Scarecrows: supernatural sentinels against COVID-19 in Cambodia.

Abstract

Responses to the threat of COVID-19 have unveiled the underlying cultural theories of contagion across various countries. In Cambodia, erecting scarecrows has emerged as a popular response. This ethnographic study on contagious diseases and cultural deathscapes, which included participant observation with 185 informants, revealed that the human perception of scarecrows was less significant than the perception of ghosts that these scarecrows were intended to repel. To serve as effective sentinels, these scarecrows must appear menacing and be well armed. These observations offer insights into the cultural construction of contagion, threat, and defense in the context of an epidemic or a pandemic.