This presentation will examine how the invisible world is perceived amongst riverine dwellers (ribeirinhos) in the Lower Amazon in the state of Pará, Brazil. How do they come to know it? What place does it have in their lives? In common with their indigenous counterparts, ribeirinhos, who live along the riverbanks of the Amazon, talk about a hidden aspect that complements the observable. They say that the visible dimension is not always as it seems, and is inhabited by various creatures, such as encantados but also ghosts and fiendish animals. Some can take human form and interact with people - most famously the boto, the rose-coloured dolphin, which comes ashore dressed in white, and seduces young women. Here I explore the ribeirinho understanding of the distinction between the visible and invisible and how it relates to other dualities such as mind and body, representation and materiality, spirit and matter and so on. Are these also local categories in the ribeirinho view of the world?

Livro Recente do Autor: Rebellion on the Amazon, Mark Harris 
For more information see www.cambridge.org/9780521437233

Mark Harris profile at University of St Andrews, UK
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