Dance of the Dolphin: Transformation and Disenchantment in the Amazonian ImaginationIn folktales told throughout much of the Brazilian Amazon, dolphins take human form, attend raucous dances and festivals, seduce men and women, and carry them away to a city beneath the river. They are encantados, or Enchanted Beings, capable of provoking death or madness, but also called upon to help shamanic healers. Male dolphins—accomplished dancers who appear dressed in dapper straw hats, white suits, and with shiny black shoes—reportedly father numerous children. The females are said to lure away solitary fishermen. Both sinister and charming, these characters resist definition and thus domination; greedy and lascivious outsiders, they are increasingly symbolic of a distinctly Amazonian culture politically, socially, economically, and environmentally under seige. Candace Slater examines these stories in Dance of the Dolphin, both as folk narratives and as representations of culture and conflict in Amazonia. Her engaging study discusses the tales from the viewpoints of genre, performance, and gender, but centers on them as responses to the great changes sweeping the Amazon today. According to Slater, these surprisingly widespread tales reflect Amazonians' own mixed reactions to the ongoing destruction of the rainforest and the resulting transformations in the social as well as physical landscape. Offering an informed view of Brazilian culture, this book crosses the boundaries of folklore, literature, anthropology, and Latin American studies. It is one of the very few studies to offer an overview of the changes taking place in Amazonia through the eyes of ordinary people. "This book is a rich collection of stories about the transformation of dolphins in the city of enchantment. . . . The joy in this book is not just its vibrant analysis and careful relating of tradition and lore, but also its uncanny accurateness in capturing the very essence of Amazonia."-Darrell Posey, Journal of Latin American Studies "Slater's fluid prose reads like a novel for those interested in Amazonian culture and folklore, while her integrated approach makes this a must read for those interested in innovative methodology."-Lisa Gabbert, Western Folklore |
Contents
Time and Place | 17 |
The Storytellers | 39 |
Stories and Beliefs about Dolphins as Special Fish | 59 |
Stories and Beliefs about Dolphins as Supernatural Beings | 89 |
Questions of Performance | 118 |
The Dolphin as Encantado | 140 |
The Dolphin as Lover | 168 |
The Dolphin as White Man | 204 |
Transformation and Disenchantment | 235 |
Glossary | 259 |
PortugueseLanguage Originals of Stories in the Text | 263 |
| 293 | |
| 305 | |
Other editions - View all
Dance of the Dolphin: Transformation and Disenchantment in the Amazonian ... Candace Slater No preview available - 1994 |
Common terms and phrases
African Brazilian Alzira Amapá Amazon Amazônia Anaconda animals appear Argemiro asked asserts Belém believe boat born interior bota boto boto's branco Brazil caboclo canoe Carauari Cetacea Cobra Norato coisa culture curador Curupira dance disenchanted disenchantment Dolphin stories Dona Marina encantados Enchanted City explains father feitiço female dolphins festa fish fisherman and farmer forest formal education friends Gerineldo homem human Iemanjá Indian indigenous individuals insist instance interior of Parintins João Kátia laugh literally lives Parintins mãe male Manaus Mapinguari Married Maués Maurício Mazagão mother mulher não narratives native Amazonian Óbidos once pajé Pará particular Paulo person Porto Velho Portuguese river bottom Rondônia rubber tapper sacaca saints says sexual shamanic healer Shipibo snake sort spirits storytellers suggests supernatural tell Terra Preta things tinha Tô Pereira told tradition transformation tucuxi Umbanda various Velho woman women young Zé Açu
Popular passages
Page ix - came from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the University of California President's Fellowships in the Humanities