Sorcery in Amazonia, ed. by J.A. Whitaker, M. Lewy & T. Janik (2025)

Although shamanism has become a well-developed and expansive topic within the anthropology of Amazonia, the ethnographic literature focusing on sorcery has been sporadic and sparse by comparison. This has particularly been the case since the death of Neil L. Whitehead in 2012. However, as Sorcery in Amazonia shows, sorcery is often of great importance in the lives and cosmologies of many people in different parts of lowland South America. Across the region, it takes a variety of forms and involves a diverse range of practices. This edited volume comparatively re-examines the topic of sorcery in Amazonia with particular emphases on local ontological frameworks, issues of embodiment, and related uses of sound. It highlights ethical approaches to research concerning sorcery and discusses the ethics within local communities of sorcery practices and accusations.

Available at: https://publications.iai.spk-berlin.de/receive/iai_mods_00000434

Table of contents

• Preface. Rival, Laura
• Introduction. Whitaker, James Andrew; Lewy, Matthias; Janik, Tarryl
• Hay que hacer una nueva cesta. Lambos, Balbina; Lewy, Matthias
• Armas y brujería: robo, intercambio y kanaima entre los makushi. Whitaker, James Andrew
• Kanaima and the Preacher: Taurepáng Cosmology. Monticelli, Caio
• Kanaimaton and the Sound of Violence in the Circum-Roraima Region. Lewy, Matthias
• Kanaima (E’toto) and the Ecology of Violence in the Circum-Mount Roraima Landscape. Cooper, Daniel G.
• Revisiting Kanaima Among the Patamona : Tracing the Footsteps of Neil L. Whitehead. Janik, Tarryl
• Interview with Theresa Whitehead. Janik, Tarryl
• Interview with Matilda Saigo Williams. Janik, Tarryl
• Witches and Witchcraft Among the Asháninka People : Moral, Psychological and Educational Aspects. Frisancho, Susana; Delgado, Enrique
• The Body as a Battleground: Embodiment and Sorcery in Shamanic Tourism. Fotiou, Evgenia
• Sorcery in the Gran Chaco: Counter-State Force or Unfinished Crystallization of Power? Sarra, Sonia; Tola, Florencia Carmen
• Afterword: Assault Sorcery and Kanaima in the Light of New Empirical Approaches : Neil Whitehead’s Legacy and Beyond. Halbmayer, Ernst

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