Ordeals of Language and Political Agonistic Exchange in the Orinoco Delta, Venezuela

Abstract

This paper argues that Ellen Basso’s notion of ordeals of language can help us understand the semiotic mechanisms that affect political agency in the relation between indigenous populations and the state in Venezuela. Here I describe how linguistic performance and the struggle over political gifts influenced the production of what Basso calls “texts of the self.” During the 2008 primary elections in the Orinoco Delta, Venezuela, gifts distributed to gain the vote of the Warao produced a situation in which a local leader’s political allegiance was compromised and had to be reasserted. A close look at the process of creating political alliances through gift-giving shows that ordeals of language are central in the positioning of indigenous leaders in Venezuela. Ellen Basso’s notion of language ordeals is particularly useful as a complement to the analysis of political agonistic exchange. I argue that this form of analysis represents a more accurate and powerful heuristic tool for understanding political relations between socalled populist democracies and Amazonian societies.