M. Santos & Kenneth A. Loparo 
The Ethnopoetics of Shamanism 

Over the last century, Western portrayals of shamanism have changed radically toward an ethnopoetics of shamanism. While shamanic practices had long been indirectly registered by Westerners, it is only since the late nineteenth century that they have taken on symbolic import within discourses of primitivism and debates over magic and rationality.

Table of Content

Introduction 1. Shamanism: a Historical Appraisal 2. The Poetics of Shamanism 3. The Case of Nicholas Black Elk 4. The Case of María Sabina and the Sacred Language of Mushrooms 5. The Case of Carlos Castaneda and Don Juan Conclusion

About the author

Marcel de Lima Santos is Associate Professor at the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Brazil.