Soundscapes of infant care and infant-directed communication in two hunter-gatherer societies

Article


Lewis, J., Lewis, I. and Franco, F. 2024. Soundscapes of infant care and infant-directed communication in two hunter-gatherer societies. Hunter Gatherer Research. https://doi.org/10.3828/hgr.2024.2
TypeArticle
TitleSoundscapes of infant care and infant-directed communication in two hunter-gatherer societies
AuthorsLewis, J., Lewis, I. and Franco, F.
Abstract

This study contributes an ethnographic perspective to the study of infant-directed (ID) communicative activities. We compare soundscapes of infant care and ID vocal communication in two egalitarian, forest-dwelling, mobile hunter-gatherer groups: Mbendjele BaYaka/Aka in Northern Congo-Brazzaville and the Maniq of Southern Thailand. Across the unique patterns of speech and song specific to these different cultures, common threads emerged in infants’ soundscapes that suggest the centrality of musically enriched ID-speech for communication with infants. A conspicuous under-elaboration of music among Maniq people suggests that while musical activity in a culture may vary greatly, ID-speech does not. The ID-speech register thus emerges as more central to childhood socialisation and development in these hunter-gatherer societies than does the ID-song register. Although the use of lullabies (ID-song) by mothers has been claimed to be a human universal ( Trehub 2001 ; Mehr et al 2019 ) the ethnography from these hunter-gatherer societies supports Takada’s (2020:139–142) conclusion that ID-speech and song demonstrate important cultural diversity. This paper contributes to ethnographic accounts of the diversity of ways that cultures organise communicative exchanges with children.

Sustainable Development Goals4 Quality education
Middlesex University ThemeHealth & Wellbeing
PublisherLiverpool University Press
JournalHunter Gatherer Research
ISSN2056-3256
Electronic2056-3264
Publication dates
Online25 May 2024
Publication process dates
Deposited07 Jun 2024
Output statusPublished
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.3828/hgr.2024.2
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