TY - JOUR
T1 - Asháninka Messianism
T2 - The Production of a 'Black Hole' in Western Amazonian Ethnography
AU - Veber, Hanne
PY - 2003
Y1 - 2003
N2 - As a set of explanatory notions, 'resistance' and 'messianism' have been important in anthropology, not least when applied to popular mobilization in colonial and postcolonial settings. The 'resistance' perspective has been subjected to critique from within the field; 'messianism' has remained curiously unchallenged. The notions of 'messianism' evokes a certain understanding of actors' motivations and perceptions and pretends to identify cultural crucibles at the heart of the conjuncture between cosmology and agency. for this reason, categorizing people, cultures, movements, or other phenomena as 'messianic' has significant interpretive implications. In their readeing og historical records and narratives, anthropologists have attributed a messianic proclivity to the Asháninka and other native populations in the Peruvian Amazon. Taking off from interpretation of the figure of Juan Santos Atahuallpa in the 1742 rebellion against the Franciscan mission, many anthropologists have depicted these Arawakans as highly receptive to messiah figures; more recent Asháninka movements have been seen as similarly motivated. It is argued here that the notion of Asháninka messianism derives its veracity more from its scholarly repetition than from grounded analysis; it has created a 'black hole' in place of ethnography that an approach that takes heed of practices, narrative and structural, may begin to fill.
AB - As a set of explanatory notions, 'resistance' and 'messianism' have been important in anthropology, not least when applied to popular mobilization in colonial and postcolonial settings. The 'resistance' perspective has been subjected to critique from within the field; 'messianism' has remained curiously unchallenged. The notions of 'messianism' evokes a certain understanding of actors' motivations and perceptions and pretends to identify cultural crucibles at the heart of the conjuncture between cosmology and agency. for this reason, categorizing people, cultures, movements, or other phenomena as 'messianic' has significant interpretive implications. In their readeing og historical records and narratives, anthropologists have attributed a messianic proclivity to the Asháninka and other native populations in the Peruvian Amazon. Taking off from interpretation of the figure of Juan Santos Atahuallpa in the 1742 rebellion against the Franciscan mission, many anthropologists have depicted these Arawakans as highly receptive to messiah figures; more recent Asháninka movements have been seen as similarly motivated. It is argued here that the notion of Asháninka messianism derives its veracity more from its scholarly repetition than from grounded analysis; it has created a 'black hole' in place of ethnography that an approach that takes heed of practices, narrative and structural, may begin to fill.
M3 - Journal article
VL - 44
SP - 183
EP - 211
JO - Current Anthropology
JF - Current Anthropology
SN - 0011-3204
IS - 3
ER -