Shadows in the forest

the pedagogical role of the supernatural apparition

Abstract

Brazilian Amerindian cultures are rich in preventive tales, narratives that serve to keep human beings—Indigenous and non-Indigenous alike—aware of the dangers lurking in the forest and are essential to Indigenous education. These plots are filled with creatures whose sole intention is to antagonize the hunter, the fisherman, or anyone who imprudently enters this space, to the extent that a series of ritual practices are established to keep them at a distance. This proposal draws on the Theory of Cultural and Literary Residuality (Pontes, 2019; Torres, 2011) to trace residual parallels between figures such as the Marajoara Anhangá, which plays a prominent role in the enchanted beliefs of the region (Lima, 2022), and the Kawera-Zorak described by the Maraguá people (Yamã, 2012; 2007). The use of comparative-residual analysis results in the construction of an imagetic mosaic that offers broader possibilities for understanding the role of such creatures within these spiritualities, as they are not merely bogeymen in fairy tales, but manifestations of the sacred within the profane world (Eliade, 1992), an indispensable component of Amazonian worlds. In this way, such beings assume an ecocritical dimension (Mendes, 2022; Goodbody, 2014), granting these creatures a complex tension: they are perceived as malevolent because they threaten human integrity, yet precisely for this reason they function as a necessary measure for the health of these ecosystems and the lifestyle of Amazonian peoples—an indispensable lesson if we are to derive pedagogical functions from these narratives.