The truth of experience and its communication: Reflections on Mapuche epistemology

This paper explores certain ideas among rural Mapuche people in southern Chile regarding the epistemological status of experience. Drawing on a notion I call ‘the singularity of personal experience’, I explore why each experience, as something inherently personal, is understood as always necessarily...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Anthropological theory 2015-06, Vol.15 (2), p.141-157
Main Author: González Gálvez, Marcelo
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Chile
Communication
Epistemology
Mapuche
Multiculturalism & pluralism
Personal experiences
Rural areas
Rural communities
Social life
Social life & customs
Social relations
South America
Truth
Uncertainty
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Summary:This paper explores certain ideas among rural Mapuche people in southern Chile regarding the epistemological status of experience. Drawing on a notion I call ‘the singularity of personal experience’, I explore why each experience, as something inherently personal, is understood as always necessarily true. I then move forward to look at how this diversity of experiential truths is manifest in social life, giving it a characteristic sense of uncertainty. Finally, I examine how rural Mapuche people believe it possible to overcome this singularity of experience, in order to create a sense of collectiveness, by establishing and nurturing social relationships.
ISSN:1463-4996
1741-2641
DOI:10.1177/1463499614560947