in darkness and secrecy

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In Darkness and Secrecy: The Anthropology of Assault Sorcery and Witchcraft in Amazonia

by Neil L. Whitehead; Robin WrightReview by: Steven RubensteinJournal of Anthropological Research, Vol. 61, No. 3 (Autumn, 2005), pp. 403-405Published by: University of New MexicoStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3631335 .

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404 JOURNAL FANTHROPOLOGICALESEARCHwhich is why colonial authoritieshave persecutedshamanismandwhy shamansin turn are well-situated to play a majorrole in "resisting, ameliorating,andinfluencing hecourseof indigenousandcolonialcontactsandsubsequent istories"(p. 2). The various articles make a significantcontribution o recentattempts otheorize shamanism n termsof historicalengagements,and Amazonianculturesas historicallydynamic.Thus, Whiteheadand Sylvia Vidal arguethatpopularparticipationn localandregionalpolitics in Guyanaand the VenezuelanAmazon often takes the formof occultpracticesrather hanformal"democratic"nstitutions. nVenezuela, hiswas largelythe resultof the adoptionof Arawakanbeliefs by Criollos. When thestateexpanded ts presencein theAmazonin the 1970s,Arawakan hamanswereable to use their influence to help their clients get state-salariedobs, loans, andsupport n elections. In Guyana,on the otherhand,Amerindiansoftenrespondedto colonial marginalizationby turningagainstthemselves. The shaman-prophetAwacaipu nternalized ertainChristianbeliefs andpreached hatif his followerskilled oneanother, fter hreedays theywouldbe resurrected s Whites.Conversely,after colonial authorities disarmed Amerindian village leadership, kanaimds(sorcerer-assassins)mutilatedandkilled Indianswho had converted o Christianity.This volume's attention o historydoes not alwaystake the form of Western,chronologicalnarratives.GeorgeMentore's vocativeessayonWaiwaishamanismengages PierreClastres'suggestionthat "thehistoryof peoples withouthistoryisthe history of their struggle against the state" (Clastres 1989:218). Against acommonview that nhealing ndividuals,"light" hamansalsohealrupturedocialbonds,Mentoredisplacesthisfunctionontodarkshamans.Whenhealingshamansinvoke a darkshamanto explain illness, he suggests, they invoke a force that"activelyfunctionsagainstanypossibilityof a concentration f political powerata rigidcenter"-which preventshealingshamans romusingtheirpowerover lifeto institute hemselvesas centralpolitical powers (Mentore2004:141).In an equally nuancedchapter,Donald Pollock exploreshow shamanicandnon-shamanicsorcery among the Kulina represent enduringtensions betweenpolitical and domesticdomains. Membersof a village consider themselvesto besiblings,which is the basis for conviviality.But villages areendogamous;socialreproductionoften requires siblings to redefine themselves as affines, whichthreatensconviviality. Interhouseholdconflicts are often followed by multipleoutbreaksof illness thatrequireshamanichealing-and rituals n whichmembersof the village danceall nightandsing of beautyand order.Non-shamanic orcery(to which all men have access) coincides with courtshipand seduction:a youngmanmay applyan infusionof ayahuasca o awoman'shammock,anticipatingtsaphrodisiacal ffects, butexposureover severaldays can cause a life-threateningillness. Together, hese two forms of sorceryexpressthe fragilityof siblinghoodand the threatof affinity.This is but a small sampleof the richofferingsof this volume. By exploringcomplex beliefs aboutillness andpower thatareplayed out througha varietyofsocial actors, it takes us far beyond earliermodels of shamanismthatopposedhealing to harming.In a thoughtfulcomment on the volume, E. Jean Langdon

Journal ofAnthlropological Research, vol. 61, 2005

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BOOKREVIEWS 405remindsreadersthat classificationsof shamans have not proved very useful ormeaningful.I believe that takentogether,their main value is precisely to revealhow hollow a category"shamanism"s. "Shamanic" eliefs andpracticesare notonly grounds for individual agency; they constitute structures hat coordinateontological, epistemological, and ethical concerns in highly localized, and thusvariable, ways. This may be the real lesson anthropologistshave to offer theproponentsof the "New Age"-to remind themthathowever muchthey borrowfromothers,the worldin which they live andact is still of their own making.

REFERENCES CITEDClastres, ierre. 989.Society gainst hestate.NewYork:ZoneBooks.Mentore,George. 004. "Thegloriousyranny f silenceand heresonance f shamanicbreath,"nIn darknessandsecrecy:Theanthropology fassault sorceryandwitchcraftin Amazonia. ditedbyNeil L. Whitehead ndRobinWright, p.132-56.Durham,NC: DukeUniversity ress.

Steven RubensteinOhioUniversity

Modern Inquisitions: Peru and the Colonial Origins of the Civilized World.IreneSilverblatt.Durham,NC: DukeUniversityPress,2004,299 pp.$45.00, cloth;$22.95, paper.Silverblatt's ntentionsarebold as thepurposeof ModernInquisitions s "tocometo terms with the colonial originsof the modernworld"(p. 22) in order o exposeits violent tendencies, includingcontemporary ationalizationsof privilege. Theauthorargues hat heworkingsof theInquisitorialourt nthePeruvian iceroyaltyexposes Inquisitorsas bureaucrats, significantmodem elementof the Spanishcolonial state.Through ulturalmanifestations, nquisitorsnaturalized tatepowerthroughpublic performancesagainstthose who threatened"national ecurity" p.90). Then, Inquisitorsand clergy reduceda diversityof European,Andean,andAfrican peoples into "two racial designs" (p. 136) of "New Christian= Jew =Portuguese"and the polluting effects of "Indians"and negros, another moderncomponentSilverblatt abels "race hinking."Lima'sInquisitors, srepresentativesof the Spanishstate,perceived"New Christians"Jews) and"Indians" s threatsto colonial stability. Nonetheless, demonstrating he hegemonic natureof the"modernworld-in-the-making,"Andeansintegrated hemselves into the culturalcolonialprojectby employing tssymbols, anguage,and deologiesfortheirdefenseand,ultimately, n rebellion.ExtendingHannahArendt's search for origins of state violence, Silverblattlocates the emergence of the modem state in the colonization of the Spanish

Journalof AnthropologicalResearch,vol. 61, 2005

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in darkness and secrecy

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