Paper Short Abstract:

My paper will discuss the affective role of music in a recent cultural revival movement among the Huni Kuin, an Indigenous Amazonian people. Music plays a fundamental role in upkeeping conviviality among kin and generating positive social relations with outsiders.

Paper Abstract:

My paper will discuss the role of music in a recent cultural revival movement among the indigenous Huni Kuin people in South-Western Lowland South America. The cultural revival movement expresses a common desire to revitalize certain key Huni Kuin ceremonies and knowledge practices. At the heart of this movement is a reconstitution of the ayahuasca ceremony in a novel way which juxtaposes traditional voice only chanting with recent experimental musical endeavours, which include the use of instruments, in a cohesive structure which reflects Huni Kuin ontology. The affective quality of Huni Kuin music, both via live intercultural performances and internet videos, has afforded the Huni Kuin an unprecedented level of global exposure, opening pathways to new alliances and relationships with the Other. I propose to analyse the affect of music on two levels. Firstly, at the level of the village I analyse the crucial role music plays in the creation and maintenance of sociality, using indigenous concepts and what I coin ´acoustic conviviality´ to explore how music expresses the intentionality of the musician and affects the listener on a corporeal level. Secondly, I explore the intercultural sphere in which young Huni Kuin artists use their music in multifarious ways to form new alliances and friendships with outsiders. It is my intention to show the continuities between these two levels of analyses and argue that music plays a fundamental role in generating positive social relations, with far reaching consequences for the Huni Kuin in the 21st century.