Astrid Cabral
Where is Astrid Cabral from?
Manaus
Where is Dina Ananco from?
Peru
Which author specifically explores the sustained and continuous essence/soul of plants, even after they have been transformed in structure to serve human needs/desires?
Cabral
"Cabral’s poetry emphasizes the multiple plant transformation that make life and literary writing possible. In several texts she focuses on plant reification, i.e., its reduction to food and other commodities for humans" (41).
Indigenous Amazonian worldviews recognize divinity as this, meaning it can be felt and experienced in the natural world
Tangible
What was the title of our article?
Phytopoiesis: Plants in Amazonian Women’s Poetry
This poem turns a simple breakfast into something almost satanic, giving plants human-like qualities and evoking a sense of guilt
Café da manhã (Breakfast)
What is the title of Ananco's poetry collection dedicated to her grandmother?
Sanchiu
Which author utilizes their poetry to critically engage with some of the patriarchal elements of their Indigenous culture?
Ananco
"The poet challenges the patriarchal values prevalent in some quarters of Wampis and Awajun communities (Pau 380) and, at the same time, highlights the centrality of women in Indigenous culture" (47).
Both Cabral's and Ananco's poetry reflects this quality: the idea that all living things are fundamentally connected to one another
interconnectedness
What is the main argument of our critical article?
The author chooses two Amazonian poets and explores how their works depict Amazonian worldviews, ways of knowing and being, challenge anthropocentrism, and integrate feminist perspectives
In "Portal of the Day," oranges are described as having done this instead of staying on their branches
Emigrated from the trees
What is the name of Ananco's poem that was highlighted in her section of the presentation?
"Guardians of the Forest"
What is one similar device/strategy utilized by each of the poets that reflects Amazonian epistemology?
1. Both authors invoke female gendered spirits/deities/figures (Nunkui and Tskunki) to represent or illustrate women’s power and women’s relationship to the more-than-human world
OR 2. Both authors use poetry to explore the world through plants’ perspective
A non-anthropocentric worldview, placing nature rather than humans at the center
Biocentrism / ecocentrism
What does "phytopoiesis" mean?
Poetry written on/about/with plants
This is the term used in the article to describe Cabral's portrayal of plants being reduced to food and other commodities for humans
Plant reification
What two languages does Ananco write her poetry in?
Wampis (Indigenous language)
Spanish (translation)
How do the authors differ in their use of contemporary platforms to share, preserve, and disperse Indigenous ideas and culture?
Ananco uses these modern platforms to bridge oral Indigenous tradition with contemporary audiences, similar to the Siekopai Youth
Social media and photography
What are the names of the poems by Astrid Cabral that we read for class today?
River Dolphin in the Body
Everywhere in the River
Porto Seguro 1980
Ritual
What were some of the goals of Clube de Madrugada?
(Only have to guess one)
aesthetic innovations of Brazilian modernism
persistent opposition between humans and the rainforest
What are three themes highlighted in Ananco's poetry?
Interconnectedness
Ecocentrism
Plurality of identities
Superficiality of multiculturalism
Feminism
Both Cabral's "Breakfast" and Galeano's "Mesa" are written from the perspective of plants and objects being exploited by humans. What is the key difference in how each poem approaches this theme?
Cabral focuses on guilt and the human role in plant exploitation, while Galeano's table mourns its lost freedom, wishing it had been an animal that could have run away when the power saws arrived
Cabral and Ananco emphasize this quality of vegetal life in Amazonian existence, significant for both Indigenous and non-Indigenous cultures
Ubiquitous presence/centrality of plants
It is a holistic perspective that emphasizes a relationship between nature, society, culture, and spirituality, and directly challenges Western thought.