Mãe D’água’s Places. Non-Humans, Bodies and Illnesses In an Amazonian Quilombo
The Mãe d’Água (“mother of water”) is an encantado (“enchanted”), an entity that belongs to the rich Afro-Indian-Brazilian pantheon of deities. This article intends to analyse the role that she plays in defining the relationship among places, human corporeity, and non-humans in an Amazonian communit...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Ledizioni
2017-10-01
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| Series: | Antropologia |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.ledijournals.com/ojs/index.php/antropologia/article/view/1295 |
| _version_ | 1818675588201709568 |
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| author | Manuela Tassan |
| author_facet | Manuela Tassan |
| author_sort | Manuela Tassan |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The Mãe d’Água (“mother of water”) is an encantado (“enchanted”), an entity that belongs to the rich Afro-Indian-Brazilian pantheon of deities. This article intends to analyse the role that she plays in defining the relationship among places, human corporeity, and non-humans in an Amazonian community of descendants of African slaves (quilombo). My ethnographic research in the Reserva Extrativista Quilombo Frechal (Maranhão State, Brazil) shows how, on the one side, the Mãe d’Água is embodied in specific religious or therapeutic rituals. But, on the other, she is also experienced as a “tangible” presence that qualifies the identity of a territory. This latter characteristic influences the concrete ways of “dwelling” the natural environment. In particular, Frechal’s quilombolas believe that frequenting some places along the river could provoke forms of illness caused by the Mãe d’Água. Moreover, the potential dangerousness both of these places and of this encantado is also connected to the presence of a physic condition, that they call “open body”, of crucial importance in the local etiology of illness. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-17T08:29:58Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-fb39fd850c344922805d9a5792c2f78a |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2281-4043 2420-8469 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-17T08:29:58Z |
| publishDate | 2017-10-01 |
| publisher | Ledizioni |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Antropologia |
| spelling | doaj.art-fb39fd850c344922805d9a5792c2f78a2022-12-21T21:56:39ZengLedizioniAntropologia2281-40432420-84692017-10-0142 N.S10.14672/ada20171295%p1009Mãe D’água’s Places. Non-Humans, Bodies and Illnesses In an Amazonian QuilomboManuela Tassan0Università degli studi di Milano-BicoccaThe Mãe d’Água (“mother of water”) is an encantado (“enchanted”), an entity that belongs to the rich Afro-Indian-Brazilian pantheon of deities. This article intends to analyse the role that she plays in defining the relationship among places, human corporeity, and non-humans in an Amazonian community of descendants of African slaves (quilombo). My ethnographic research in the Reserva Extrativista Quilombo Frechal (Maranhão State, Brazil) shows how, on the one side, the Mãe d’Água is embodied in specific religious or therapeutic rituals. But, on the other, she is also experienced as a “tangible” presence that qualifies the identity of a territory. This latter characteristic influences the concrete ways of “dwelling” the natural environment. In particular, Frechal’s quilombolas believe that frequenting some places along the river could provoke forms of illness caused by the Mãe d’Água. Moreover, the potential dangerousness both of these places and of this encantado is also connected to the presence of a physic condition, that they call “open body”, of crucial importance in the local etiology of illness.https://www.ledijournals.com/ojs/index.php/antropologia/article/view/1295mãe d’águanon-umaniluogocorpo apertoquilombo |
| spellingShingle | Manuela Tassan Mãe D’água’s Places. Non-Humans, Bodies and Illnesses In an Amazonian Quilombo Antropologia mãe d’água non-umani luogo corpo aperto quilombo |
| title | Mãe D’água’s Places. Non-Humans, Bodies and Illnesses In an Amazonian Quilombo |
| title_full | Mãe D’água’s Places. Non-Humans, Bodies and Illnesses In an Amazonian Quilombo |
| title_fullStr | Mãe D’água’s Places. Non-Humans, Bodies and Illnesses In an Amazonian Quilombo |
| title_full_unstemmed | Mãe D’água’s Places. Non-Humans, Bodies and Illnesses In an Amazonian Quilombo |
| title_short | Mãe D’água’s Places. Non-Humans, Bodies and Illnesses In an Amazonian Quilombo |
| title_sort | mae d agua s places non humans bodies and illnesses in an amazonian quilombo |
| topic | mãe d’água non-umani luogo corpo aperto quilombo |
| url | https://www.ledijournals.com/ojs/index.php/antropologia/article/view/1295 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT manuelatassan maedaguasplacesnonhumansbodiesandillnessesinanamazonianquilombo |