The bat and human relationship has been one of ambiguity through the Anthropocene. Bats have been both persecuted and revered in different cultures and negative perceptions of bats remain widespread, causing concern for the support of bat conservation. Through this thesis I attempt to reach a better understanding of the interrelations between bats and humans, and the factors influencing perceptions of bats. This work lies in the interdisciplinary realm of animal studies, creating a junction between the natural and social sciences through studying and sharing the multispecies story of humans and bats. Through interviews and ethnographic study of bat researchers in Pretoria and an area of Limpopo Province, South Africa, attention is focused on the bat-human relationships from a South African context. A theme central to this work is human emotion, as I believe it is the greatest factor influencing how humans feel and act toward other beings. I examine how emotions towards certain stimuli, in this case bats, are formed through humans’ experiences and knowledge, looking at the different epistemic modes of knowing as other key concepts in this work while bringing attention to the emotional knowledge surrounding bats. Through a better understanding of the bat I believe the prevalent biophobia can transition into biophilia. Therefore, through this study I am to catch a glimpse into the meaningful lives of bats, striving to learn how to better know and understand them. Through this knowing I believe we can learn to love the bat for the unique animal it is, working towards securing the future of species and it’s environment in the midst of the current mass extinction, and hence secure the future of humankind as we move through the Anthropocene.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:uu-466836 |
| Date | January 2020 |
| Creators | Åhslund Glass, Eleanor |
| Publisher | Uppsala universitet, Institutionen för arkeologi och antik historia, African Bats NPC |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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