Description
Book SynopsisBeatriz Caiuby Labate and Clancy Cavnar offer an in-depth exploration of how Amerindian epistemology and ontology concerning indigenous shamanic rituals of the Amazon have spread to Western societies, and of how indigenous, mestizo, and cosmopolitan cultures have engaged with and transformed these forest traditions. The volume focuses on the use of ayahuasca, a psychoactive drink essential in many indigenous shamanic rituals of the Amazon. Ayahuasca use has spread far beyond its Amazonian origin, spurring a variety of legal and cultural responses in the countries to which it has spread. The essays in this volume look at how these responses have influenced ritual design and performance in traditional and non-traditional contexts, how displaced indigenous people and rubber tappers are engaged in the creative reinvention of rituals, and how these rituals help build ethnic alliances and cultural and political strategies for their marginalized position. Some essays explore important classic
Trade ReviewThis book is a welcome addition for those interested in the use of ayahuasca in the Amazon and beyond, for both anthropologists and those with an interest in ayahuasca in general. Highly recommended. * Pieter Stokkink, OPEN Foundation *
The essays open up some new paths for researching the interplay between tradition, culture, identity and ayahuasca. This book is a welcome addition for those interested in the use of ayahuasca in the Amazon and beyond, for both anthropologists and those with an interest in ayahuasca in general. Highly recommended * OPEN Foundation *
This book presents the encounter between Amazonian and modern worlds through the account of the recent phenomenon of expansion of shamanistic rituals based on the consumption of ayahuasca. Reinvention and transformation of religious traditions, ethnic and ecological tourism, debates on intellectual property and on legalization of psychoactive substances feature among the topics which make up this brilliant collection. * Renato Sztutman, University of Sao Paulo *
Much has been written about ayahuasca and shamanism, but this book will certainly stand out because it is problem-oriented and includes a fascinating array of chapters by leading experts of different backgrounds. It therefore promises to be an important contribution to religious anthropology rather than yet another instance of mystical mumbo-jumbo. * Philipe Erikson, Universite Paris Ouest Nanterre *
This volume unravels the complex meanders of intellectual and practical exchanges in a time when Amazonia goes global and the world goes Amazonian. * Aristoteles Barcelos Neto, University of East Anglia *
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments ; Contributors ; List of Illustrations ; Foreword: Authentic Ayahuasca by Oscar Calavia Saez ; Introduction: Notes on the Expansion and Reinvention of Ayahuasca Shamanism - Beatriz Caiuby Labate, Clancy Cavnar, and Francoise Barbira Freeman ; 1. Will the Real Shaman Please Stand Up? The Recent Adoption of Ayahuasca among Indigenous Groups of the Peruvian Amazon - Glenn H. Shepard Jr. ; 2. Kuntanawa: Ayahuasca, Ethnicity, and Culture - Mariana Ciavatta Pantoja ; 3. Materializing Alliances: Ayahuasca Shamanism In and Beyond Western Amazonian Indigenous Communities - Pirjo Kristiina Virtanen ; 4. Medicine Alliance: Contemporary Shamanic Networks in Brazil - Esther Jean Langdon and Isabel Santana de Rose ; 5. Ritualized Misunderstanding between Uncertainty, Agreement and Rupture: Communication Patterns in Euro-American Ayahuasca Ritual Interactions - Anne-Marie Losonczy and Silvia Mesturini Cappo ; 6. Shamans' Networks in Western Amazonia: The Iquitos-Nauta Road - Francoise Barbira Freedman ; 7. On the Uneasiness of Tourism: Considerations on Shamanic Tourism in Western Amazonia - Evgenia Fotiou ; 8. The Internationalization of Peruvian Vegetalismo - Beatriz Caiuby Labate ; 9. From the Native's Point of View: How Shipibo-Konibo Experience and Interpret Ayahuasca-Drinking with "Gringos" - Bernd Brabec de Mori ; 10. Ayahuasca's Attractions and Distractions: Examining Sexual Seduction in Shaman-Participant Interactions - Daniela Peluso ; 11. Yage Related Neo-Shamanism in Colombian Urban Contexts - Alhena Caicedo Fernandez ; Index
