“Visit to the House of the Jaguars”: Contextualization in Narratives about Extraordinary Experiences

Authors

  • Esther Jean Langdon Universidad Federal de Santa Catarina

Keywords:

shamanism, transmission of knowledge, contextualization, indexicality, performance

Abstract

Among the Siona indians, shamanic flights and encounters in the invisible world are recreated through oral performance. With the objective of exploring the relation between narrative performance, the creation of extraordinary experience and shamanic perspective, the article analyzes a narrative that tells of the visit to the house of the jaguars by a young apprentice and his master-shaman. This trip to the hidden side doesn’t occur during the ritual and under the influence of yajé, but in the following morning, when the novice is returning to his home. The analysis points out at the strategies of contextualization in narrative performance that work to create experience, transmit shamanic knowledge and reflect upon change of perspective and shamanic power.

https://doi.org/10.22380/2539472X75

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Published

2013-06-01

How to Cite

Jean Langdon, E. (2013). “Visit to the House of the Jaguars”: Contextualization in Narratives about Extraordinary Experiences. Revista Colombiana De Antropología, 49(1), 129–152. Retrieved from https://revistas.icanh.gov.co/index.php/rca/article/view/297