Ricerc@Sapienza

Something new can be told about human history through animals (Sterckx, Siebert, Schafer, 2019).  The history of animals in Asian societies holds profound significance, as it has played a pivotal role in shaping cultural practices, religious beliefs, and economic systems. (Sterckx, Siebert, Schafer, 2019).  This research project aims to delve into the multifaceted relationships between humans and animals, with a special focus on birds, within the context of Asian history, adopting an interdisciplinary approach. By incorporating elements of cultural history studies and multispecies ethnography, this project seeks to explore the concept of co-agency, wherein humans and birds share active roles and influence in historical processes. Through an examination of the cultural and social dimensions of human-bird interactions, this research promotes an innovative interdisciplinary study, aiming to contribute to a deeper understanding of the intricate dynamics that have shaped Asian societies. The project is characterized by its extensive geographical scope, covering a significant portion of the Asian continent, and its temporal span, stretching from the Neolithic era to modern times. The integration of two working strategies - the cultural history approach integrated with the nature-culture vision of multispecies (Latour, 1993 as in Kirksey-Helmreich 2010) - will allow us to undertake a comparative analysis of the processes related to the human-animal interaction, now that society is starting to realize the consequences of inappropriate interaction with nature. Through the implementation of captivating and thought-provoking case studies, the project aims to scrutinize these interactions at historical, cultural, and textual levels, subsequently unveiling potential pathways for further research and future studies.