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Paper Short Abstract:

Through ethnography and cognitive ethology I share preliminary thoughts about an unexpected encounter with a cat that made me aware of other possibilities for looking at multispecies ethnography and interactions

Paper Abstract:

In this paper, I bring together cats and humans to explore how we learn about each other and revisit multispecies ethnography. Through different knowledge interfaces and forms of expertise (like cognitive ethology and ethnography), I will share preliminary thoughts about an unexpected encounter with a cat that became an ethnographic subject and informant to learn with during my current fieldwork. Pitti, one of the two resident cats in the pet cemetery where I am doing my research, showed me unknown ways of knowing, making me aware of other possibilities for looking at multispecies ethnography and interactions.

Although, according to classical ethology, every animal is the result of an innate, inherited tendency from a precise phylogenesis, cognitive and philosophical ethology argue for the relevance of ontogenesis and, therefore, the historical, learned and creative journey of a specific animal. Here, I will focus on a mutual learning investigation into a species-specific dimension always inflected into particular subjectivities (both human and animal). My experience and the cat's one are mediated by multiple social and cultural processes. Having to face the challenges posed by the novelties the world puts in front of us, we used our skills and attitudes to build a relationship with each other and the world around us. And while I wonder what a relationship with a cat can teach us about fieldwork, sociality, and culture, I try to explore the edges of mutual learning between different ways of learning.