Ecological anthropology from the perspective of communication process : Studies in the African tropical rain forest

生态人类学(EA)一直被认为是一门研究人类生存的定量数据的学科，尤其是在日本。然而，事实上，交际现象在英语教学中经常被观察和分析。在这项研究项目中，我们旨在从EA和交流过程的角度来调查非洲热带雨林中的人类生活。每项研究活动的结果如下。项目负责人木村研究了狩猎采集者和农民的日常社会互动。这一结果发表在一本名为《共生感》的书中。研究生(Oishi、Shima和Inai)也被研究了农民、狩猎-采集者和渔民之间的互动。在这些研究中，传播过程不仅被放在“媒介研究”的框架下进行研究，而且还被分析与人们的文化和生存活动有关。影响狩猎采集者日常生活基础的平等主义和分享，Terashima从理论上进行了研究，Kitanishi在实践中进行了研究，这些研究的结果也发表在一本书中。Ichikawa、Kitanishi、Oishi和Inai等人对族际关系和国家与地方的关系进行了研究，并积累了大量的案例。Terashima、Ichikawa和Komatsu也研究了关于自然动植物等知识的获取和代际转换。目前，EA研究人员需要找到新的方法论前沿。这个研究项目的建议是，EA的交流方面可能是这样的前沿之一。我们可以有一定程度的成就，但未来需要进一步加大努力。

Ecological anthropology (EA) has been, especially in Japan, considered to be a discipline which deals with the quantitative data of subsistence. However, as a matter of fact, communicational phenomena are frequently observed and analyzed in EA. In this research project, we aimed to investigate the human life in the African tropical rain forest from the viewpoint of EA and communication process. Results of each research activity are shown as follows.Daily social interaction of hunter-gatherers and farmers were studied by Kimura, the project leader. The result has been published in a book titled "Sense of co-presence". Graduate students (Oishi, Shima, and Inai) were also researched the interaction among farmers, hunter-gatherers, and fishers. In these studies, communication process was not only investigated in the framework of "media study", but also analyzed in relation to the people's cultural and subsistence activities. Egalitarianism and sharing, which affect the basis of hunter-gatherers' daily life, were studied theoretically by Terashima, and practically by Kitanishi, and the results of these studies were also published in a book. Inter-ethnic group relationship and the relation between state and local area was investigated by Ichikawa, Kitanishi, Oishi, and Inai, and an abundance of case examples was heaped up. Terashima, Ichikawa, and Komatsu were also studied the acquirement and inter-generational transition of knowledge on the nature, such as fauna and flora.Currently, EA researchers are required to find out new methodological frontier. Suggestion from this research project is that communicational aspect of EA might be one of such frontiers. We could have a certain level of accomplishment, but further intensification of the efforts is required in the future.