Long Middle Ages and Shamanism in Colonial Spanish America: The Case of the Toad kururu in the Jesuit Guaraní Missions
Throughout colonial Spanish America, the missionaries recreated a moralized bestiary drawn from medieval referents and applied to the fauna of the New World. This was the case of the cane toad, kururu (Rhinella diptycha), which was assimilated with the European common toad (Bufo bufo) in the Jesuit...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Brill
2023
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| In: |
Journal of Jesuit studies
Year: 2023, Volume: 10, Issue: 2, Pages: 216-237 |
| Further subjects: | B
Jesuit Guaraní missions
B sacramental confession of sins B Rhinella diptycha B exemplary tales (exempla) B Shamanism B Bufo bufo B long Middle Ages B Ethnohistory B cultural history of animals |
| Online Access: |
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| Summary: | Throughout colonial Spanish America, the missionaries recreated a moralized bestiary drawn from medieval referents and applied to the fauna of the New World. This was the case of the cane toad, kururu (Rhinella diptycha), which was assimilated with the European common toad (Bufo bufo) in the Jesuit missions of Paraguay. In this context, it was used to speed up Lent confessions, embody the Christian concept of lust, and counteract the influence of shamans. This exemplary use of the toad was applied throughout the continent and triggered a paradoxical revival of shamanism, as demonstrated by sources in Guaraní, Nahuatl, and Quechua studied in a long-term perspective. |
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| ISSN: | 2214-1332 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Journal of Jesuit studies
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1163/22141332-10020002 |