Abstract
BackgroundDrawing on Phillipe Descola’s comparative analysis of ontological regimes across cultures, this article identifies analogism guiding ethnobiological repertories among two distinctive traditional tropical forest communities in Brazil.MethodsWe carried out participant observation, semi-structured interviews and informal dialog with 48 individuals, among quilombolas of the Atlantic Forest in southeastern Brazil and ribeirinhos of the Amazon.ResultsWe documented 60 traditional practices governed by analogical principles, comprising hunting, ethnomedical practices, food taboos, and other interactions with non-human entities. We also identify and classify the analogical principles reported in the field data. Based on this classification, we address the phenomenological dimension of the ethnobiological repertoires and discuss the epistemological and ontological foundations of this form of reasoning. We also hypothesize on the role of analogism shaping ethnobiological repertories more generally in Brazil.ConclusionThe heuristic model we apply—articulating phenomenology, epistemology and ontology—could prove valuable in ethnobiology and the emerging field of “anthropology beyond the human.”
Highlights
Drawing on Phillipe Descola’s comparative analysis of ontological regimes across cultures, this article identifies analogism guiding ethnobiological repertories among two distinctive traditional tropical forest communities in Brazil
Following Ingold [15], we focus on the phenomenological dimension of local knowledge that emerges from the empirical engagement of individuals with species of flora and fauna, amongst other environmental features [23]
We focus on Descola’s analysis of analogism, since it seems to describe so well the phenomena we observed in the field, and because it has been so rarely addressed in a systematic way in ethnobiological repertoires
Summary
Drawing on Phillipe Descola’s comparative analysis of ontological regimes across cultures, this article identifies analogism guiding ethnobiological repertories among two distinctive traditional tropical forest communities in Brazil. Introduction This article discusses the analogical reasoning shaping uses and practices involving fauna and flora among traditional quilombola communities of the Atlantic Forest and ribeirinhos of the Brazilian Amazon. The ethnobiological repertoires we analyze comprise food taboos, pregnancy and post-partum restrictions, medical practices, interventions aimed at improving humans’ and dogs hunting skills, and other interactions with non-human entities. These practices are referred to by local people at both.
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