From the girls’ point of view: the circulation of affections in the Ticuna Festa da Moça Nova

Abstract

This article focuses on the relationship of the girls who participate in the Festa da Moça Nova, the Ticuna female initiation ritual, with “beasts” (bichos in Portuguese, ngo’o in Ticuna). Specifically, we describe and analyze what the girls feel about some of the beasts that appear in this ritual as masked figures. Some affections or emotions stand out in the analysis, such as “fear” (mu’ũ), “joy” or “amusement” (tchitãẽ, taẽ’ũ), “anguish” or “anxiety” (ĩãtchiãẽ), and “helplessness” (nhemagü’ü~). Finally, we examine what happens in the ritual as a kind of “trauma” that generates the desired transformations in the participants.

Keywords
Ticuna; Ritual; Affections; Masks