Shaking Colombia’s Artistic Canon: Indigenous Psychoactive Brews as Aesthetic Practice in Juan Cárdenas’ Los estratos
Natalia Aguilar Vásquez
Revista de estudios hispánicos June 1, 2024 DOI: 10.1353/rvs.2024.a937021 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Key points | Argues that in Juan Cárdenas's novel Los estratos, the shamanic rituals of preparing and consuming yagé constitute an artistic practice analogous but not identical to visual arts experiences. Contends that psychoactive brews can be understood as part of contemporary artistic networks in Colombia, challenging conventional representations of Indigenous people in art and media. |
Abstract
Abstract:In Juan Cárdenas’ literature, writing is an experiment that tests the limits of social representation and the boundaries of academic disciplines. His 2013 novel Los estratos dismantles Colombia’s stratified society, where Indigenous and Black communities occupy the lowest strata, while capturing mythical and aural elements of both minorities in the contemporary urban and rural spheres. Instead of speaking for the Indigenous and Black subjects, the novel presents minorities through the main character’s intellectual and corporal limitations as he travels to the jungle and drinks yagé. In this article, I argue that in Los estratos the shamanic rituals of preparation and intake of psychoactive brews are an artistic practice, analogous but not identical to experiences within the visual arts. Challenging conventional representations of the Indigenous in art and media, I show how psychoactive brews can be understood as part of contemporary artistic networks in Colombia.