Drugged Subjectivity, Intoxicating Alterity

Among the Kulina Indians of western Brazil, intoxication with alcohol, tobacco, and ayahuasca serves as a means of semiotically appropriating the identities of cosmological others—animal spirits, creator beings, other indigenous groups, and Brazilians. Embodying practices like song and physical movement amplify the experience of becoming an 'alter,' a transformation enabled by the altered states of consciousness that intoxicants produce.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Abstract This article explores the use of intoxicants by a community of Kulina Indians in western Brazil. I suggest that Kulina intoxication through alcohol, tobacco, and ayahuasca is best understood as a form of semiotic appropriation of the identity of cosmological “others,” including animal spirits, creator beings, other Indian groups, and Brazilians. I consider how embodying practices, such as song and physical movement, enhance the experience of being an “alter,” facilitated by the alterations in consciousness produced by intoxicants.