In Darkness and Secrecy brings together ethnographic examinations
of Amazonian assault sorcery, witchcraft, and injurious magic, or
“dark shamanism.” Anthropological reflections on South American
shamanism have tended to emphasize shamans’ healing powers and
positive influence. This collection challenges that assumption by
showing that dark shamans are, in many Amazonian cultures, quite
different from shamanic healers and prophets. Assault sorcery, in
particular, involves violence resulting in physical harm or even
death. While highlighting the distinctiveness of such practices, In
Darkness and Secrecy reveals them as no less relevant to the
continuation of culture and society than curing and prophecy. The
contributors suggest that the persistence of dark shamanism can be
understood as a form of engagement with modernity.These essays, by
leading anthropologists of South American shamanism, consider
assault sorcery as it is practiced in parts of Brazil, Guyana,
Venezuela, and Peru. They analyze the social and political dynamics
of witchcraft and sorcery and their relation to cosmology,
mythology, ritual, and other forms of symbolic violence and
aggression in each society studied. They also discuss the relations
of witchcraft and sorcery to interethnic contact and the ways that
shamanic power may be co-opted by the state. In Darkness and
Secrecy includes reflections on the ethical and practical
implications of ethnographic investigation of violent cultural
practices. Contributors. Dominique Buchillet, Carlos Fausto,
Michael Heckenberger, Elsje Lagrou, E. Jean Langdon, George
Mentore, Donald Pollock, Fernando Santos-Granero, Pamela J.
Stewart, Andrew Strathern, Márnio Teixeira-Pinto, Silvia Vidal,
Neil L. Whitehead, Johannes Wilbert, Robin Wright
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