Objects of Power, People of Prestige: The biographical temporality of Xinguano rituals and the Wauja cosmopolitics

From puberty to old age, a Xinguano aristocrat will participate in, help perform and sponsor dozens of intra and inter-village rituals. These rituals, in turn, lie at the root of the production and maintenance of a singular type of political status (amunaw) whose source of power is both external (p...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor principal: Barcelos Neto, Aristoteles; University of East Anglia
Formato: Artículo publishedVersion Artículo revisado por pares Peer-reviewed Article
Lenguaje:Español
Publicado: Universidad Nacional de Colombia 2012
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Acceso en línea:http://www.revistas.unal.edu.co/index.php/imanimundo/article/view/28094
http://biblioteca.clacso.edu.ar/gsdl/cgi-bin/library.cgi?a=d&c=co/co-027&d=article28094oai
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Sumario:From puberty to old age, a Xinguano aristocrat will participate in, help perform and sponsor dozens of intra and inter-village rituals. These rituals, in turn, lie at the root of the production and maintenance of a singular type of political status (amunaw) whose source of power is both external (pathogenic/shamanic spirits-monsters) and internal (family networks of ritual work). The relation between these sources results in the production of ritual objects that also work to boost the prestige of the amunaw. However, it is only in their funerary rituals that the glory of the amunaw can be fully celebrated. After his death, what remains of the personified power of an amunaw are the names to which he conferred fame. In this article I attempt to show how this ritual system can maximize or minimize the amunaw’s power and its transmission to his descendants.