Аspects of Post-Structural Anthropology of Eduardo Viveiros de Castro (Postmodernism as a Language of the Description of Amazonian Tribes’ Mythological Reality: the Trickster’s Simulacra in Shamanism)
I. Davydov
Concept philosophy religion culture July 7, 2020 DOI: 10.24833/2541-8831-2020-1-13-84-94 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Shamanism |
| Key points | Argues that the origins of E. V. de Castro's "poststructural anthropology" lie in the views of J. Deleuze and F. Guattari, and that postmodern concepts can serve as an appropriate language for describing shamanic experience. |
Abstract
The purpose of the study is to trace the origins of E. V. de Castro’s «poststructural anthropology», and the possibility of its application in Religious Studies in contemporary Russia. For the purpose of the study, the methods of description, historical and comparative analysis and modelling were chosen. The objectives of the study are: 1) to create an analogous 3D model of «the shaman’s universe», according to the factography of E. V. de Castro’s «poststructural anthropology»; 2) to verify its heuristic potential using the material of the belief in the existence of werewolves; 3) to verify whether the postmodern thesaurus, as a language of description, could be adequately applied to the worldview of Amazonian shamans. The author concludes that: a) the immediate origins of «poststructural anthropology» lie in the views of J. Deleuze and F. Guattari, and that the achievements of the British school of social anthropology and Cl. Levi- Strauss’s structuralism served as the general background for E. V. de Castro’s and E. Kohn’s work; b) the conceptual framework of postmodernism is able to serve as an appropriate language of description of the shamanic experience which was clearly demonstrated by Amazonists E. V. de Castro and E. Kohn; c) the shamanic model of the universe (the Chaosmosis) has sufficient heuristic potential to be applied to other phenomena of religion, mytho-ritual, virtual fantasy worlds, fairy tales, and folklore.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on shamanism, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ayahuasca Shamanism in the Amazon and Beyond | 2014 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Shamanism as the Original Neurotheology | 2004 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Cognitive Neuroscience, Shamanism and the Rock Art of Native California | 1998 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| From Culture to Experience: Shamanism in the Pages of the Soviet Anti-Religious Press | 2020 | Historical analysis | |
| Anthropology, Shamanism, and Alternate Ways of Knowing–Being in the World: One Anthropologist's Journey of Discovery and Transformation | 2010 | Reflective essay or personal narrative |