Le modèle topologique des sociétés amazoniennes

Abstract

The topological model of Amazonian societies. The article aims to outline, via a comparative analysis of social and spatial organization in Central Brazil, North-West Amazonia and Guyana, a topological model common to Amazonian societies. This model, at once androcentric and allocentric, is based on the continuity between the centre and the exterior, both being conceived of as the place of men and as the place of Others. Social space is thus structured by the interplay of two axes of opposition – men vs. women and us vs. Others – either of which can take on diametric or concentric forms. In order to sketch out the logic underlying this model, three aspects of the centre of this social space are taken into account: as the residence of unmarried men, as a place to receive non-humans, and as a liminal area during initiation. Drawing on these analyses, we try to show that the central position occupied by men corresponds to the role they play in mediating between women and Others.

Keywords

• gender
• kinship
• ritual
• social morphology
• space