Insect Magnetism

The Rhinoceros beetle fighting scene in northern Thailand exposes a puzzling technique of bringing together human and animal action. We intend to show through the study of this game that some cases invite us to specify our understanding of the notion of communication. What can the breeder-players sh...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inHAU journal of ethnographic theory Vol. 2; no. 2; pp. 257 - 286
Main Authors Rennesson, Stéphane, Grimaud, Emmanuel, Césard, Nicolas
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published The University of Chicago Press 01.08.2012
Subjects
beetle
signal and noise
vibration
Thailand
Human-animal communication
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Summary:The Rhinoceros beetle fighting scene in northern Thailand exposes a puzzling technique of bringing together human and animal action. We intend to show through the study of this game that some cases invite us to specify our understanding of the notion of communication. What can the breeder-players share with their beetles? The answer to this question is far from being self-evident because the partners of the game do not share at all the same perceptive and cognitive abilities. Amateurs agree on the fact that the beetles cannot be really tamed, but since they are sensitive to vibration one can, however, try to enhance their fighting potentialities and to guide them by tactile means during the fight. Drawing on radical questionings of the notions of signal and noise, we shall try to determine to what extent beetle fighting can help us to reconsider the debate on the possibility of presignaletic forms of communication.
ISSN:2575-1433
2049-1115
DOI:10.14318/hau2.2.014