Notes on Amazonian Socio-cosmology

from the enchanted to the Waimahsã

Abstract

The beings present in mythical and legendary narratives that inhabit spaces close to the natural world are usually seen through exoticization lens, which gives them existence only in
the sphere of the imaginary and symbolic representations of belonging linked to traditional communities. In Brazil, the theoretical domains of approach to these subjects are
circumscribed by folkloric studies, fabularium and by the exploration of the religious phenomenon, especially focused on the indigenous manifestations of pajelança and Africanorigin religions. In the last decades, as the indigenous literature produced by these social actors has increased in number, inside and outside of the academy, one can notice changes in the epistemological treatment in relation to the stories, in which these beings play a fundamental role in the community dynamics that show new forms of sociability that are scarcely explored in the Western canon. Based on exploratory study backed by the theory of Amerindian perspectivism, the purpose of this article is to discuss the reception of these works
by the Human Sciences, seeking to demonstrate that the expansion of the notion of man (person) brings about a new perspective on social relations, whose implications allow us to
affirm the indigenous collectives from Northwest Amazon organize themselves under the aegis of a Socio-cosmology. 
aegis of a Socio-cosmology.