Over the shoulders of a traveler: essay on movement, perspective and shamanism in Tupinambá cosmology from a André Thevet’s work

Abstract

In this paper, the author formu-
lates an interpretation of important aspects of the
Tupinambá cosmology, based on sparse ethno-
graphic information obtained from André Thevet’s
reports. Thevet was a French traveler who took part
in the French colonization expedition to Guanabara
Bay, in the 16th century, under the leadership of Ad-
miral Villegaignon. Three themes are taken up here:
firstly, the analysis of the nine myths reproduced by
Thevet and their relationship with Viveiros de Cas-
tro’s theory of Amerindian perspectivism; secondly,
how these can be related with the concept of cosmo-
logical movement developed by Dominique Gallois;
and finally, the institution of Tupinambá Shaman-
ism as a privileged field to regulate the relationship
with the French. the latter allowed the author to
think about the temporality modalities inscribed in
the Tupinambá’s way of thinking and, thus, bring it
to the debate about the traditionality of the Tupi-
Guarani’s prophetism.