La invención de la religión indígena: Adaptación, apropiación y mímesis en las fronteras misioneras de Sudamérica colonial

Jesuit missionaries in 17th and 18th century South America constructed arbitrary boundaries to distinguish between acceptable and unacceptable indigenous customs, aiming to control knowledge about these societies for colonial administration and spiritual authority. This study reveals how missionaries categorized indigenous ritual practices—some as malignant superstitions, others as assimilable to Christian sacraments or harmless customs—while masking ambiguities in their anthropological understanding. The research highlights the dual discourse employed by Jesuits: one overtly translating indigenous beliefs into Christian concepts, and another subtly manipulating ritual practices for control. By analyzing missionary accounts, this work exposes the strategic nature of their knowledge production, challenging assumptions about the objectivity of colonial-era ethnographic records.

Wilde, G. (2016). La invención de la religión indígena: Adaptación, apropiación y mímesis en las fronteras misioneras de Sudamérica colonial. Anais De História De Além-Mar, Vol. 17 (2016). https://doi.org/10.57759/AHAM2016.36097