The Inconstancy of the Indian Soul: The Encounter of Catholics and Cannibals in 16-century Brazil

Viveiros de Castro, Eduardo

ISBN 10: 0984201017 / ISBN 13: 9780984201013

Edité par Prickly Paradigm Press (edition ), 2011

It's a well-cared-for item that has seen limited use. The item may show minor signs of wear. All the text is legible, with all pages included. It may have slight markings and/or highlighting. N° de réf. du vendeur 0984201017-8-1

Synopsis :

In the mid-sixteenth century, Jesuit missionaries working in what is now Brazil were struck by what they called the inconstancy of the people they met, the indigenous Tupi-speaking tribes of the Atlantic coast. Though the Indians appeared eager to receive the Gospel, they also had a tendency to forget the missionaries' lessons and "revert" to their natural state of war, cannibalism, and polygamy. This peculiar mixture of acceptance and rejection, compulsion and forgetfulness was incorrectly understood by the priests as a sign of the natives' incapacity to believe in anything durably.

In this pamphlet, world-renowned Brazilian anthropologist Eduardo Viveiros de Castro situates the Jesuit missionaries' accounts of the Tupi people in historical perspective, and in the process draws out some startling and insightful implications of their perceived inconstancy in relation to anthropological debates on culture and religion.

À propos de l?auteur: Eduardo Viveiros de Castro teaches anthropology at the Museu Nacional of Rio de Janeiro. Flávio Gordon and Francisco Araújo are PhD students at the Museu Nacional of Rio de Janeiro.

Détails bibliographiques

Titre : The Inconstancy of the Indian Soul: The ...
Éditeur : Prickly Paradigm Press (edition )
Date d'édition : 2011
Reliure : Paperback
Etat : Very Good