Paper short abstract:

The combination of a human with a non-human perspective allows to explore borders, its human and environmental histories. In dialogue with zoological research on wolves, I move along the linguistic border exploring it through the eyes of the shepherds as well as through the adaptation of the wolf.

Paper long abstract:

Based on fieldwork in two small villages in South Tyrol - Trentino this ethnographic study combines the human perception on the wolf with the adaptation of the lone wolf to this terrain. The debate on the return of the wolf has been intense among peasants, herders and policy makers. Shepherds reject to bring their sheep and cows to the alpine pastures were they traditionally meet with shepherds from the other side, easily crossing the linguistic German-Italian language barrier. While shepherds evoke the moments they met, they would also recall the times the wolf was poached. Their experience of crossing these borders in dusk or even at night, carnally knowing when one is "on the other side" will be looked at in light of the new presence of the wolf on this terrain. On the other side there is the wolf who arrived in this region approximately four years ago migrating from the Italian Apennine to recolonize the Alps. How is he sensing the area? What about his perception of borders, which are or are not traversable? In this paper I aim to combine the human perception of this border region, which according to my interlocutors is not carrying conflictual lines despite linguistic differences, with what zoologists have studied as the wolves adaptation to a changing environment. Through this double perspective, I aim to shed light on the new construction of frontiers in a region that has long historical experience with negotiating linguistic, ethnic, cultural and political borders.