The Ape and the Sushi Master

Frans de Waal

434 pages, parution le 26/02/2002

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Résumé

Arguing that apes have created their own distinctive culture, eminent primatologist Frans de Waal challenges our most basic assumptions about who we are and how we differ from other animals.

What if apes had their own culture rather than an imposed human version? What if they reacted to situations with behaviour learned through observation of their elders (culture) rather than with pure genetically coded instinct (nature)? In answering these questions, eminent primatologist Frans de Waal corrects our arrogant assumption that humans are the only creatures to have made the leap from the natural to the cultural domain.

The book's title derives from an analogy de Waal draws between the way behavior is transmitted in ape society and the way sushi-making skills are passed down from sushi master to apprentice. Like the apprentice, young apes watch their group mates at close range, absorbing the methods and lessons of each of their elders' actions. Responses long thought to be instinctive are actually learned behavior, de Waal argues, and constitute ape culture.

A delightful mix of intriguing anecdote, rigorous clinical study, adventurous field work, and fascinating speculation, The Ape and the Sushi Master shows that apes are not human caricatures but members of our extended family with their own resourcefulness and dignity.

Contents

Prologue : The ape's tea party

Cultural glasses : the way we see other animals

The whole animal : childhood talismans and excessive fear of anthropomorphism
The fate of gurus : when silverbacks become stumbing blocks
Bonobos and fig leaves : primate hippies in a puritan landscape
Animal art : would you hang a congo on the wall

What is culture, and does it exist in nature ?

Predicting Mount Fuji, and a visit to Koshima, where the monkeys salt their potatoes
The last Rubicon : can other animals have a culture ?
The nutcraker suite : reliance on culture in nature
Cultural naturals : tea and Tibetan macaques

Human nature : the way we see ourselves

Apes with self-esteem : Abraham Maslow and the taboo on power
Survival of the kindest of selfish genes and unselfish dogs
Down with dualism ! Two millenia of debate about human godness

Epilogue : the squirrel's jump
Notes
Bibliography
Index

L'auteur - Frans de Waal

Frans de Waal est un primatologue et biologiste que le magazine Time a inscrit sur sa liste des 100 personnalités les plus influentes. Auteur de nombreux ouvrages, parmi lesquels Sommes-nous trop "bêtes" pour comprendre l'intelligence des animaux ? (Les Liens qui libèrent, 2016), il enseigne à l'université Emory d'Atlanta et dirige le centre Yerkes de recherche sur les primates. Ses livres ont touché un large public dans de nombreux pays et fait de lui l'un des éthologues les plus célèbres au monde.

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Caractéristiques techniques

	PAPIER
Éditeur(s)	Penguin
Auteur(s)	Frans de Waal
Parution	26/02/2002
Nb. de pages	434
Format	13 x 19,8
Couverture	Broché
Poids	311g
Intérieur	Noir et Blanc
EAN13	9780141003900