Entre la memoria y el olvido. Observaciones sobre los ritos funerarios en las tierras bajas de América del Sur

Abstract

Between Memory and Forgetting. Observations on Funeral Rites in the South American Lowlands

A detailed analysis of the empirical data concerning Amazonian mourning reveals two types of contrasting funeral treatment. While various human groups make efforts to erase all memory of their dead, others seek to maintain continuing relationship with them. Pertinent research invalidates partially the commonly held thesis of an archetypical form of mourning in the Amazonian lowlands according to which there is a radical break with their dead. The existence of the two types of treatment also invites to reflections about the production of different forms of historical memory in these societies.