DIVINE MESSENGERS
Bird Symbolism and Aesthetics in Southeast Asia
edited by Pierre LE ROUX and Bernard SELLATO

Preface by Jean LARIVIERE (Scientific Adviser of the Foundation
Ushuaia-Nicolas Hulot pour la Nature et l'Homme, Vice-President of the
French Section of the International Union for Nature Conservation).
Published with assistance from the Maison Asie-Pacifique (Centre
National de la Recherche Scientifique and Université de Provence), in
partnership with IRASEC (Institute for Research on Contemporary
Southeast Asia).
Format / Size : 145 x 210 mm; 866 pages noir et blanc / B&W, 36
planches quadri./36 colour plates.

Prix de vente / Selling price : 35 euros - ISBN : 2-7539-0059-0

Available for sale from 29 September 2006

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Abstract: Is there a special relationship in Southeast Asia between
humans and birds? Indeed, birds play here an important role in
cosmology, beliefs, social structure, funerals, and ritual technology,
which cannot be dissociated from economic productions: agriculture,
fishing, harvesting, hunting, handicraft and trade. The bird in
Southeast Asia is to be understood first as part of an essential
symbolic couple: the snake and the bird, which represent,
respectively, masculinity, seniority, the underground and aquatic
worlds, rainy seasons; and femininity, the sky, the dry season, and
juniority, i.e., dependent people. In a region characterized by
alternating monsoons and, often, by a cultural bi-polarity, most
societies have elaborated a dualistic conception of the universe, and
sometimes a ternary conception: two expressions of a same original
godhead. A trinity made of two main elements (the elder and younger
brothers) and a third one (the wife) dominates throughout almost all
of Southeast Asia, where the opposition between elder and younger is
general and relevant in most kinship and marriage systems. Here,
perhaps more than elsewhere in the world, the social position of women
is privileged, if not primordial. While the bird, very often, is a
metaphor for a maiden, its taking flight is always assimilated to that
of the soul of the dead, the beginning of a new life, and so, always,
a symbol of hope.

Contributeurs / Contributors:

Contributions, en français ou en anglais de / A collection of
contributions in French or in English by:

Lorraine V. Aragon (University of North Carolina, USA), Helga Blazy
(Universität zu Köln, Germany/Allemagne), Pascale Bonnemère (CNRS,
France), Peter Boomgaard (KITLV, The Netherlands/Pays-Bas), Jean
Boulbet (EFEO, France), Josiane Cauquelin (LASEMA, France), Anne-May
Chew (Université de La Sorbonne, France), Robert K. Dentan (State
University of New York at Buffalo, USA), Gregory Forth (University of
Alberta, Canada), Donald & Joan Gear (South Africa/Afrique du Sud),
Itie van Hout (KIT Tropenmuseum, The Netherlands/Pays-Bas), Bernard
Koechlin (CNRS, France), Corneille Jest (CNRS, France), Pierre Le Roux
(IRSEA, France), Ghislaine Loyré de Hauteclocque (IRSEA, France), Guy
Lubeigt (CNRS, France), Albert Marie Maurice (France), Nguyen Tung
(CNRS, France), Bernard Pot (IRSEA, France), Oliver Raendchen
(Humboldt Universität, Germany/Allemagne), Clifford Sather (Universiti
Malaysia Sarawak, Malaysia), Jean-Christophe Simon (IRD, France),
Vishvajit Pandya (Institute of Information and Communication
Technology, India/Inde).