
Language and Revolutionary Magic in the Orinoco Delta
Juan Luis Rodriguez(Author)
Bloomsbury Academic (Publisher)
Published on 21. October 2021
Book
Paperback/Softback
216 pages
978-1-350-18502-9 (ISBN)
Description
Winner of the 2021 New Voices Book Award by the Society for Linguistic Anthropology
Exploring the ways in which the development of linguistic practices helped expand national politics in remote, rural areas of Venezuela, Language and Revolutionary Magic in the Orinoco Delta situates language as a mediating force in the creation of the 'magical state'. Focusing on the Waraos speakers of the Orinoco Delta, this book explores center-periphery dynamics in Venezuela through an innovative linguistic anthropological lens.
Using a semiotic framework informed by concepts of 'transduction' and 'translation', this book combines ethnographic and historical evidence to analyze the ideological mediation and linguistic practices involved in managing a multi-ethnic citizenry in Venezuela. Juan Luis Rodriguez shows how indigenous populations participate in the formation and contestation of state power through daily practices and the use of different speech genres, emphasising the performative and semiotic work required to produce revolutionary subjects.
Establishing the centrality of language and semiosis in the constitution of authority and political power, this book moves away from seeing revolution in solely economic or ideological terms. Through the collision between Warao and Spanish, it highlights how language ideologies can exclude or integrate indigenous populations in the public sphere and how they were transformed by Hugo Chavez' revolutionary government to promote loyalty to the regime.
Exploring the ways in which the development of linguistic practices helped expand national politics in remote, rural areas of Venezuela, Language and Revolutionary Magic in the Orinoco Delta situates language as a mediating force in the creation of the 'magical state'. Focusing on the Waraos speakers of the Orinoco Delta, this book explores center-periphery dynamics in Venezuela through an innovative linguistic anthropological lens.
Using a semiotic framework informed by concepts of 'transduction' and 'translation', this book combines ethnographic and historical evidence to analyze the ideological mediation and linguistic practices involved in managing a multi-ethnic citizenry in Venezuela. Juan Luis Rodriguez shows how indigenous populations participate in the formation and contestation of state power through daily practices and the use of different speech genres, emphasising the performative and semiotic work required to produce revolutionary subjects.
Establishing the centrality of language and semiosis in the constitution of authority and political power, this book moves away from seeing revolution in solely economic or ideological terms. Through the collision between Warao and Spanish, it highlights how language ideologies can exclude or integrate indigenous populations in the public sphere and how they were transformed by Hugo Chavez' revolutionary government to promote loyalty to the regime.
Reviews / Votes
Rodriguez presents a fascinating new perspective on Warao culture and Venezuelan politics. In describing how campaign promises and political gifts depend on language, he beautifully illustrates the material consequences of discourse. This innovative look at contemporary Venezuela breaks new ground in linguistics, anthropology, Indigenous studies, and political science * Rusty Barrett, Professor of Linguistics, University of Kentucky, USA * Juan Luis Rodriguez's Language and Revolutionary Magic in the Orinoco Delta [offers] a timely exploration of the intersections between language, politics, indigenous epistemologies, and the Venezuelan petro-state in the Orinoco Delta ... In a moment shaped by the ambiguous and perilous power of political discourse, Rodriguez's granular attention to semiotic meaning is an original and compelling contribution to scholarship covering these themes. * The Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Anthropology *More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Target group
College/higher education
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
Weight
313 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-350-18502-9 (9781350185029)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Juan Luis Rodriguez
Language and Revolutionary Magic in the Orinoco Delta
E-Book
10/2020
1st Edition
Bloomsbury Academic
€36.49
Available for download

Juan Luis Rodriguez
Language and Revolutionary Magic in the Orinoco Delta
E-Book
10/2020
1st Edition
Bloomsbury Academic
€36.49
Available for download
Person
Juan Luis Rodriguez is Assistant Professor of Anthropology at CUNY-Queens College, USA.
Content
Introduction
1. The Surrounding Public Sphere
2. From Warao to Spanish: The Translation of Poverty and the Poverty of Translation
3. From Spanish to Warao: Translating the National Anthem
4. Greetings and Promises
5. Frames and Revolutionary Magic
6. Revolutionary Messaging
Conclusion
Index
1. The Surrounding Public Sphere
2. From Warao to Spanish: The Translation of Poverty and the Poverty of Translation
3. From Spanish to Warao: Translating the National Anthem
4. Greetings and Promises
5. Frames and Revolutionary Magic
6. Revolutionary Messaging
Conclusion
Index