[Role of bodily practices with newborn in the development of cultural identity. Examples of bodily practices in Africa and India].
Bodily practices on newborns are the indicators of communication between the child and his/her surroundings. The culture has to introduce individuals into a specific group by using particular practices that have applied to the past generations. The techniques are different according to the ethnic group and allow the child to reach a social birth. To emphasize the relation between the identity and the culture, four cultural examples are presented. In Bambara country, the grandmothers massage and stretch the newborn in order to let him feel the limits of his body and get into the Bambara identity. For the Wolof, the psychomotor development will be made with specific movements on the body of the child according to initiation rituals. In Kabylie, the child will be protected from the outside world before he gets his proper name. In Tamil country, the way the foetus and the child are helped emphasize his coming into the living world and his reincarnated identity. The psychic structuring and the culture are tightly connected and the body is the first mediator of that representation.
Mannoni
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Service de pédiatrie générale, hôpital Robert-Debré, 48, Boulevard Sérurier, 75019 Paris, France. cmannoni@club-internet.fr
D000328:Adult; D000349:Africa; D001828:Body Image; D002657:Child Development; D003466:Cultural Characteristics; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008405:Massage; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D010465:Perception; D014110:Touch
Place des pratiques corporelles médiatrices chez le nourrisson dans la construction de son identité culturelle. Exemples de pratiques corporelles en Afrique et en Inde.