PERSPECTIVISM

Perspectivism: translation

A central theme ofEduardo Viveiros deCastro’s writing aboutAmazonianshamans and their wider societies puts the ability to see from another’s perspective at the center of what shamans do. If powerful persons, especially shamans andsorcerers, mightappearin different physical forms—for example, that of ajaguaror a human—it can be vital to see what isreallythere. But the issue is larger than this, because Amazoniancosmologyentails the notion of a single culture shared by all living beings (fish, birds,animals, plants, deities, humans, and others) but masked by divergent appearances of physical nature. So, while most humans see jaguars as animals who eat raw meat, and peccaries as prey animals, jaguars and peccaries see themselves as living in homes and eating cooked food. Meanwhile, jaguars and peccaries see humans as prey andpredators, respectively. Shamans see the cultural reality obscured by the multiplicity ofnature. This contrasts with Western modernity in which a single nature (of stable physical, material reality) provides a foundation for the multiplicity and diversity of (human) cultures. Where modernity has “multiculturalism,” Amazonia has “multinaturalism.” But, more significantly, where modernity worries about solipsism (do we think the same?), Amazonians worry aboutcannibalism(do we taste the same?). In such a context, the most valued roles of shamans are associated with knowledge,combat, andhealing. Signe Howell summarizes data from among theChewongofIndonesia, and many otheranimistsocieties, which show that a common part of apprentice shamans’initiationand training is “learning to see in a new way.” Thus Viveiros de Castro’s argument may be applicable to all shamans.