On sorcerers, sorcerers and doctors. Magical practices, popular culture and colonial society in 18th century Tucumán
This paper attempts a first and general historical approach to the problem of the so-called colonial witchcraft practices and their persecution in present-day northwestern Argentina. Since it is a subject little explored by regional historiography, our contribution will have to make its way laboriou...
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| Formato: | Artículo revista |
| Lenguaje: | Español |
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Centro de Investigaciones de la Facultad de Filosofía y Humanidades
2001
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| Acceso en línea: | https://revistas.unc.edu.ar/index.php/cuadernosdehistoriaeys/article/view/9880 |
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| Sumario: | This paper attempts a first and general historical approach to the problem of the so-called colonial witchcraft practices and their persecution in present-day northwestern Argentina. Since it is a subject little explored by regional historiography, our contribution will have to make its way laboriously, venturing into neighboring and not better known terrains for our country: that of the legal culture -supposedly learned- on the one hand, and that of the hybrid colonial popular culture, on the other. As in other spatial and temporal contexts, both came together in the civil and ecclesiastical courts, and not always for the first time. As we shall see, in some cases magic shows us one of its most interesting aspects: its capacity to unite, even if only temporarily, subjects distanced by their social hierarchy. Indeed, many Spaniards hired the services of specialists in the art of sickness and healing. And for better or worse, the Spaniard who went to the indigenous "sorceress" or the black "healer" had to submit to their will: a temporary reversal of power relations took place in the act of healing, divination or harm to third parties. The situation of the judicial process put things back in their place, reestablishing the balance. |
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