The Importance of Ritual Discourse in Framing Ayahuasca Experiences in the Context of Shamanic Tourism

In this article, I discuss how ritual is framed in the context of ayahuasca tourism, using ethnographic data collected in and around Iquitos, Peru. Alluding to a lack of socially sanctioned spaces for altered states of consciousness (ASCs) in western cultures, contemporary seekers flock to the Amazo...

Description complète

Enregistré dans:  
Détails bibliographiques
Auteur principal: Fotiou, Evgenia (Auteur)
Type de support: Électronique Article
Langue:Anglais
Vérifier la disponibilité: HBZ Gateway
Journals Online & Print:
En cours de chargement...
Fernleihe:Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste
Publié: American Anthropological Association [2020]
Dans: Anthropology of consciousness
Année: 2020, Volume: 31, Numéro: 2, Pages: 223-244
Sujets / Chaînes de mots-clés standardisés:B Monde occidental / Tourisme / Iquitos (Région) / Ayahuasca / Chamanisme / Rituel / Guérison / État modifié de conscience
RelBib Classification:AE Psychologie de la religion
AG Vie religieuse
AZ Nouveau mouvement religieux
KBR Amérique Latine
Sujets non-standardisés:B Rituel
B Shamanism
B Ayahuasca
B Amazonia
B Framing
Accès en ligne: Volltext (Verlag)
Volltext (doi)
Description
Résumé:In this article, I discuss how ritual is framed in the context of ayahuasca tourism, using ethnographic data collected in and around Iquitos, Peru. Alluding to a lack of socially sanctioned spaces for altered states of consciousness (ASCs) in western cultures, contemporary seekers flock to the Amazon to participate in ayahuasca ceremonies for an array of reasons, including healing and personal transformation. Taking Gregory Bateson's concept of “framing” as a point of departure, and applying Erving Goffman's frame analysis, I will show that contemporary ayahuasca ceremonies attended by westerners are designed to be liminal, transformative, and meaningful experiences that aim to heal the body through emotional modulation. I will demonstrate how this is achieved through specific discourse that takes place before or during rituals in the form of long speeches delivered by the shamans. This framing not only separates the ritual space as liminal but also frames the way that the experience is conceptualized by the participants, ultimately increasing its meaningfulness.
ISSN:1556-3537
Contient:Enthalten in: Anthropology of consciousness
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1111/anoc.12117