Resumo

PITARCH, Pedro. The two Maya bodies: An outline for an indigenous elemental Anthropology. Estud. cult. maya [online]. 2011, vol.37, pp.149-178. ISSN 0185-2574.

The purpose of this paper is to draw attention to the indigenous Maya distinction between two types of human bodies: a carnal body, shared with animals, and a specifically human phenomenic body. This distinction, in turn, is equivalent to the indigenous distinction between two souls: a soul in a human shape and a soul in a non-human shape, generally of an animal species. The parallelism between bodies and souls leads me to propose a reorganization of the Mesoamerican concept of person in terms of a quaternary model which remains essentially binary (body/soul), yet permits the integration of elements which are different to each other, like the two bodies and the two souls, and yet mutually necessary to make up the person.

Palavras-chave : body; personhood; Ontology; Tzeltal; Mayas; Mesoamerica.

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