The Stench of Death and the Aromas of Life: The Poetics of Ways of Knowing and Sensory Process among Piaroa of the Orinoco Basin

The Piaroa are people, living along tributaries of the middle Orinoco, who recognize that the dance of every bodily process participates in a poisonous, primordial design of things. This paper explores the relation of sensory processes and the cosmic to Piaroa ways of knowing and doing their arts of the culinary. In so doing it is an expedition into ethnopoetics. My focus is upon the interplay of two contrasting narrative genres—the sublime and grotesque realism—as used by shamanic chanters to unfold the manifold ways in which bodily processes and sensory life are intimately involved in ways of knowing. The imagery of the sublime evokes the beautiful sensual capacities of the upper body, while that of grotesque realism dwells upon the poisonous expulsions, and openness, of the body’s nether parts. In both genres, bodily process is an important, often ambiguous, operator in the mastery of knowledge, and also in its loss. For Piaroa, human ways of knowing are always involved in the toxic, and thus are attached to the twinned processes of degeneration and regeneration. Poison, as an agent of transformation, is creative of life and it also can kill. Les Piaroa, qui vivent le long des affluents du moyen Orénoque, sont de ceux qui reconnaissent que la danse de chaque processus corporel participe du dessin primordial empoisonné des choses. Cette communication explore l’interrelation des processus des sens et du cosmique et les manières Piaroa de savoir et de faire les arts culinaires. Ce faisant, je ferai une expédition dans l’ethnopoétique. Cet exposé traitera de l’interaction de deux genres contrastés, le sublime et le réalisme grotesque, tels qu’utilisés par les chants chamaniques pour déployer les diverses façons par lesquelles les processus corporels et la vie sensorielle sont intimement impliqués dans les manières de percevoir. L’imagerie du sublime évoque les belles capacités sensuelles du haut du corps, tandis que le réalisme grotesque traite des expulsions empoisonnées et des ouvertures des parties inférieures du corps. Dans les deux genres, les processus corporels sont un important opérateur, souvent ambigu, de la maîtrise du savoir, et également de sa perte. Pour les Piaroa, les manières de savoir sont toujours impliquées dans le toxique, et donc associés aux processus jumelés de dégénération et régénération: le poison, en tant qu’agent de transformation, est créateur de vie et peut aussi tuer

ADIWA! PIAROA PHILOSOPHIES OF POWER, VIOLENCE, INGESTION, EXCRETION, BLOOD AND BEAUTY

For Amazonian peoples we have the question of just what is the relation of Power to Polity and Society? – How do these ideas of Polity and Power compare with Western paradigms and expectations? Unfortunately we find that there can be no relationship. Anthropology has decided that there is no comparison possible: looking at such concepts through Western paradigms, anthropologists have found, it seems, that peoples like those in the Amazon just don’t have them—no Power, no Society, and no accomplishment of something that could be called a Polity. Piaroa ideas on these topics are in fact certainly much more interesting and sophisticated than those we find embedded in Western institutions

O fétido odor da morte e os aromas da vida: poética dos saberes e processo sensorial entre os Piaroa da bacia do Orinoco

The Piaroa are people, living along tributaries of the Middle Orinoco, who recognise that the dance of every bodily process participates in a poisonous, primordial design of things. This paper explores the relation of sensory processes and the cosmic to Piaroa ways of knowing and doing their arts of the culinary. In so doing it is an expedition into ethnopoetics. This article will dwell upon the interplay of two contrasting narrative genres, the sublime and grotesque realism, as used by shamanic chanters to unfold the manifold ways in which bodily processes and sensory life are intimately involved in ways of knowing. The imagery of the sublime evokes the beautiful sensual capacities of the upper body, while that of grotesque realism dwells upon the poisonous expellings, and openness, of the body's nether parts. In both genres, bodily process is an important, often ambiguous, operator in the mastery of knowledge, and also in its loss. For Piaroa, human ways of knowing are always involved in the toxic, and thus attached to the twinned processes of degeneration and regeneration: poison, as an agent of transformation, is creative of life and it also can kill.O povo piaroa, que vive às margens dos afluentes do Meio Orinoco, acredita que o movimento de todo processo corporal participa de uma ordem venenosa e primordial das coisas. Este texto explora a correspondência entre os processos sensoriais e cósmicos e as formas do povo piaroa pensar e praticar sua arte culinária. Realiza, assim, uma expedição à etnopoética. O artigo tratará da interação entre dois gêneros narrativos contrastantes o sublime e o realismo grotesco, tais como usados pelos cantadores xamânicos para revelar as múltiplas formas com que processos corporais e vida sensorial estão intimamente entrelaçados com os modos de conhecimento. A imagética do sublime evoca as belas faculdades sensuais da parte superior do corpo, enquanto a imagética do realismo grotesco trata das excreções venenosas e dos orifícios das partes baixas do corpo. Em ambos os gêneros, o processo corporal é um operador importante, mas muitas vezes ambíguo, tanto no domínio do conhecimento quanto na perda deste. Para os Piaroa, os modos de saber humanos estão sempre envolvidos com o que é tóxico e, portanto, atrelados aos processos geminados de degeneração e regeneração: o veneno, como agente de transformação, é criador da vida, mas também pode ser o seu algoz

A estética da produção: o senso de comunidade entre os Cubeo e os Piaroa

Este artigo procura recuperar a concepção de "senso de comunidade" de Vico - que incorpora o julgamento estético à lei moralidade - para compreender o que é "o social" para os índios da floresta tropical sul-americana. O trabalho mostra que a falta de estruturas de hierarquias ou de instituições de coerção não significa falta de organização social, mas, ao contrário, representa um credo político com intenção moral e estética