Bats in Folklore and Culture: A Review of Historical Perceptions around the World

Abstract

Belief systems of people have always been closely related to animals, which are symbolized in traditional narratives. Sociocultural definitions of animals as “good or evil” have persisted throughout the history of human beings. In the West, bats are often perceived as evil spirits, Vampires, and harbingers of death, while some cultures across the Asia-Pacific region associate bats with good fortune. Here, we review documented narratives and surveys from around the world and our ethnographic observations from Europe to analyze beliefs associated with bats. We explore the role that bats play in traditional narratives and the likely reasons for their salience, including their connections with the extraordinary and supernatural. Finally, we discuss shortly the need of education to change attitudes toward bats. In North America, education has had some effect as more people have started to understand how useful bats truly are and how few cases of bat-born rabies transmission to humans there have been in the United States and Canada . It remains to be seen, however, how effectively the further education efforts could halt or even reverse the decline of the bats around the world. It is also noted that bat tourism has a potential to conserve bat populations while providing social and economic benefits to local people in host communities.

Community Perspectives in Developing Bat-Cave Tourism in Leang Londrong, Bantimurung-Bulusaraung National Park: Comparing The Locals & Tourists

“…Therefore, to expose more about bats and its conservation in relation with their support for the development of bat-cave tourism, positive views on bats are required. This can be achieved through providing public education [38,46]. Initial steps that could be taken is to promote the existence of cave, bats, and conservation to all stakeholders through deploying information banners/boards in the area, which then is followed by the involvement of various stakeholders in the initiation of bat-cave tourism in Leang Londrong.…”

Myth and Mythological Discourse in Literary Studies

“…At the beginning of the twentieth century, cultural history considered myth to be part of archaic cultures, i.e., the nature of myth was studied exclusively at the stages of evolutionary development of different peoples. With the emergence of scientific cognition, myth began to be seen as a universal phenomenon, prompted by the Romantic interest in the subject (Sieradzki;Mikkola. 2022).…”

Mito e discurso mitológico nos estudos literários

“…No início do século XX, a história cultural considerava o mito como parte das culturas arcaicas, ou seja, a natureza do mito era estudada exclusivamente nas fases de desenvolvimento evolutivo dos diferentes povos. Com o surgimento da cognição científica, o mito passou a ser visto como um fenômeno universal, motivado pelo interesse romântico pelo assunto (Sieradzki;Mikkola. 2022).…”