
3.1 Studies of Mothering and Allomothering Among the Juǀ’hoan
3.1.1 The Relationships Between Children and Mothers
3.1.2 The Relationships Between Children and Others (Fathers, Other Adults, and Older Children)
3.2 The Features of Child Development and Socialization Among the Juǀ’hoan
3.3 The Second Wave of Hunter-Gatherer Childhood Studies
3.3.1 Focusing on Allomothering
3.3.2 Early Weaning and Parent–Offspring Conflict
3.3.3 Disciplining Children
3.4 Reconsidering the Nature of Human Childrearing
3.5 Conclusion
References
Part II
4 Children and Play
4.1 Playful Activities Among the San Children
4.2 Play in the Psychology and Anthropology of Childhood
4.2.1 What Is Play?
4.2.2 When Do Children Play?
4.2.3 Where Do Children Play?
4.2.4 What Is Used for Play?
4.2.5 Who Participates in Play?
4.2.6 What Happens During Play?
4.2.7 Why Do Children Play?
4.3 The Issues on Play Specific to the San
4.4 Conclusion
References
5 Pleasure in Nursing
5.1 The Playful Nature of Corporeal Infant Soothing
5.2 Breastfeeding Among San Groups
5.2.1 Gǀui/Gǁana
5.2.2 !Xun
5.2.3 Juǀ’hoan and Other San Groups
5.2.4 Regional Structural Comparison of Breastfeeding
5.3 Ethnographic Studies on Infant Nursing in Other Societies
5.3.1 Who Engages in Nursing and How?
5.3.2 Cultural Diversity of Nursing Patterns
5.4 Discussion
5.4.1 Interactional Organization of Nursing Patterns
5.4.2 The Earliest Form of Reciprocal Accommodation for Contingent Caregiver-Infant Interactions
5.4.3 Cultural Structure and Agency in Nursing
5.4.4 The Facultative Adaptation of Human Nursing
References
6 Playful Gymnastics
6.1 Gymnastic Behavior and Play
6.2 Gymnastic Behaviors Among San Groups
6.2.1 G❘ui/Gǁana
6.2.2 !Xun
6.2.3 Juǀ’hoan and Other San Groups
6.2.4 Regional Structural Comparison of Gymnastic Behaviors
6.3 Ethnographic Studies on Gymnastic Behaviors in Other Societies
6.3.1 Co-created Rhythms and Reduction of External Stimuli
6.3.2 Maternal and Multiple Caregivers of Infants
6.4 Discussion
6.4.1 Intercorporeality and Gymnastic Behavior
6.4.2 Formation of Responsibility Through Gymnastic Behavior
6.4.3 Cultural Construction of Embodied Infant Care
6.4.4 Species’ Evolution and Playful Activities in Physical Interactions
References
7 The Joy of Early Vocal Communication
7.1 Talking and Singing to Infants
7.2 Early Vocal Communication Among San Groups
7.2.1 Gǀui/Gǁana
7.2.2 !Xun
7.2.3 Juǀ’hoan and Other San Groups
7.2.4 Early Vocal Communication Among San Groups and Other Societies
7.3 Studies on Early Vocal Communication in Other Societies
7.3.1 Universal Features of IDSpeech
7.3.2 Cultural Diversity of IDSpeech
7.4 Discussion
7.4.1 Orchestrating Various Semiotic Resources While Vocalizing to the Infant
7.4.2 Organization of Acoustic Stimuli in the Course of Child Socialization
7.4.3 Cultural Structure and Agency in Early Vocal Communication
7.4.4 Evolution of the Complicated Structure of Early Vocal Communication
References
8 Imitation in Playful Activities
8.1 Acting like Others
8.2 Imitation Activity Among San Groups
8.2.1 Gǀui/Gǁana
8.2.2 !Xun
8.2.3 Juǀ’hoan and Other San Groups
8.2.4 Imitation and Play
8.3 Ethnographic Studies of Child Imitation in Other Societies
8.3.1 Child Initiatives in Learning
8.3.2 Diversity of Cultural Learning
8.4 Discussion
8.4.1 Reiterating or Modifying Others’ Behavior
8.4.2 The Developmental Trajectory of Acting like Others
8.4.3 The Culture of Social Reproduction
8.4.4 Evolution of Cooperative Action
References
9 Socialization Through Singing and Dancing Activities
9.1 Singing and Dancing by Children
9.2 Singing and Dancing Activity Among San Groups
9.2.1 Gǀui/Gǁana
9.2.2 !Xun
9.2.3 Juǀ’hoan and Other San Groups
9.2.4 (Re)Generating Musical Knowledge and Skills
9.3 Ethnographic Studies on Children’s Musical Play in Other Societies
9.3.1 Who Do Young Children Sing and Dance with?
9.3.2 What Singing and Dancing Do
9.4 Discussion
9.4.1 Meaning Generated in Rhythm
9.4.2 Socialization Through Activities in Multi-aged Child Groups
9.4.3 Resilience of the Multi-aged Child Group
9.4.4 The Birth of a Long and Cooperative Childhood
References
10 Learning to Work
10.1 Play-to-Work Transition
10.2 Learning to Work Among San Groups
10.2.1 Gǀui/Gǁana
10.2.2 !Xun
10.2.3 Juǀ’hoan and Other San Groups
10.2.4 Changes in Subsistence Activities and the Learning Process
10.3 Ethnographic Studies on Learning to Work in Other Societies
10.3.1 Continuity and Discontinuity Between Play and Work
10.3.2 Diverse Trajectories for Learning to Work
10.4 Discussion
10.4.1 Sequential Organization of Play and Work
10.4.2 Socialization to Become a Proficient Group Member
10.4.3 Play-to-Work Transition and Facultative Adaptations
10.4.4 Extended Childhood and Juvenile Stages as the Roots of Human Sociality
References
11 Reconsidering Human Childhood
11.1 Breastfeeding
11.2 Gymnastic Behaviors
11.3 Early Vocal Communication
11.4 Imitation
11.5 Singing and Dancing Activities
11.6 Play and Work
11.7 Coda
References
Index
