Acessibilidade / Reportar erro

Os azande e nós: experimento de antropologia simétrica

This article is a rereading of the Evans-Pritchard classic, Witchcraft, Oracles and Magic among the Azande, that attempts to provide new understandings of the difference between "us" and "them". Its starting point is the realization that Evans-Pritchard's book is at once an example of asymmetric anthropology and a source of data and analyses that permit new explorations. Two connections exemplify these possibilities: one makes use of accounts of the death of Tancredo Neves, while the other discusses the contradictions of modernity. The analysis then proceeds by seeking to outline a kind of ontography of the Azande, which exposes the limitations of interpretations of its witchcraft that are restricted to sociological or linguistic dimensions. The inclusion of an Azande hunting net in a New York art exhibition, that inspires the final comments, epitomizes proposals that aim at attaining an understanding of differences by engendering some connections.

alteriry; anthropological theory; modernity; witchcraft


Programa de Pós-Graduação em Antropologia Social - IFCH-UFRGS UFRGS - Instituto de Filosofia e Ciências Humanas, Av. Bento Gonçalves, 9500 - Prédio 43321, sala 205-B, 91509-900 - Porto Alegre - RS - Brasil, Telefone (51) 3308-7165, Fax: +55 51 3308-6638 - Porto Alegre - RS - Brazil
E-mail: horizontes@ufrgs.br