Inside an Alter-Anthropology. Amerindian Perspectivism under Perspective

Abstract

This article discusses the different senses of perspectivism along Viveiros de Castro’s work, considering that since 1990s this anthropologist is one of its main referents. First, we focus on notions such as person, human and society as developed in his initial writings. We show how his ethnography among the Arawete enabled him to elaborate central themes in Amerindian perspectivism and postulate it as an anthropological theory. Then, we will discuss how in his later works perspectivism is conceptualized as a shamanistic metaphysic and a native alter-anthropology that enables us to rethink Western naturalism. We seek to emphasize that perspectivism did not emerge merely as a metaphysical theory, since Amazonian ethnography was key in its inspiration; nor did it comes solely from the conceptual imagination of Viveiros de Castro, since these postulations are part of a disciplinary history that begun with the precursor of Americanism, Claude Lévi-Strauss. Finally, we will conclude by putting under perspective Viveiros de Castro’s work on Amerindian perspectivism and his contributions to contemporary anthropology.