{"id":272,"date":"2024-07-03T08:26:37","date_gmt":"2024-07-03T14:26:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/mbrown\/?page_id=272"},"modified":"2024-07-03T08:26:37","modified_gmt":"2024-07-03T14:26:37","slug":"tsewas-gift-magic-and-meaning-in-an-amazonian-society-1986","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/mbrown\/tsewas-gift-magic-and-meaning-in-an-amazonian-society-1986\/","title":{"rendered":"“Tsewa’s Gift: Magic and Meaning in an Amazonian Society” (1986)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tsewa’s Gift: \"\"<\/a>Magic and Meaning in an Amazonian Society (rev. edition)
\nMichael F. Brown
\nPaperback: 220 pages
\nPublisher: University of Alabama Press (January 31, 2006)
\nISBN-10: 081735364X
\nISBN-13: 978-0817353643<\/p>\n

Originally published by the Smithsonian Institution Press, now distributed by the University of Alabama Press.<\/p>\n

From the jacket copy.<\/strong> Magic has been a central concern of anthropologists since the emergence of the discipline.\u00a0 The apparently illogical character of magic confronts social science with a riddle:\u00a0 How can people with an eminently practical grasp of their surroundings\u2014indeed, whose empirical knowledge is often astonishingly sophisticated\u2014subscribe to beliefs and practices that seem to us self-evidently false?<\/p>\n

In this book, Michael F. Brown explores this problem through a detailed analysis of the uses and meanings of magic among the indigenous Aguaruna [Awaj\u00fan] of northern Peru.\u00a0 Brown describes the socioeconomic setting of Aguaruna life and then explores the Aguaruna world view as embodied in magical songs and practices associated with hunting, horticulture, and domestic relations.\u00a0 He concludes with an epilogue assessing the changes that are taking place in Aguaruna society and speculates on the future of magic among a people who are increasingly obsessed with acquiring digital watches and polyester trousers.<\/p>\n

By thoroughly and sensitively exploring the philosophical grounding of the Aguaruna world view, Brown demonstrates the logic underpinning Aguaruna magic as a conceptual system.\u00a0 In doing so, he challenges a number of standard anthropological assumptions about magic, in particular the prevalent view that magic is based on expressive rather than instrumental intent.<\/p>\n

\u201cAn outstanding and innovative study on hunting, gardening, and love magic among the Aguaruna. . . . [It is] both highly useful ethnographically and an important contribution to the understanding of a how a primitive culture conceptualizes its transactions with nature. The book touches on cosmology and religion as well as the ethnoecology of hunting and agriculture\u2014with an interlude on sex.\u201d\u2014American Ethnologist<\/p>\n

\u201cA well-written and carefully crafted account of Aguaruna magic and its practical applications [that] diverges from more traditional approaches by focusing not only on the symbolic realm of magic but also on the instrumental intent.\u201d\u2014American Anthropologist<\/p>\n

\u201cAn excellent ethnographic account. . . . This book is highly original, imaginative, and readable. It should be popular among specialists of Amazonia, as well as useful in a broad range of anthropology courses.\u201d\u2014Latin American Anthropology Review<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tsewa’s Gift: Magic and Meaning in an Amazonian Society (rev. edition) Michael F. Brown Paperback: 220 pages Publisher: University of Alabama Press (January 31, 2006) ISBN-10: 081735364X ISBN-13: 978-0817353643 Originally published by the Smithsonian Institution Press, now distributed by the University of Alabama Press. From the jacket copy. Magic has been a central concern of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":133,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-272","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/mbrown\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/272","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/mbrown\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/mbrown\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/mbrown\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/133"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/mbrown\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=272"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/mbrown\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/272\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":273,"href":"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/mbrown\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/272\/revisions\/273"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/mbrown\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=272"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}