Aesthetics and Performance of the Ishir of Paraguay. A Review of Ticio Escobar's <em>The Curse of Nemur. In Search of the Art, Myth, and Ritual of the Ishir</em> (Pittsburgh, PA: U of Pittsburgh P, 2007)

Authors

  • Marcela Mendoza University of Oregon

Keywords:

anábsoro, Great Ishir, chamacoco, Chaco

Abstract

Ticio Escobar conceived this book not as ethnography but as a reflection on the art of the Ishir (also called Chamacoco) of the Paraguayan Chaco. The result, however, turned out to be both, artistic analysis and ethnographic account. Escobar offers a personal interpretation of the Ishir religious and ritual expressions. He retells the Great Ishir Myth—the epic of the anábsoro—and their Great Ceremony, with vivid and beautiful descriptions of their body painting and featherwork.

Author Biography

Marcela Mendoza, University of Oregon

Marcela Mendoza recibió su doctorado en antropología en la Universidad de Iowa y actualmente está afiliada al Center for the Study of Women in Society y el Departmento de Antropología de la Universidad de Oregon. Ha estudiado las poblaciones indígenas del Gran Chaco y, más recientemente, la immigración hispana en los Estados Unidos. Ha recibido becas de las fundaciones Ford, Rockefeller, y Charles Stewart Mott. Ha publicado numerosos artículos y es co-autora del reporte “One-and-a-half Generation Mexican Youth in Oregon: Pursuing the Mobility Dream” (Oregon State University, Department of Ethnic Studies, Forum on Immigration Studies), disponible en http://wnw.uoregon.edu/pdf_imm/csws-oneandhalfgenerationreport.pdf.

Published

2007-08-01

How to Cite

Mendoza, M. (2007). Aesthetics and Performance of the Ishir of Paraguay. A Review of Ticio Escobar’s <em>The Curse of Nemur. In Search of the Art, Myth, and Ritual of the Ishir</em> (Pittsburgh, PA: U of Pittsburgh P, 2007). A Contracorriente: Una Revista De Estudios Latinoamericanos, 5(1), 310–314. Retrieved from https://acontracorriente.chass.ncsu.edu/index.php/acontracorriente/article/view/392

Issue

Section

Reviews: Race, Culture and Identity