The cognition of nature through colours and patterns: from cases of the Narim in southern Sudan

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Book chapter

Title:	The cognition of nature through colours and patterns: from cases of the Narim in southern Sudan
Author:	Fukui, Katsuyoshi
Book title:	Sudan Sahel studies: vol. II
Year:	1986
Pages:	207-235
Language:	English
Geographic term:	Sudan
Subjects:	cognition colours Narim natural history
Abstract:	In East African pastoral societies, people are very interested in colours and patterns. Elements of nature are recognized, and metaphorically interlinked with one another, through colours and patterns. Moreover, the interaction between members of society and elements of nature is also made through colours and patterns. The learning of the cognition of the natural world through colours and patterns may be used as an index of the learning of cultural elements. The author examines the process of acquiring a cultural cognition of nature amongst men and boys from the pastoral Narim in southeast Sudan, where he carried out fieldwork at different periods between 1982-1985. Natural elements, classified into six categories: basic words, 'nature', plants, mammals, birds, reptiles and insects, can in turn be subsumed under two types: basic elements which a child has acquired by the age of six or seven, and peripheral elements which are acquired in the period leading up to adulthood. Bibliogr., notes, ref.