An Ethnographic Re-examination of the Mbyá-Guarani in Paraguay

Discover the fourth session of the 2025–2026 Americanist Anthropology seminar: "An Ethnographic Re-examination of the Mbyá-Guarani in Paraguay".

"What do the Guarani tell us, and how does this help us reflect on ourselves and on anthropology? This twofold question will be addressed through an ethnographic revisiting of the Mbya-Guarani of Paraguay. First, we will return to the Guarani migrations and the myth of the Land without Evil, as interpreted by two schools of thought. One school, centered on symbolic aspects considered purely indigenous, includes Pierre Clastres and León Cadogan; the former having, as we shall see, purged Guarani texts of all Christian or colonial references, while the latter, in order to assert the purity of the texts he published, argued that the Mbya-Guarani had always fled the colonial world, which needs to be qualified.

The other school, for its part, has been more attentive to historical and colonial dynamics. However, examining the polyphonic nature of contemporary discourse allows us to move beyond this divide. A second stage will be devoted to the categories and discourses used by the Mbya-Guarani encountered in the field, in particular the animist discourses they use to defend themselves: it is the same difference that distinguishes them from both non-humans and non-indigenous people, the latter being invited to respect it. These animist discourses thus also have a political dimension. The Mbya-Guarani strive to build a boundary between themselves and non-indigenous peoples and, as Clastres said, they master a rich philosophy and use it against us. It is indeed in the gaze they direct at non-indigenous people that we are forced to see our reflection. In this way, this thought invites us to reflect on the history of anthropology and its contemporary practice."

Joaquim Ruiz Zubizarreta – EHESS, LAS

Discussant: Oscar Calavia Saez – EPHE, GSRL