Why robots can't haka: skilled performance and embodied knowledge in the Māori haka.
To investigate the unique kinds of mentality involved in skilled performance, this paper explores the performance ecology of the Māori haka, a ritual form of song and dance of the indigenous people of Aotearoa New Zealand. We respond to a recent proposal to program robots to perform a haka as 'cultu...
| Published in: | Synthese Vol. 199; no. 1/2; pp. 4337 - 4366 |
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| Main Authors: | , |
| Format: | Article |
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Springer Nature
Dec2021
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=hlh&AN=153650965&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: hlh uiTerm: 153650965 longDbName: Humanities International Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 00397857 4LI jtl: Synthese issn: 00397857 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Dec2021 vid: 199 iid: 1/2 pid: 237 pub: Springer Nature artinfo: ui: 153650965 10.1007/s11229-020-02981-w ppf: 4337 ppct: 29 formats: fmt: – @attributes: type: T – @attributes: type: P size: 733KB tig: atl: Why robots can't haka: skilled performance and embodied knowledge in the Māori haka. aug: au: Mingon, McArthur Sutton, John affil: Department of Cognitive Science, Macquarie University, Level 3, Australian Hearing Hub, 16 University Ave, 2109, Sydney, NSW, Australia su: Maori (New Zealand people) Robots Emotions Environmental history European history sug: subj: Maori (New Zealand people) Robots Emotions Environmental history European history keyword: Distributed affect Embodied cognition Indigenous psychology Synchrony ab: To investigate the unique kinds of mentality involved in skilled performance, this paper explores the performance ecology of the Māori haka, a ritual form of song and dance of the indigenous people of Aotearoa New Zealand. We respond to a recent proposal to program robots to perform a haka as 'cultural preservationists' for 'intangible cultural heritage'. This 'Robot Māori Haka' proposal raises questions about the nature of skill and the transmission of embodied knowledge; about the cognitive and affective experiences cultivated in indigenous practices like haka; and about the role of robots in the archival aspirations of human societies. Reproducing haka, we suggest, requires more than copying physical actions; preserving the 'intangible' entails more than programming postures and movements. To make this case, we discuss the history of European responses to the haka, and analyse its diverse performance features in cultural context. Arguing that indigenous movement practices incorporate genuinely embodied knowledge, we claim that skilled performance of haka is deeply mindful, embodying and transmitting dynamic, culturally shared understandings of the natural and social world. The indigenous psychologies incorporated in haka performance are animated by a shared history integrated with its environment. Examining haka performance through the lens of 4E cognitive skill theory for mutual benefit, we discuss the effects of synchrony in collective action, the social and environmental scaffolding of affect and emotion, and the multilayered relations between past and present. Culturally-embedded systems of skilled movement like the Māori haka may, we suggest, constitute specific ways of thinking and feeling. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: Y custom: Synthese is a copyright of Springer, 2021. All Rights Reserved. item: Synthese holder: Springer Nature dt: @attributes: year: 2021 holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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