This article examines the concept of the “true hunter” (vrai chasseur) among big game hunters in French colonial Indochina. Drawing primarily on French language texts published by highly experienced European hunters between 1910 and 1950, it first examines in detail the true hunter ethic, which required hunters to hunt and kill their prey in a “sporting” (sportif) manner. This ethic involved adherence to an expansive and complicated set of rules related to stalking, marksmanship, knowledge possession, restraint, prey selection, choice of firearms and ammunition, and others. True hunting was regarded as by definition difficult and, as is argued, the practical realization of the true hunter ideal entailed not simply engaging in hunting as an activity, but instead successfully performing a very difficult but specific type of killing. The article's second purpose is to engage a paradox associated with the texts, their authors, and the ethic. While critical of other hunters for “unnecessary slaughter,” many killed staggering numbers of animals. This paradox is accounted for by placing the true hunters in the broader social context of colonial Indochina. Both their type of sport hunting and the virtuosity of their killing distinguished them from the indigenous populations that served their hunts and other European hunters. This virtuosity also legitimized the scale of their killing and placed these hunters into a distinctive social and moral community.

中文翻译：

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定义真正的猎人：法属殖民地印度支那的大型狩猎、道德差异和精湛技艺

本文探讨了法国殖民地印度支那大型猎物猎人中“真正的猎人”（vrai chasseur）的概念。它主要借鉴了 1910 年至 1950 年间由经验丰富的欧洲猎人出版的法语文本，首先详细研究了真正的猎人伦理，即要求猎人以“运动”（sportif）的方式狩猎和杀死猎物。这种伦理包括遵守一系列广泛而复杂的规则，这些规则与跟踪、枪法、知识拥有、克制、猎物选择、枪支和弹药的选择等有关。真正的狩猎在定义上被认为是困难的，正如所争论的那样，真正的猎人理想的实际实现不仅仅需要将狩猎作为一项活动，而是成功地进行非常困难但特定类型的杀戮。文章' 第二个目的是解决与文本、作者和伦理相关的悖论。虽然批评其他猎人“不必要的屠杀”，但许多人杀死了数量惊人的动物。通过将真正的猎人置于殖民地印度支那更广泛的社会背景中来解释这一悖论。他们的运动狩猎类型和他们的杀戮技巧使他们与为他们的狩猎和其他欧洲猎人服务的土著居民区分开来。这种精湛技艺也使他们的杀戮规模合法化，并将这些猎人置于一个独特的社会和道德社区中。通过将真正的猎人置于殖民地印度支那更广泛的社会背景中来解释这一悖论。他们的运动狩猎类型和他们的杀戮技巧使他们与为他们的狩猎和其他欧洲猎人服务的土著居民区分开来。这种精湛技艺也使他们的杀戮规模合法化，并将这些猎人置于一个独特的社会和道德社区中。通过将真正的猎人置于殖民地印度支那更广泛的社会背景中来解释这一悖论。他们的运动狩猎类型和他们的杀戮技巧使他们与为他们的狩猎服务的土著居民和其他欧洲猎人区分开来。这种精湛技艺也使他们的杀戮规模合法化，并将这些猎人置于一个独特的社会和道德社区中。