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Indigenous Narratives of Creation and Origin in Embrace of the Serpent, by Ciro Guerra

Indigenous Narratives of Creation and Origin in Embrace of the Serpent, by Ciro Guerra In Ciro Guerra’s film Embrace of the Serpent (2015), cultural exchanges between the central characters reveal the origin narratives and the curative power of plants valued by Indigenous cultures of the Amazon. This article analyzes how Embrace of the Serpent expresses Indigenous rationality in the origin narratives as the shaman Karamakate confronts Western travelers and scientists. For these Indigenous cultures, knowledge and its reproduction are equivalent to ancestral songs and rituals such as the ceremony of the Ayahuasca. This article supports these ideas not in a filmic analysis but by exploring central aspects and scenes in the film associated with intercultural exchanges and the ritual of Ayahuasca. Finally, Embrace of the Serpent highlights the difficulty of distinguishing between the rationality of orality and writing with which Native cultures of the Americas understand the world that surrounds them. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png English Language Notes Duke University Press

Indigenous Narratives of Creation and Origin in Embrace of the Serpent, by Ciro Guerra

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Copyright
Copyright © 2020 Regents of the University of Colorado
ISSN
0013-8282
eISSN
2573-3575
DOI
10.1215/00138282-8237520
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

In Ciro Guerra’s film Embrace of the Serpent (2015), cultural exchanges between the central characters reveal the origin narratives and the curative power of plants valued by Indigenous cultures of the Amazon. This article analyzes how Embrace of the Serpent expresses Indigenous rationality in the origin narratives as the shaman Karamakate confronts Western travelers and scientists. For these Indigenous cultures, knowledge and its reproduction are equivalent to ancestral songs and rituals such as the ceremony of the Ayahuasca. This article supports these ideas not in a filmic analysis but by exploring central aspects and scenes in the film associated with intercultural exchanges and the ritual of Ayahuasca. Finally, Embrace of the Serpent highlights the difficulty of distinguishing between the rationality of orality and writing with which Native cultures of the Americas understand the world that surrounds them.

Journal

English Language Notes – Duke University Press

Published: Apr 1, 2020

References

  • El ayahuasca y el curandero Shipibo-Conibo del Ucayali (Perú)
    Arévalo, Guillermo
  • The Nature of Indigenous Literatures in the Andes
    Arnold, D. Y. Yapita, J. de D. Valdés, M. Kadir, D.
  • Estudio de los ícaros: Dentro de los chamanes ayahuasqueros de la Amazonía
    Avendaño, Diego
  • Reapropiación simbólica de la Ayahuasca: Entre prácticas de representación y participación política
    Badini, Riccardo Tedeschi, Stefano Surian, Alessio
  • The Healing Power of the Icaros: A Phenomenological Study of Ayahuasca Experiences
    Bustos, Susana.
  • Lenguas, lenguajes y literaturas de Abiayala: ¿Descolonizando o re-colonizando en la era del capital extractivista?
    Cárcamo-Huechante, Luis E.
  • Translating Landscape and the Huarochirí Manuscript.
    Carte, Rebecca
  • Of Other Spaces
    Foucault, Michel
  • Acerca del Icaro o canto shamánico
    Giore, Rosa
  • Embrace of the Serpent: An Interview with Ciro Guerra.
    Guillén, Michael
  • Los viajes transnacionales del cine colombiano
    Luna, María
  • El trabajador del caucho y la representación narrativa
    Pizarro, Ana
  • Cine de arte y ensayo en Colombia: Los viajes del viento (2009), El vuelco del cangrejo (2010), La sirga (2012), Porfirio (2012) y La Playa D.C. (2012)
    Rojas Hernández, Eylin
  • El ayahuasca y el curandero Shipibo-Conibo del Ucayali (Perú)
    Arévalo, Guillermo
  • The Nature of Indigenous Literatures in the Andes
    Arnold, D. Y. Yapita, J. de D. Valdés, M. Kadir, D.
  • Estudio de los ícaros: Dentro de los chamanes ayahuasqueros de la Amazonía
    Avendaño, Diego
  • Reapropiación simbólica de la Ayahuasca: Entre prácticas de representación y participación política
    Badini, Riccardo Tedeschi, Stefano Surian, Alessio
  • The Healing Power of the Icaros: A Phenomenological Study of Ayahuasca Experiences
    Bustos, Susana.
  • Lenguas, lenguajes y literaturas de Abiayala: ¿Descolonizando o re-colonizando en la era del capital extractivista?
    Cárcamo-Huechante, Luis E.
  • Translating Landscape and the Huarochirí Manuscript.
    Carte, Rebecca
  • Of Other Spaces
    Foucault, Michel
  • Acerca del Icaro o canto shamánico
    Giore, Rosa
  • Embrace of the Serpent: An Interview with Ciro Guerra.
    Guillén, Michael
  • Los viajes transnacionales del cine colombiano
    Luna, María
  • El trabajador del caucho y la representación narrativa
    Pizarro, Ana
  • Cine de arte y ensayo en Colombia: Los viajes del viento (2009), El vuelco del cangrejo (2010), La sirga (2012), Porfirio (2012) y La Playa D.C. (2012)
    Rojas Hernández, Eylin