In this paper I suggest the possibility of exploring — diachronic and synchronic — the evolution of the notion of humanity in the kharisiri’s representations. Usually, this figure steals the fat from its victims, making them sick and leading them — in the overwhelming majority of cases — to an almost certain death. Through an analysis of historical and contemporary Andean ethnographies, as well as data collected in the department of Puno between 2013 and 2016, I will try to trace a history of the transformations of the notion of humanity between the Aymaras of South Peru, using the figure of the kharisiri as an example of these modifications. Described in the past as incorporeal and ghostly, the successive representations show that this figure has assumed an increasingly tangible character, until becoming so concrete that it can potentially be the neighbour himself. The article aims to demonstrate how the notion of humanity between the Aymaras of the Andean region of Bolivia and Peru is relational and can be better understood in its articulation with the production of identities and alterities that, while changing, do not eliminate the boundaries between the «we» and the «others».

De fantasma a vecino. El Kharisiri y la noción de humanidad en los Andes aymara peruanos / Branca, Domenico. - In: ANTROPÓLOGOS IBEROAMERICANOS EN RED. - ISSN 1695-9752. - 13:2(2018), pp. 275-295.

De fantasma a vecino. El Kharisiri y la noción de humanidad en los Andes aymara peruanos

Domenico Branca
2018-01-01

Abstract

In this paper I suggest the possibility of exploring — diachronic and synchronic — the evolution of the notion of humanity in the kharisiri’s representations. Usually, this figure steals the fat from its victims, making them sick and leading them — in the overwhelming majority of cases — to an almost certain death. Through an analysis of historical and contemporary Andean ethnographies, as well as data collected in the department of Puno between 2013 and 2016, I will try to trace a history of the transformations of the notion of humanity between the Aymaras of South Peru, using the figure of the kharisiri as an example of these modifications. Described in the past as incorporeal and ghostly, the successive representations show that this figure has assumed an increasingly tangible character, until becoming so concrete that it can potentially be the neighbour himself. The article aims to demonstrate how the notion of humanity between the Aymaras of the Andean region of Bolivia and Peru is relational and can be better understood in its articulation with the production of identities and alterities that, while changing, do not eliminate the boundaries between the «we» and the «others».
2018
En el presente artículo sugiero la posibilidad de explorar la evolución de la noción de humanidad a través del estudio —diacrónico y sincrónico— de las representaciones del kharisiri. Por lo general, dicha figura saca la grasa de sus víctimas, haciéndolas enfermar y conduciéndolas —en la abrumadora mayoría de los casos— a una muerte casi cierta. Mediante un análisis de etnografías históricas y contemporáneas sobre la región andina, además de datos recogidos en el Departamento de Puno entre 2013 y 2016, se procurará trazar una historia de las transformaciones de la noción de humanidad entre los aymara del sur peruano empleando la figura del kharisiri como muestra de estas modificaciones. Descrito en pasado como ser incorpóreo y fantasmal, las representaciones sucesivas muestran que este personaje ha ido asumiendo un carácter cada vez menos abstracto, hasta devenir tan concreto que puede potencialmente ser el propio vecino. El artículo pretende demostrar cómo la noción de humanidad entre los aymara, y en general en la región andina de Bolivia y Perú, es relacional y puede ser mejor entendida en su articulación con la producción de identidades y alteridades que, si bien cambiantes, no eliminan las fronteras entre «nosotros» y los «otros».
De fantasma a vecino. El Kharisiri y la noción de humanidad en los Andes aymara peruanos / Branca, Domenico. - In: ANTROPÓLOGOS IBEROAMERICANOS EN RED. - ISSN 1695-9752. - 13:2(2018), pp. 275-295.
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11388/215066
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