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Being and Becoming: On Conditions of Existence in the Amazon


Web link: digitalcommons.trinity.edu/cgi/viewc...

Pages: 80–94

Abstract

The miserable destiny of those sad souls who have not established bonds with spirits and demons underscores the existential significance of belonging; to be someone it is necessary to be together with others. Moreover, considering that the Other in Amazonian peoples’ identity constructions commonly is a constitutive Other and that the Other, therefore, is part of the Self. The suretsi is a ghost that lacks a body and therefore also all personal attributes by which it can be identified, which signifies that the dead turns into a “no-body” both in a literal sense and in the sense of a person without any relations. There are many things to fear in life but to Matsigenka people, this is, arguably, the ultimate horror as it is associated with ending up in a social void. The dread of a non-social destiny in afterlife is not unique to Matsigenka people and similar notions are reported for other peoples of the Amazon.