1) Read and Discuss Chapters 4, 5, 6, and 7 of Peter Wogan’s Magical Writing in Salasaca (pages 75-152)
The book is attached here.
This is a really interesting book–Peter Wogan travels to Ecuador, and considers the intersection of indigeneity, colonialism, religion, language, and writing. In thinking alongside the Salasacas, he is asking us to think about the power of writing. What kinds of cultural work does writing do–as a form of language? As you approach this week’s readings and your discussion post, consider the following:
Consider Clementes journey in Chapter 4, and the ways Gods book has commonalities with baptism books and Civil Registry birth certificates. Wogan says that Salasacas see archival writings as instruments of surveillance that define individual existence, and by extension, Godthe all powerful Onewould have a book that is quite similar. What do you find interesting about these near death experiences? What do they tell us about Salasaca notions of writing (and perhaps its magical properties)?
Consider the stories of the lists and the ritual performance in Chapter 5. Wogan speaks of appropriation of church power and later asks about whether the list of souls might be thought of in terms of resistance. Briefly discuss Wogans analysis of Salasaca appropriation and resistance, and what this might tell us about the Salasaca understanding of power and writing?
Wogan notes in Chapter 6, Ironically, then, in cases like the witchs book and list of souls, the Salasacas focus on literate mnemonics in ways that most Europeans and North Americans wouldnt predict, yet when it comes to weaving, which Europeans and North Americans most expect to be compared with writing as a mnemonic, such comparisons are not made. Explain this in your own words. Take time to discuss how Europeans might see the relationship between weaving and writing, and then how the Salsacas might make connections between them.
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