Notes on Poetics of Ayahuasca. Relationship between the subject of researching and plant

Abstract

This work aims to systematize initial reflections on poetics research involving the take of ayahuasca in the field of Literary Studies, more precisely on how can be established the relationship between the researcher and the plant. That is, when considering investigations about different ayahuasca uses, I found, as a point of contact, the understanding of the drink as a being - endowed with agency, in constant transit between worlds (Callicot 2017; Labate & Araújo 2002; Labate & Pacheco 2009) - and, in the face of such cosmovisions, I was concerned about the relationship to be made with this research subject, non-human. Still, I considered the poetics to be recognizable as a means of communication with ayahuasca. Thus, in formulating the notes to be presented, I made two movements in no way dissociated. On the one hand, I tried to bring some voices to think about the relationships woven in ayahuasca ethnographies and the implications of looking closely at the poetic dimension (Cesarino 2008; Labate, 2004; Ramos Filho 2016; Viveiros de Castro 2007, 2013). On the other hand, I put forward contributions around the notions of poetics, in orality and writing, and the “production of presence” as a participant in the aesthetic experience (Gumbrecht 2010; Hansen 2017; Zumthor 2014). With these elements, it became explicit the importance of proposing a reading of these poetics focused on the bodies involved in a dialogical way - bodies of the Ayahuasca subjects, the plant, and the researcher.