L’insaisissable religion des Taïnos. Esquisse d’anthropologie historique

The elusive religion of the Taïnos: a historical anthropological outline. Having disappea­red shortly after the discovery of the New World, the Tainos today are back in vogue, especially where the zemis are concerned, mysterious multiform objects that had already struck the attention of the earliest...

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Main Author: Giuseppe A. Samonà
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Société des américanistes 2003-06-01
Series:Journal de la Société des Américanistes
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/jsa/1468
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author Giuseppe A. Samonà
author_facet Giuseppe A. Samonà
author_sort Giuseppe A. Samonà
collection DOAJ
description The elusive religion of the Taïnos: a historical anthropological outline. Having disappea­red shortly after the discovery of the New World, the Tainos today are back in vogue, especially where the zemis are concerned, mysterious multiform objects that had already struck the attention of the earliest Western observers. In this article, these observers, who have too often been overlooked by contemporary anthropology, are revisited in an attempt to draw an outline of what might have been the « religious » thought of the Tainos, the primary characteristic of which is believed to be the cult of the zemis. More specifically, the author analyzes the eyewitness accounts of Columbus and Pané and underscores their genuinely ethnological quality, particularly in the case of the latter. From this perspective – i.e., that of historical anthropology – certain contemporary anthropological interpretations regarding the « religion » of the zemis appear extremely remote from the Taino culture and surprisingly close to the interpretations fashioned by later chroniclers (especially Pierre Martyr and Las Casas).
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spelling doaj-art-ec021f60a7f74593bed2b12d963da16a2025-02-05T15:53:43ZengSociété des américanistesJournal de la Société des Américanistes0037-91741957-78422003-06-0189276610.4000/jsa.1468L’insaisissable religion des Taïnos. Esquisse d’anthropologie historiqueGiuseppe A. SamonàThe elusive religion of the Taïnos: a historical anthropological outline. Having disappea­red shortly after the discovery of the New World, the Tainos today are back in vogue, especially where the zemis are concerned, mysterious multiform objects that had already struck the attention of the earliest Western observers. In this article, these observers, who have too often been overlooked by contemporary anthropology, are revisited in an attempt to draw an outline of what might have been the « religious » thought of the Tainos, the primary characteristic of which is believed to be the cult of the zemis. More specifically, the author analyzes the eyewitness accounts of Columbus and Pané and underscores their genuinely ethnological quality, particularly in the case of the latter. From this perspective – i.e., that of historical anthropology – certain contemporary anthropological interpretations regarding the « religion » of the zemis appear extremely remote from the Taino culture and surprisingly close to the interpretations fashioned by later chroniclers (especially Pierre Martyr and Las Casas).https://journals.openedition.org/jsa/1468religionchroniclersMartyr d’Anghiera (Pierre)zemisLas Casas (Bartolomé de)
spellingShingle Giuseppe A. Samonà
L’insaisissable religion des Taïnos. Esquisse d’anthropologie historique
Journal de la Société des Américanistes
religion
chroniclers
Martyr d’Anghiera (Pierre)
zemis
Las Casas (Bartolomé de)
title L’insaisissable religion des Taïnos. Esquisse d’anthropologie historique
title_full L’insaisissable religion des Taïnos. Esquisse d’anthropologie historique
title_fullStr L’insaisissable religion des Taïnos. Esquisse d’anthropologie historique
title_full_unstemmed L’insaisissable religion des Taïnos. Esquisse d’anthropologie historique
title_short L’insaisissable religion des Taïnos. Esquisse d’anthropologie historique
title_sort l insaisissable religion des tainos esquisse d anthropologie historique
topic religion
chroniclers
Martyr d’Anghiera (Pierre)
zemis
Las Casas (Bartolomé de)
url https://journals.openedition.org/jsa/1468
work_keys_str_mv AT giuseppeasamona linsaisissablereligiondestainosesquissedanthropologiehistorique