FERAL CHILDREN

The real meaning of an uncivilised 'Wild Child', representation in film:

'The earlier meaning of the word “feral” refers to the release of a domesticated or socialized being into the wild. The word has come to be used to describe any animal taken from the wild into captivity- a reverse of its earlier meaning.'

Candland, D, K. (1993). Feral Children and Clever Animals: Reflections on Human Nature. New York, Oxford. (page 371)

Case of Victor: The Wild Boy Of Aveyron, description of the boys appearance and behavior:

“What they did see was a degraded human being, human only in shape; a dirty, scarred, inarticulate creature who trotted and grunted like beasts of the fields, ate with apparent pleasure the most filthy refuse, was apparently incapable of attention or even elementary perceptions such as heat or cold, and spent his time apathetically rocking himself backwards and forwards like the animals at the zoo. A ‘man-animal’, whose only concern was to eat, sleep, and escape the unwelcome attentions of sight-seers."

Candland, D, K. (1993). Feral Children and Clever Animals: Reflections on Human Nature. New York, Oxford. (page 18)

The above information relates to both my designs and my Appraisal, society is fascinated by feral children and the notion of their wild behaviours, their origin and up-bring in the wild and away from civilization is a confusion and yet remarkable. The confusion lies in their survival in the wild, living amongst animals, which are not of a domesticated nature and somehow unthinkably being accepted by those same predators.

There has been many cases of feral children and the result in their education is minimal, they have been without human contact throughout the crucial early development years of their lives and in most cases, have not regained full speech or sociably acceptable human behaviours. I have discussed these cases in an appraisal and a literature review in detail, discussing analysis and scientific evidence of their education.

Sommers, S. (1994). Rudyard Kiplings: The Jungle Book. [DVD] USA: Walt Disney Pictures.

Above: Two clips from the ‘Jungle Book’ film where Mowgli (a feral boy) is seen running along side wolves and an English man exclaims “No child could survive in the wild, not for ten minutes”. The film plays on society’s fascination and ultimately shows the child living successfully in a un-natural habitat, away from the laws of civilisation.

Jungle Book Notes:

The jungle book. Film. 1994 walt disney pictures. Rudyard kipling. 19th century india

A boy who is Raised by wild animals since childhood. Both mothers died whilst giving birth and the child is left to roam. Also known as a feral child.

Twist on cartoon. Rather the child roam with the animals he connects and communicates with them.

Mowgli delivers an exceptional understanding of the jungle and refers to himself as 'half of a tiger'. Intelligently naming different species whilst holding a wolf cub.

Cinematography- the camera is often looking upward towards the trees. Mirroring how the boy sees the jungle and his vulnerability in the wild.

The boy is accepted by a wolf pack after returning a small cub to its mother. Maternal instincts allow the boy to live.

Orangutang's live in an abandoned man made city and lead him to ruins, filled with treasure. No people around insinuating humans cannot survive in the wild. The jungle is a greater habitat and has swallowed the city. The boy is an exception. Orangutang's interact with the young man by playing games with no interest in his saftey. Separating humans from their wild nature.

After years of separation the boy still communicates with a female on an intimate level. He is called an animal by an english soldier. (In an occupied country. India)

RELATED LIFE CASES

Kamala and Amala, The Wolf Children 1920

Candland, D, K. (1993). Feral Children and Clever Animals: Reflections on Human Nature. New York, Oxford. (page 54)

The above explanation from Sign relates to the jungle book where the boy is only seen wearing a cloth to cover his dignity. The English soldiers are mocked in the jungle surroundings and cannot survive in the un-natural habitat, they are seen to be swallowed up by the jungle surroundings one after another, struggling to stay alive throughout.

Below: A description of the found girls with the wolf family. A real life case of children being nurtured by a wolf mother and collectively living amongst her and the cubs. The age of the children and the cubs suggests that the children where found by the mother shortly after she'd given birth, her maternal instincts allowed the children to live and mature under her care and protection.

Above and Below:Candland, D, K. (1993). Feral Children and Clever Animals: Reflections on Human Nature. New York, Oxford. (page 56)

Below: Photographs of the children eating and crawling. Fromt he photographs you can see the sores on the elbows from crawling and running on all fours. Their limbs are elongated and they are shown eating like the wolf mother.

The feral child has influenced all of my design ideas as it thoroughly represents all of the subject fields:

Repressed primal desires-

The child is uncivilized and unaccepted within society, expressing animal instincts and mimicking their wild behaviours. This links to my brow sculpt where I will create an animal brow prosthetic and apply it to a models face, emphasizing an angry or upset emotion.

Survival-

The child has successfully survived in the wild for years of its life, without human contact and instead cohabiting with animals and the surrounding natural habitat. I will be moulding a deer skeleton and applying it directly to a models face, it will represent a mask of protection against primitive animals in the wild, surviving instinctively without any influence from society and using only the natural surroundings as protective headwear. The skeleton could also represent a killing, a worn trophy.

Camouflage-

The child has disappeared from civilization and blended into the natural surroundings of the jungle. One of my designs will be an abstract camouflage face and body paint with an untamed hair-do. The hair will represent wildness and the camouflage bodypaint will reflect the colours of the jungle. The overall look will be editorial/fashion based on survival instinct.

Deaf Mutes-

In all cases that I have read in depth about, the child has never regained full speech and only spoken broken words, often opposite to their given meaning. They have never been able to understand language and communication after being isolated from humanity and one of my designs will be a fashion/ editorial make up and large hairstyle with a henna covering the lips, representing a speechless mouth , enclosing the lips behind the design.

Below: The children would only tolerate wearing a cloth around the mid section, covering their genitals. Similar to the character Mowgli in the Jungle Book. They refused clothes and this deemed them uncivilised in societys laws. Dr. Sign captured Kamala running typically on all fours- like an animal.