A Medium of Magical Power: How to do Things with Voices in the Western Amazon (2013) By Bernd Brabec

https://www.academia.edu/5327334/A_Medium_of_Magical_Power_How_to_do_Things_with_Voices_in_the_Western_Amazon_2013_?sm=b&rhid=40222982448 This contribution is about functions of the voice, specifically the voice of singers among the indigenous group known as Shipibo-Konibo who dwell in the Western Amazonian rainforests. Among these people, much of curing and sorcery (commonly called 'shamanism') is achieved by singing certain chants or songs. This is done by specialists (mØdicos) who acquired a certain magical power for their voices during year-long training. Voice electrification is treated in a twofold approach: first, the question is raised, why recorded and reproduced voices do not work as carriers of said magical power ; second, how electric devices can be summoned by the specialist singers in order to enhance this power. Therefore it is necessary to explain how Amazonian magic is constructed. Language (in this case the Shipibo's) plays a crucial role, because its power of conceptualizing the conceived environment allow for active manipulation by the means of uttering certain songs or phrases. Thereby, the voice is viewed as a substantial item of transmission in an animistic ontology. By recording, this substance cannot be reproduced, the recording is but an image (like a photograph). ...