''Skinning to own'': Shreds of an Andean ethnopsychoanalysis

Journal/Book: Homme. 1999; Marie Louise Dufour 131 Boulevard Saint-Michel, 75005 Paris, France. Ecoles Haute Etud Sci Sociales. 113-134.

Abstract: The emphasis Andeans give to working on liminal categories entails a predilection for symbolic uses of the skin. It is expressed through ceremonies, myths and aesthetics, of which examples are given. Owing to its repetition, this cultural trait turns out to be a pillar of an Andean ethos, as we try to identify herein. Through the role of the skin in the psyche, light is shed on its symbolic effectiveness. Hence, thr author has looked to psychanalytical data on ontogenesis in order to enlighten this ethnographic material. Several rites in the southern Andes recall in many ways the precocious work of delimiting the individual from the internal object of the mother-body. On the basis of several cases, the hypothesis is advanced that these are << transitional > > operations, as Winnicott used this word. This analogy between an individual process and a social reference-mark is presented as an heuristic tentative.

Note: Article Molinie A, Univ Paris 10, Lab Ethnol & Sociol Comparat, CNRS, Nanterre, FRANCE

Keyword(s): Andes; rites; warfare; skin; transitional objects

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