Publications du MRAC

This volume presents a traditional ethnography on the material culture of a semi-nomadic people 'of cattle' who currently inhabit northern Namibia and southern Angola.
It is the first one in a series that focuses on livestock in Africa.
The first part offers a description of the daily life of a 'people of cattle'; the second an elaborate description of some hundred items of dress, finery and day-to-day goods and utensils.
The point of departure is that 'things' lead a life of their own. They are not just 'things', but have a role and place in society and lifeworld. In the way they are made and used, the materials they are made from, or in the different contexts to which they pertain, they are endowed with meanings. These meanings are part of even the simplest of 'things'. This ethnography treats them as social beings, tracing their life and trajectory.