Indiens sur scènes, étrangers captivés ? Mise en spectacle de la culture et secret

Abstract

This session draws on patrimonialisation cases which depend upon the support of a visual spectacle, either live or on film, and which thus implicitly define culture as a set of visual practices susceptible to observation. This definition, and the demand that Amerindians perform for foreigners that it implies, is evidenced from the sixteenth century onward. However the practices chosen for the purposes of performance are diverse, from traditional practices (songs, dances, rituals etc.) inserted into a foreign performance context (film or theatre) to foreign practices adopted and reinterpreted by Amerindians (Miss contests). In each case, we examine the different audiences that the staging of culture aims to reach and the type of relations that are established with spectators (who may be participants or not). Finally, we are interested in the domains that these spectacles leave in the shadow, upholding – either intentionally or not – different forms of secrecy.

Keywords

• ritual
• amerindians
• spectacle
• performance
• secrecy
• audience