Rethinking Venezuelan Anthropology

The articles presented in this special issue of Ethnohistory are the result of a concerted effort made by a group of anthropologists from the Venezuelan Institute for Scientific Research (Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones Científicas [IVIC]).¹ As the initial compiler and as the guest editor of this issue, I hope that this publication will serve as a first step for other anthropologists working with Venezuelan indigenous or other ethnic groups to redouble the efforts toward the reformulation and reintegration of the discipline in Venezuela. Also, I hope that this publication generates open forums, as these contribute to the continuous growth and maturity of the discipline. This development of Venezuelan anthropology is essential to the preparation of adequate responses to future academic demands and public interest issues at the national and international levels.²

The publication of this issue does not deny any previous efforts made by other anthropologists living in Venezuela and abroad on behalf of Venezuelan anthropology; nor does it imply that there has been either an absence of or an academic disregard for salient anthropological studies done in Venezuela. Rather, this special issue of Ethnohistory represents, on the one hand, the first concerted effort to publish abroad a group of essays about Venezuelan oral-based cultures that embraces some of the distinct subdisciplines of anthropology and is written by anthropologists living in situ. On the other hand, it contains richly empirical studies that have been undertaken, for the most part, by a new generation of anthropologists in Venezuela and are based on an academic tradition that searches for new models or paradigms of and for theorizing culture and representation.³ This latter point is important in that such theoretical and methodological research is precisely nurtured by other disciplines, such as literary, historical, and philosophical studies, as well as by anthropology through the integration of ethnohistory, archaeology, ethnography, and linguistics.

The main purpose of this introduction is to offer a particular academic setting from which these articles can be examined. Not only is it important to highlight some of the themes reflected from the critical, historical interpretations on culture and power made by the authors in this volume; there is also a need to address the implications that this theoretical approach represents for Venezuelan anthropology and the national state.

This introduction is thus divided into three sections. The first entails the presentation of shared common themes and elements (or models) that tie together the articles, which are explicitly or implicitly inferred by each author in their understanding of indigenous (e.g., the Warekena, Baré, Ye’kuana, Warao, Mapoyo, Palenque, Otomaco, Adole, Caquetío, Ayomán, Gayón, and Coyón) or Afro-Venezuelan peoples (e.g., the Aripaeño). A comprehensive view of the academic and national significance of these studies requires a brief examination of the history, theoretical currents, and tendencies of Venezuelan anthropology. Such a review forms the second section of this introduction and responds to the need to make Venezuelan anthropology visible. Based on the content presented in the first two sections, the third part of the introduction comprises a reflection of what the historical contextualization of Venezuelan oral-based cultures portrayed in these essays represents for the Venezuelan anthropological community and the national state. The analysis, interpretation, and reflection on epistemological matters raised in this introduction will perhaps leave the reader with more questions than answers or solutions.

Making History in Anthropology

The authors in this special issue of Ethnohistory carefully examine the relationship between colonizer and colonized in distinct contextual settings of time and space. Within this relationship the contributors explore the historical and active dimensions of indigenous or black populations in the colonial encounter. This focus has permitted the authors to offer new historical interpretations that go beyond what is known today as the “official” nation’s history. The authors provide a critical analysis of historical aspects that relate to episodes of, or responses to, cultural resistance and survival that were expressed by Venezuelan oral-based...