Beads, the Inka and the Whites: Glass Beads in Kaxinawa and Amerindian Mythology and Ritual

Este artículo tiene por objetivo mostrar, a partir del análisis del papel de la chaquira en el mito y en el ritual kaxinawa y de su comparación con otros grupos amerindios, cómo este ítem puede permitirnos arrojar nuevas luces sobre temas importantes en la discusión contemporánea de la etnología amerindia, como la importancia dada por los amerindios al «saber hacer» o el conocimiento del origen y el papel de los dueños de las substancias y de los dominios. Otro tema central en la socialidad amerindia es el papel de la incorporación de las fuerzas agentivas de la alteridad en la constitución de la persona. Mostramos que la «captura» de las fuerzas exógenas contenidas en la chaquira sigue una lógica estética local. Por último, el artículo llama la atención sobre el rendimiento teórico de la superposición sistemática de los discursos amerindios que se refieren a los artefactos y a los cuerpos.In this article we analyse the role played by glass beads in Cashinahua myth and ritual, comparing our results with data on other Amerindian groups and showing how this small item of exchange permits us to discuss themes important for contemporary Amerindian ethnology. First of all we have the Amerindian search for knowledge about fabrication, origin and ownership of the materials they use in daily life and ritual. The role played by the incorporation of the agency of Others in the constitution of the person is central to Amerindian sociality. We show how the «captivation» of the exogenous forces contained in glass beads follows a local aesthetics. Finally we argue for the theoretical interest of indigenous discourses that systematically superpose bodies and artefacts, showing how similar are their inner structure, way of fabrication and agency

Existiria uma arte das sociedades contra o Estado?

Este artigo se propõe a explorar o legado de pensadores como Clastres e Lévi-Strauss para a teoria etnológica, em geral, e a recente reformulação do paradigma que subjaz ao renovado interesse em artefatos e grafismos entre os ameríndios, em particular. Partindo do material kaxinawa, o artigo propõe reflexões sobre a possibilidade de se pensar a relação entre a filosofia política ameríndia e seus regimes de figuração ou fuga da figuração. Explorase a possibilidade de existir uma “arte de sociedades contra o Estado” e sua possível relação com uma tendência não representativista. Exploramos igualmente a estreita relação entre o legado clastriano e levistraussiano e a recente caracterização das ontologias ameríndias como perspectivistas e animistas.This article proposes an exploration of the legacy of Clastres and Lévi-Strauss in ethnological theory in general and in the recent paradigm shift that underlies the renewed interest in artifacts and graphism among Amerindian peoples in particular. With the Kaxinawa case as a starting point, the article examines a possible affinity between the Amerindian political philosophy and their regimes of figuration or the avoidance of figuration. The hypothesis of an art of societies against the State and its possible relation with a non-representational tendency is explored. The clastrean and lévi-straussian legacy is also put into dialogue with the more recent discussion round Amerindian ontologies as being perspectivist or animist

Anaconda-becoming: Huni Kuin image-songs, an Amerindian relational aesthetics

After depicting the contemporary scene of Huni Kuin ayahuasca shamanism and artistic agency, I analyze a selection of image-songs from this ritual. The songs unveil the workings of embodied perception and synesthesia, that is, the transductions of bodily sensations and perceptions in vision, rhythm, song and sound. The experience entails a process of other-becoming where to know means to see through the eyes of Other; to be covered with the skin/ornaments of those beings one has consumed and to sing through their voice. This other-becoming is a becoming in a deleuzian sense, which means that the lived experience is situated in-between the space of self and other. In this context the expression “you are what you eat” has specific implications for one’s health and for the acquisition of agentive and perceptive capabilities of other beings. The ritual technique of almost becoming consists of alternatingly producing and undoing temporary transformations through song.Depois de apresentar a cena contemporânea da agencia artística e do xamanismo ayahuasqueiro dos Huni Kuin, apresento uma seleção de seus cantos-imagem. Os cantos revelam a lógica de uma percepção incorporada e sinestésica, isto é, as transduções de sensações corporais e percepções entre visão, ritmo, canto e som. A experiência veicula um processo de tornar-se outro onde conhecer significa olhar através dos olhos de Outro; estar coberto com a pele/ornamentos dos seres que se consumiu e cantar através de sua voz. Este devir-Outro é um devir deleuziano porque a experiência vivida se situa no espaço entre eu e outro. Nesse contexto a expressão “você é o que come” tem implicações específicas para o bem-estar e para a aquisição de capacidades agentivas e perceptivas de outros seres. A técnica ritual desse quase devir consiste em, de modo alternado, produzir e desfazer transformações temporárias através do canto

Le graphisme sur les corps amérindiens

Je propose de montrer dans cet article comment plusieurs techniques formelles utilisées dans le graphisme des Indiens cashinahua et d’autres « peuples à dessin » peuvent être vues comme des techniques perspectivistes, c’est-à-dire des techniques qui aident à visualiser la potentialité de transformation des phénomènes perçus. Si l’analyse des circonstances dans lesquelles ce processus peut se produire a été amplement réalisée dans les ethnographies de la région, en revanche les techniques de cadrage visuelles qu’il implique n’ont pas été suffisamment mises en lumière. C’est là qu’apparaît l’importance d’une étude des formes, d’une esthétique perspectiviste de la transformation. Au-delà du contexte perspectiviste et animiste dans lequel s’ancre cette recherche, j’explore la possibilité de considérer ces graphismes comme des « chimères abstraites ».This article argues that several of the formal techniques used in the graphic designs of Cashinahua Indians and other so-called “graphic peoples” can be seen as perspectivist techniques–i.e. they assist in the visualisation of the transformative potential of perceived phenomena. Whilst there has been considerable ethnographic discussion of the circumstances in which such processes occur in the region, the visual framing techniques involved have been left largely unexplored. Whence the need for an analysis of the forms or the perspectivist aesthetic of transformation. As well as investigating the perspectivist and animist context of these processes, the article also considers the possibility of seeing such designs as “abstract chimeras”

Rir do poder e o poder do riso nas narrativas e performances Kaxinawa

The grotesque humor of pantomime and myth, the festive humor of play, and the humor used to criticize excesses in myth and comic sketches, can all be read as modes of native knowledge of the world and of the relationships holding this world together. Native exegesis of humoristic imagery reveals crucial values related to Cashinahua concepts about sociality and ritual agency. These are iconic discourses about the quality of relations between people and between people and the animated world. The humor of the grotesque body composed of parts of the body acting as autonomous forces, and the festive humor contaminating the owners of substances, have ritual efficacy, making cosmic powers act in favor of humanity. What kind of knowledge is expressed in humor? Festive and grotesque humor expresses a knowledge of how to act on the world, a knowledge the protagonists of mythic time lacked. In myth, the powerful owners of knowledge crucial to life were conquered and killed. In ritual, these same beings are "made happy" and seduced. Ritual agency thus subverts mythical agency to produce historical time, a time in which bodies are produced out of the constructive qualities of powerful beings known for their predatory capacities.O humor grotesco das pantomimas e dos mitos, o humor festivo das brincadeiras e o humor crítico dos excessos em mitos e sketches podem ser lidos como formas de conhecimento nativo sobre o mundo e sobre as relações que mantêm esse mundo interconectado. A exegese nativa da imagética humorística revela valores cruciais relacionados às concepções kaxinawa sobre socialidade e agência ritual. Estamos lidando com discursos icônicos sobre a qualidade das relações entre pessoas e entre pessoas e o mundo animado. O humor do corpo grotesco, que faz dialogarem partes de corpos como forças autônomas, e o humor festivo, cujo riso contamina a moral dos "donos" das substâncias, têm alta eficácia ritual, motivando forças cósmicas a agirem em prol da humanidade. Qual é o saber expresso pelo humor? O humor expressa um conhecimento de como agir sobre o mundo que os protagonistas dos mitos careciam. Nos mitos, os poderosos donos de saberes cruciais à vida eram conquistados e mortos. No ritual, estes mesmos seres são "alegrados" e seduzidos. A agência ritual subverte o tempo mítico do conflito para produzir o tempo histórico, um tempo no qual pessoas são produzidas com base nas qualidades construtivas de seres poderosos, conhecidos por suas capacidades predatórias

L’art populaire brésilien : un art de la relation

À la différence de ce que l’on appelle dans les grandes villes l’art ethnique, composé d’objets produits initialement en vue d’une autre fin que celle d’être des œuvres d’art, l’art populaire est ce que nous suggérons d’appeler un « art de la relation » qui, sous différentes formes, se constitue dans la rencontre entre des mondes distincts, mais intrinsèquement en lien. La transformation de l’artefact en art se produit par une extension progressive du réseau de production des artefacts. Du ma..

Visualization and Movement as Configurations of Human-Nonhuman Engagements : Precolonial Geometric Earthwork Landscapes of the Upper Purus, Brazil

Producing geometric designs and images on materials, such as pottery, basketry, and bead artwork, as well as the human body, is elemental and widespread among Amazonian Indigenous peoples. In this article, we examine the different geometric forms identified in the precolonial geoglyph architecture of southwestern Amazonia in the context of geometric design making and relational ontologies. Our aim is to explore earthwork iconography through the lens of Amerindian visual arts and movement. Combining ethnographic and archaeological data from the Upper Purus, Brazil, the article shows how ancient history and socio-cosmology are deeply "written" onto the landscape in the form of geometric earthworks carved out of the soil, which materialize interactions between nonhuman and human actors. We underline skills in visualization, imaginative practices, and movement as ways to promote well-balanced engagements with animated life forms. Here, iconography inserted in the landscape is both a form of writing and also emerges as an agent, affecting people through visual and corporal practices.Peer reviewe