Palma Irarrazaval, Felipe. 2018. The Film-Artefact of the Atacama Desert Or about translations inSocial Sciences. Doctoral thesis, Goldsmiths, University of London [Thesis]

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THEFILM-ARTEFACTOFTHEATACAMADESERT

OrabouttranslationsinSocialSciences

Athesissubmittedinpartialfulfilmentoftherequirementsfordegreeof

PhD(Sociology)

byFelipePalmaIrarrázaval

GoldsmithsCollegeUniversityofLondon

September,2017

2

ThisthesiswasfoundedbytheComisiónNacionaldeInvestigaciónCientífica

YTecnológica,MinisteriodeEducación,Chile.

3

Declaration

I,FelipePalmaIrarrázaval,declarethatthisthesisisallmyownwork.

September21,2017

4

Abstract

Operatingwithinthefieldofvisualsociology, this thesisanalysesthenotionof translation in

thesocialsciences,exploringtheexpansionofmaterialsused intheconstructionofresearch

results. The thesis starts by reflecting on B. Latour’s (2005)method of research production,

whichcreatesobjectsofknowledgebycollecting,superimposingandstabilisingtracesofthe

world within the limits of a given material device. The central argument is that whenever

researchisconducteditneedstotranslateitsphenomenonofreferenceintoanewmediumin

ordertovisualiseit.

Using an interdisciplinary approach, this investigation combines filmmaking and sociological

practicetowardsthecreationofavisuallybasedartefact,whichtakestheformofa feature-

lengthdocumentaryfilmmadeabouttheAtacamaDesert,northernChile.Thus,thisworkhas

two interconnected lives. The first consists of a written exploration of the problem of

translationinsocialsciences,arguingthatdescribingthesocial isatthesametimetheactof

recreating it. The second undertakes a material exercise of translation, constructing a film

artefactentitledTheRegion.

5

INDEX

INTRODUCTION 7

CHAPTER1:SociologyofTranslations 11

ArtefactsandMediations 12

2.ArtefactsandTotality 15

3.MapsandCosmograms 23

CHAPTER2:Methodology 36

1.VisualSociology 36

2.TowardstheConstructionofaMediatoryArtefact 46

CHAPTER3:CosmogramsoftheCentralAndes 67

1.LatinAmericanStudies 68

2.AndeanCommunicationDevices 74

3.TheCollasuyuortheAtacamaDesert 78

4.ThefestivalofAyquinaandtheChakana 85

CHAPTER4:ConflictsandStrugglesinTheAtacamaDesert 108

1.Antofagasta:ProducingtheIdeological 110

2.Calama:Production,SocialStruggleandFestivals 121

3.SanPedro:TheLastKingoftheAtacama 130

CHAPTER5:HistoryofaVisualTranslation 142

1.RevisitingtheChakana 143

2.TheCollectionofInscriptions 154

3.Backtothescriptinthemontageroom 166

4.Thesociallifeofthefilm 174

5.FilmDetails 179

CONCLUSIONS 180

ListofReferences 189

6

ListofIllustrationsFigures

1. Rucelli’sWorld 242. TheCelestialSpheres,fromtheMa’rifetname 283. TheFiveAztec’sSuns 304. MapoftheAtacamaDesert 505. MapoftheVillageofAyquinalocation 786. Time-spacemapoftheKoricanchatemple(anditscequelines) 887. PolarBearsdance 908. Cowboysdancersposingforthecamera 909. Tinkudance 9010. Theperformativemapa-mundiofAyquina 9211. Talegabandsscheme 9512. ThearchitectonicsyncretismofAndeanvillages(1) 9913. AltarpieceoftheKoricancha 10114. TheChakana 10415. ThearchitectonicsyncretismofAndeanvillages(2) 10516. Cross-sectionsoftheAntofagastaRegion 11017. Antofagastabayinfrastructure 11318. FlatplotofCalamaCity 12219. TheChakanamodellingoftheAntofagastaRegion 145 20. Sub-sectionoftheChakanamodel 14621. TheChakanamodelforminingindustriesandindigenouscommunities 14822. Theduelscene 15723. ProcessionexitingAyquina 16124. ProcessionenteringToconce 16225. AbstractedcompositionofFigures22and23 16226. TheChakanatemplateandscenes 16927. ConsolidatedtimelineandtheChakanatemplate 17228. TheRegion,releasedposter 17529. FirstpublicscreeninginCalama 17730. LocalbrassbandperformingoutsidethecounciltheatreofCalama 177

7

INTRODUCTION

Thisthesishastwointerconnectedlives.Thefirstconsistsofawritteninquiryintohowavisual

outcome can be fabricated from sociological practice. The second attempts to actually

constructanartefactofthiskind,intheformofafeature-lengthdocumentaryfilm.Thesetwo

outcomes,thewrittenandthevisual,aretwosidesofthesamecoin.Whilethefirstexplores

howthesocialworldcanbetranslatedintoavisuallayout,thesecondundertakesamaterial

exerciseofvisualisation.Thewholeprocessisdirectedtowardsentanglingthoughtandcraft,in

anattempttobridgethegapbetweenartandresearch.

Thevisualartefactattemptstovisualisethesocio-geographicterritoryoftheAtacamaDesert

innorthernChile,SouthAmerica.Thisdesert is located inwhat isknownas theCircumpune

Zone, in the foothills of the Andean Plateau, and covers an area of over 100,000 square

kilometres, twice the size of England. It is the southern area of what used to be the Inka

Empire, the last complex indigenous society before the colonial conquest of SouthAmerica.

TheAtacamahasbeenrapidlyreshapedduringthelastcentury,influencedbyiterativemining

cyclesandtheconsequentarrivalofnewimmigrants,machineryandresources.Thisongoing

process has confronted indigenous ways of life with the exploitation of modern natural

resources.Theencounterhasalsopromptednewencountersandritualexpressions.

Inthisregard,IgivespecialattentiontoaparticularritualeventfoundintheAtacama,known

asthe festivalofAyquina(FiestadeAyquina).This festival takesplaceonceayear inasmall

village in the inner mountains of the Atacama, crowding it with hundreds of dancers and

musicians.Theritualperformancedepictsadream-likeuniverse,populatingthevillagewithall

kindsoffantasticbeingsandcreatures.However,itscurrentfeatureswereonlysetinmotion

8

after1990,whenamassiveexpansionofthecopper-miningindustrytookplace,bringingnew

migrants and resources to the area. Likemanyother ritual festivals found in theAndes, the

festival of Ayquina is a by-product of several hybridisation processes (Morandé: 1980;

Gruzinski: 2000; Guerrero: 2013), influenced most recently by factors associated with the

growthoftheminingindustry.

On top of the long-standing superimposition of Christian practices on indigenous ones as a

result of an aggressive process of religious conversion, mining migrants have added new

images, practices and meanings to this event, transforming a small village festival into a

massiveeventfullofelaborateperformances.Itishere,inmyopinion,thatalocallyproduced

image of the Atacama is found, entangling in one time and space the different registers of

reality(social,economic,historical,etc.)thatarticulatethisterritory.Hence,theAtacamafilm

artefactwasorganisedaroundthisparticularevent,usingitasastartingpointtoexaminethe

broaderterritorysurroundingit.

TheRegionisanobservationaldocumentarysetinthedesertregionsofthecoppermining

industryinNorthernChile.Themainbodyofthefilmworksasajourneyfromtheheartof

copper production in a sacred village in the Andes Mountains, all of which takes place

amidst thebackdropof anoverwhelmingnatural landscape. The filmdelves into a yearly

festivalfollowingthreeseparatefamilieswholiveandworkinChile’smostextrememining

cities, joining them in their journey to the inner mountains, which they populate with

fantastic beings during the festival. Through dance, music and customs these people

transport themselves into a different dimension, in an effort to deal with their unset

surroundings. Told through a combination of observational and archive footage, it delves

into the relationshipbetweenChile’senormousminingextractionand the familieswhose

culture has inevitably been shaped by these forces. (From the released synopsis of The

Region.)

9

Thetwocomplementaryoutcomesofthisthesis,thewrittenandthevisual,aimtoestablisha

dialogueacrossdisciplinaryborders,followingthestandardsbothofsociologicalpracticeand

professional film production. Together, they explore how social research can learn from

filmmakingandviceversa,howthecreationofimagescanlearnfromsocialresearch.Through

thiscross-over, Iproposethatagapopensup formethodological innovation in termsof the

languages,mediaandprocessesemployedbysociologists.At thecoreof thisproposal is the

ideathatwheneverresearchisconducted,thesocialworldistranslatedwithinthelimitsofa

newmedium,writtenorvisual,thatnecessarilytransformsitsobjectofknowledgeinorderto

represent it. Following Latour's (2005)method of research production, which is based on a

seriesofoperations thatcollect, superimposeandstabilise the tracesofagivenphenomena

intoanewmedia, Ipropose thatdifferentcraftscanbecombinedalong this transformation

process,seekingtocreateever-more-expressiveimagesaboutthesocialworldwelivein

This research can be categorised under the sub-discipline of visual sociology, which has

expanded the methods used by sociologists by exploring the potential overlap with non-

alphabeticalmedia,suchasdigital images, installation,cartographyandothers.Amongmuch

sociological work that has engagedwith these issues, that of H. Becker (2005) has become

particularly important in understanding how different crafts can be combined to represent

society. In his view, any representation of society must perform several operations before

becominga finishedpieceofwork, transformingtheoriginalphenomenonviaastep-by-step

procedure(selection,translation,arrangementandinterpretation).Thefinishedpieceisnever

thephenomenon itself,buta figuration thathasbeencraft-workedusing severalmediaand

limited by material constraints. Being aware of these operations, crafts and limitations

improvesthecommunicationbetweenmakersandusers,openingtheworktonewmaterials,

devicesandformsofrepresentation.

Thevisualoutcomeof this thesis isapracticalexplorationofhowrepresentationsof society

canbefabricated.Itisanattempttostabiliseavisually-basedartefactthattranslatesacertain

territoryofexperienceintothematerialityandlanguageoffilm.Theconstructionofafeature-

10

lengthdocumentary filmabout theAtacamaDesert is thematerial resultof thisexploration,

whichhascombinedtheideaoftranslationwiththetoolsandproceduresoffilmmaking.

In addition, a last element was considered. While sociology contributed a method, and

filmmakingavisual languagetoworkwith, thesubjects’ownmodesofvisual representation

providedtheguidelinesforthedesignoftheartefact.Thisistosaythatthevisualartefactwas

inspiredbyvisual representations createdby thepeopleof theAtacama themselves, among

which I highlight a particular aesthetic pattern that recurs in many different objects and

practices.Thispattern,commonlyreferredastheChakana,can, Ipropose,bedescribedasa

cosmogrammatic model (Tresch: 2004), which combines dissimilar orders of relation within

onesystemofrelations.

AlthoughthereisnoagreementastowhethertheChakanareallyexistsasahistoricalfigure,or

whetheritisan‘inventedtradition’(Hobsbawm&Ranger:1983),itwidelyplaysakeypartin

currentstrategiesofrepresentationfoundintheAndes.AmongthemanyexamplesIreviewin

this thesis, I pay special attention to how the festival of Ayquina too is informed by this

cosmogram,showinghowitsharesaestheticfeaturesfoundinotherAndeanartefactssuchas

textiles,architectureandmyths.GiventheaestheticcommonalitiesbetweendifferentAndean

artefacts, IproposethatthetranslationoftheAtacama intoaudiovisualmediumcanalsobe

informedby theChakana, in relation to thekindof traces tobecollectedaswellas to their

consequentarrangementwithinadocumentaryfilmnarrative.

11

CHAPTER1:SociologyofTranslations

The central concept of this first chapter is translation, understood as the process through

which an object of knowledge is displaced into othermedia (Callon: 1986). The concept of

translation is used to replace the idea of objectivity, asserting that the construction of

knowledge is based on the manipulation of both the object of knowledge and its

representations (Guggenheim: 2014). Thus, the concept refers to the transformation that

occurswhenarepresentationofagivenobjectisfabricatedwithintheparametersofacertain

medium.

EspeciallyrelevanttotheseissuesistheworkofB.Latourandinparticularhisdevelopmentof

scienceandtechnologystudies(STS),afieldthatprovidesaclearideaabouthowanyresearch

practice builds its final outcomes. In his view, research is always directed towards the

construction of a final artefact, which has been produced by a step-by-step process of

translation.Bycollecting,combiningandeditingasetofdata,ortraces,researchersfabricate

anartefact(writtenornot)thatbringsordertoacertainmultiplicity.Thisfinaloutcomeisnot

amimeticrepresentationoftheworld;itisthetransformationofagivenobjectofknowledge

intoanewmedium.Anartefactisstabilisedandplacedonacomplementarydimensiontoits

objectofknowledge,co-constructingthephenomenonbyprovidingapointofviewthathelps

explainandrelatetoit.

Thisfinaloutcomewillbeconsideredvalidwhenitproposesarepresentationthataddstothe

waysinwhichanobjectofknowledgeisunderstood,visualisingitinadifferentwayorframing

itunderanewperspective.Thus,theartefactgainsanagencyofitsown,workingasabasefor

newactionsand thoughts, interactingwithobjectsof similarkindandwith thehumans that

usethem.

12

In order to complement the concept of translation, I use a second perspective on how

representations of the socialworld are fabricated, taken from current trends in theMarxist

tradition. Here, the problem of representation is in straight connection with the need for

representingtotality.Thus,althoughthesocialtotalitycannotbeobjectified,itisbothpossible

and necessary to represent the macro-structures that constrain social life. While the STS

approachfocusesoncollectingandtranslatingthetracesthatphenomenaleavebehindthem,

theMarxist current points to theneed for those translations to connect isolated individuals

withthebroadertotalitythatsurroundsthem.

These twoperspectivesareusually seenasmutuallyopposed;however, I propose that they

can work to complement each other. While Latour and STS provide research with a clear

methodabouthowartefactsareconstructed, theMarxist currentemphasises the role these

artefactsplayintheworld.AtthispointIfollowAlbertoToscano(2012),whoexplainshowthe

desire to interpret totality is not incompatiblewith paying ‘painstaking attention’ to traces,

translationsanddevices.Toconclude,Ireviewtwocasesthatshowthiscompatibility:first,the

critical approach to cartography, in which totality is represented by a particular process of

translation; and second, the notion of the cosmogram as proposed by J. Tresch (2004),

referringtoaparticularkindofobjectonwhichanimageofthewholeisinscribed.

1.ArtefactsandMediations

Throughout several publications, B. Latour has emphasised that social research is directed

towardstheconstructionofartefacts,whichresultsinanassemblageofhumans,devicesand

crafts (see in particular Latour: 1986, 1990, 2005). He suggests that research thus follows a

step-by-step process of translation, through which the traces of a phenomenon (data) are

inscribed, recollected and combined towards fabricating a stable artefact (written, visual or

otherwise). Contributing to this process is not only the subjectivity of the involved actors

(researchers)butalsoaseriesofnon-humanelements(materials,resources,devices,etc.),all

13

ofthemassembledtowardsputtinganewobjectincirculationinthesocialworldItisthrough

these assemblages that a new artefact emerges, comprising a set of words or images that

createastatementaboutanobjectofknowledge.

Researchers,asLatourdescribesthem,continuallytransformtheirmaterialsbyastep-by-step

process of translation that necessarily distorts, modifies and drags their objects from one

mediumtoanother.Theprocessstartsbymakingobservationsinthefield(orlaboratory)and

inscribing them inwords or othermedia such as photographs, drawings or numbers. These

inscriptions are used to transcode observations into tables, the tables into charts and the

chartsintoconclusions.Thewholeprocessisthenacknowledgedinanacademicpaperthatis

publishedinaspecialisedmagazinewithotherpapersofsimilarkind.Ateachstep,theobject

ofreferencehasbeenmodifiedandtransformedintosomethingelse(words,graphs,images,

etc.),eachtimebecomingfurtherseparatedfromitsoriginalsetting.

The fabrication of a finished artefact (for example, a published paper) emerges from the

interaction of human and non-human agents, in which each part influences the other.

Researchersworkwithlimitedmaterials,andthisconstrainstheirwork.Inaddition,thework

usesstandardisedandinstitutionalwaysofdoingthings,circumscribedbylimitedbudget,time

andresources.

Whentheconstraintsunderwhichatranslationofthiskindtakesplaceareacknowledged, it

becomes clear that the final artefact and its object of reference do not relate in terms of

exchangeablerealities,theformerbeingatransformationofthe latter.Thefinalartefact isa

wayofco-constructingtheobjectofreferencebyprovidinganewstatementthathelpsexplain

it.Astatement isconsideredvalidwhen itproposesamodel (amongotherpossiblemodels)

thatbringsordertoacertainmultiplicityand,atthesametime, isacceptedbyotheractants

andincludedasapointofreferenceintheirownpractices.Thus,fabricationofafinalartefact

is not a method to transfer information from one place to another, but, more precisely, a

materialsetofoperationsthatcreatesorder,reducesnoiseandinfluencesnewactions.

14

Latour’sproposalbecomesclearerwhentwokindsofartefactaredistinguished:intermediaries

andmediators.Anintermediaryisanentityornetworkthatthinksitisnotdistortingthesocial

when describing it. Intermediaries are thought to transportmeanings or forceswithout any

kindof interference, as black-boxedprocedures that define their outputs simply by defining

their inputs. Conversely, mediators engage in the construction of artefacts – using several

possiblemedia– thatnecessarily transform, translate,distortandmodify themeanings they

aresupposedtocarry.

The process through which mediatory artefacts are created is based on what Latour calls

‘inscriptiondevices’ (2005).This concept does not refer to the act of translation, but to the

material machinery on which the trace of a phenomenon is recorded. By collecting several

inscriptions,thesedevicesdragtracesfromonemediumtoanother,producingtheinputsthat

researchers will work with. For instance, a statistical survey is a device that inscribes a

phenomenon’s traces by means of numeric notations. Alternatively, an interview inscribes

discoursebymeansofrecordingsoundandtranscribingitintotextualrepresentations.Ineach

case, thetask is tocombineandsuperimposeseveralof these inscriptionswithinacoherent

systemofrelations,shapingafinalartefacttobeplacedintheworld.

Guggenheim(2011)emphasiseshowsociologistshaveincreasinglycometorecognisethatfinal

researchartefactscanbeproducedbeyondtheconstraintsoftextualrepresentations,opening

them to the use of visual and other media. He claims to overcome an asymmetric media-

determinism in which only some materials ensure an objective, non-interference research

process.Atthecoreofhisargumentistheconceptoftranslations,whichbracketstheproblem

ofobjectivityversussubjectivitybyshowinghoweveryresearchpracticeworkswithsomelevel

of interference or manipulation. This interference is the condition sine qua non of the

constructionofanyrepresentation,andthereforeneedstobeembracedasaconstitutivepart

inanyprocessoftranslation.

15

Thecentralpreoccupationofthesociologyoftranslationsisnottoexplainphenomenaaway,

but to elucidate their empirical existencebyproducing a cascadebetween thing, traces and

inscriptions:‘Afactholds,ifthecascadeoftranslationsfromtheobjectintoitsinscriptionsis

madedurable. Themore stepsbetweenobjects anddescription and thebetter each step is

based on and agreed upon possibly black-boxed procedures, the stronger the facts’

(Guggenheim:2011,4).Researchingthesocialworldisthereforeanetworkingprocess,which

needstotransformitsobjectsthroughastep-by-stepchainoftranslations,untiltheseendup

composingastablenarrativewithinagivenmateriality.1

2.ArtefactsandTotality

Having formulated research practice as a process of translation towards the construction of

mediatoryartefacts,thissectionfurtherexplorestheagencytheypossessonceplaced inthe

world. It outlines an ongoing controversy between two major bodies of work within social

sciences.Ontheonehand,IreturntoLatour’sworkandthedistinctionbetweenthescienceof

thesocialandthetracesofassociation.Ontheother, Idelveintosomeaspectsfoundinthe

representationtheoryoftheMarxistcurrent, inwhichcreatingan imageoftotalitydoesnot

contradict the impossibilityofproducingobjectiveknowledge.Thisexploration suggests that

final research artefacts have a social agency that goes beyond adding multiplicity to their

objectsofknowledge,givingthemapoliticalroleintheconstructionofthesocial.

IntheopeningpagesofReassemblingtheSocial(2005),Latourarguesagainsttheassumption

that the social can be treated as a material thing, as a given and homogeneous body of

knowablerelationswaitingtobeunfolded:‘Itisnolongerclearwhetherthereexistsrelations

thatarespecificenoughtobecalled“social”andthatcouldbegroupedtogetherinmakingup

aspecialdomainthatcouldfunctionas“asociety”.Thesocialseemstobedilutedeverywhere 1 AnalysisoffinalresearchartefactsandthemediatheyemploycandrawinsightsfromtheworkofDeleuzeand

Guattari. In the famous introduction to A Thousand Plateaus (‘Rhizome’), first published in 1988, theyapproach this kind of artefact from an evenmore radical perspective, which goes beyond theirmediatoryfeaturestofocusonthemasrhizomaticassemblages.Althoughtheirargumentismainlyconcernedwithbook

16

and yet nowhere in particular’ (Latour: 2005, 2). There is no basal principle from which

societiesemerge, likea treewhosebranchesexpand indifferentdirections;onthecontrary,

thesocialshouldbeframedascomposedofmanykindsofdifferentconnectors,alwaysacting

andreactingtoeachother.

Ratherthanbeingfixedwithinanysortofsuperstructure,thesocialemergesfromirreducible

networks of associations,which tend to stabilise and dissociatewith equivalent force. Thus,

sociologicalpracticeshouldberichenoughtoaccountforthesocialwithoutreproducingstatic

conceptsthatneeda‘higher’categorytobindthemtogether.Ithastoleaveasidealldesireto

become a scientific endeavour of the ‘real’,2 turning its attention to mobile yet durable

networks.Thus,thesocialreproducesitselfbyencompassingheterogeneousordersofpeople

andthings,renderingtheminclustersofrelations(Collins:2006).Stableornot,thesenetworks

cannotbeseenasfixed,providingobserversonlywithtracesoftheirongoingmovement.

The scienceof the social is thereforeopposed to the tracesofassociations,with the former

assumingsocietyasa stabilisedsetofaffairsand the latterdescribing itasaheterogeneous

mobilisationofforces.Whenthescienceofthesocialspotsafixedbundleoftiescomposedof

functions and structures, the traces of associations declaim that ‘it is no longer possible to

inspect the precise ingredients that are entering into the composition of the social domain’

(Latour: 2005, 11). In this sense, the traces of associations attempt to reframe sociological

practiceby leavingbehindanydesire forabstractanduniversalmodels, replacing itwiththe

empiricalstudyofdynamicnetworksandassociations.

Such a project, however, entails scrutinising more thoroughly the exact content of what is

assembledunder the umbrella of a society. The samedevelopment of the discipline, Latour

thinks,hastakenittoapointwheretheideaofsocietyisaconceptualconstructiontodescribe

wideanddiverseordersofrelations.Itdoesnotdesignateathingamongothers;societyisnot 2 Asimilarargumentisproposedbysomecriticalcartographers,whorejectthedescribingofspacebymeansof

rendering particularities under a higher or static topographic category. In this way, scale is dismissed as apivotal element of cartographic practice. Space is composed of many different registers, going beyond thetranscodingofgeographicalfeaturesontoaflatplot(seeMarstonetal.:2005).

17

theglue that tieseverything together,buta typeofconnectionbetweenthings thatarenot

themselvessocial.

ThedistinctionbetweenthescienceofthesocialandthetracesofassociationspromptsLatour

towork towards de-reifying social explanations, challenging how research is conducted and

how its outcomes are thought. By redirecting attention to the collection of inscriptions of

peopleandthings,explanationandworldarede-linkedasmirrorsofeachother.Thus,itisno

longerpossibletohavehumansononesideandthingsontheother,asifnatureandculture

wereseparaterealms.Theyrathercompriseentanglementsofassociations,a‘jungleofforces’,

all seeking hegemony by increasing, reducing or assimilating one another. In other words,

Latour shifts fromgivingostensibleexplanationsof the social todescribing theperformative

encountersthatmakeassociationsemerge.

This new approach in conducting research aims to treat humans and non-humans

symmetrically as owners of equal agency in constructing the social, calling for what Latour

refers to as the Actor Network Theory (ANT). This approach to social theory and research

methodologyproposesthatallfactorsinvolvedinasocialsituation(ideas,objects,trajectories)

needtobeputonthesamelevel,allofthembeingequallyrelevantincreatingthesocial.ANT

rejects the idea that social relations are independent of the material and natural world,

proposing that what is important is not the hidden forces of the social but the kinds of

connections that are established between dissimilar entities, human or not. Thus, strictly

empiricalanalysisshouldbeundertakentodescriberatherthantoexplainthesocial.

Latour’s claimshaveclashedwitha largebodyofworkwithin sociology,promptinga strong

reaction on several fronts. The sharpest arguments have come fromANT’smain intellectual

criticsand interlocutors,namely,Marxists; theworksofWhittleandSpierce (2008),Toscano

(2012), Soderberg (2013) andWhite (2013), amongothers, are central in this regard. IfANT

assertsthatnoobjectiveknowledgecanbereached,butonlypossibledescriptionsofentities

and networks, the critics have argued that ‘the theoretical desire for totality is not

18

incompatiblewithapainstakingattentiontotraces,objectsanddevices’(Toscano:2012,70).

To depict totality is not to stage a static panorama of the whole, as Latour argues (2002),

designingapicture thathas ‘nogaps in it’.On the contrary, the ideaofpanoramaneeds to

accountforboththetotalityanditsconstitutivedevices.Fictionisitsconditionoftruth.Infact,

‘the panoramic image is consumable only as fragment, as parts that must be cognitively

reassembledintotheimaginedwhole’(Caray:2002,21).Ineverycasethatapanoramicview

ofthesocialisassembled,asetofdevicesmusthavebeenputtoworkstagingit.

Equally relevant to this critique is the work of Whittle and Spierce (2008), who, without

completely dismissing the usefulness of ANT’s approach to social studies, criticise the

assumptionofsymmetrybetweenhumanandnon-humanactors.Theirmainargumentisthat

ANTreliesonanaturalisingontologyandanun-reflexiveepistemology.Theirfirstpointisthat

itisnecessarytorecognisethat‘thewaythingsareisnevernaturalorinevitableandtherefore

could be otherwise’ (Whittle & Spierce: 2008, 3). ANT assumes there is no agential priority

betweentheinstitutional,theconceptual,thenaturalormaterial,endowingthesamedegree

ofagencytoamachineoraperson,ignoringthefactthatpowerstructuresmighthidebehind

objects designed by humans, defining their hierarchical relations. Their second criticism is

directed towards the un-reflexive epistemology of ANT. In Whittle and Spierce’s view, the

often-accepted epistemological relativism promoted by ANT, by which authors ‘define the

world intheirownterms’(Latour:1999,20), fallsdownbecause‘mostanalysesproducedby

ANT fail to match the kinds of descriptions and explanations that members would provide

themselves’(Whittle&Spierce:2008,11).Furthermore,reflexivityimpliestherejectionofthe

positivistic assumption that reality exists in itself,waiting to be captured by the researcher.

Thus,neitheragencynortheworld’sowntermscanbeassumedasexistingapriori.

In amore straightforward argument against ANT, Soderberg (2011) argues that the dualism

betweenpracticalasopposedtotheoreticalknowledgeismerelyanadaptationofthethought

offorerunnersofMarxism,whereidealisticphilosophywasopposedtointellectualpraxis.The

linkbetweenANT’scritiqueofdualisticmodesofthoughtanddialectics,Soderbergproposes,

19

issoobviousthatLatourcouldhardlyhavefailedtonoticeit;however,hedoesnotaddressit.

WhatANTmissesfromthistraditionisthattheanalysisoftheparticularmustalwaysbemade

incontinuousdialoguewiththegreaterwholeofwhichitispart.Whatisatstakehereisthe

philosophicalideaoftotalityfoundinbothHegelandMarx(Jay:1984),whichisunderminedby

ANT’semphasisonlocallyemergentevents.Theaprioriassumptionthatoneisalwaysworking

with locally grounded traces, moving outwards, tends to prevent the acknowledgement of

observationsthatareconsistentacrosstimeandspace.

ANT’s reply to these critiques starts by assuming the presence of macro-actors and micro-

actors,whicharescaledaccordingtotheirunequalsuccessinbecominghegemonic.Amacro-

actor will thus be the result of a network that has expanded to the detriment of others,

imposing its own rules as the point of reference for action and thought. In this sense, the

totalityorpanoramaissubsumedintoexpandingnetworksthathavebecomepowerfulenough

toclaimtheirrepresentationshave‘completecontroloverwhatit isbeingsurveyed’(Latour:

2002a,188).Therelationbetweenmacro-andmicro-actorscanbeseenthenasatopological

one, with the former emerging from long processes of sedimentation and superimpositions

(Thrift: 1995) through which ‘records circulate and translations are effected’ (Collins: 2006,

250). TheMarxistdesire for totality is,under thisperspective, theworkofamacro-network

equallycomprisingemergingactorsandthings.

TheideasofFredricJamesonfoundinhiswork‘PostmodernismortheCulturalLogicsofLate

Capitalism’(1991)providenewinsightsonthesematters.Inhisview,therolerepresentations

playinthesocialworldcanbegraspedthroughthenotionoffigurationsoftotality.Thisasserts

the need to interpret and comprehend the physical and symbolic territory onwhich human

experience unfolds, articulating rhetorical images that frame the perception of a chaotic

multiplicityunderamanageablesetofrelations.

Figurationsoftotality,however,mustnotbeconfusedwithtotalityitself;rather,theyshould

beseenasman-madeimagesthatstressthegapbetweenisolatedexperienceandabroader

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senseoftotality(Jameson:1991,54).Neitherdoesthetermallowsthedepictionofallpossible

beingsorthedefinitionanysortofultimatetruth;moresimply,itsfigurativepotentialrestson

selecting some elements of a diverse panoramawhile obviating others,making visiblewhat

otherwisemightremainunobservable.Indeed,theseconstructionsalwaysrunalongthesharp

tightrope between arbitrary constructivism and unnoticed reification, depending on their

uselessness to guide human action or their identificationwith reality itself, respectively. To

avoid both arbitrariness and reification, Bateson’s (1972) distinction between map and

territorybecomeshelpful.Theessentialimpossibilityofknowingwhattheworldis,heargues,

has forced us to filter it into some kind of analogue figuration, as in the relation between

territoryandmap.Themainfeatureofmapsisnottheirliteraltruthfulnessregardingagiven

territory,buttheiranaloguestructuretovisualiseanimageonadifferentscale.

Toshowhowafigurationoftotalityisachieved,Jamesonstartsbyreframingthemoregeneral

idea of representation. The act of representing, he argues, should be understoodneither as

synonymouswith somebad ideology. Instead, representation is synonymouswith figuration

itself,becausethereisnorepresentationoftheworldthatisnotafigurationofit.Torepresent

somethingistotransformitwithinanewfigure,draggingitfromonedimensiontoanother.A

mapisnevertheterritoryitselfbutitsscaledabstraction;similarly,animageoftotalitycannot

bemistakenas totality itself. It is throughthedifferentialbetweenfigureandfigurationthat

theactofrepresentationbecomespossible.

Onaconceptual level, figurationsof totalityareasynthesisbetweenKevinLynch’snotionof

‘imageability’ and Althusser’s notion of ‘ideology’, articulated to address how individuals

picturetheirsurroundings.ImageabilityasproposedbyLynchconcernsthelegibleimageofthe

city’sspatialformthatcanbevisuallygraspedasarelatedpatternofrecognisablesymbols.It

refers to the translation of a certain territory into an analogue, yet not literal, structure, by

distinguishing key points, landmarks, flows and areas of the cityscape. Imageabilities, Lynch

argues,enablecitizenstovisualisetheirdailylifeinacomprehensibleway,withouthavingto

considerallatoncetheinfiniteelementsthatcomposethetotalitytheylivein.

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To complement this notion of imageability, Jameson turns his attention to the concept of

ideology in Althusser’s work, defined as ‘the imaginary representation of the subject’s

relationshiptohisorherrealconditionsofexistence’(Althusser:1972,109).ForJameson,the

Althusserian concept of ideology is useful in pointing out the imaginary dimension that

mediates human experiences, the monadic point of view to which we are necessarily

restricted.

From this framework, Jameson proposes a positive conception of ideology, understood as a

necessaryfunction–inanyformofsociallife–tostressthegapbetweenindividualsandthe

broadersocialworldinwhichtheyaresituated.Itconnectsphenomenologicalperceptionwith

thetotalitythattranscendsallsubjectiveexperience,stabilisinganarrativethatorganisesthe

invisible and unreachable surroundings within a comprehensible image. In short, positive

ideologyistheactofstabilisingapointofviewbywhichsenseisgiventotheexternalworld.It

isthesymbolicdimensionofideologythatcoordinates,bymeansofconsciousorunconscious

representations(figurations),individuallifewithinthetotalityofthesocialforcesitispartof.

AgainstthecommonviewthatseesANTandtheMarxistperspectiveasmutuallyexclusive, I

think they can work in complementary fashion in regard tomediatory artefacts.When the

notionoffigurationoftotalities isaddedtotheequation,mediatoryartefactsgainapolitical

dimension inmediatingbetweenreaders’ isolatedexperiencesandthebroadersurroundings

theylivein.Theyrenderanimageoftotalitybytranslatingitintoanewmedium,asmapsdo

when a whole territory is rendered onto paper, making it visible. Creating a figuration of

totality demands careful attention to the employed devices, signs and materials (Toscano:

2012).Itisnotpossibletocreateafigurationofthiskindifthetoolsemployedarenotmade

explicittothereader,whoneedstoabsorbboththerenderedimageandalsothepointofview

andcraftworkbehindit.

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The construction of mediatory artefacts within social sciences is not just a matter of

translations,materialsanddevices;itisalsoawayofimaginingwhatisnotvisibletothenaked

eye. Thus, amediatory artefact is a tool for addressing the linkbetween collectives and the

broader dynamics under which they live. While depicting a diverse multiplicity within a

manageableimage,theseartefactsareprovidingsubjectiveexperiencewithapointofviewto

read the unset surroundings. They compose a framework for action and thought, and in so

doingperformapartialfigurationoftotalitybymeansofcreatinganimagethatexplainsit.

ItisinthissensethatIthinkfigurationsoftotalityandmediatoryartefactsrelatetoeachother

in more than one way. I see them not as two ways of describing the social, but as

complementary approaches in the task of constructing self-contained systems of

representation.By this Imean that themediatoryartefactdisplaysaworldwithin restricted

materials,translatingaphenomenonasifitwasacoherentorganism.Theresultingtranslation

is based on a step-by-step process that manipulates both the object of knowledge and its

representation,withthefinalresultbeingastableandreadable image.Underthisapproach,

the mediatory artefact can exist beyond textual representations without losing objectivity.

Whatisimportantisnotfindingnon-interferencemediatoensureacorrectoutcomebut,on

the contrary, that the construction of artefacts should employ a wide set of tools and

languages,alldeployedinthetaskofcreatingmoreengagingrepresentations.

3.MapsandCosmograms

In this section I review two examples that help visualise the relation between mediatory

artefacts and the figuration of totality. First, I discuss a critical approach to cartography,

showinghowthecraftofmapmakingisthatofvisualisingtotalitiesbymeansoflimitedmedia.

Second, I review thenotionof cosmogramsasproposedbyTresch (2004),which refers toa

particular kind of object able to render thewholewithin a rather fragmented device. Both

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examples work on a similar basis, in the sense that they are material agents in the

conformation of the social that have translated the world by means of craftwork

representations.

Thefabricationofanimageoftheworldfindsoneofitsmostwell-knownexamplesinmodern

cartography,whose ‘aim is toaccuratelycapture relevant featuresandtheir spatial relations

and to represent a scaled abstraction of that through themediumof amap’ (Kitchin et al.:

2011,5).Bymeansofthisrepresentation,geographicalfeaturesaretranslatedintoaflatplot

marked with lines, colours and sign-points, which has resulted from a series of combined

processes. The final layout is driven by a step-by-step combination and superimposition of

information, startingwithdatacollectionandtheuseofmeasuring technologies in the field,

followedbydatamanagement,codificationandcomparison,toendwithavisualprintout.

The final receptorsof theseartefactsmayusethemtocollatewhat is in frontof themor to

visualisewhatisfarbeyondtheirreach;theseartefactsareputtoworktowardsmanydifferent

purposes, giving maps a concrete and practical role in social life. Maps are the result of a

craftworkprocessthatsituatestheirreaders inrelationtowhat is invisibletothenakedeye,

connectingthemwithotherspacesandworkingasaguidingtoolfornewexplorations.Inthis

last sense,maps address the task of stabilising a figuration that provides individuals with a

devicethathelpsthemreadtheirsurroundings.

Historically,theemergenceofmodernmapmakingwasdrivenbytheEuropeandiscoveryofa

transatlanticcontinent.Theexpansionoftheso-calledknownworldbeyondtheAtlanticOcean

impliedaroundworld,contraveningmedievalimagesofaflatearthsurroundedbyanabysm.

This change of perspective demanded renewed strategies, including new tools, devices and

procedures,totranslatethisnewtotalityintoamanageabledevice.Mapmakershadtherefore

to face and negotiate the unsolvable dilemma of how to translate a sphere onto paper,

assumingtheimpossibilityofobjectivemaps.

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Thestrugglebetweendifferentstrategiesofrepresentationwasdrivenbytheneedtocreatea

transportabledevicetoreferencegeography,an indispensabletool fornavigationalpurposes

in the context of the transatlantic discovery. With the help of references, drawings and

geographic data collected overmany years and gathered together in the European colonial

centres,mapmakerswereabletostabiliseanapproximatedimageofwhattheworld’stotality

looked like. Ultimately, modern cartography chose to codify geographical features by

measuringdistancesbetweentwopoints,andplacingtheminrelationtoathirdpointwithin

animaginarygridprintedonpaper.Theshapeoftheearthendedupbeingdepictedasifseen

fromabove,atonceflatteninganddistortingitstotalityintoonesingleimage.

Figure1showsaprojectionofthecurvedspaceoftheearthontoaflatplot.

Rucelli’sWorld1561–1574

Thereadingskillstorelatetothesekindsoflayoutshavebeengrantedbycontinuousexposure

tothem.Theyhavebecomealmostanaturalisedimageoftheworld,representingasfaithfully

as possible the spatial arrangements of phenomena in the world. However, the idea of a

neutralmaphasbeen contestedonmany fronts (see, amongothers:Harvey: 1987;Perkins:

2009;Kitchenetal.:2011).Criticsagreeontheimpossibilityofanobjectivemap,pointingout

thatmapsarenotatransparentrepresentationoftheworldbutan inscriptionthatoperates

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withinit:‘[maps]areaco-constitutiveproductionbetweeninscription,individualandworld;a

production that is constantly in motion, always seeking to appear ontologically secure’

(Perkins:2009,18). It is in this sense that thedistancebetweenmapand territory,or figure

and figuration, iswhatmakespossible theconstructionofamap.Without thisdistance, the

roleofthemapwouldbenon-existent;themapwouldfailinitsfunctionofrenderingvisiblean

unobservableterritory.Whatisatstakehereisthenotionofcorrespondence,inthesensethat

the image displayed is not the territory itself but the establishment of some relevance that

allowsthereaderto‘alignseveralsuccessivesign-pointsalongatrajectory’(Latour:2010).

A good example of how maps, individuals and territories are part of a co-constitutive

production is found inCraib’s (2004)workCartographicMexico. In itheexplores the roleof

cartography in the creation of the modern Mexican state during the nineteenth and early

twentieth century. The state was fixed through a ‘federal obsession’ with determining and

fixing points, lines and names in order to facilitate economic development and political

administration.ButthisendeavourfounderedontheAmerindians’understandingofspaceasa

‘fugitivelandscape’ofoverlappingjurisdictions,usesofrights,kindsoflandholding,ambiguous

borders and shiftingnames. Themodern fixationof this territory– inotherwords, the shift

fromonekindofcognitivemappingtoanother–wasnottheresultofapeacefulnegotiation.

Thewholestateapparatus(includingtechnicians,bureaucracyandmilitaryforces)neededto

bemobilised in order to redefine the new cartography, still not completely fixed in current

times.

Whencomparingthefinaloutcomesproducedbysocialresearchandbymapmakingpractices,

severalsimilaritiescanbementioned.Tostartwith,thefabricationofanimageofgeographical

features is based upon a translation process that necessarily transforms and distorts the

collectedtracesinordertorendertheminavisuallayout.Inananalogousway,finalartefacts

insocialresearchalsotranslatetheirobjectsofknowledge,renderingthemwithinthelimitsof

agivenlanguageandmaterial,usuallyyetnotexclusivelyassociatedwithtextualmedia.

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The relation between maps and territories is the same as that between social research

artefactsand thesocialworld, in the sense that the representationand the representedare

not interchangeable. Neither maps nor texts are a transparent, non-interference device in

respectofwhattheyaredescribing.Bothareacraftworktranslationputtogetherbyastep-by-

stepprocessofcombinationandsuperimpositionofdata,playinganactiveroleonceplacedin

theworld.

In this sense,maps and social research artefacts are co-constructing theworldby rendering

visiblewhatwasnotobservedbeforehand.Theyhavetransformedsomeaspectoftheworld

intoanewmateriality,articulatinganobjectfromwhichnewrelationsmightemerge.Theway

inwhichtheseartefactsaredesignedisnotjustamatterofaestheticsbut,farbeyondthat,a

matterofcognition.Theproducedimagesactivelycontributetotheway inwhich individuals

understand and relate to their surroundings, with inscription, individual and world as one

assemblage.

It is under this perspective that mediatory artefacts and figurations of totality are, in my

opinion, related. While the first concept refers to how a map or a research artefact is

constructedthroughatranslationprocess,thesecondhighlightstheroletheseartefactsplayin

theworld.Whatisimportantisnotsomuchdefiningwhattotalitymaybebut,moreprecisely,

creatingmediatory artefacts as a basis for action and thought in aworld that is larger than

whatthenakedeyecansee.

The secondexample Iwould like to review is thatof cosmograms. I employ the cosmogram

followingJ.Tresch’sunderstandingoftheconcept,whichreferstocertainkindsofobjectsable

to layoutanimageofthewholewithinaratherfragmenteddevice.Cosmograms,hewrites,

are‘aconcretepracticeandsetofobjects,whichweavetogetheracompleteinventoryormap

oftheworld’that‘triestoresituateanindividual’sconcernsandanxietieswithinaframelarger

thantheindividual,thesocialgroup,thenation,thepresent’(2004,75).Todoso,cosmograms

provideanecologyofrelations, inwhichdissimilardimensionsoftheworldareharmonically

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suitedtoeachother,visualisinga livingbodyof interconnectedorganismsandenvironments

amongwhichisthecontextforhumanexperience.

Acosmogramistheresultofalongprocessofcollectivesedimentation,wheredifferentwebs

ofsignificanceareslowlysuperimposedontoeachother,andharmonicallycondensedwithina

visualobject.Cosmogrammaticobjectsplayasignificantroleinthesocialgroupsthatemploy

them,standingasavirtualimagebetweenthesegroupsandthewiderworld.Itisinthissense

thatTreschproposesthatcosmogramsareanactiveagent insocial life,apointof reference

‘for new interpretations and actions’ (2004, 69), that inscribes within its materials the

distinctions that compose a world. These objects may take any imaginable form, including

painted pottery, graphic marks on paper or architectonic displays, all of them designed

towardsthediagrammaticrenderingofanidealtotality.

Beforeshowinghowtheconceptofthecosmogramisusefulinunderstandinghowmediatory

artefacts produced through social sciences work, in the following I briefly analyse three

cosmogrammatic objects: the Celestial Spheres, from Islamic diagrammatics; the Five Aztec

Suns, fromMesoamericanpaintedCodices;and theHolyBookofChristianity.At thecoreof

eachanalysis isthe ideathatmediatoryartefactsworksimilarlytocosmograms, inthesense

thatbothprovideanidealisticrenderingofagivenuniversewithinlimitedmedia.Bymeansof

selectingandharmonicallyarrangingasetofcollectedtraces,mediatoryartefactsalsolayout

an image (either textual or visual) that transforms the world into a concrete object. These

objects,likecosmograms,areequallycarriersofagencyandmediafornewinterpretationsand

actions.

The first cosmogrammatic object I review is found in Islamic culture and is known as the

CelestialSpheres.Thefirstprintedexampledatesfromaroundtheendoftheeleventhcentury

and is currently held by the British Library. It is a drawing composed of seven concentric

spheres,contiguoustoeachotherinsuchawaythattheouterlimitofeachcorrespondstothe

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innerlimitofthenextsphere.TheoriginofthiscosmogramisusuallylocatedinancientGreek

culture,fromwhichitexpandedintoboththemedievalChristianandIslamicworlds.

The technical simplicity of this diagram

meant there was no need for specialised

craftsmen in its construction, prompting its

rapidspreadaroundtheMediterraneanSea

and inland as well, becoming a generalised

and accepted model of the fixed stars and

planets around the earth. However, on the

Islamicside,thecosmogramevolvedinmany

different directions, being appropriated by

philosophers, astronomers and mystics.

According to Karamustafa’s (1992) studies

oncosmographicaldiagrams,theideaofthe

universe as a whole in Islamic culture was

thoughtthroughthiscircularmodel,showing

anacceptancethatthespherewasthemost

perfectofallforms,andthusGod’screation

(theuniverse)couldonlyfollowthisshape.

Figure2:TheCelestialSpheres,fromtheMa'rifetname

What I consider particularly relevant about this example is the fact that the universe is

translated through the rather limited medium of a drawing, which not only condenses the

idealisedformofthewhole,butatthesametimeestablishesrelationsbetweenitsinnerparts.

Thisishowthismodeldefinedhierarchiesbetweenthedifferentspheres,placingtheearthand

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humanbeingsat itscentreand, for instance, thezodiacalconstellations in theoutersphere,

therulerofallbelowit.

The use of the Celestial Spheres model among Islamic thinkers finds one of its clearest

cosmogrammaticexamplesintheworkofNasirKhushraw(1949,quotedinKaramustafa1992).

Khushraw presents a visual representation of the Universal Intellect, the Creator, and the

construction of the universe, demonstrating the relation between the way the Universal

IntellectworshipstheCreatorandthewaytheuniverseisconstructed.

Thecosmogramalsoshowshowtheuniverseiscomposedoffourelements,sevenplanetsand

twelve zodiacal symbols, which is mirrored in the human body (its four humours, seven

internalorgansanditstwelveinvisibleorgans).Whatthiscosmogrammaticdiagramisshowing

is the mathematical and geometrical structure of the universe, of which the human is a

projection.Accordingly,thecosmogramdescribesnotonlythewholeinitself,butalsohowthe

humanbeingrelatestoit.

Inthissensecosmogramscompriseanidealisedversionofthecosmosthatgoesbeyondmere

descriptiontoentertherealmofprescription(howtheuniverseshouldbeworshipped),atthe

sametimeasinterpretingthepositionofthehumanbeingwithinit.Thisstartstoshowhowa

cosmogramisaconcreteobject(ordrawingintheIslamiccase)thatworksasabasisfornew

actionsandinterpretationsbytranslatingthewholeintoascaleddownandidealisedimage.

Asecondexampleofcosmogrammaticobjectsisfoundinthepre-HispanicAmericanCodices,

book-likeobjectsorpictorialmanuscriptsfromwhatisnowMexico.Amongthefewsurviving

manuscripts,thereisagroupoffiveknownastheBorgiaGroup,whichdealswithreligionand

a260-day ritual calendar.Oneof themost commented sections is knownas the ‘FiveAztec

Suns’. It depicts a visual translation of the myth of Ometecuchiti who, with his wife

Omecihuatl,werethesupremecreatorsoftheworld.

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Figure3:TheFiveAztecSuns

Theimageispaintedinbrightcoloursandshowsthetwonon-humancreators,withthefemale

holding a human by the hair. The creators are dressed up on elaborated outfits and their

appearanceissomewherebetweenhumanandanimal.Aseriesofsmallerdrawingssurround

thetwomainfigures,andthewholeeffectiscartoon-like.TheFiveAztecSunstellsthestoryof

the world, which has been created and destroyed five times, with Ometecuchiti and

Omecihuatlastherulersanddestroyersofthefirstofitseras.

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IncontrasttotheCelestialSpheres,theFiveAztecSunsmodeldoesnotfollowtheabstraction

of geometric forms. As Bones (1994) suggests, this cosmogram works by an ideographic

inscription system, meaning that communication is through pictorial and conventionalised

images, suggesting a reader voice not as a calque of the image-text but as itsmetaphorical

interpretation. The reading order is not set (unlike in an alphabetic-based text); the

cosmogram can be read in any sequence and direction, becoming intelligible to those ‘who

shareacommonculturalbaseeventhoughtheymightspeakdifferentlanguages’(1994,19).

The key element of this example is the language it uses in creating a translation of the

universe. Thewhole is rendered in terms of sequential events, including the sacred powers

that shape it during each stage, achieving its cosmogrammatic features by means of an

ideographic-basedlanguage.Inoppositiontoalphabeticwriting,inwhichthesoundsofspeech

are translated into graphic signs and reference phonemes by visiblemarks, the ideographic

language, though it also employs visiblemarks, doesnot necessarily use linguistic elements.

TheMesoamericanwritingsystemdidnotdistinguishwritingfrompainting;nordiditconsider

writingasurrogateofthevoice.Accordingly,thetranslationoftheoriginofthingsintotheFive

AztecSunsisnotfixed,remainingopentonewformsofinterpretationandrenderinganimage

oftheuniversethatisneitherstaticnoreternal.

Now,iftheCelestialSpheresmodelshedslightonhowacosmogramharmonicallyharmonises

differentelementstoeachotherandtheFiveAztecSunsshowshowanon-Westernmedium

achievesitspurpose,itremainstobebrieflyexploredhowdifferentcosmogramsrelatetoeach

other.EchoingLatour’s (2005)descriptionof thesocial in termsofa jungleof forcesseeking

hegemonybyincreasing,reducingorassimilatingoneanother,thewaysinwhichcosmograms

interactwiththeircompetitorshaveoftenbeencauseforwar.

Perhaps the best-known example of the struggles between different cosmograms was

triggered by the expansion of the Holy Book of Christianity. This alphabetic-based object

describes bymeans of visiblemarks not just the creationof theworld, but also its chain of

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sacredbeingsandamoralbaseforaction.DuringtheemergenceandexpansionofChristianity,

theHolyBookwasthereceptacleofthedirectvoiceofGod,andnootherobjectcouldrivalit.

Theonlytruthwas inscribed in itspages,soanyalternativeneededtobedismantled.This is

why evangelisation and territorial expansionbecame two sides of the same coin, expanding

thewordoftheChristianGod,aswellasChristianhierarchiesandassociatedsocialstructures,

toalmosteverycornerof theworld.Allmeanswerevalidwhen thegoalwas to impose the

onlytruecosmogramoveranyother.

I think there is no clearer example than theHoly Book of the agency of a cosmogrammatic

objectasasourceofnewactions.Itsrole,forinstance,intheconquestofAmericawascrucial,

tramplingallpreviouscosmogrammaticobjectsandreplacingthenativedeitieswith itsown.

The sixteenth-century chronicler Friar Landa’s description of the destruction of the

MesoamericanCodicesprovidessomeinsightsonthis:

Thesepeopleusedcertaincharactersorletters,withwhichtheywroteintheirbooksabout

their antiquities and their science; with these, and with figures, they understood their

matters,madethemknown,andtaughtthem.Wefoundagreatnumberofbooksinthese

letters, and since they contained nothing but superstition and falsehood of the devil we

burnedthemall,whichtheytookmostgrievously,andwhichgavethemgreatpain(Landa,

ch.xli,inMignolo:1994,223).

The cosmogram, like any other artefact that is translating the world, is never a neutral

enterprise. To start with, it relies on a given and limited materiality and language, always

smaller than theworld’s complexity. Second, it establishesapointof view that renders that

world visible, modelling its understanding accordingly. And last but not least, cosmograms

workintheworldbydrivingtheiruserstoimposeoneworld-viewoveranyother.Thisistrue

notjustforthedestructionoftheMesoamericanwritingsystem,butformanyothercasesas

well.Amongthem,andasaprojectionoftheexpansionoftheHolyBookofChristianity,the

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writtentexthasbeentheprivilegedmediumforknowledgeconstructionsincetheemergence

ofEnlightenmentscientificendeavour(Mignolo:2004).

Guggenheim’s (2011) criticisms of the asymmetricmedia determinism discussed in the first

sectionofthischapter,wherebyonlysomemedia(primarilythetext)ensureanobjectiveand

neutral translation process, find particular support in the context of cosmogrammaticwars.

Thealphabeticwrittentextisnotanessentialistandprivilegedmediumatall,butonethathas

gainedhegemonybyreducing,assimilatingand,ultimately,annihilatingothers.This isoneof

the reasons why it has found a privileged position within social sciences, neglecting other,

equallyvalidwritingsystemsorrepresentationstrategies.

Leavingasidefornowthequestionofhowthehegemonyofthetextmediumcametobe,the

term cosmogram as proposed by Tresch opens up threemain ideas in regard tomediatory

artefacts. First, both cosmograms andmediatory artefacts work by a process of translation

throughwhichtheworldisrepresentedwithinaspecificobjectordevice.Despitethefactthat

cosmograms translate and interpret the structure of the whole while mediatory artefacts

translatepartialterrainsofexperience,bothcompriseafinalobjectthatshouldworkasaliving

organism.Thisinthesensethatitsinnerelementsneedtorelatetobeharmonised,presenting

acoherentsystemofrelationsthat,withintheobject’slimits,workasaunity.Translationsare

inthissensedirectedtowardsthestabilisationofanarrativesystemtobereadandusedasa

basisforactionandthought.

Second, like cosmograms,mediatory artefacts can use any availablemedia to achieve their

translations. It isnotaquestionof findingsomeprivilegedmediumthatshouldovercomeall

others,aswiththetext-basedcosmogramanditsnear-annihilationofallcompetitors.Onthe

contrary, different media open different translation possibilities, including new languages,

materials and devices. To identify the socialwith the text-based artefact is automatically to

reduce its complexity, neglecting the fact that theworld has been translated in all kinds of

media,fromtheMesoamericanpaintedCodicestotheabstractgeometryofIslamicdiagrams.

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It is in thissense, I think, that theconstructionofmediatoryartefacts insocialsciencecould

andshouldbeopenedtootherkindsoftranslationmedia,dialoguingwiththephenomenonin

question,andwiththesocialingeneral,throughmorethanasinglemateriality.

Following directly from the previous point, the third relation between cosmograms and

mediatoryartefactsisintheroletheyplayintheworld.Likecosmograms,mediatoryartefacts

provideapointofviewtorelatepeopletothebroadersurroundings.Theyaddtothesociala

framethatmodels theworldaccordingly,stressingthegapbetween isolatedexperienceand

theforcesthatsurroundus.Ofcourse,mediatoryartefactsdonotexplainthewholewithina

singleunit,butlikemaps,theyrendervisiblewhatisnotobservablebythenakedeye.

ThischapterhasattemptedtocombineLatour’sideasaboutstep-by-steptranslationsandthe

notionoffigurationoftotality,helpingtounderstandhowfinaloutcomesofsocialresearchare

constructed.Bylookingatcartographicpracticefromacriticalperspective,andattheideaof

cosmograms as proposed by Tresch, it has become clear that representing totality is not

incompatiblewithassumingit isdonethroughlimitedmedia. Ineverycase,atranslationhas

been achieved through the particular use of a given medium; simultaneously, these

translationshavehelpedstressthegapbetweenindividualsandaspectsofthebroaderworld

they live in.Eitherbydepictingthecosmosasawholeorbyrenderingterritoriesontoa flat

plot, theseobjects are tools for cognition, proposing an idealisedmodel as a sourceof new

interpretationsandactions.Similarlytotheinterrelationofmapsandterritoriesthroughaco-

constructionprocess,where the first propose awayof reading the second, or cosmograms’

renderingof the invisiblewithin amaterial object, final researchartefacts arebasedupona

material exercise of craftwork translation that drags a chaoticmultiplicitywithin a coherent

andstablesystemofrelations.

Under this perspective, the conceptsof themediatory artefact and the figurationof totality

should not be seen as opposed to each other. The outcome of a translation process as

proposed by Latour always ends in the stabilisation of an image that refers to totality in a

35

doubleway.Firstly, theseoutcomesshouldworkasatotalitywithinthemselves inthesense

that their contents should comprise a coherent universe of axioms or relations, rendering

dispersionwithinaharmonicsystem.Secondly,theseartefactsrefertototalitynotintermsof

what it actually isbut,moreprecisely, in termsofhow theworldwe live in couldbebetter

understood. Mediatory artefacts are, in this sense, a gate or tool for cognition that links

isolatedexperiencewithwhatthenakedeyecannotseebyitself.

Thus, mediatory artefacts need to be thought beyond a unique medium, opening their

construction to a wider range of graphic languages, materials and circulation strategies.

Creatingamediatoryartefactisnotaboutwhatthenatureoftheworld,butitstransformation

intoagivendevice,addinganewdimensiontothephenomenon’sowncomplexity.Bymeans

of selecting,manipulating and combining the traces of a phenomenon amediatory artefact

mightbecreated,producinganewobjectaboutandintheworld.Inthisprocess,anyavailable

media can be taken into account, with translation strategies able to meet expectations in

respectoftheagencytheartefactswillhave.

To translate the social is tocreateanew figure,whichwillonlymeet its fullpotentialwhen

thought as an assemblage between inscription, world and individual. It is towards this

assemblage, in my opinion, that social research should be directed, delving into new

representationsystemsinthealways-unfinishedtaskofvisualisingoursurroundings.

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CHAPTER2:TheMediatoryArtefactorHowtoFabricateaRepresentationof Society.

In this chapter I discuss the main operations and methodological steps I employed in the

fabricationof amediatory artefact or representationof theAtacamaDesert,which resulted

from combining the written aspects of this thesis and a filmmaking production towards

creating a visually based outcome. The starting pointwas the categorisation of this artefact

withinthesub-disciplineofvisualsociology,anareainwhicheffortshavebeenmadetowards

theexpansionofmethodsandmaterials insocial research.Throughareviewofsomeof the

maintrendsfoundinboth,visualanthropologyandvisualsociology,Idesignedamethodology

based on Becker’s (2007) four operations (selection, translation, arrangement and

interpretation) of what he calls a ‘representation of society’. These four operations were

combinedwiththecommonstepsofindependentfilmproduction(pre-production,production,

montage and distribution), proposing a cross-over between filmmaking and sociological

research. The first operation (selection)was carriedout entirely through thewrittenpart of

thisthesis(seealsochapters3and4),whilethethirdandfourth(translationandarrangement)

wereacombinationoffilmmakinginthefieldandawrittenexplorationofwhatIhavecalled

the‘imaginaryscript’(seealsochapter5).

1.VisualSociology

In1974,H.Becker,oneoftheforefathersofvisualsociology,wroteaseminalarticleentitled

‘Photography and Sociology’. In it, he discussed the common origins of photography and

sociology and how they were equally conceived as means of exploring society, but using

differentmedia andwith different ends.While sociologists have tended to deal with large,

abstract ideas andmove from them to specific observable phenomena, photographers have

worked with specific images, moving from them to wider ideas. ‘Both movements’, Becker

writes, ‘involvethesameoperationofconnectingan ideawithsomethingobservable’ (1974,

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20), despite starting from different points. Because sociology and photography share this

operation,heconcludes,theycanlearnfromeachothertowardsnewwaysofrepresentingthe

socialworldwelivein.

Becker’s argumentsprompteda resurgence in theuseof visualmethods in sociology,which

had been common during the first part of the century (see the Chicago School studies on

poverty,ortheearly issuesoftheAmericanJournalofSociology)but itwas leftasidedueto

the expansion of the post-war positivist approach in social sciences, which remained

unchallengeduntiltheemergenceofwhathasbeencalledtheculturalturnofthe1970s.With

this, as Rose describes, ‘culture became a crucial means by which many social scientists

understood social processes, social identities, and social change and conflict’, meaning

researcherswereveryoften interested in ‘howsocial life is constructedby the ideaspeople

haveabout itandthepracticesthatfollowthoseideas’(2007,1).Onthisbackground, inthe

mid-1980s a group of US-based sociologists interested in the visual organised themselves

aroundthe InternationalVisualSociologyAssociation(IVSA),whichhasexpandedworldwide.

Its purpose was (and still is) to undertake the visual study of society by promoting and

supportingtheoreticalandmethodologicaladvancementintheuseofvisualmediaasawayof

examiningandunderstandingoursocialandculturalworld.3

D. Harper, one of the IVSA’s first members, a sociologist and documentary photographer,

states that at the core of visual sociology is the idea that ‘theworld represented visually is

differenttotheworldrepresentedbywordsandnumbers’(2012,4);thus,sociologyneedsto

openitspracticetonewmethodsbeyondstatistics,connectingtodifferentrealitiesandtheir

diverse sensorial dimensions. In his view, at the core of the use of the visual within the

discipline is the fact that all data (visual or not) is constructed: ‘neither documentary

photographynorwritingproducesatruthaboutthepast;rather,likealltexts,theirmeanings

are created, changing and often at odds with their claims’ (ibid., 18). This constructivist

3 FromIVSA’sofficialwebsite:https://visualsociology.org

38

approach has led Harper to explore new media for sociological practice, the goal being to

increaseunderstandingofculturebymakingitvisible.

Besides thework of Becker andHarper, several social scientists have focusedon the use of

visualmethodsforconductingresearch,forexampletheworkofJ.Gradyintheuseofvisual

imagery in social researchandhisdocumentary filmmakingpractice,C.Knowles’s studieson

material culture and migration, or S. Pink’s writing on visual methodologies and sensorial

ethnography. All these researchers have been currently pushing the disciplinary boundaries.

However, the visual approach in sociology is not as widely used as in the neighbouring

discipline of anthropology, in which documentary filmmaking and photography have

undergone amuch longer-term and consolidated development. Several film festivals with a

particular focus on visual anthropology have become established around theworld, and an

importantnumberofacademicjournalsarededicatedtothesubject.4

Theuseofvisualrecordingtechnologieswithinanthropologywasbornalmostatthesameas

theportablecameraitself.Someofthefirstusesofthetechnologyareseeninthefootageofa

WolofwomancollectedbyL.RegnaultandexhibitedattheEthnographicExhibitionofWestern

Africain1885,andthatcollectedbyA.Haddon’sTorresStraitExpeditionof1898,alargeand

multi-disciplinaryexpeditionequippedwith the latest recording instrumentsof the timeand

devotedtothescientificstudyofthepeopleoftheislandsoftheStrait.Otheranthropologists

of the time also used film and photography to conduct their research, for example F. Boas

(1888–1942),oneoftheprecursorsofpublicanthropology,orB.SpencerandF.Gillen,whodid

fieldwork inAustralia from1894, using innovative visualmethods (production, development

andelicitationofphotographyandfilm)aspartoftheirparticipantobservationswithaborigine

communities.

4 InthefollowingIpayspecialattentiontotheuseanddevelopmentofaudiovisualinscriptionsinsocialresearch,which,asIshowthroughoutthissection,isatthebasisofmyownresearchpractice.Thefocusonthismediumoverother recording technologies isdrivenby thekindofoutcome thisproject sought to fabricate, that is, adocumentaryfilmabouttheAtacamaDesert.

39

Somedecadesafterthesefirstexplorations,R.Flaherty’sfilmNanookoftheNorth(1922)was

another milestone in the use of visual recording technologies for conducting ethnographic

research. His work is considered to be a foundational piece in the development of

ethnographicfilmmakinganditwasthefirstfilmofitskindtobewidelyscreenedincinemas.

In the film, Flaherty tells the story of an Eskimo and his family living in the Hudson Bay,

showingtheirdaily lifeandtheir relationshipwith thesurroundingnaturalenvironment.The

filmworksbycreatinganarrativethatdepictstheencounterbetweenNanookandhisnatural

environmentinhisquestforsurvival.Flahertyaskedhissubjectstoactoutcertainscenes(see

forexamplethesceneinwhichNanook’sfamilyemergefromatraditionalcanoe)andcreated

speciallydesignedsettingssuchasanigloothatwasbigenoughforhimtofilminside.Finally,

themontagewasarrangedtoproposeacompellingnarrative,drivenbythesuspensearound

theuncertaintyofNanook’ssurvival.

Equally important in visual anthropology’s development was the work of M. Mead and G.

Bateson inBaliandNewGuinea(1936–39).Theyemployedvisualrecordingtechnologiesnot

onlyfordocumentingaborigines’livesbutalsotoexplorethevisualaspectsofhumanculture,

placingtheirsubjectsinthecontextofthewiderenvironment.Theyusedfilmandphotography

asprimaryrecordingdevices,notmerelyforillustration.AsBatesonreported:

We tried to shootwhat happenednormally and spontaneously, rather than to decide

upon the norms and then get Balinese to go through these behaviours in suitable

lighting.Wetreatedthecamerasinthefieldasrecordinginstruments,notasdevicesfor

illustratingourtheses(Bateson&Mead:1942,49).

Thisapproach ledMeadandBateson toemployanumberofprocedures in theirprojects to

seektolessentheintrusionofthecamerainnaturalbehaviour,neveraskingtotakepictures

butratherrecordingasamatterofroutine,collectingsuchavastquantityoffootagethatthe

subjects almost forgot about the camera’s presence. However, in many cases Mead and

Batesondidcreate thecontext inwhich the footagewas recorded.Oneof themostnotable

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instances isfoundintheirfilmTranceandDance(1952), inwhichtheystagedaritualdance,

usuallyperformedatnight,duringthedayforthecamera.

Onthisbackground,inwhichtheusesofrecordingtechnologiesweregoingbeyondamerely

illustrativepurpose,anewethnographicfilmmovementaroseduringthe1950s:theCinéma-

Vérité.Oneof themain forefathersof thismovementwas J.Rouch,aFrenchanthropologist

andfilmmaker,whosoughtnotonlytorepresentthesocialworldbutalsotoacknowledgehow

suchrepresentationsarefabricated.Thisapproachimpliedpositioningthefilmmakerlessasa

participant-observerthanasanauthority-agent,thusopentoexamination.

J.RouchandE.Morin’sfilmChronicleofaSummer(1961)isoneofthebest-knownexamples

oftheCinéma-Vérité.Init,thefilmmakersdiscusswhetheritispossibletoactsincerelyinfront

of the camera, turning then to interviewing several real-life individuals about their ideas of

happiness. At the end, the filmmakers show the recorded footage to the interviewees and

discusswiththemthelevelofrealismofthefootage..Elementsofthisreflexiveapproachcan

alsobefoundinD.Vertov’spioneeringfilmManwithaMovieCamera(1929),whichportraysa

groupofSovietcitiesfromperspectivesonlyachievablebythecamera.Vertov’smasterpiece

makesexplicitthepresenceofthecamera,placingtheemphasisonhowthecameraiscreating

the recorded reality bymeans of shooting angles, cameramovements, jump cuts, etc.Man

withaMovieCamerais,inshort,anexperimentalpieceabouttheendlesspossibilitiesofwhat

the camera can do. Further examples of this approach to filmmaking are found inOfGreat

EventsandOrdinaryPeople (1979)byR.Ruiz,PotoandCabengo (1980)by J.P.GorinorThe

ThinBlueLine(1988)byE.Morris,amongmanyothers.

The emergence of the Cinéma-Vérité deeply influenced the work of visual anthropologists,

highlighting the need to acknowledge both the studied social group and the mechanism

throughwhichrepresentationsaremade.Onthisbackground,thefilmcriticandtheoretician

B. Nichols proposed a categorisation to identify types or modes of representation in

documentaryfilmmaking.Amongthem,hethinks,‘fourmodesofrepresentationstandoutas

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the dominant organizational patterns around which most texts are structured’ (1991, 32);

theseare:expository,observational,interactiveandreflexive.

Theexpositorymodeaddresses theviewerdirectlybymeansofavoice-over thatguidesthe

readingoftheimages,constructingaspecificargumentorpointofviewfortheaudience.The

observationalmodestressesthenon-interferenceofthefilmmaker,cedingthecontrolofthe

eventsthatoccurinfrontofthecamera,andreliesontheeditingtoenhancetheimpressionof

lived or real time. The interactive mode corresponds, according to Nichols, to the Cinéma-

Véritéanditsoffshots,whichintroducedasenseofpartialness,ofsituatedpresenceandlocal

knowledge that derived from the actual encounter between the filmmaker and the filmed

subjects.Finally,thereflexivemodeisabouttherelationshipbetweenthefilmmakerandthe

subject,but italsoacknowledges thatbetweenthe filmmakerand theaudience. ‘In itsmost

paradigmatic form’, Nichols writes, ‘the reflexive documentary prompts the viewer to a

heightened consciousness of his or her relation to the text and of the text’s problematic

relationshiptothatwhichitrepresents’(1991,60).

ThelasttwomodesofrepresentationaspresentedbyNichols(interactiveandreflexive)have

hadastrong influence invisualanthropology in termsofhowrepresentationsare fabricated

andhowthisprocessismadeexplicittotheviewer.However,anotherapproachtotheuseof

visual media has emerged during the last few decades, which, without leaving aside the

principles of interaction and reflexivity, has added a sensorial dimension to how

anthropologistsrepresentthesocialworld.

Amongthemanystudiesthathavebeencarriedoutonthesensorialaspectsofsocial life,S.

Pink’sbookDoingSensorialEthnography,firstpublishedin2009,iscentral.Initshearguesthe

need to re-think ethnographicmethodspaying attention toperception, experiences and the

categories we use to talk about the sensorial aspects of social life. She thus asserts that

researchshouldbeinterestednotonlyindescribingthesenses,butinusingthemtoguideand

influenceourunderstandingof theworld.Withacceptanceof thisproposal, researchmoves

42

beyond the text to the tacit, unspoken,non-verbal dimensionsof social life, fromwriting to

documentaryfilmandphotographyandtonewformsofengagementwithartpractices.Thus,

sensorial ethnography promotes a newway of understanding the products of ethnographic

methods, a shift from collecting data to producing knowledge, from academic research to

publicethnography,requiringnewwaysofengagingwithresearchparticipantsandaudiences.

Thesensoryturnacrossdisciplines,Pinkargues,hasproducedunderstandingsofexperience,

practice and knowledge as multisensory – involving all the senses, and understanding the

senses as interconnected – rendering the conventional focus on observing, listening and

writing/readinginsufficient.

Twoexamplesofethnographicproductsthathavesoughttorealiseasensorialapproachare

thedocumentaryfilmLeviathan(2012)byL.Castaing-TaylorandV.Paravel,5whichprovidesa

sensory-basedviewoftheNorthAmericanfishing industry,orthemultimediaprojectQhipu6

byM. Court andR. Lerner,which delves into the forced sterilisation suffered by indigenous

womeninPeruduringthe1990s.LeviathanwasmadebysettingseveralGoProcamerasona

commercial groundfish trawler in the seas off New Bedford, recording an accumulation of

often-indefinable imagesdepictingmovement,coloursandaviolentocean.There isnopoint

of view, narrative structure or dialogue but rather a sensorial approach to the fishing

experience.Ontheotherhand,theQhipuprojectcombinesseveralmedia(audio,imagesand

text) toput togetheran interactivewebsite. Itworksby recordingandgatheringphonecalls

from indigenous women who have suffered forced sterilisations, keeping their identities

unknownatthesametimeasmakingtheirexperiencespublic.

In this same vein, researchers have increasingly used multimedia websites to articulate

researchoutcomes,thusengagingwithwideraudiences.FurtherexamplesofthistrendareLa

VieduRail,aninteractiveanthropologicalprojectthatretracestheMalianpartoftheformer

Dakar–Niger railroad track and its surrounding environment, or Paris, Invisible City, a web- 5 This filmwasproducedby theSensoryEthnographyLabatHarvardUniversity,aworld-leadingexperimental

laboratorythatpromotesinnovativecombinationsofaestheticsandethnography,harnessingpracticesdrawnfromthearts,thesocialandnaturalsciencesandthehumanities.

6 See:https://interactive.quipu-project.com/#/en/quipu/intro

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basedprojectheadedbythesociologistB.Latourthatexplores,throughtextandimages,why

thecityofPariscannotbecapturedataglance.

Thebelief inallthiswork,fromstillphotographytomultimediaprojects, isthatthebasisfor

creatingdiscoursecanbevisualaswellastextual.FollowingG.Rose,discoursesarearticulated

byavarietyofmeans,employing‘allsortsofvisualandverbalimagesandtexts,specialisedor

not, and also through the practices that those languages permit’ (2002, 136). Images are

equallyaspowerfulincreatingdiscourseastexts;thus,equalattentionandanalysisneedtobe

devotedtovisuallybaseddiscoursesandproductions.

InRose’sview,therearethreesitesatwhichthemeaningsofan imagearemade,making it

culturallymeaningful: a) the site of theproduction, referring to how an image ismade: the

technologicaltoolsandequipmentusedinanimage’sproduction,structureanddisplay;b)the

site of the image itself,which articulateswhat the image looks like: the visual construction,

qualitiesandreceptions;andc)thesiteoftheaudience,concernedwiththeeconomic,political

and institutionalpractices and relations thatproduce, saturateand interpret the image. The

conjunctionofthesethreesitesoftheimageisdifficulttoisolate,astheyworksimultaneously,

actingandreactingtoeachother.Thus,thethreesitestogetherproducenotanobjectiveor

realisticimage,butratheronethatstandsinanindexicalrelationtotheworld.Theproduced

imageisanewobjectinaspecificcontext,promotingaparticularknowledgeabouttheworld

thatshapeshowthatworldisseenandhowthings,accordingly,aredoneinit.

Acomplementaryapproachtounderstandinghowimagesareconstructedisprovidedbythe

workofH.Becker (2007),TellingaboutSociety. In itsopeningpages,Beckerproposesthata

representation of society ‘is something someone tells us about some aspect of social life’

(2007,5),portrayingthesocialthroughspecifictoolsandmedia.Inhisview,representationsof

society are organisational products, having at one end the organisation or community that

fabricatesstandardisedrepresentationsofaparticularkind,andattheother,aninterpretative

communityofuserswhoroutinelyusethemforstandardisedpurposes.

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The relation between makers and users of representations depends on a necessary

transformation. Following Latour, Becker argues that scientists (as well as other maker

communities) continually transform their materials, making the initial observations more

abstract and distanced from the concreteness of their original setting at every step. The

process of transformation begins with observations in the field or laboratory and becomes

written notes; the notes become tables, the tables charts, and from these a conclusion is

drawn,alongwiththetitleofanarticletobepublished.Ultimately, therepresentation is far

apart from its initial references, the collected traces having been transformed into a new

object.

Anyrepresentationofthesocial–ascientificpaper,adocumentaryfilm,aphotoessay,etc.–

isnecessarilypartial,aselectionoftracesandapointofviewthatislessthantheworlditself.

That is why makers and users of representations ‘must perform several operations on the

realitytheyexperiencetogettothefinalunderstandingtheywanttocommunicate’(ibid.,20).

Becker systematises these operations in four levels: a) selection; b) translation; c)

arrangement;andd)interpretation.

Selection refers to the operation through which some characteristics of reality are

distinguishedforobservationandothersleftaside.Thesearetheinitialmaterialsortracesthe

representationwillstartworkingwith.Thecrucialquestionsatthisstageare:Whatelements

are included? Under which criteria are they selected?Who will agree or disagree with the

selection? Every medium employed (writing, photography, video, etc.) limits the selection

possibilitiesinitsownway;but,atthesametime,thislimitationistheconditionsinequanon

ofanyrepresentationalprocess.

Thesecondleveloftransformationistranslation.Itreferstoakindoffunctionthatmapsone

set of distinctions onto anothermedia, dragging the selection into a new dimension. Users

neverdealwithrealityitself,onlywithrealityastranslatedintothematerialsandlanguagesof

aparticularcraft,which isat thesametimeconstrainedbyorganisationalbudgets, timeand

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available tools.Bymeansof thisoperation,a representation findsamaterialanda symbolic

systemthatwillguideitstrajectorytowardsbecomingastandardisedartefact.

After translating the selection into a given materiality and language, its now-transformed

componentsneed tobe arranged. The collecteddatamustbeplaced in someorder so that

userscangraspwhatisbeingsaid.Itisatthisstagethatargumentsaremadeandtherelations

betweentheselectedelementsmightbecomerelevantforagivenreader.Theordergivento

theelementsisbotharbitrary–thereisalwaysadifferentwaytheelementscouldhavebeen

arranged – anddeterminedby standardways of doing things as givenby the community of

makersinwhichtherepresentationoperates.Thearrangementofacollectionofelementsisa

curatorial operation, in the sense that the selection finds at this stage the order that

consolidatesitwithinastableandreadablenarrative.

ThelastlevelBeckerisolatesrelatestoaninterpretativecommunityofusers.Representations

onlyfullyexistwhensomeoneisusingthem,thuscompletingthecommunication.Bymeansof

reading, viewing or listening to an arranged representation, the users interpret the results

beyondwhatthemakermighthaveexpected.Onlythendoestherepresentationbecomean

activeagentofthesocialworld,providinganinterpretingcommunitywithapointofreference

fromwhichtounderstanditssurroundings.Ofcourse,makersandusershaveinterchangeable

positions, making stories and listening to them; but what stands at the core of the

representation of societies is, in Becker’s view, a communication mediated by objects or

artefactsthathavetransformedtheworldintoapartialyetoperativeimageofit.

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2.TowardstheConstructionofaMediatoryArtefact

This section describes the chain of methodological steps I followed to fabricate a

representationof society,which resulted fromcombining thewrittenaspectsof thisproject

andadocumentaryfilmproduction.7Thisrepresentationwashereunderstoodasamediatory

artefactbecause,bymeansofcollectingandcombininginscriptions,itsoughttoputtogether

an image of a delimited territory: the Atacama Desert, northern Chile. The focus of the

researchwasplacedontherelationbetweenalarge-scaleminingindustryandlocalreligious

festivals,whichareabundantintheregion.

Theactualconstructionofthismediatoryartefactwasbasedonthecollectionandsubsequent

arrangementofaudiovisualinscriptions,takingthefinalformofadocumentaryfilm.AsIshow

throughoutthissection,thechoiceofthismediumwasdrivenbytwomainarguments:onthe

one hand,my existing knowledge of documentary filmmaking, which I have been exploring

during the past few years,8 and, on the other,my belief in its potential to engagewith the

sensorialaspectsofthelocalreligiousfestivalsfoundintheAtacama.

I have been conducting research in the Atacama, living andworking there during extended

periods and travelling around the region.9 Throughout this time, I have been especially

attracted to the village festivals of the innermountains,whose annual calendar is crowded.

TheLickan-Antaipeople,old inhabitantsof theareaandpartof thewiderculturalsystemof

theAndeanHighlands,carryoutthelargemajorityoftheseevents.Thedenseagglomeration

7 The section focuses on the general guidelines employed in the fabrication of this project’s visual outcome,

whicharecomplementedinchapter5withadetaileddescriptionoftheconcretecircumstancesandchallengestheproductionteamhadtodealwithduringitsmaking.

8 Sincemy undergraduate studies in sociology I have been exploring newmedia to conduct research, amongwhichdocumentaryfilmmakinghasprovenahighlyuseful,yetnotexclusive,toolforpresentingandcreatingresearchresults.

9 MyworkintheAtacamastartedjustafterIfinishedmyundergraduatestudiesin2006,whenItravelledtoitsinnermountainsforthefirsttime.Sincethen, Ihaveconductedseveralsmallprojects intheDesert,workingwith indigenous communities and archaeologists interested in the area. I have also taken part in twodocumentaryfilmproductionsconcernedwithlocal identityandreligiousfestivities intheAtacama.AlltheseprojectsledmetoliveinthecityofAntofagastaforextendedperiodsoftime,allowingmetogetclosertothedesert’sculturalandeconomicsdynamics.

47

of indigenouspopulations in thehighlandsand theirborderscomprisesa complicatedsetof

networksamonghundredsofvillagesandtowns,withtheinnermountainsoftheAtacamaat

its southwest extreme. The cultural network of the so-called ‘AndeanWorld’ has attracted

much research by anthropologists, ethnographers and sociologists, and continues to do so.

Among such research, the work of V. Cereceda about Andean textiles and their pictorial

language, P. Morandé’s research into ritual festivals, and Brokaw’s use of a transpositional

methodologyinthestudyofAndeanmaterialculturehavebeenparticularlyinspiring,toname

onlyafew.10

TheplaceoftheAtacamainthiswidernetworkischallengedbythepresenceofalarge-scale

mining industry, mainly in the hands of foreign capital and with several hundred thousand

workers.Since1990, theextractionofhugereservesofcopperhasattractedpeople fromall

overthecountryandbeyondintothedesert,leadingtoarapidreshapingofthearea.Aftera

series of boom and bust cycles in themining industry, the AtacamaDesert has never been

moreproductive,butonlyatthecostoftheaggressiveextractionofitsnaturalresources.The

formerly mid-scale coastal cities are now dorm-cities for commuters, airports have been

refurbished and substantial infrastructure has been built across the Desert, including ports,

powerstationsandhighways.

Amongalltheexpectedconsequencesofthisexpansion, Iwasespecially interestedinonein

particular, namely, the growth of popular religious festivals. These are the result of the

encounter between the Lickan-Antai people’s ritual festivals and themass ofmineworkers

whohavearrived inthearea.Manyof this lastgrouphavesettleddownpermanently inthe

Atacama, sharing theminingworkwith itsoriginal inhabitantsaswell as takingpart in their

ritual festivals. In this context, the newcomers have appropriated some of these festivals,

changing their scale and performances but keeping many of the features belonging to the

AndeanWorld. The clash of the two groups, the Lickan-Antai and theminingworkers, is in

somewayscrystallisedintheseevents,providingabundantdataforresearch.Theyare,inmy

10 Inthenextchapter,Idiscussinmoredetailthespecialisedliteratureaboutthe‘AndeanWorld’.

48

view,ameetingpointwherepeople coming fromdifferentdirectionsencountereachother;

theyareaprivilegedspacetoinquireintothecontinuitiesandrupturesthathaveshapedthe

Atacamaduringthepastfewdecades.

Giventhiscontext,theconstructionofamediatoryartefact,orrepresentationofsociety,that

could visualise the relation between the large-scale mining industry and the local religious

festivals in the Atacama followed the four operations described by Becker in Telling about

Society (2007): selection, translation, arrangement and interpretation. However, these four

stepsweremappedontothetraditionalstepsofdocumentaryfilmmaking,inwhichin-motion

images are the main materials to work with: preproduction, production, montage and

distribution. As I show below, Becker’s operations and filmmaking procedures are

complementary approaches when thinking about how to build a mediatory artefact, both

sharingtheneedtodefineagiventopictofocusonandundertakeitstranslationintoanew

medium (in-motion images in this case), arranging or combining the results to compose a

narrative and, finally, distributing the piece. Underlying this combination of Becker’s

operationsandfilmmakingproceduresisS.Pink’s(2009)callforamovebeyondthetexttothe

tacit,unspokenandnon-verbaldimensionsofsociallife,amovethatdemandsthatthewritten

textiscomplementedbyotherwaysofacknowledgingandengagingwiththesocial.

InthefollowingIdescribethefourstagesIdesignedtofabricatethemediatoryartefactofthe

Atacama Desert, showing how they were planned as a step-by-step transformation of this

territory into themediumof a documentary filmmaking. This process employed thewritten

medium as away of guiding and reflecting on the transformation of the Atacama thatwas

being undertaken,while shooting in the field provided thematerials to compose the actual

documentaryfilm.

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a)Selectionorpreproduction

TheAtacamaDesertislocatedonthesouthwestslopeoftheCircumpunezone,thatgreatarea

surroundingtheAndeanHighlands.InwhatisnowthenorthernregionofChile,runningalong

thePacificOcean is this 1,500-kilometre-long stripof desert encompassing theborderswith

Chile,Argentina,PeruandBolivia.Threemajorcoastalcitiesmarkoutthreeparticularregions

of the Atacama (Arica, Tarapacá and Antofagasta), and in each of them a popular religious

festivaltakesplace,inwhichAndeantraditionsaremixedupwiththenewcomers’world-view.

The starting point of the mediatory artefact fabrication was to select a delimited area to

conducttheresearch.ThefocuswasplacedontheAtacama’ssouthernmostarea,namely,the

AntofagastaRegion,becauseit istheminingadministrativecentreinthedesert,withcontrol

overamajorpartoftheproductivechainofcopperextraction.Complementarity,thischoice

was driven by the features of Antofagasta’smain festival (in Ayquina), which have resulted

fromastrongcombinationofAndeantraditionsandminers’ritualpractices.

AntofagastaCity’sstrongpositionintheAtacamaisreinforcedbecauseAntofagastaistheonly

region with an inlandmid-scale settlement, acting as a dorm-city and platform for onward

travel to the mines in the inner mountains. This city, known as Calama, used to be the

westernmostvillageof theLickan-Antaipeople, former inhabitantsof thedesert, connecting

them with the coast. However, the mining industry has transformed Calama into a hinge

settlement,connectingbothsidesoftheproductionchain:theminesandtheports.Thisdual

modeinCalamabecomesevenclearerinrelationtothemajorpopularfestivaloftheareain

Ayquina. Non-indigenous people from Calama have taken over this small village in the

mountains,findinginitanappropriateplacetodeployandexpresstheirownritualpractices.

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Figure4:MapoftheAtacamaDesert(ownelaboration)

51

The second selection step of the mediatory artefact construction was to define what

characteristicsofthissocialandgeographiclandscapeweregoingtobehighlightedandwhich

left in the background. This step was a way of organising the research of the Antofagasta

Region,delimitingevenmorethefocustoundertakethetranslationoftheAtacamaintothe

audiovisualmedia.Thegoal,inotherwords,wastocreatewhatthedocumentaryfilmmakerP.

Guzmán11 has called an ‘imaginary script’. In an article entitled ‘The Script in Documentary

Filmmaking’(1997)P.Guzmánarguesfortheimportanceofcreatingascriptbeforeshootinga

documentary film.Thisscriptworksas thetransitionalspacebetweendesigningandactually

making a film, like any jazz musical score that mediates between the musicians and their

improvisation.Theimaginaryscript,inGuzman’sview,isanexerciseasopenandriskyasitis

necessary. Itguidestheproductionofthefilmbut it isequallysubjecttomodificationduring

shooting. It is like themap carried by a traveller,whichmust always be comparedwith the

actualterritorybeingtraversed,withnotes,referencesandlandmarksaddedtoit.

AccordingtoGuzmán,theimaginaryscriptneedstopresentabalancebetweenanopenanda

closed approach to its object of concern. If it is too pre-defined, the script could neglect

unexpectedeventsduringshooting;iftooopen,itmightnotworkasaguidingtool,meaning

the filmmakers are unsurewhat to look for during shooting. The imaginary script therefore

needstotransitbetweenthesetwoextremes,definingwhattolookforwhilebeingre-written

throughouttheprocess.Inaddition,thewritingofthiskindofscriptneedstobetheoutcome

ofaseriesofoperations,includingproperresearchaboutthesubjectandidentificationofthe

locations,maincharactersandnarrativeresourcesthataregoingtobeemployed.

Followingtheseideas,andinordertohaveeverythinginplacebeforeshootingsoastoavoid

wasting timeand resources, I designedan imaginary script (described indetail in chapter5)

that was the outcome of two stages of research. The first combined a literature review of

culturalstudiesabouttheAndeswithanalysisofaseriesofvisualrepresentationsbelongingto

this territory (chapter 3). The second comprised qualitative research conducted in the

11 P.GuzmánisaChileandocumentaryfilmmakerwhohasproducedanabundantfilmography.Amonghisworks,

thebestknownareTheBattleofChile(1975),NostalgiafortheLight(2010)andThePearlButton(2015).

52

AntofagastaRegion,whichwascomposedofahistoricalaccount,fieldobservationsandaset

ofinterviewscarriedoutin2013(chapter4).

Theliteraturereviewwasintendedtodefineanapproachtodescribehowculturalstudieshave

representedthearea,providingageneral frametothinkthe imaginaryscript.Therefore,the

reviewlookedatscholars’descriptionsofaseriesofobjectsandpracticesoftheAndes,which,

asIconcluded,sharesomecommonpatternsofrepresentation(Brokaw:2010).Thekeyidea

wasthatsomeofthemainvisualrepresentationsfoundintheAndescanbeframedundera

single cosmogrammatic figure known as the Chakana, which is a visual layout that relates

severalmaterialandsocialdimensionswithinoneunitofrelations.Myproposalwasthatthe

mainfeaturesofthiscosmogramcould inspirethe imaginaryscript,relating itsstructureand

innersectionsbysimilarprinciples.

However, scholarly work about the Chakana is not as abundant as it could be. Only some

authorshavebeen interested in itshistoryanddevelopment (VillaMilena:1980;Easterman:

1998;Martinez:2014;andothers).Thisismainlybecausethereisnoagreementastowhether

theChakanareallyexistsasahistorical figure,orwhether it isan ‘inventedtradition’, touse

E.J. Hobsbawm and T.O. Ranger’s term (1983).12 The revival of Andean culture among Latin

Americanscholarsandsomenew-agetrendsdrivenbytourismandareaffirmationofpeople’s

belonging to indigenous groups, has prompted the emergence of Andean symbols, among

whichtheChakanahasbeenwidelypromoted.Whetheritisareinterpretationofpastobjects

andeventsorahistoricalfiguretravellingthroughthecenturies,theroleoftheChakanainthe

current understandingof theAndeanworld is beyonddoubt. Examples of its use aremany,

includingintheAndeanflag(theWhipala),asymbolofidentityandresistance;inthewritingof

Garcia-Lineras,currentVice-PresidentofBolivia;oronthedesignofmusicalinstrumentsused

atdancesandcarnivals.

12 Theterm‘inventedtradition’referstoboth‘traditions’actuallyinvented,constructedandformallyinstituted

andthoseemerginginalesseasilytraceablemannerwithinabriefanddebatableperiod.Thetermistakentomean a set of practices, normally governed by overtly or tacitly accepted rules and of a ritual or symbolicnature,whichautomaticallyimpliesacontinuitywiththepast(E.J.Hobsbawm&T.O.Ranger:1983).

53

Althoughthisdebatewastaken intoaccount inthe literaryreview, itwasnotcrucial forthis

researchtoreachapositiononit.Whetheritisaninventedtraditionornot,theChakanafulfils

a role within current Andean representations, having become a frame that holds together

manyrepresentationpracticesfoundinthearea.As Idescribe inchapter3,theChakanaisa

highlyusefultooltoexplaintheconnectionsbetweendifferentobjectsandpracticesbelonging

totheAndes,whoseinhabitantsarecontinuallyaddingnewlayerstotheirritualexpressions.

Theuncertaintyofitsorigindoesnotimply,inmyview,thattheChakanashouldbediscarded

as a useful cosmogrammatic model to explain the changing dynamics of the Andes and its

current representation strategies. Furthermore, I think the Chakana can be seen as a

translationinitself,inthesensethatitgatherstogethermanyoftheaxialprinciplesfoundin

theAndeanritualsandsymbolswithinonesystemofrelations.

HavingnotedthecontroversyaroundtheChakana’sorigin, thecosmogramwasused for the

design of the imaginary script. This implied the design of a script thatworked by proposing

oppositions (coast/mountains, urban life/festival time, etc.), which would be connected

through the transformationofmineworkers into ritualdancers. Iwouldnotonly fabricatea

mediatory artefact about theAtacamawhich translated it into the audiovisualmedium, but

alsoensurethatthecriteriabywhichthefootagewascollected(and,lateron,arranged)were

inspired by the region’smain strategies of representation (organised under the idea of the

Chakana).

The second stage in the writing of the imaginary script was the qualitative research

(systematised in chapter 4). Its results were used to add concrete contents to the more

abstractstructureof thescript.Thus, thevisualpatterns found in the literature reviewwere

cross-cut with qualitative data (a historical review of the Atacama, field observations and

interviews), providing the substantive elements that were going to be looked for during

shooting. The qualitative research was also used to define the shooting locations, identify

participantsanddefinetheproductiontimetable.

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Thequalitativeresearchwasorganisedinthreesteps,eachonefocusedononeofthemajor

inhabited areas of the Antofagasta Region: the coastal city, the inland city and the inner

villages. In each step, a review of historical documents was undertaken, so as to achieve a

betterunderstandingoftheprocessesthathaveshapedthesettlementsintheirpresentform.

This review was complemented with field observations, including notes, drawings and

photographs.

In addition, a set of twenty-four interviews was carried out in the area. Each of themwas

organised in a semi-structured way, following a standardised set of topics but open to

unexpectedones too.Thecoregoalof the interviewswas tocomparedifferentperspectives

abouttherelationbetweentheminingindustryandreligiousfestivals,tocollectdescriptionsof

howlocalfestivalshavebeenreshapedinthecontextofexpandingextractiveindustry.13The

maintopicswere:

1.Biographicaldata:Whatistheinterviewee’srelationtotheAtacama:whatisherorhis

relation to it? Is her or his background one of recent migration or of long-standing

inhabitationofthearea?Whatisherorhisparticularbiography?

2.Descriptionoftheterritory:HowdoessheorhedescribetheterritoryoftheAtacama?

Howdoestheintervieweedescribetherecenthistoryofthearea?

3.Miningindustry:Istheintervieweelinkedtotheminingindustry,andifso,how?What

isherorhisopinionabouttheexpansionoftheminingindustryintheAtacama?

4. Festivals: Does she or he participate in the festival of Ayquina? How does the

intervieweedescribeit?Iftheintervieweedoestakepartinthefestival,inwhatway?

To ensure the widest possible range of cases and avoid overrepresentation, the interviews

sample’s designwas cross-cut by the generalmining industryworking structure (see Aroca:

2000 inchapter4),which iscomposedof foursub-categories,withthreeof themrelatingto 13 The twenty-four interviews were transcribed and analysed in depth with use of an Excel database. Each

description of the territory, themining industry and the festivalwas categorised for comparison. The samesample design (see table 1)was used to organise the data (festival attendee vs. festival non-attendee) andcross-cutbythelocationinwhichtheinterviewwasconducted.

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the mining system and one operating outside it. Finally, this sample was categorised by

differentiatingfestivalattendeesandnon-attendees.14

N°ofinterviews

N°ofinterviews

Festivalattendees

Festivalnon-attendees

Mineworkers 3 Mineworkers 3

Sub-contracted

workers

3 Sub-contracted

workers

3

Administrative

workers

3 Administrative

workers

3

Not mine

workers

3 Notmineworkers 3

Total 12 12

Table1:Interviewsampleandcategorisation

Insummary,thefirststepofthefabricationofthemediatoryartefactorrepresentationofthe

Atacama Desert was the selection of a delimited area to work in, namely, the Antofagasta

Region.Secondly, itwasdesignedan imaginaryscriptbeforeshootingthedocumentary film,

which was the result of two combined process: literary review and qualitative research

(chapters3and4,respectively).Thefinalscriptisdescribedindetailinchapter5anditfollows

therepresentationalstructurefoundintheChakanacosmogram.

14 Although gender variables were not explicitly included in the sample, they were considered proportionally

depending on each case. For example, the largemajority of themembers of the first two categories (mineworkersandsub-contractedworkers)aremen.Conversely,fewwomenarefoundengagedinsuchwork.Thesecond two categories aremore equally distributed, requiring interviews that account for female andmalediscourses in amore balancedway. Age is also left aside in the sample in order not to overcomplicate thefieldwork,whichislimitedbytimeandresources.

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b)Translationorproduction:theaudiovisualinscriptions

After developing the imaginary script, the second stage of building amediatory artefact or

representationofsocietywasbasedonwhatBeckerreferstoastranslation.Inasimilarveinto

Latour’sproposalexploredinchapter1,theideaoftranslationdescribestheprocessthrough

which some traces of theworld are dragged into a newmateriality. It describes the act of

inscribingtheoutermanifestationofthings(light,sound,movement,etc.)intoanewmedium

(image,numbers, text, etc.). The relationbetween these inscriptionsand theactualworld is

one of transformation, in the sense that the collected traces are transcoded within the

parametersofacertaininscriptiondevice.

This is the case, for instance, with photography, where the rebounded light of objects is

inscribed intoa chemicalorpixel-based interface.Thus, light is transformed from itsnatural

form intoa two-dimensional surfacebymeansofamechanicalordigitalprocess.Theactof

translation,asinthecaseofphotography,carrieselementsoftheworldfromonemediumto

another,changing,distortingandtransformingtheminordertofitanew,limitedmateriality.

Theoutcomesof this operation are thematerialswithwhich a representation of society, in

Becker’sterms,canbefabricated.

The core of this translation operation is mediated by the use of specific devices, which

undertake the process of recording. The selected traces get inscribed only when certain

machinery imprints themwithin a givenmaterial, which varies depending on the employed

mechanism.Theoutcomeproducedbystillphotographyisnotthesameasthatproducedby

statisticalanalysis,yeteachhastransformedaselectedphenomenonunderitsownregime.In

everycase, theemployeddevicedefinesthekindofmaterial theresearcher isworkingwith,

thusdetermining the typeof representationof society that canbeproduced.Of course it is

alsopossible,andevendesirable,tocombinedifferentrecordingmethods,combiningasetof

materialswithinonemediatoryartefact.Whatever thechosenmachinery,singleormultiple,

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inscriptions aremadeby recording technologies.Drawingsonpaper, audio recordingsor in-

motionimagesarealltoolsthatatranslationprocesscanrelyon.

Thetranslationprocessthisresearchundertookwasmediatedbytheuseofthevideocamera.

This machinery produced large-format digital files that recorded the light, movement and

soundofthings,thesebeingthematerialswithwhichtherepresentationaboutAtacamawas

goingtobemade.Theuseofthisrecordingtechnologynarroweddownthetypesoftracesthat

couldbecollectedand,atthesametime,guidedthetranslationprocess.Butthevideocamera

did not work by itself; it had to be operated and manipulated in order to produce the

inscriptions.

The use of this machinery required me to define the way in which the translation into

audiovisualinscriptionswasgoingtakeplace.InthefollowingIhighlightthreedimensionsthat

helpednarrowdownthetranslation,makingitmoreaccurateanddefined.First,Irefertothe

purposetherecordedimagesweregoingtoserve,inthiscasetofabricateadocumentaryfilm;

second,Irefertotherelationthecameraestablishedtothesettingsitwasrecording;third,I

highlighttheinstitutionalconstraintsbywhichfilmproductionwasrestricted.

Planningwasrequiredtoestablishwhatwasgoingtobedonewiththerecordedimages,which

is to say that the collection process had to pre-visualise howwere the images going to be

arrangedandwhatkindofartefactwassoughttobecomposed.Themediatoryartefactthat

was sought as final outcome of this process was a documentary film, which implied the

collected images were going to be arranged on a sequential timeline and projected on a

screen.Underthesecriteria,therecordedimageswerenotgoingtobeusedinisolationfrom

eachother;onthecontrary,eachimageneededtoworkinasequentialrelationtotheothers,

composinganorganismofadigitallybasedsequenceofimagesinmotion.

Accordingly, I proposed that the images collection should record full scenes rather than

isolated shots. I use here the term of ‘full scene’ to refers to a sequence of footage that

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composesanarrativeunit,depictingacompleteaction,withabeginning,acentreandanend.

In order to achieve a collection of images that compose full scenes, the inscriptions of the

Atacamaneededtoincludelongshots,waitingforsomethingtohappen,foranactionthatsets

a scene. This implied that the recordings were going to be observational, with a long time

spent on each shot, and, at the same time, that they had to collect groups of images for

arrangementtowardsadocumentaryfilm.

Atthispointtheimaginaryscriptwashighlyusefulbecauseitsetoutamaporlistofpossible

scenes to look for (see chapter 5). Itworked as a frame that heldmanydifferent situations

together,selectingsomenarrativesamonganimmenserangeofpossibilities.Itwasimaginary

because it had to be reworked constantly throughout the filming process, opening the

productiontounexpectedeventsorchangesofdirection.

ThetranslationofAtacamawasnotonlyguidedbythetypeofemployedmachinery(thevideo

camera) but also by the transformation this technology produced on the settings it was

recording, demanding for a complete awareness of the fact that the camera was co-

constructingwhat itwas looking at. This happened, at least, in a double sense: on the one

hand,everyrecordedimagebecameanewobject intheworldthatcouldneverbeconfused

withrealityitselfduetothefactofdraggingtheluminoustracesofthingsinmotionintoanew

medium. On the other hand, the camera co-constructedwhat it was looking at because its

presence influenced, to a certain extent, the behaviour of the people itwas recording. This

might have been a major inconvenience if what it was being looked for was the natural

expression of human acts. But if, on the contrary, it was fully assumed that the camera

distortedrealitybytranslatingitintoanewmaterial,itcouldalsobeassumedthatwhatitshot

wasaco-productionbetweenthesubjectsofresearch,theresearcherandtheusedmachinery.

Itisthroughthistripleassemblagethataudiovisualinscriptionswerefabricated.

The last dimension I would like to highlight here is what Becker (2007) describes as

organisational constraints. By these Becker means the unavoidable constraints on the

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constructionof any representationof society. Representations in this sense arenot isolated

actsofwillorabstractthought,but,onthecontrary,involveparticularresources,timelimits,

institutionalexpectations,machinesandpeople.

Limitsontimeandbudgetarejustthefirstofmanyconstraintsadocumentaryfilmneedsto

dealwithinthemakingprocess.Ontopofresourcelimitation,equallyrelevantarethetypesof

machineused,theformatoftherecordedimages(andtheirbackuponhard-drives),thefilm

crewand,ofcourse,therelationshipsestablishedwiththeparticipants.15Alltheseissuesand

many others are present during shooting of a film: hosting, transport, schedules, data

managing,etc. It isthroughalltheseassemblagesthattherawmaterialsofafilmtakeform.

Thisispartlywhyafilmproductioninvolvestightschedulesandpresetlocations,althoughthey

mightchangethroughouttheprocess.

In order to visualise the institutional constrains the mediatory artefact had to deal with, I

designed a shooting plan that included a shooting schedule, filming team, equipment and

budget:

1. Time: shooting in theAtacamaDesertwere intended to last threemonths,with one

monthspentineachofthemajorinhabitedareas:thecoast,theinlandsettlementsand

theinnermountains.

2. Crew: the film crew in the field had to be composedof, at least, a local producer, a

cameramanandasoundtechnician(myroleoscillatedbetweendirectionandcamera).

3. Equipment, format and data flow: camera (Sony X-Dcam/shooting format MXF);

microphones (Sennheiser 416 and Sony 618/digital recording Tascam R-60);

accessories.Datamanaging:backupandtransferfromMXFtoProRes442LT.

4. Approximatebudget:USD30,000.16

15 Ascentralastheywere,therelationshipswiththeparticipantscouldnotbedefinedbeforehand.Theywereadirect

result of the process of shooting. In the last chapter of this thesis I describe how these relationships wereestablishedandwhatkindofchallengesthisentailed.

16 In chapter 5 I describe in detail how the budget was obtained. Suffice it to say for now that during thedevelopment of this research and film production a commercial alliance was establishedwith Openvizor, a

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c)Arrangementormontageandpost-production

Thethirdoperationtowardstheconstructionofthemediatoryartefactwasmontageandpost-

production. I understood this stage as being analogous to what Becker (2007) calls

‘arrangement’ortowhatLatour(2005)describedasastep-bystepprocessofcollectingand

superimposing traces towards stabilising a finished artefact. Following the operations of

selection and translation, now the collected footage needed to be organised, edited and

combinedwithinastablenarrative.Thisimpliedthatamongallthetranslatedelementssome

were going to be included and others left aside, choosing those that better fit the overall

argumentofthefinalpiece.

In documentary filmmaking, the argument may not be entirely clear beforehand, only

emergingviatestingofdifferentcombinationsofimagesandscenes,payingattentiontowhat

the collection has to say.Taking this into account, themontagewas designed as a ten-step

compositionprocess:

1. Converttheimagefilesintoalightformat(ProRes442LT).

2. Organisethefootageonasoftwareinterface(FinalCutPro–FCP),creatingfoldersfor

each scene and image type (landscape, industry, cities, etc.) and highlighting those

imagesthatareconsideredthedensestinrespectofwhattheyhavetranslated.

3. Visualisealltherecordedfootage,makenotesandrewritetheimaginaryscript.

4. Createasequence(timeline)foreveryhighlightedscene,makingamontageofeachin

ordertotesthowseriesofisolatedimagesworktogether.

5. Combineseveralscenesinone,longersequence,followingtheimaginaryscriptandthe

chancesitmayhaveundergoneduringtheshootingandthefirststageofthemontage.

6. Consolidatethefirstcutofthefilm.

7. Holdprivatescreeningstogainfeedbackonhowthefilmisworking,andre-editit.

privateproductioncompanythatfinancedthewholefilmproject,includingitsproduction,post-productionanddistribution.

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8. Design and compose the soundtrack of the film, including in-situ recorded sounds,

environmentalsounds,musicandFoley(in-studio-created)sounds.

9. Repeatprivatescreeningsandconsolidatethefinalcut.

10. Recomposethefilmwiththelarge-formatoriginalfiles.

These ten steps did not unfold by themselves, but were always mediated by the social

interactionssurrounding them.Forexample, this filmprojectusedaprofessionaleditorwho

wasinchargeoftheeditingprocessincollaborationwiththedirector.Thisimpliedaconstant

andfluidnegotiationofwhatimagestoselect,howtostructurethemontageandwhatworked

ordidnotworkinthefilm.Italsoimpliedlonghoursofwatchingthefootageandsuccessive

screeningsofthework-in-progress.

The choice to engage a professional editor in the project was justified, on the one hand,

because the resources were available, and on the other because of the explicit aim of

combiningsociologicalpracticewithfilmmakingprocedures.Anyfilmproduction(documentary

or otherwise) that follows film industry standards distinguishes between the roles of the

directorandtheeditor,drivenbytheneedforskilledprofessionalsintheseareasandtohave

the footage edited by someone able to look at it with fresh eyes.My role as director was

therefore to guide the process, throughout it transmitting my goals to the editor. Like the

previousshootingstage,themontagewasdrivenbycollaborativework.

Thearrangementofthecollectedinscriptionstowardsgivingformtoadocumentaryfilmwas

mediatedbyseveralinnertranslationprocesses,fromtranscodingthefootageintoaneditable

format,negotiatingthemontagesequencesandconsolidatingafinalcut,toitscodificationon

a screenable DCP (Digital Cinema Package). Thus, a chain of transformations mediated the

fabricationofthisrepresentationofsocietyormediatoryartefact.

Following Latour’s (2005) description of how social research constructs its results, the

fabricationof thisdocumentary filmfollowedastep-by–stepprocessof translation, through

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which some traces of the Antofagasta Region were inscribed, recollected and combined

towards creating an audiovisual narrative. Contributing to this process was not only my

subjectivity involved but also other human and non-human actants, all of which were

assembledtowardsdefiningthefeaturesofthisresearchvisualoutcome.Alongthisprocess,it

was not reality itself that was communicated by this artefact, but a translation that had

necessarily distorted, modified and recoded its object of reference. It is here, I think, that

filmmaking and sociological research found a common ground, that is, the transformations

involvedinconstructingtheirresults.

d)Interpretation:SocialLifeoftheMediatoryArtefact

The lastoperationBecker refers to in respectof fabricatinga representationof society is its

interpretationbyacommunityofusers.Bythishemeansthatarepresentationofanykindis

onlycompletedwhensomeoneuses it.Only thendoestherepresentationbecomeanactive

actorofthesocialworld,providingitsuserswithnewinformationormediatodealwiththeir

ownenvironments.

InRose’s(2007)three-folddescriptionofimages,thisengagementbetweenmakersandusers

corresponds to the ‘site of the audience’, which refers to the economic, political and

institutionalpracticesandrelationsthatarecomprisedintheimage.Thisisthepointwherea

representationofsocietyfindsitssocialagency,inthesensethattranslatingtheworldintoa

newmediumistoprovideaframeworktounderstandit,influencingactionsaccordingly.

Althoughitwasnotpossibletoknowbeforehandwhatthesociallifethevisualoutcomeofthis

projectwould have, itwas possible to sketch some actions that could influence this life. To

startwith, thedocumentary filmabout theAtacamawasdesignedas an artefact that could

circulate both inside andoutside the academicworld, expanding its possible audiences. The

useofaudiovisualinscriptionsthatcomplementedthewrittentextprovidedthisprojectwitha

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widerrangeofchannelstoachievecommunication,makingitaccessibletoalargeruniverseof

users.

Inthefirstplace,thisdocumentaryfilmwasdirectedtowardsthesubjectsthatparticipateinit,

theirfamiliesandneighbours,providingthemwithanaudiovisualrepresentationofthewider

contexttheylivein.Thefilm’saimwastobecomeausefultoolofreflexionand,atthesame

time, to produce a valorisation of the ritual practices these people perform as part of their

collective lives.17 A second audiencewas the academic one,mainly organised around visual

anthropologyandsociology.Toreachthisgroupofusers,thefinalisedfilmwasdesignedtobe

senttoethnographicfilmfestivals,ofwhichtherearemanyworldwide.Thirdly,asanartefact

that interweaves sociological research with filmmaking standards, the film was arranged to

matchnon-ethnographicfilmfestivalssubmissions,aimingtobecomepartoftheinternational

filmcircuit.

e)Reflexivity

The process of fabricating a mediatory artefact about the Atacama that came from the

crossoverbetweensocialscienceandfilmmakingneededtoaddonelastlayer(inadditionto

selection, translation, arrangement and interpretation), which is reflexivity. Following D.

Harper(2012),thenotionofreflexivitycanbeunderstoodastellingthestoryoftheresearch

processaspartoftheresearchresults,identifyingtheresearchersasaconstitutivepartofthe

research itself. In a similar vein, S. Pink argues that reflexivity should be made part of all

research, visualornot, alwaysacknowledging the roleof the researcher in theprocess.This

should be done in ways that ‘does not only simply explain the researcher’s approach but

revealstheveryprocess[...]throughwhichknowledgewasproduced’(2003,189).Thisimplies

17 It isworthnotingthatthe inhabitantsoftheAtacamaverywell receivedapreviousshort filmImadeonthe

areain2011.ItwasscreenedseveraltimesonlocalTVanduploadedtoYouTube,attractingmorethan25,000views.

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accounting for both the research and the researcher and the ways they interact towards

creatingarepresentation.

In B. Nichols’ taxonomy of documentary filmmaking,18 the reflexive documentary ‘calls

attention to the conventions of documentary filmmaking and sometimes of methodologies

suchasfieldworkorinterview’(2010,151).Thismodeofdocumentaryfilmmakingpointsout

themethods involved in the filmmakingprocesswithin theactual film,and itusually implies

featuringfootageoffilmmakersand/orparticipantswatchingpartsofthefilmandduringthe

montageprocess.Anotherwayofengagingthereflexivemodeindocumentaryfilmmaking is

to add critical comments to the film about the choices underlying its construction and

questioningitscapacitytocapture‘authentictruth’.Inbothcases,thereflexivemodeisaway

of acknowledging the constructed nature of documentary and flaunts its artificiality. The

reflexivemodemakesexplicitthatwhatthefilmshowsisnotthetruthbutareconstructionof

it.

Myapproachtoincludeareflexivedimensioninmyownfilmproductionpracticewasbasedin

two complementary strategies. First, I undertook a detailed written description of the film

production in chapter 5, which describes the features of the imaginary script, the team

membersandthechallengeswehadtofaceduringtheshooting.Italsodescribesthemontage

process and how it needed to be negotiated between different members of the team and

pointsoutthemajorlandmarksofthefilmsdistribution.Second,thewayinwhichtheroleof

the researcher was acknowledged in the film itself was inspired in the film directed by J.

Oppenheimer entitled The Act of Killing (2012), which explores an experimental mode of

reflexivity.

In The Act of Killing, the film acknowledges that it is not representing ‘truthfully’ what it is

showing to theaudiencebyportrayingagroupof formermembersof the Indonesiansecret

policeactingoutseveralscenesfromtheirpast.Theaudiencewatchestheseagentsofpolice

18Seesection1ofthischapter.

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repressionrepresentingtheolddays,whentheyfoughtagainstthecommunists.Bymeansof

these performances, the audience is made fully aware that a film is being produced and,

furthermore,thattheproductionisinfluencingtheperspectivesofthesubjects.

Though my film practice was not as elaborate as that of The Act of Killing, I sought to

acknowledgeasmuchaspossiblethatwhatwasrecordedonlyhappenedbecausethecamera

wasthere.Thus,atsomepointsofthefilm,theparticipantsperformeddirectlytothecamera,

creatingatheatre-likespacethatwasobviouslynotpresentintheparticipants’dailylife.Just

likeTheActofKilling,whichaskedtheparticipantstore-enacteventsthattookplacefiftyyears

before,myfilmproductionaskedtheparticipantsofthefestivalofAyquinatoactoutaspects

oftheimaginarythatwentbeyondtheirdanceperformances.Thus,Ithink,thefilmwasableto

acknowledge that its construction was part of a staging that was only possible because a

documentaryfilmwasbeingmade(Icomebacktothisreflexiveapproachindetailinchapter

5,where I discuss the specific scenes thatworked in this direction). Thisway of including a

reflexiveapproach inmy filmpracticewasbasedon the idea that thecamerashouldnotbe

hidden(asaflyonthewall),butthatonthecontrary,thefilmmakeraswellastheaudience

needstobefullyawarethatadocumentaryfilmemergesfromtheassemblagebetweenthe

researcher,thesubjectsofresearchandtheinscription-makingdevice(thecamera).

Throughout this section Ihavediscussed theway inwhich the representationof society this

projecthasput togetherwasguidedbyastep-by-stepprocessof transformations (selection,

translation,arrangementandinterpretationordistribution),addingtoitthelayerofreflexivity.

Although I havebeenmainly concernedwithmyownpractice andwith theproductionof a

documentary film, I think that what I have exposed here is equally relevant to any

representation of society that results from social research. The development in the use of

recordingtechnologies inanthropologyandsociology, fromMeadandBateson’swork inBali

and New Guinea (1936–39) to Castaing-Taylor and Paravel’s film Leviathan (2012), has

sustainedanefforttoconductresearchbeyond,yetnotagainst,thewrittentext,exploringthe

sensorialandvisualaspectsofsociallife.Whatisatthecoreofthisdevelopment,Ithink,isthe

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needtothinkaboutsocialresearchasdirectedtowardstheconstructionofartefacts(visualor

not)thatcanexpandourunderstandingofsocietyand improvethereachofresearchresults

beyond the limitsofacademicaudiences.FollowingLatour (2005),all research isbasedona

chain of translations that has transformed the object of knowledge in order to visualise it,

fabricatinganimagethatisnotmimeticofthesocialbutasupplementaryartefactthathelps

tounderstand it. It is inthissensethatresearchcanopenuptoawiderrangeofmediaand

proceduresinthetaskofco-constructingtheworldwelivein.

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CHAPTER3:CosmogramsoftheCentralAndes

This chapter explores a series of objects belonging to the Andean world, searching for a

commonpatternthatcanhelpindesigningthedocumentaryfilmabouttheAtacama.Itsfirst

section comprises a literature review about scholarly work in the area, andmore generally

speaking, related to the subordinated condition of the so-called ‘global south’ (De Sousa:

2006). It examines issues regarding knowledge construction in Latin America and efforts

towardsdecolonisingit.ThroughdiscussionofanongoingdebatebetweenMarxistsandpost-

colonialthinkersinterestedinthecontinent,itisproposedthatlocalaestheticpracticesalways

needtobeplacedinamaterialrelationtothesurroundings.Theyarenotfixedexpressionsof

culture,butdynamicprocessesthatco-constructtheirterritories(Parry:2006;Arnold:2009).

Thesecondsectionof thechapterprovidesacloser lookata seriesofobjectsandaesthetic

practices belonging to the Central and Southern Andes, where the Atacama is located. It

explores how different objects and rituals of the region’s material culture share common

patterns of representation (Brokaw: 2010) such as complementing oppositions (Esterman:

1998), three-fold structures (Cereceda: 2000) or conveying meanings through iconographic

languages (Gartner: 1998). Among these commonalities, I propose, it is possible to trace a

cosmogram(Tresch:2004)knownastheChakanathat,despite itsuncertainorigin,19 informs

many of the aesthetic practices and objects found in the Atacama. Its main effect is to

compose a system of relations in which a strong dualism needs to be mediated, assigning

humanbeings thetaskofkeeping life in relativebalanceandcyclicmovement. Itworksasa

locallygroundedstrategyofknowledgeconstruction,highlysensitiveandextremelymalleable

inregardtoitschangingsurroundings.

19 Asdiscussedinchapter2,thereisnoagreementastowhethertheChakanaisahistoricalfigureoraninvented

tradition;however,Iarguethat,givenitswidespreadusethroughouttheAndes,itfulfilsanactiverolewithininhabitants’ representationpractices.TheChakana isahighlyuseful tool toexplore theconnectionbetweendifferentobjectsandpracticesbelongingtotheAndesand,asIpropose,itcanequallybeusedtoinformthevisualtranslationoftheAtacamathisprojectisundertaking.

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The third section of the chapter is a historical reviewof the history of theAtacamaDesert,

while the fourth sectiondelves into the relationbetweenoneof itsmajor religious festivals

(the festival of Ayquina) and the Chakana cosmogrammaticmodel, aswell as its relation to

otherAndeanartefacts.Finally,thelastsectionexploreshowtocombinetheChakanamodel

with the representation this research is fabricating (adocumentary film),proposing that the

Chakanacanequallyinspirethevisualoutcomeofthisthesis.

1.LatinAmericanstudies

Since1990,scholarsengagingwithLatinAmericahavepursuedanongoingdebatedrivenby

thegeneraldecolonisationprocessstartedafterWWII.Theriseofpost-colonialstudiesinthe

continent has increasingly demanded new methods for new circumstances, stepping away

fromtheprevious,Marxistcurrentsof thought.20Post-colonialauthorshaveaccusedMarxist

thinkersof imposing theirownpre-setcategoriesonamuchmore fluidandcomplex reality,

matchingtheirownwaysofthoughtwithrealityitself.Conversely,Marxistthinkershaveargued

thatthisnew,evennaïvetrendsuffersfromhyper-textualisation,andfromalackofawareness

amongscholars that theyareactiveagentsof renewedcolonialisms, theirundertakingmuch

closer to a messianic search for newness than a collaborative enterprise of knowledge

construction.

Manyscholarsagree (Peris:2010;Young:2012;Gomez-Redondo:2015;andothers) that the

birthofpost-colonial studies in the continentwasestablishedbyanarticlebyPatricia Seed,

entitled ‘Colonial and Postcolonial Discourse’ and published inThe Latin American Research

Review (1993). The article assesses the need for a methodological shift from the usual

20 Theinstitutionalisationofthepost-colonialapproachintheLatinAmericancontextoccurredwiththefounding

oftheGrupoLatinoamericanodeEstudiosSubalternos (GLES),whoseinauguralmanifesto,publishedin1993,states: ‘The present dismantling of authoritarian regimes in Latin America, the end of communism and theconsequent displacement of revolutionary projects, the processes of re-democratization, and the newdynamics createdby theeffects of themassmedia and transnational economic arrangements: these are alldevelopmentsthatcallfornewwaysofthinkingandactingpolitically’ (GLES,[1993]1998).

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approachestostudiesonLatinAmerica,whichhasproducedan‘intersectionofdissatisfaction

about the limitationsof existing critiquesof colonial rulewith the contemporary intellectual

movement known as Post-Structuralism’ (Seed: 1993, 182).21 In this sense, the post-colonial

situation found in Africa, Asia and Latin America provides common ground to undertake a

collectiveenterpriseofalternativeknowledgeconstructioninthequestto‘truly[give]natives

avoiceoftheirown’(ibid.,183).

In Seed’s view, the linguistic turn inaugurated by post-structuralist thinkers such asDerrida,

Barthes,Foucault,DeleuzeandotherswouldallowLatinAmericanscholarstowakeupfroma

mechanical and homogenising view regarding their matters of concern. The ‘distressing

sameness’and‘repetitivetales’foundinmuchLatinAmericanresearch,referringtostoriesof

either native resistance defending the homelands or the accommodation of colonial goals

underlocalinterests,hadforSeednaturalisedanidealisedimageofeither‘hero-likeactors’or

‘gobbling-up’ communities that needs to be overcome. Thus, Seed, and the proponents of

‘decolonial studies’ who followed her,22 have aimed to leave behind an exoticising and

romanticisedframingofLatinAmericansocieties,steppingawayfromknowledgeconstruction

processessealedintoEuropeanwaysofthoughtandadministratedbyasmallliterateelite. In

this regard,Mignolo (2011) refers to theBandungConferenceof195323as thebirthplaceof

21 As understood by Seed, the post-structuralist movement is mainly concerned with deconstructing the

discoursesofmodernity,showinghowtheyarebuiltuponinvisibleassumptions,amongwhichthenotionofahero-authoriscrucial.Twoelementsarebroughttotheforefrontbythisnotion:first,theconnectionbetweenaninauguralsubjectthat‘creates’theworld,linkingtheheroofWesternhumanismwiththeheroofWesternimperialism;andsecond,thedislodgingoftheauthor’s‘intention’or‘original’meaningbyplacingitwithinthereading community. It is only in the subsequent interactionwhen texts gain their full agency in theworld,overcoming the author’s original intentions by the interpretations to which they are subjected. On thesematterssee:‘TheDeathoftheAuthor’, inMusic,Image,Text(Barthes:1977);orDeconstructingHistoriography(Spivak:1996).

22 ThepioneeringheraldsofthismovementhavebeentheArgentinianwriterWalterMignoloandthePeruvianAnibalQuijano,bothcurrentlyholdingacademicpositionsontheUSEastCoast.

23 TheBandungConferencewasthefirstlarge-scaleAsian-Africanscholarlyencounter,gatheringtogethertwenty-nine newly independent countries around their recent subordination histories. On the background of thegeneralretreatoftheBritishEmpireandothercolonialpowers,theBandungConferencereachedaconsensuscondemning colonialism of any kind. The delegates argued for the self-determination of nations, non-aggressiveandsymmetriceconomicdevelopment,anddecolonisationofthought.IntheFinalCommuniquéofthe conference, published in 1955, it is stated: ‘(1) TheAsian-African Conference recognised the urgency ofpromoting economic development in the Asian-African region. There was general desire for economic co-operation among the participating countries on the basis of mutual interest and respect for national

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global post-colonial or decolonial thought: ‘The most enduring legacy of the Bandung

Conference was delinking; delinking from capitalism and communism, that is, from

Enlightenment political theory (liberalism and republicanism – Locke, Montesquieu) and

political economy (Smith) as well as from its opposition, socialism-communism’ (2011, II).

DecolonialargumentsaremainlydirectedagainsttheMarxisttraditioninthecontinent,which

hasbeenaccusedofimposingfixedcategoriesontocontextswhicharestillhighlydynamicand

diverse.Indoingso,MarxistscholarshaverepeatedlyenactedEnlightenmentprinciplesbased

onrationalthought,transparencyof languageanduniversalparameters,withoutquestioning

theplaceoforigin,thesocialcontextswheretheseassumptionsemerged,unawarethatthey

arereplicatingcolonialdependencyonanintellectuallevel.

Seed proposes that the linguistic turn should become the primary method for knowledge

construction in the so-called Third World, de-linking it from territorial and imperial

epistemologies. Accordingly, any unitarian conception of the subject or assumption of the

transparency of language needs to be left aside, reframing words, sentences and phrases

withinalargerscope.Shewrites:

‘In reflecting on the linguistic framework inwhich the discourses of colonial rule have

beenelaborated,writershaveobservedthelimitationsofEuropeanpoliticaldiscourseas

well as the way in which the polysemic character of language has enabled natives of

colonized territories to appropriate and transform the colonisers’ discourses’ (1993,

183).24

Itisthroughlanguagethatcolonialiststateshaveunderstoodandgovernedthemselvesaswell

astheirsubjectedpopulations,treatingallnon-Europeanlanguageasincapableofexpressing

sovereignty’.However,theconferencedidnotleadtoageneraldenunciationofWesternandUSpoliticsintheThird World; rather, its participants displayed a wide range of loyalties to northern academies andgovernments.

24 Likethepost-colonialmovementingeneral,Seedreliesonthestudyofwrittentextsasamainsourcetoenacthermethodologicalproposals.For instance,shehighlightsPeterHulme’sColonialEncounters, whichunpacksthe creation of the term ‘cannibal’, seeing it as a distinction or discursive boundary between ‘savagepopulations’and‘civilisedEuropeans’.

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rationalthought,revealingtherebytheinferiorityofthosehumansthatspeakthem.Itisinthe

fringes of discourse, its implicit assumptions and socialisation practices that a better, more

accurateunderstandingoftherelationsbetweencolonisersandcolonisedcanbeachieved.

Withinthisattempt,theliveliestandmostextensiveinterestincolonialdiscourseisinliterary

studies,where somescholarsarecalling foran ‘epistemic reconstruction’ (Quijano:2000)or

‘epistemic disobedience’ (Mignolo: 2011). The subordinated condition, they argue, is one of

transculturalisation and is therefore equally capable of creating knowledge of its own,

‘confrontinganddelinking it from[...] thecolonialmatrixofpower’ (Mignolo:2010,27).25 In

this sense, attention should be paid to encounters between different cultural systems and

what has emerged from them, including literary production, colonial documents and non-

Western writing systems, subverting the antagonistic hierarchy between producers of

knowledgeandconsumersofit.

However, literarystudieshavea longhistoryamongLatinAmericascholars.Therisecultural

studiesinthecontinentduringthe1960sproposedthatgiventhelackofphilosophyorsocial

theoryelaboratedinthecontinent,attentionshouldbere-directedtoliterarytexts,ofwhich

plentywereavailable.26 Ontheotherhand,asignificantscholarlytraditionhasbeenfocusing

on Pre-Columbian texts or colonial documents, seeing them as historical data in the

reconstruction of Latin American societies (León Portillas: 2003;Michel: 1973;Murra: 1975;

amongmanyothers). Finally, and in close relation to thepreviousmovement, scholarshave

paid equal attention to contemporary communication devices, such as textiles, ceramics,

masks, etc. (Cereceda: 1987; Desrosiers: 1987; Arnold: 2000; and others), framing them as

livingtechnologiesoflocalknowledgeproduction.

25 F. Ortiz first coined the term ‘transculturation’ in 1947 to describe the process throughwhich two cultures

convergeandmerge.Ortizusesthetermtocombinethenotionsofacculturation(acquiringanotherculture)andde-culturation(losingone’sown),placinghisfocusinthemiddle,atthepointwheretwoculturalsystemsmeetand,subsequently,createa‘newculture’.SeeOrtiz([1947]1995).

26 Theso-calledLatin-Americanliteratureboomduringthe1960sproducedalargenumberofhigh-qualityliterarytexts, including thoseby JulioCortázar,GabrielGarcíaMarques, JoséDonoso,MarioVargas Llosa andmanyothers,directheirsofthetraditioninauguratedbyJ.L.Borges,AlejoCarpentierorJuanRulfo,providingfertilegroundforculturalstudiesandliterarycritique.

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Althoughthis‘epistemicdisobedience’proposedbypost-colonialistsdoesnotacknowledgesa

significant intellectual tradition proceeding it, the overall undertaking of creating locally

groundedknowledge,oran‘epistemologyofthesouth’inDaSousa’sterms(2014),haspushed

decolonialmovementstowardsaprivilegedpositionwithinLatinAmericanstudies.27Yet,their

frontalattackonotheracademicgroupshasyieldedavirulentreaction.Amongthem,Marxist

thinkerssuchasVidal(1993),Parry(2006),Gomez(2015),andothers,haveprovidedthemain

counterargumentstopost-colonialists.

Their first critique is directed towards the dissatisfaction with the previous intellectual

tradition, described by Seed as amechanical repetition of the same storyline, undermining

broad and fruitful work carried out over many years and reducing it to a few rough

simplifications.FromtheMarxistpointofview,thepost-colonialists’refusaltoengagewiththe

prior traditions theybelieve themselves tobedisplacing serves tohide theongoing imperial

project of contemporary globalisation (Parry: 2006). Furthermore, this disavowal has ‘either

latentlyputasideorsimplymisrecognisedthematerialmechanismsofdominationinscribedin

the colonial order, as the labour surplus appropriation from indigenous or Afro-Caribbean

communities,whichgave thatordera lasting stamp’ (Gomez:2015). In this sense, thepost-

colonialmovement is seenas tramplingoverallpreviousauthorswhohavebeenconcerned

withtheLatinAmericansubordinatedcondition,28regardlessofhowprolificorsignificantthey

mighthavebeen,aswellasunderminingsocialandhistoricalmovementssuchastheCuban

RevolutionorChileanSocialism.Inshort,the‘turn’post-colonialstudiesclaimstobeachieving

is, in these authors’ views, closer to a messianic attempt at newness than a collective

enterpriseofsubalternknowledgeconstruction. 27 An interdisciplinary network of scholars coming from several fields such as history, literary criticism or

anthropologyhavecome togetherunder this scope,whosemain institutional centresare inNorthAmericanuniversities(DukeUniversity,Berkeley/California,etc.)andwhoareengagedinawiderangeofinitiativesalsoinLatinAmericaandEurope.

28 Paradigmatic examples are the Cubanwriter JoseMartí (1853–1895) or the Peruvian José CarlosMariátegui(1894–1930), whose works have inspired entire generations of Latin American thinkers. The first was apromoteroffreethoughtandthroughhiswritingsupportedseveralrevolutionaryprocessesinthecontinent.ThesecondwasanavowedMarxist,whounderstoodthatLatinAmericansocialtransformationshouldbeanorganic process and not a mechanical repetition of European models. His most famous work, SevenInterpretativeEssaysofPeruvianReality (1928), sets thebasisof a revolutionaryprojectwhose featuresarebasedonthematerialconditionsandpracticesofLatinAmericansocieties.

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A second set of critiques highlights the evident contradictions in claiming to give a voice to

subordinatedpopulationswhile,ontheonehand,usingapproachessuchaspost-structuralism

that emerged from the heart ofwealthy nations, and, on the other, erasing any substantial

differencesbetweenAsian,AfricanandLatinAmericancolonisationexperiences.Transposing

the post-structuralist methodology, whose main concerns inhabit the context of European

Modernity, is seenasanaive repetitionof intellectual colonisation, following the samepath

thepost-colonialistsclaimtobesubverting.Conjointly,applyingthesameanalyticalframework

todifferentcolonisationprocessesdistantinspaceandtimeisratherahistorical,contravening

anylocallygroundedconstructionofknowledgeandreplacingitbyauniversalisingapproach:

‘Toapplythesameconcepts indistinctlytodiversesocial,historicalandexperientialrealities,

produces a substantiation of the idea of “colonial situation” [...] obviating that they are

incomparablehistorical experiences, derived fromverydifferentwaysof thought, ideologies

andpoliticalmotivations’(Peris:2010,249).

Thirdly,post-colonialismhasbeenwidelycriticisedforthehyper-textualisationofitsmethods

(Bartolovichetal.:2004;Parry:2006;Chibber:2013;andothers).Inthisview,placingdiscourse

atthehingeoftheso-calledsubordinatedconditionhasdisplacedthefocusonpolitical,social

andhistorical experiences, reducing themwithin a discursivemodel. As Parry shows (2006),

the post-colonial perspective suffers from its ‘essentialist account of culture’ due to its

detachingoftheinternalstructureoftexts,enunciationandsignsystemsfromtheanalysisand

concurrentexaminationofsocialandexperientialcircumstances.Disengagingcolonialismfrom

historicalcapitalism,sheargues,bymeansof rephrasingantagonisticencounters in termsof

dialogue,complicityandtransculturisation,haspromotedanintellectualfielddisaffectedfrom

historicalawarenessandpoliticalconsciousnessor,asEdwardSaidputsit,thatsuffersfrom‘an

astonishingsenseofweightlessnesswithregardtothegravityofhistory’(1993,336).Bymeans

ofcollapsingthesocial intothetext,post-colonial thinkershavesucceeded ingraspingsome

aspectsofculture inthemselvesbuthavefailedutterlytoseesuchaspects inrelationtothe

world:‘Withoutmovinginadirectionwherestudiesofactuallyexistingpolitical,economicand

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cultural conditions,pastandpresent,areno longer separated frommeta-critical speculation

[...]Post-Colonialstudieswillstillremainensnaredinanincreasinglyrepetitivepreoccupation

withsignsystemsandtheexegeticsofrepresentation’(Parry:2006,12).

2.AndeanCommunicationDevices

Taking intoaccount this triple-prongedcritiqueofpost-colonial studies (hyper-textualisation,

ahistoricism and culturalism), this section turns to look at a series of Andean artefacts and

practices,searchinginthemforcommonrepresentationstrategies.WithinAndeanstudies,29a

growingwaveofarchaeologists,historiansandanthropologistshaveengaged in thestudyof

Andeanmaterialculture,followingAppadurai’s(1994)approachtowhathecalls‘thesociallife

ofthings’:‘Forthatwehavetofollowthethingsthemselves,fortheirmeaningsareinscribedin

their forms, their uses, their trajectories. [...] Thus, even though from a theoretical point of

viewhumanactorsencodethingswithsignificance, fromamethodologicalpointofviewit is

the things-in-motion that illuminate their human and social context’ (1992, 5). Under this

scope, special attention has been given to a group of exchangeable objects, carriers of

inscribed meanings, namely, textiles, granting them a privileged position within Andean

knowledgeconstructionandcommunicationpractices.Forinstance,intheviewofthecultural

anthropologistDeniseArnold(2009),textilesareinformationandcommunicationsystemsthat

gobeyondtheirclothingrole,becomingkeyartefacts intermsoftradeandpolitical identity.

Alternatively,Cereceda(2000)describeshowtextilesdeployaconceptionofbeautybasedon

mediating opposites, and Desrosiers (1997) unpacks the connections between textiles and

otherAndeanartefacts.

In every case, these interweaving traditions are framed within a historical yet dynamic

continuumof semiotic interactions, articulatinga communication systemnotdirectly tied to

29 Despitethefactthatseveralauthors,includingpost-colonialists,havecriticisedAndeanstudies(Seed:1993;

Coronil:2000;Arnold:2009;andothers)duetothemethodologicalriskofsubsuminglargepopulationsunderasingleandoftenstaticoressentialistframework,Irelyonstudiesinthisfieldbecauseoftheprolificbodyofworkthesescholarshaveputtogether.

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verbal language (Cummins: 1994). The lack of any representational writing system in the

Andes, either alphabetically or ichnographically based, has driven scholars to see in Andean

textiles a primary medium of communication.30 Place of origin, users’ rank and relation to

othercommunitiesandeventopographicalinformationcanbecommunicatedsimultaneously,

clustering within one artefact key features of Andean communities’ social structure

(Desrosiers:1997).AsArnold(2013)suggests,textilesshouldnotbeunderstoodasinanimate

objectsbutaslivingentities,possessedofasociallife,objectsaroundwhichgroupsaresocially

and cosmologically centred. In this sense, textiles are not just fixed expressions of local

identitiesbutvisuallanguagesincontinuouselaboration,constantlyinfluencedbypoliticaland

socialchanges,opentovariationaswellastoincorporatingnewmaterialsandtechnologies.

Textilesarenottheonlydevicesperformingthiskindof‘semioticrole’intheAndeancontext–

similarexamplesarefoundinpottery,inarchitectureandeveninthelandscapeitself(Brokaw:

2010).Yet,withintheAtacamaDesert,amarginalplacewithinthepan-Andeanworldgivenits

small indigenouspopulationandperipheralpositionregardingAndeancentres, Iwillpropose

thatthemainartefactaroundwhichgroupsaresociallyandcosmologicallycentred isarather

non-permanent yet repetitive event, namely, the festival or ritual festivity. Several recent

works have emphasised the multi-sensorial aspects of these events, highlighting how they

bringtogetherinonetimeandspacesound,music,colourandothersensorialelements.The

festivals give rise to ‘elaborated intersections that organise the senses within singular

configurations of experience, sensorial configurations, which can also have a semiotic

dimension’ (Martinez: 2014, 90), becoming intimately linked to the body’s inner energies

30 A complementary artefact regardingmnemonic practices in the Andes is theqhipu. This is a set of knotted

stringshungfromawoodenbarorthickcord,whichconveysinformationbymeansof‘string,knots,hundredsof meaningful colours, tactile sensitivity, and non-linear recording with no surface’ (Cummins: 1994, 193).Although qhipus are currently out of use and the necessary skills of interpretation are almost totally lost(Brokaw:2010),thesemnemonicartefactshelpusunderstandtheimportanceofweavingtechnologiesintheAndeanworld.Of theqhipus, theSpaniardMartíndeMurrúawrote inhisworkof1555entitledHistoriadelDescubrimientoyConquistadelPeru: ‘By theseknots they counted the successionsof timesandwheneachIncaruled,thechildrentheyhad,ifhewasgoodorbad,valiantorcoward,withwhomhewasmarried,whatlands he conquered, the buildings he constructed, the services and riches he received, howmany years helived,wherehehaddied,whathewasfondof;insum,everythingthatbooksteachandshowuswasgotfromthere’.

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(Stobart:2002)andtothecycleoftheuniverseandthetransformationoftheworld(Arnold,

Jimenez&Yapita:1992).31

According to the sociologistMorandé (1984), ritual festivals in Latin America are part of an

extendedsyncreticprocessthatstartedintheearlydaysofcolonisationandisstilltakingplace.

ThewaragainstidolatryundertakenbySpanishauthorities,asanoverseascounterparttothe

Europeaninquisitioncourts,didnoteradicatelocalbeliefsbutratherledtoahybridisation,by

which old sacred images remained hidden under new Christian icons. In Morandé’s

perspective, the asymmetrical encounter between Spaniards and Indians did not happen on

the level of discourse, as two world-views engaging in a dialogue on the basis of rational

arguments;rather, itwasproducedintheregisterofritualpractices,sealingtheforthcoming

culturalsyncretism.

AlthoughMorandé’sexplanationcoversanimmenselywideterritoryunderoneandthesame

framework, thus failing to avoidhomogenisingand fixing categories, hisproposalprovides a

startingpointtolookatcurrentritualfestivalsintheAtacama.Foritisthroughthissyncretism

thatthefestival gainsitsmoststrikingdynamicsandpermeableabilities,combiningtraditions

ofdifferentoriginwithin itsownworldof representations. It shapes collectively constructed

artefacts,highlysensitive to thevariationsof thesurroundings,but retainsat thesametime

long-standing elements of the Andean culture. In this sense, observing the festivals can

‘provide amediumof thought and a channel to thinking’ (Arnold: 2013, 47) in at least two

ways: on the one hand, it facilitates an examination of the current social, economic and

politicalcontextinwhichtheyareinserted,andontheother,itallowstheresearchertotrace

those features thatarepartofamoreextendedsystemof local knowledgeconstruction.As

Desrosiersexplains,thosesameelementsthatstructureAndeantextiles(hierarchy,repetition,

31 A further approach to the semiotic interactions found in the festivals is given by Turner’s (1987) notion of

‘performative reflexivity’. This term refers to thedeliberated act throughwhich social groups ‘turn, bendorreflect back among themselves upon the relations, actions, symbols, meanings, codes, roles, status, socialstructure, ethical and legal rules, and other socio-cultural components that make up their public “selves”’ (1987,24).Inthissense,thefestivalscanbeseenasperformingaritualeventthroughwhichwhatisinvisiblebutcentraltoagroup’slifebecomesobservable,bymeansofatransformative,thoughnotrepresentational,collectiveact.

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transition,etc.)canequallybefoundinotherobjectsandpractices,workingasasharedmatrix

fordifferentaestheticformsandsocialactivities(1997,168–170).

ItisherethatBrokaw’s(2010)ideasregardingatransposingmethod becomeuseful.Following

the attempts of Desrosiers Cereceda, Martinez and others, he proposes that by comparing

dissimilar objects from a shared material culture, common patterns can be found. In his

extendedworkabouttheqhipu(2010),theAndeanknotted-stringmnemonicdevice,herefers

to the inference of common patterns among disparate objects, transposing their

commonalities in order shed light on each other: ‘By transposing, I refer to a complex

relationship between two or more significant systems by virtue of some commonality in

semioticfunction,whichmayinvolvecommonreferentsaswellascertainsemioticconvention

principles’(2010,18).32Accordingly,byplacingside-by-sidesyncreticritualfestivalsandother

Andean artefacts, those aesthetic elements belonging to the Andean world are allowed to

emerge. Under the layer of Christian practices, an enormous indigenous element remains

hidden,gobbledupbyinstitutionalisedChurchesinordertoexpandtheirowncredos.Inline

withMorandé, I think that this covering of Pre-Columbian ritual practices byWestern ones

gives researchers an extraordinary opportunity to look at living events that continue to

actualise Andean systems of representation. Looking at current ritual festivals in the area,

tracesofthesecommonpatternsareabundant:firstly,becauseinallofthemthepresenceof

ritualdancesiscentral;secondly,becausethedancesareperformedwithinatripartitespace;

andthirdly,becauseeveryritualfestivalisorganisedaroundasacredicon.AsIpropose,these

festivalsinvolvetextile-likestructuresbasedonmediationsandtransitionsand,aboveall,they

canbeseenasafurtherexpressionoftheChakanacosmogram.

32 The notion of transposition as used by Brokaw was borrowed from J. Kristeva, who in her work about

intertextualitydefinesthetermas‘thepassagefromonesignsystemtotheother’(1980,59),placingdissimilardiscoursesindialoguetoexpandtheirrelationalmeanings.

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3.TheCollasuyuortheAtacamaDesert

InthefollowingIturnmyattentiontoaspecificcasestudywithintheAtacamaDesert,namely,

the festival of Ayquina,33 searching for its specific features as well as for the analogous

elements it shareswithotherAndeanartefacts. Inorder toexplore them, I startbygivinga

reviewof thehistoryof theAtacamaDesert,emphasisinghow its social landscapehasbeen

shaped up by wide-scale and long-term economic and political cycles. It is through these

overlapping stages that, I think, abetterunderstandingofhow ritual festivalshave come to

group dissimilar influences can be reached, uncovering the commonalities between objects

and practices found in the area. The following image (Fig. 5) shows amap of the Atacama

DesertanditslocationintheCircumpuneZone.

Figure5:MapoftheAtacamaDesertandthevillageofAyquina(ownelaboration).

33 The selection of the festival of Ayquina as the main phenomenon of observation was methodologically

justifiedforthreereasons:(1)itisthemajorritualeventintheregion;(2)itresultsfromanongoingsyncreticprocess that has merged Andean traditions with new elements brought by immigration for the miningindustry;and(3)asDesrosierssuggests,itcanbeexpectedthatthisritualeventispartofasharedmatrixofAndeanrepresentationstrategies.

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That largeareaof SouthAmerica runs fromCopiapóRiver toCobija, and from thePacific

OceantoArgentineanprovinces,whichcarriesthenameoftheAtacamaDesert[...].Inthis

desert theboundariesof the republicsofChileandBoliviaand theArgentineanprovinces

meet together. Until today these limits have not been defined and on them have arisen

manydifficultiesthatmustbesettled.Itisacommonlyheldviewthatthisdesertholdshuge

mineralwealth,becauseofthebeliefthatlandmustcontaingreatertreasuresofgoldand

silverthemorebarrenanddismalitis.(Phillipi:1853)

By the timeof theSpanish conquestof theCentralAndes (1532), a large-scaleand complex

social structure had been agglutinating all its territories under one single development,

namely,theInkaEmpireortheTawantinsuyu(1438–1553).34TheInkadomainscoveredmore

than2,000squarekilometres,runningalloverandatbothsidesoftheAndesMountains,from

what isnowsouthColombia tocentralChile, includingEcuador,Peru,Boliviaandnorth-east

Argentina.TheTawantinsuyu wasexpandedduringthe livesofthreeSapaInkas(kings),who

broughtovertenmillionpeopleundertheircontrol,creatingapatchworkoflanguages,social

groupsandcustomswhoseculturalcohesion,althoughfragmentary,wasgivenbytheearlier

Tiwanakucivilisation(300AD–1000AD), thecommonsubstrateonwhichthe Inkaexpansion

wasbased.35

InthesouthernpartofTawantinsuyuwastheCollasuyu,thelargestregionoftheEmpireand

the locationof theAtacamaDesert, inwhat isnow theZonaCircumpuneña (the south-west

slopeoftheAndeanPlateau).TheAtacamarunsfromthemountainpeakstothecoastlineof

thePacificOcean,coveringanareaof48,000squaremilesalonga600-milestripofaridland.

Itsmiddlepampas arethedriestplaceonearth,withalmostnoprecipitation(0.04inperyear)

andnovegetationotherthanthesmallbushesfoundalongthefewriversthatflowacrossit.

Giventheregion’sdramaticallyaridlandscape,Amerindianpopulationswerescatteredaround

sporadic water-containing ravines in the mountains’ foothills, organised in agricultural and

pastoralcommunities,or innomadic fishingcommunitiesonthePacificcoastline.Today, the

34 FromQuechua:‘thefourregions’. 35 Forawell-documentedhistoryoftheTawantinsuyuseeHistoryoftheIncaRealm (Rostworowski:1999).

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formerstillretainelementsoftheirsocialorganisationandastrongculturalidentity,whilethe

latterhavetotallydisappeared,absorbedbytheminingindustryordrivenoutbythemilitary

forcesthatarrivedinthelatenineteenthcentury(Castro:2001).

OncetheTawantinsuyuorInkaEmpirewasdismantledbythenew,Europeanrulingpower,the

AtacamaDesertwas left almost unexplored, being considered as landwithout anypotential

exceptasaroute–harsh,longanddangerous–betweentheViceroyaltyofPeru(thecentreof

theSouthAmericancolonies)andtheCapitaniaofChile(thesouthernmostSpanishdomainsin

America). Despite its marginal position within the Spanish domains, the few sedentary

indigenous communities that inhabited the mountains (Quechua, Aymara and Lickan-Antai)

werefiercelysubduedandevangelised.Theviolentprocessthroughwhichtheoccupationtook

placeisstillorallyrecalled.Forinstance,itistoldhowtheLickan-Antaipeopleresisted,atthe

Pukara deQuitor, the onslaught of troops commanded by Francisco de Aguirre,who finally

defeatedthem,cutofftheirheadsandstuckthemonspearsonthewallsofhisfortress.Oritis

recalled how the missionaries were known as ‘tongue cutters’, referring to the colonial

punishmentgiventoanyonefoundspeakinginanativelanguage:theremovalofthetongue,

whichwouldbehungupinthelocalsquare.

As Hidalgo (2011) suggests, military campaigns and evangelisation endeavours were two

complementaryprocessesinsubordinatingtheconqueredpopulations.Whilethefirstensured

thecontroloflandandresources,thesecondwasmeanttostabiliseitbymeansof‘governing

thepeople’simaginary’.Thus,afteraninitialperiodofrelativereligioustoleranceduringwhich

allkindsofriteco-existed,theEuropeanauthoritiesestablishedin1617whatwereknownas

Las Visitas de Idolatria (Idolatry Visits). Their explicit rolewas to spread the Christian credo

amongtheconqueredpopulations,freeingthemfromalldiabolicalidolatry.Thewrittenwords

ofGodwerehenceforthtakentoalmosteverycommunity,andwiththemcameaclericaljury

todistinguishfalsefromtruebeliefs:

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ThestagesoftheIdolatryVisitswerecodifiedinthesynodof1613:Whenateamreaches

somevillage,thevisitormustpublishtheedictofgrace“bymeansofwhicharegiventhree

daystotheIndianstosurrendertheirhuacas[sacredimages],denouncetheotheridolaters,

sorcerers,etc.TheIdolsarethendisplayed,thesorcerersmanifested,andan inventoryof

them ismade.Thepublicabjurationandabsolutionsessions takeplace then, followedby

thecremationofthehuacasinthevillagesquareandthedestructionofthepagantemples

andshrinesoutside thevillage.Finally, thepunishment laiddownby theCouncilmustbe

applied to the “sorcerers and dogmatists”, with the subsequent “isolation” of suchmen

(Duviols:1986,XXXII).

In spite of the fact that the Tawantinsuyu’s political and economic organisations were

dismantled and replaced by alternatives that better suited the conquerors’ interests, the

extirpation of idolatrieswas never completely achieved. As Gruzinski points out (1999), the

Amerindian sacred universe(s) did not disappear under the emergent Hispano-American

society,butdidnotsurviveunchanged.Inhisview,thegeneralculturalsystemtheconquerors

encountered at their arrival was based on a particular understanding of sacred images, in

whichiconswerenotseenas‘realisticrepresentations’butas‘containerswheredivinityitself

wasposed’.Accordingly,thedestructionofnatives’iconsbytheIdolatryVisitsdidnotseeold

deitiesvanishingfromtheworldbutratherprovokedtheirtransmutationfromonecontainer

toanother.

Thisishow,forinstance,Illapa,godofthunder,transmutedintotheiconofSanTiago(orSan

Santiago), patron ofmilitary campaigns in theAtacama and stillwidelyworshipped in some

Andeancommunities.36Didthesoundofgunpowderresembleathunderstorm,liketheIllapa

inanew form?Thisprocess is knownas ‘cultural syncretism’,pointingouthow localbeliefs

36 The foundationalepisodeof thisprocess tookplace in1531,when theVirginofGuadalupeappeared to the

Indio JuanDiego on the hill of Tepeyac. The encounter happened at the site of the old temple of Tonatzin(GoddessMotheroftheAztecpantheon),transformedintoaChristianchurchsomeyearsearlier.TheVirgin’sapparitionatthetopofthissacredhillsealedtheforthcomingsyncretism.Tonatzinhadtransmutedintoanewshape. Under the garb of the Virgin Mary the old Goddess remained hidden. She did not abandon theconqueredpopulation,butonlyshiftedHericonicappearance.

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andpracticeswereadaptedandreshapedinanongoingprocessofself-renovation.37Onthis,

Coewrites: ‘RitualformsinSanPedrodeAtacamaarehighlyliturgical,becausetheyarecoated

byoneofthemostoutstandingfeaturesofAndeansuperimposedrituals,whichis“thedeep

mixtureofreligiouselementsoftheanimisticviewofnature, thatareprimary inagricultural

societies,withCatholic saints’(Coe:1986,222).

Yet,afteronlytwocenturiesmilitarycontrolandreligioussyncretismwereestablishedinthe

Atacama,anditscolonialstatusof‘uselessland’underwentreconsideration.Theconquestof

thewestinNorthAmericaanddemographicexpansioncausedbyindustrialrevolutionentailed

a revaluationof theAtacama’smineralwealth.Beneath itsdrypampas plentifulamountsof

nitratewerediscovered,thekeyingredientfornewagriculturalfertilisers,inhighdemanddue

totheneedtofeedgrowingpopulations.Thus,miningfevertookoverintheAtacama,drawing

thousands of workers and industrialists to explore the recently discovered wealth. Mining

villageswerebuiltallover theareaandtheAtacamadoubled itspopulationseveral times in

just a few years. Many clashing interests came into the area, all of them attempting to

monopolise the emerging industry. This sudden emergence of an imperative to control the

Atacama led to an escalation inmilitary tensions between the three nations surrounding it,

whichfinallyresultedintheso-calledWarofthePacific(1779–1883)betweenChile,Peruand

Bolivia.After fouryearsofbloodyconfrontations, theChileanoligarchy (supportedbyBritish

capital)founditselfvictorious,occupyingnotjusttheAtacamabutalsoLima,thecapitalofPerú

andtheoldcentreofSpanishcolonialdomainsinSouthAmerica.38

By the end of the war, the Chilean oligarchs had widely expanded the national territories,

henceforth, largenumbersofmenand their familiesweredraggedout to thepampas from

central Chile, under the promise that new wealth was awaiting them. This rather forced

migrationprocessledtowhatthePeruvianhistorianC.MacEvoycalls‘theChilenisationofthe

desert’ (2011). By this, she describes the Chilean oligarchical spirit associated with the

conquest of the Atacama, which was inspired by the ideal of a pseudo-civilising enterprise

37SeeMorandé(1984),Duviols(1986),Griffiths(1998)andDraper(2000).38 Forawell-documentedhistoriographyoftheWarofthePacificseeDonosoandNazer(2006).

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againstbarbaricnations,justifyingtheoccupationandprovidingtherepublicwithamoralright

overtheselands:‘Threatenedbytwocountriesgatheredwiththepurposeofdestroyingit, it

waslogicalthattheblemishedrepublicdidnotonlycontentitselfwiththehonoursofvictory.

The winners were entitled to a much greater reward’ (MacEvoy: 2011, 89). The clearly

ideological discourse underlying such an enterprise permeated Chilean society on many

levels,39 undermining the neighbouring countries as less civilised and lessmodern republics

whosewealthdeservedtoberippedawayfromthem.

However, theChilean labour forcearriving in theAtacamawasculturallymuchcloser to the

conquered populations than to any sort of oligarchic self-affirmation, finding in Andean

communitiesamirrorofthemselves,asocialgrouptoengagewith.Theimmigrantpopulations

saw in the Atacama’s colonial ritual festivals a new scenario to express their own cultural

background, adding the traditions they had brought from their hometowns to the festivals’

performances.Hereafter,anewsyncretismbegantosettleinandgaverisetoaparticularkind

offestival thatcombinedbothimmigrants’ritualpracticesandthosebelongingtotheAndean

world.40

In 1929, the Atacama was more productive than ever before, with over a hundred mining

villages spreadacross itspampasandnewworkers coming ineveryday.But theproduction

was ruined in a few years by both, the Great Depression and the scientific discovery of a

syntheticreplacementfornitratearoundthattime.Almosteveryminingvillagewasshutdown

before1940,forcingthousandsofworkersandtheirfamiliestoheadtowardsthecoastalcities

orbacktotheirhometowns,withnothingbuttheirmanualskills.Duringthenextfourdecades,

39 It is worth noting that the ‘Chilenisation discourse’ is still present today, shaping an ambivalent relation to

Andeanpeople.On theonehand,manyof theAtacama’s inhabitantsareproudofbelonging to theAndeanculture but, on the other, discrimination is often practised against Peruvian or Bolivian citizens living in thearea.Thisdoublerelationshowstheimpactofthediscourseoftherulingclass,whoidentifytheirowninterestswiththoseofthenationandpitsimilarworkingclassesagainsteachother.

40 Amongthemanyexpressionsthisprocessproduced,themainsurvivingexampleisfoundintheTiranafestival,celebrated in themiddleof thepampas,whereawholevillagewasexclusivelybuilt for ritualpurposes (VanKessel:1982).Onceayear,mineworkersfromallovertheAtacamatraveltothevillagetodance,playmusicandworship the sacred image of La Virgen del Carmen. As Guerrero (2013) argues, this festivalworks as areminderofasharedmemorywithinAndeanareas,ofacommonhistoryandcollectivemythologies.

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the Atacama was plunged back into its colonial status of ‘useless land’, with the single

exception of an emerging copper mine located by the city of Calama (Chuquicamata). This

mining camp became the almost exclusive place where the oldmining culturemanaged to

survive,maintainingsomeoftheritualsaswellasaddingnewelements,especiallyregardinga

deepsenseofbeingpartoftheChileannation.41

TheChuquicamatacampworkedasanisolatedislandwithinthedesertuntiltheearly1990s,

when increasing demand for copper drove the Chilean state to open its borders to foreign

mining investment. Copper’s main features are conductibility, ductilibility and malleability,

makingitacentralelementintheconstructionofanyelectricdevice.In2010,theAtacama’s

copper mines produced 5.4 million tons, 36% of the world’s total production (COCHILCO:

2010). 42 Since then, a new mining boom has taken over the Atacama, with an increasing

numberofminesandtheconsequentarrivalofthousandsof immigrants.Thistime,notonly

peoplefromsouthernChilebutalsofromPeru,Colombia,ArgentinaorEcuadorhavecometo

work,triplingtheregion’spopulationinonlytwentyyears.43

The idea of the desert ‘providing a greater reward’ (MacEvoy: 2011) has gained renewed

ground since then, with the region boasting inflated salaries and the country’s lowest

unemployment rates. The coastal cities have grown and shopping centres, gambling houses

and skyscrapers are constantly being built. Never before has suchwealth been seen in the

Atacama, which has undergone a total reshaping of its socio-economic features in just two

decades. However, the copper boom is just one more episode in the Atacama’s economic

history,whichhasconstantlybeencross-cutbyiterativeboom–bustcycles,arapidwidespread

41 In linewiththeoligarchy’sdiscourseofmoralsuperiority, theChuquicamataminebecamethemajorChilean

enclave in the innerdesert. Thisnationalist self-awarenesswas reinforcedeven furtherwhenChuquicamatawasnationalisedbySalvadorAllendein1970,becomingsincethenthemainsourceof incomeoftheChileanstate.Thefirstlinesofthecamp’shymnarerevealing:Calama/ciudadheroica/bastiondeChilenidad(Calama,heroiccity,realmofChileanness).

42 Copper’s main features are conductibility, ductilibility and malleability, making it a central element in theconstructionofanyelectricdevice.In2010,theAtacama’scopperminesproduced5.4milliontons,36%oftheworld’stotalproduction(COCHILCO:2010).

43 AccordingtothelastChileanNationalCensus(2012)theAtacamaDeserthas360,000inhabitantsandanareaof140,000km2.

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expansionofeconomicutility followedbyanabruptend.As inpreviousboomepisodes, the

copperindustryhasforcedalargeimmigrationprocessthatmightbereversedoncetheboom

isover(Hefele&Morton:2009).44

Despite this recent economic expansion, ritual practices have not been abandoned in the

Atacama,withnewformsofexpressioncreatedwithinthisfast-growingyetunstablescenario.

Like the nitrate exploitation, the emerging copper industry has prompted new ritual

hybridisations,ofwhichthefestivalofAyquina,whichtakesplaceclosetoCalamaattheheart

oftheminingarea, isthelatestandlargestexample.Althoughthiswasoriginallyasmall,local

festival, reserved for the village’s inhabitants, its current form was established after 1990,

whenthe increasingpopulationofCalamaneededsacred iconsandritualsof theirown.The

city’sproximitytotheinnermountains’Andeanvillagesledits inhabitantstotakepartinthe

sameritualcalendar,mergingwithitinaslowprocessofculturalsyncretism.Overtheyears,

Calama’s inhabitants endedup taking over the festival and reshaping it, relegating the local

communitytoabackgroundposition.

4.ThefestivalofAyquinaandtheChakana

ThevillageofAyquinaislocatedinthemountains60milesfromCalama,inwhatisknownas

AltoLoa orAtacamalaChica, oneofthetwovalleyscomprisingthelandsoftheLickan-Antai

people.LocatedatthebottomoftheravineofRioSalado,oralmythstatesthatthevillagewas

foundedafteramiraculousapparition:atsomepointduringcolonialtimes,ayoungshepherd

foundinsidethehollowofanoldtreeaniconoftheVirgin.Excitedbyhisdiscovery,hetookit

back home to the joy of his family. But the nextmorning, nobody could find it. The young

shepherdandhisfamilylookedallaroundthehousewithnoluckandfinallydecidedtogoback

44 Iwillreturntothesemattersinmoredetailinthenextchapter,describinghoweverysocialandmaterialforce

intheAtacamaissubjugatedtotheextractionofonesingleresource,namely,copper.

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tothetree.Totheirsurprise,therewastheicon,andtheywrappeditupagainandtookitback

home.Butthesamethinghappenedthenextmorning,andthenext,andafterthepatternwas

repeatedoverseveraldaysthecommunityrealisedthattheimage’swillwasthatitshouldstay

insidethetree.SothecommunitybuiltasheltertherefortheVirgin,wheretheyworshipped

fromthatpointon.

The first step in transposing together the featuresofAyquinaandotherAndeanartefacts is

givenbythephysicalscenarioinwhichthefestivaltakesplace.Thetempleattheheartofthe

villageofAyquinaiseasilyrecognisableasanarchitectonicaldevicecommontomanyvillages

of theAndes (Cereceda: 1987). Its general layout comprises threedistinguishable areas: the

closed space of a building resembling a Christian church,where the image is kept; an open

squareorkanchasurroundedbylowwalls withashrineateachofitsfourcorners,onwhich

themainperformativeaspectsofthefestivaltakeplace;andanexternalyard,leadingdownto

thewater sourcewhere thesmall iconwasoriginally found.This tripartitespace, specifically

conceived for ritual purposes, is not a random design; as Conklin pointed out (1999), its

structure is crucial for the further development of the festival's ritual meanings. It is not

possible to understand these meanings without considering the space where they are

deployed.

Toshedlightonthisthree-foldstructure,Iwillfirstexamineitsfeaturesinthecontextofthe

paradigmaticmodelofAndeansacredbuildings,namely,theKoricancha,majortempleofthe

InkaEmpire.PositionedattheheartofCuscointhemountainsofcentralPeru,itwasthehome

ofthegreatcreatorViracochaandtheheartoftheTawantinsuyu− theseatofpowerofthe

wholeempire.AlthoughthebuildingwaslaterrefurbishedtobecomeSaintMatthew’sChurch,

almost every chronicler of the conquest noted the magnificence of the former temple,45

includingPomadeAyala,CiezadeLeonandGrascilascodelaVega:

45 Themain sources regarding the Inka times come from the so-called ‘Chroniclers of the Indias’. They were

SpaniardsorIndianswhorecordedbymeansofalphabeticmarksandtwo-dimensionaldrawingswhattheysawandheardintheearlycoloniesoftheAmericas.Thebest-knownchroniclersare,ontheSpanishside,PedrodeCiezayLeón,whowroteCrónicadelPerú(1540–1550),thefirstdescriptionoftheexplorationandconquestoftheCentralAndesaswellasthefirstAndeanhistory,includingthePre-Columbiantimesoftheformationofthe

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‘Attheendofthebuilding,inwhatwecallthealtar,wasplacedanimageofthesun,made

of a sheetof solid gold twice thicker than theplaques covering thewalls. The figurewas

madeoutofonesinglepieceofgold,depictinga round faceandsurroundedby raysand

flames’(DelaVega,1617,I:163).

The temple was composed of six buildings surrounding its main square (Inti-Kancha, from

Quechua,thesquareofthesun) fromwhosecentreasystemofgeometricallines(ceques)was

projectedtowardsthefourregionsoftheempire:

Fromthesquarestartedfourroyalroads;theoneknownasChicasuyuheadstothelandsof

theplainsalongtheserranias,reachingtheprovincesofQuitoandPasto.Alongthesecond

one, known as Condesuyu, are entered the provinces that are subject of this city and of

Arequipa.Alongthethird royal road,namedasAndesuyu,are reachedtheprovinces that

fallontheAndes’slopesandsomevillagesbeyondthemountains.Thelastoftheseroads,

namely Collasuyu, enters the provinces that lead to Chile (Cieza de Leon: 1553, chapter

XCIII).

Accordingto thechroniclers’notes, it ispossible todistinguishthesamethreespacesasare

evidentinAyquina:theinnertemplewithitsaltarandtheiconicimageofthesun,theexterior

mainsquareorkancha andtheoutsideareareachedbytheprojectionof‘fourroads’.Within

these three spaces, Zuidema (1990) attributes a crucial role to the Kancha in the political

organisationoftheEmpire,asthepointfromwhichtheterritorywasadministrativelydivided

and,conversely,wherethefourregionsconverged.But its indexicalrolewasreinforcedbya

systemof forty-one linesoverlappingthe four-folddivision,whichreached328 landmarksor

Tawantinsuyu and its rule; andMartín deMurúa, a BasqueMercedarian friarwho between 1560 and 1616wrote Historia General del Piru, considered the first illustrated history of the Inka civilisation. On theAmerindian side, Guaman Pomma de Ayala’s work entitledNuevas Crñonicas y Buen Gobierno (1615) is adetailed letter addressed to the king of Spain, abundant in references andmagnificent drawings about theInkas’ way of life and their current precarious life situation; finally, the Inka Gracilasco de la Vega’s workHistoriaGeneraldelPeru,publishedin1617,describestheperiodbetweentheSpaniards’arrival inPeruandthedeathofthelastInka(king)TúpacAmaruIin1572.

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huacas (sacred shrines), connecting the heart of the Tawantinsuyu with the spirits of the

mountains, high peaks,water sources, astronomicalmarks, etc. Bymeans of this geometric

network, Zuidema proposes, the Koricancha achieved two complementary functions: on the

onehand,itorganisedspaceanddefineditslimits,andontheother,thesystemwasusedasa

calendar,orderingthehuacasaccordingtothedaysof theyear, likearosarytobecyclically

followed (see figure 6). Thus, the Koricanchaworked as a temporal and spatialmap of the

empire,arrangingwithinamaterialdeviceitspoliticaldivisionanditsyearlycycles,aswellas

its symbolic chain of beings and celestialmovements. From its centre themain surrounding

forceswere reached (huacas)andsomehowbroughtback to theheartof theTawantinsuyu,

definingtheparametersoftherealinwhichtheKoricanchawasthenaveloftheknownworld,

itsfocusandlegitimatesourceofpower(Pitluk:1988).

Figure6:Time–SpacemapoftheKoricanchatemple(anditscequelines)superimposedontotheTawantinsusyuterritory(inZuidema:1990).

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Underitscurrentformat,thefestivalofAyquina hostsover20,000pilgrimseverySeptember,

taking this smallmountain village out of its silence and crowding itwith people,music and

dance, all in order to worship the miraculous Virgin of Guadalupe. Most of them are

inhabitantsof thenearbyminingcityofCalama,butpeople fromdistantareasalsocometo

visit thesacred icons.46Thefestival isorganisedaroundfifty-twodancinggroups,who inthe

main kancha iteratively interpret some fictionalised aspect of the material or imaginary

surroundings;theirroleresemblesthatperformedbytheceques (lines)andtheirconnection

withthehuacas(sacredshrines).Bymeansofdanceperformances,eachgroupbringsintothe

squaresomeaspectofthesurroundingworld,asifthedancesweredisplayingthewholechain

ofbeingunderthegazeoftheicon.Thegoalistopersuadehertojointhedancerstotheopen

spacewhere shewillmeet the sacredmountainsand reinforce thenatural cycle, linking the

bottomoftheravinewiththehighpeaksoftheAndes(Morandé:1984).Eachdanceisbased

aroundaspecifictopic,decidedbyitsmembersandwithnofurtherrestrictionthanthegroup

ownimagination.AdancemightuseAndeanmotifsinitsperformances,liketheTinkudance,

whichrepresentsAndeanwarriors,ornewsymbolsbroughtinafterthecopper-miningboom,

liketheMarinesorCowboysdances.

Since1990,thefestivalhasbeendramaticallyreshapedbythegrowingnumberofdancesand

theirparticipants,manyofwhosepointsofreferencearecurrentlytakenfromapopculture

imaginary (Iriarte: 2014), adding to the more traditional dances and tunes a set of

manifestationsoriginatingintelevision,radioandothermass-mediasources.However,rather

than displacing ancient traditions, this new layer is acknowledging the current social and

economic features of the Atacama, showing how the festival’s borders are permeable and

dynamic inrelationto itschangingenvironment, as its ‘motifsareperiodicallydeconstructed

andregroupedinordertoexpressthechangingrelationsregarding land,powerandnational

states’(Arnold:2009,222).

46 AsIriarte(2014)suggests,pilgrimstakegrace (tomargracia)fromtheVirginbytouchingherrobes,returning

homewithpartofthesacrednessthathasbeenpassedtotheminthetactileact.

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Figure7:PolarBearsdance(Osada

Devota)performedinAyquina’smainsquare

Figure8:Cowboysdancersposingforthecamera,CalamaCity

Figure9:Tinkudanceperformedatnoon

duringthefestival

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For example, the leader of the Cowboys dance relates that its foundation in 1992 was the

result of a group assembly, convened to decide upon a new dance toworship the village’s

Virgin. Itsmembersrealisedthat inAyquina ‘thereweretoomany Indians’– referringtothe

Red-SkinIndiandances–andthereforeitwasnecessarytocreatetheircounterpart;hence,the

Cowboysdance. Both theRed-Skins and theCowboysdances, thematically speaking, canbe

seenasemergingfromCowboysmovies,ofwhichthepampaswereplentifulofduringthelast

period of nitrate extraction.Many of the now-abandonedmining camps spread all over the

desert had a local cinema as a major attraction, and Westerns were the most-requested

screenings.47Inthissense,theCowboysdanceplaysadualrole:ontheonehand,itstepsout

fromtraditionalAndeanmotifsbyincludingaHollywood-basedimaginary,and,ontheother,

byitsveryexistenceitrecallsthetimesandthesocialcircumstancesofnitrateextraction.

InrelationtotheideaofsyncretismasproposedbyMorandé(1984),scholarshaveproduceda

largebodyofworkregardingcomplexculturalassemblages.Notionssuchashybridity(Bhabha:

1994),contactzones(Pratt:1991)ortransculturisation (Ortiz:1940)havebeenusedtoexplain

phenomena like the Cowboys dance of Ayquina. All these notions propose that what is

importantisnottheparticularitiesprizedbyeachsideinanencounter,buttheoftenequivocal

yet fertile transformation the encounter produces in them. For example, in the Cowboys

dance,neitherof the individual elements (Andean rituals andWestern films) alone can fully

expresswhatresultsfromtheirencounter,suggestingonlyaratherawkwardperformanceof

Western-like characters playing at duels. There is no good facing any evil in this dance, no

romanticised indigenous force resisting unleashed waves of capital; rather, it is a collective

gamethatplacesitsparticipantsinrelationtoeachotherandthewidersurroundings.

By populating themountains with all kinds of extraordinary beings, an affective andmulti-

sensorialeventiscrafted.Itisaritualexperienceconvergingonaworshippedandmiraculous

Virgin, fullofChristiancharismaandobjects, thatat thesametimemanagestoplace inone

timeandspaceamicrocosmofdancingcreatures.Ontheseregards,Gartner(1998)describes

47 SeeAntofagasta,ElHollywooddeSudamérica(Zuanic:1995).

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Andean aesthetic technologies as sharing one same feature. In all of them, the surrounding

world is acknowledged (or translated) by means of visual metaphors rather than realistic

representations.Thus,theoutermostmanifestationsofthingsareselectedanddraggedintoa

new format,exaggeratedbymeansof stereotypedanalogies, aswith the cowboyswhen re-

interpreting the imaginaryofWesternmovies:what isacowboy?Ahat,agunandapairof

boots. This stereotyped analogy articulates a visual metaphor about the movies screened

during the nitrate cycle, bringing into the festival’s square part of the recent history of the

AtacamaDesert.Bymeansofthisoperation,thetimesofthenitrateexploitationareaddedto

themicrocosmsofdancingiconsofAyquina,linkingittoalltheotherdancingmetaphorsfound

in it. This is how the Cowboys dance and, for instances, the Tinku warriors dance, coexist,

overlappingreferencesbelongingtotheminingcyclesandtotheAndeanworld inonesame

timeandspace.

Figure10showsthereferenceseachdanceusesinitsperformance.Ascanbeseen,elementsarecollectedfromallovertheglobeandbroughttogetherintheKanchaofAyquina(ownelaboration).

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Gartner (1998) argues that these semiotic strategies are active technologies that seek to

changeelementsof theworldbyvisualising them, staginganever-neutralnarrative through

iconographic languages. They can be read as texts composed of idealised metaphors and

displayedinspecifictime-spacecoordinates.Inthissenseitcanbearguedthateverydancein

Ayquina is part of a broader visual language that, by means of idealised metaphors, is

translatingtheworldintotheparametersofthefestivekancha.

Thecurrentscaleanddiversityof thesedancescan indeedbeseen in termsofastrategy to

enumerate ‘all thepossiblebeings’withinone timeandspaceby transmuting themthrough

audiovisualperformances.48AsMartinez(2000)suggests,theAndeanculturalsystemisrarely

baseduponabstractcategories;itismuchclosertoimbuingpracticeswithmeaning,asinthe

caseofthefestivalofAyquina.Here,multiplicityisnotrepresentedthroughauniversalclause,

subsuming diversity under one stable and fixed image; rather, the world is re-enacted by

meansofanendlessenumerationofthebeingsthatcomposeit.Inotherwords:theonlyway

inwhichAndeanritualscanapproachanideaoftotalityisbyenumeratingasmanybeingsas

theycan,untiltheenumeratorfallsasleeporthefestivetimeisover.

Summingup,theidealisedmetaphorsordancesthatarefoundinAyquinaoverlapathree-fold

space with fifty-two lines of flight (the dances). In an analogous way to the ceques of the

Koricancha, these dances bring the surrounding world within the limits of the kancha,

articulatingamicro-cosmosthroughwhichasenseoftotalityismetaphoricallyachieved.Orto

putitinTresch’stermsinrelationtocosmograms,thefestivalofAyquina laysout‘aconcrete

practiceandsetofobjects,whichweavetogetheracompleteinventoryormapoftheworld’,

48 ThenotionofenumerationisalsofoundintheAndeanqhipus,whichworkedinasimilarwaytotheWestern

abacus. Many scholars agree that qhipus were a complete ‘knot-based language’ that recorded not onlynumeric relations,as incensusesorharvest records,butalsohistory,mythsandall sortsofcommunications(Cummings: 1994; Platt: 2002; Brokaw: 2010; and others). The analogy between this knotted system ofcommunicationanddances is intriguing.ArenotthedancesofAyquinaakindofmetaphoricalknot inwhichinformationisinscribed?Furthermore,isthesquarenotasimileofthebarfromwhichthestringswerehung?Similarlytoqhipus,thenotionsoftexture,colourandpositionarecentralintheachievementofadance’sfullvisuallanguage.

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that ‘tries to resituate an individual’s concerns and anxietieswithin a frame larger than the

individual,thesocialgroup,thenation,thepresent’ (2004,76). Inthissense,Ayquina’smain

squareworksasamultilayeredmap,clusteringnotionsofspace,timeandcosmoswithinone

single, performative artefact. It is spatial, because it defines the centre of its participants’

sacred world; it is temporal, because it is the starting point of a yearly cycle; and it is

cosmological, because it gathers together all the possible beings in one single, though not

universalistic,systemofrelations.

Coming back to Ayquina’s three-fold template, with the kancha and its dance-basedmicro-

cosmos mediating between a closed building, the house of the sacred icon, and the open

courtyard leading down to the water source, it is interesting to analyse what are the

metaphoricalmeaningsthisarchitectonicaldivisionconveys.Followingthedialogicmethodas

proposed by Brokaw (2010), these meanings can be clarified by comparison with the

widespreadtraditionofAndeantextiles.Inthelastfewdecades,textileshavecometobeseen

asacentralmediumofAndeanthought;asConklinsuggests,‘thewayofstructuringtextiles,as

wellas[their]appearance,carriedmeaningforAndeanpeople’(1997,114).Thismeaningtook

atleastthreeforms:(1)identifyingcertainweavingtechnologieswithspecificcultures;(2)the

use of weaving technologies for ritual purposes;49 and (3) relating fabric structures to

numericalmeanings (ibid.,115).Given thispremise, it canbeargued that the ritual festivals

followasimilarpattern,inthesensethattheirthree-foldspatialityresemblesthewayinwhich

textilesarestructuredandtheirmeaningsdisplayed.

Inmyopinion,themostrevealingsourceregardingcurrenttextiletechnologiesintheAtacama

DesertistheworkofV.Cereceda.Herresearchhasbeenalifelongproject,approachingthese

objectsoverextendedperiodsoftimeandwithasophisticatedaestheticsensibility.Inoneof 49 AfurtherexampleofhowstructureandmeaningarecombinedinAndeanartefactsisfoundinGoodell(1969),

who describes the relevance of ‘spinning directions’ in some Aymara communities of the Bolivian Plateau.Spinninganti-clockwise,forinstance,wouldwardoffevilspirits,protectingthecommunity.Anotherexampleisduringharvesttime,whentheearthgoddess(Pachamama)‘maydemandherannualtributetobewrappedinaspeciallywovencloth’.SimilarpatternshavebeenobservedinAyquinaregardingtheiconofSanSantiago,andalsowiththesacredimageoftheneighbouringvillageofToconce,wherethesaintiswrappedupinthesameanti-clockwisedirection.

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herbest-knownarticles,entitledSemiologyofAndeanTextiles:Talegasde Isluga (2010), she

investigates the apparently simple designs of the talegas (woven bags) of the Aymaran

inhabitantsofIsluga,intheinnermountains,whousethesebagstotransportseedsandother

objects associated with local farming. In the article, Cereceda aims to unfold the aesthetic

parameters underlying the talegas’ geometric designs,which she describes as carriers of an

‘Andean notion of beauty’ whose main characteristic is the mediation between opposite

thoughcomplementaryforces(orwovenspaces).

Figure11:Talegabandsscheme(inCereceda,2010)

Thevillageof Isulga (fromAymara isiu llullaña:disguise) is locatedmore than2,000metres

abovesealevelontheborderbetweenChileandBolivia.ItstillpreservesatraditionalAndean

structurebasedon twodifferentiatedareasorcomunas: theupper side (araqsaya)and the

lower (manqha saya), linked by a central village (marka),which until recent times had four

shrinessurroundingitschurch.Thetalegasaremadebythewomenofthevillage,whoweave

asquare-shapedsurfacecomposedofcolouredbands(cchuru)inasuccessionofchromatically

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contrastingpattern.Thesebandsareusuallyinnaturaltones,allofequalwidthandusingplain

colours,articulatingnarrowandelongatedspaces thatare reminiscentof the furrowsof the

fields.Thetalegasoveralldesigncomprisestwosectionsmirroringeachotherontheleft-and

right-hand sides of the talega, repeating the same tonal succession of contrasting cchurus.

However, the number of bands in a talega is always odd, leaving a central band with no

counterpartintherestofthetextile,whichbecomesitsheart(cchima)andindexicalelement.

In a semiotic register, Cereceda proposes that this central band (or cchima) plays an

ambivalent role,beingat thesame timeaplaceofencounterandofdivisionof the talega’s

twosides. Itdistinguishes the inner spaceswhilebeing thenexusor commongroundwhere

the two faces of the talega meet: ‘The centre is therefore defined as an articulation point

within thewoven space, an always sharpaxis thatdivides thebag lengthwise, following the

wrap threads’ (2010, 184). The talega’sbands, symmetrically organised around this cchima,

have another major feature. They are woven in such a way that dark and light bands are

iterativelydisplayedon the textile. Yet, in addition, right at their intersection, two thin lines

(qallus) are added so as to prevent the contrasting values from entering into direct contact

witheachother.Thesethinlinesmediatethetonaliterationoflightanddarklines,ensuringa

harmonioustransitalongthetextile.

According to Cereceda, this mediating yet ambivalent characteristic found in the talegas is

where the Andean notion of beauty can be grasped. The subtle transitions achieved by the

qallus indicatethatthenotionofbeautyisattributednottoobjectsbuttoprocesses.Itisnota

beautyof somethingbut ratherbeautyasanact, referring to thedynamicpassagebetween

two different forms.50 To see beauty as a process implies its outcome is not known

beforehand,demandingpreciseandevenstereotypedpracticestoachieveitcorrectly.Dueto

thisprocessuality, transitionsarealways facingadouble risk:ofbeingeither tooharsh, thus

50 Twofurthernotionsreinforcethis idea.First,thetermAwca,usuallytranslatedas ‘war’or ‘enemy’butmore

preciselyreferringtoeveryconceptualisationofarelationbetweentwoelementsorsocialgroups,whicharesometimes associated and sometimes opposed. Second, the term Tinku, which is usually translated as‘encounter’,referringtoaritualdancewheretwosquadsfighteachother.Tinku isthenthezonewheretwogroupscomingfromdifferentdirectionsmeet(Harris:1987).

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neglectingdialoguebetweendisparateelements,orhavingablurringeffectthatconfusesthe

twosides.Theymustalwaysbalancebetweenabsolute identityandunbridgeabledifference.

Thetransitbetweenextremescouldbecomechaosordissolution,mergingdifferentformsinto

onesinglemassor,conversely,effectingarigiddistinctionwhichcondemnsthemtosolitude.

Finally,Cerecedadescribestalegasaslivingorganisms,whosebodies havealeft-andaright-

handside(themirroredpatterns)andaheart (thecentralband),butarealsoendowedwith

twomouths,oneateachextreme,resultinginatwo-facedbeing.Thisdualitywithinonesingle

bodyreinforcestheambivalenceofthesebags,layingoutalivingorganismcomposedofrather

contradictoryforcesthatco-exist.51Thus,thepolymorphicanddynamicfeaturesoflifearere-

enacted by the abstract geometry of lines and stable patterns, granting the talegas a

transformativepower thatwillkeep the loadsafeandactivate itspotentials towardsagood

harvest. This corporal analogy is ensured by each talega’s particular colour-based designs,

workingasakindof‘make-up’thatendowsageneric‘animalbag’withinaparticularcharacter,

liketheownerofamaskortattoowhoiscoveredbyyetalsodefinedbyit.

Thetranspositionofthesenotionsof'beautyasmediation'ontoAyquina'sritualfeaturessheds

newlightonitsspatiality.Thefestival'stripartitespace(temple/square/courtyard)canbeseen

as analogous to the talega’s inner composition,with amiddle axismediating twomirroring

sides: ‘Mediation is more than a point or instant of contact [...] being rather a movement

betweentwopoles:theworkemployedinestablishingcontactandthemechanismtokeepit

frombecomingexcessive,thisrolebeingperformedbyrituals’(Cereceda:1987,219).52Atthe

heartofthefestival,bothspatiallyandsociallyspeaking,istheKancha,theplacewheredances

areperformedandtheritualiscarriedout.Itcomprisestheaxisaroundwhicheverythingelse

51Thistwo-facespatternisalsofoundinmanyAndeandeities,asasourceofcontradictorythoughcomplementary

forces.For instance,El tiú, rulerofmineral forces, isambivalent intakingthe livesofsomeofhissonswhileenrichingothers.Heisasourceofwealthanddeathatthesametime.SeeTheDevilandCommodityFetishisminSouthAmerica(Taussing:1980).

52Thesemediatoryfeaturesareneverthelessnotexclusivetotalegas,astherearemanyexamplesthatworkinasimilar register. For instance, the Inka deity of beauty was the ChyoChyo (rainbow), which stressed both atransition between colours and the connection between earth and sky. The ChyoChyowas also a source ofcontradictory forces, and in someplaces in theAndes it is still bad luckwhena rainbowendsat someone’sdoor,duetoitschangingandunstablecondition.

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isarticulatedanditistheprimaryscenarioofitsoverallvisualdisplay.Bymeansofdanceand

music, it interweaves a rhythmic movement that connects single bodies with the broader

context in which they are inscribed, including social collectives (dance groups), ritual

temporality (festive time) andmeaningful spaces (amicro-cosmos). Echoing the talegas, the

kanchaworksasthechhima (heart)betweentheopposingchhurus (bands),correspondingto

thecourtyardandtempleandthewatersourceandthehouseofthesacredicon,respectively.

Different inpositionandtonalvalue, thesetwospacesaremediatedby ‘dancingmetaphors’

(cowboys,polarbearsorotherwise),mediatingbetweenatotallyopenspaceanditsopposing

mirror,closedandself-contained.Accordingly,thefestival’saestheticfeatures(its‘beauty’)are

mainly condensed in its dance performances, being the focus of attraction and the pivotal

elementofthewholeritual.Iftheyworkcorrectly,thecontradictoryelementsoftheAtacama

mightremaininbalanceforonemoreyear.

AcloserlookattheKancha’s innerstructurerevealsittobecomposedofthreeequalbands,

running ina temple–courtyarddirection.Theexplicit roleof this structure is toorganise the

dancersand theircollectivemovementsonce immersed in theperformance,withinagridof

references.However,thisinnerdivisionalsoresemblestheqallus, thosethinlinesthatmediate

betweenbands in the talegas, keeping theopposite tones fromtouchingeachother,andat

the same time replicating the contradiction on a smaller scale. Following this analogy, the

kancha’s inner division works as the warp into which the woof (the dances) is interwoven,

articulating the spacewhiledividing it. For instance, in the caseof smaller-scaledances, too

smalltousethewholespace,thekanchaissharedbythreegroupssimultaneously,allofthem

fighting toplay the loudestmusic. Thegeneral oppositionbetweendifferent spaces (temple

andcourtyard,ordarkandlighttones)isthereforere-enactedwithinthesquare,promotinga

micro-cosmosinwhich‘groupscomingfromdifferentdirectionsencountereachother’(Harris:

1987).53

53ItisworthnotingthatinthefestivalofAyquinaoneofthemostpopulardancesistheTinkudance,whichisa

moderatedversionofthemoretraditionalTinkufights.Thisisnotanactualfightbutitssimulacrum,withthedancers jumping up and smashing their helmets against the floor, and shouting war chants. Its leader, ofBolivian parentage, explains the spirit of the dance as one of encounter, in which everyone is welcomeregardless of place of origin, age, gender or physical disability. According to him, the Tinku dance and the

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Figure12:Attheheartofthefestival istheKancha,mediatingbetweentwooppositespaces,thetempleandthecourtyard(ownelaboration)

Thelastelementtohighlightinthisanalogybetweentalegasandthefestivalisrelatedto the

roleofdisguises(trajes)andmasks(caretas).AsCerecedapointsout,eachtextileisendowed

with an identity of its own through the use of specific compositions, becoming a living

organismwithtransmutativecapacities(keepingtheloadsafeandensuringagoodharvest).As

noted above, the design of each talega endows a generic ‘animal bag’ with a particular

character, coveringwhiledefining it. Ina similarway,eachdancegroupgains its identityby

coveringitsmembersunderspecificclothes,wearingmasksandcostumesappropriatetotheir

themes, rendering a generic group of people a specific dance group. Cánepa Kosch (1998)

proposes that the use ofmasks in Andean festivals performs amediatory role between the

persona andpersonage, orbetweentheId ofthedancerandtheother ofthecharacter.They

granttheusertransmutativepowerswhileprotectinghimfromdangeroussituations.Through

being other the dancer leaves behind his specific individuality to take part in a collective

identity, unified by the use of costumes andmasks that erase differences under a common

visualcovering.

festivalarethecentrallandmarksoftheyear,becauseintheperformancetheentiresocialcollectiveisbroughttogetherandtheyearhasitsstart.

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Lastly, it remains to further explore the substantive contents that the central Kancha of

Ayquinaand itsmaskeddancesaremediating. Inotherwords,whatkindsofcomplementary

forcesareembeddedinthisthree-foldarchitectureofAyquina’stemple?Agoodartefactonto

whichtotransposetheseissuesisthedrawingshowninFigure13,madebytheInkaPachacuti

YamcaandincludedinhischronicleRelacióndeAntiguedadesdesteReynodelPirú1620–1630

(AncientRelationoftheRealmofPeru).Init,hetranscribedontopaperthemajoraltarpieceof

theKoricanchatemple,whichdepictedametaphorical imageof thegreatcreatorViracocha.

Amongthemanyreadingsthisdrawinghasprovoked,54Villa-Millena’s(1980)insightsregarding

its overall composition are most revealing. He sees in Pachacuti’s drawing ‘three circles

inscribedinanoval’with amaleandfemalefigureonitsleftandrightside,correspondingto

thesungodInti andthemoongoddessQuilla,respectively(Fig.13).InVilla-Millena’sopinion,

thisfive-folddrawingisthevisualexpressionoftheChakana(seechapter2).Thiscosmogram

hasbecomeparadigmatic inmanyAndeanaestheticpracticesandobjects,beingwidelyused

throughout the Andes, including in the representation strategies of the Atacama (Zuidema:

1980;Harris:1987;Estermann:1998;andothers).

54Pachacuti’sinterpretationofthisdrawinghasbeenthesubjectofmuchdebateamongscholars,whodisagree

astowhetheritcorrespondstoa‘colonialandChristianaltarpiece’(Garrido:1993;Itier:1993;Duvois:1997)orwhetheritactuallydepictsafullyPre-Columbiancosmogram(Watchel:1979;Villa-Millena:1980;Zuidema:1989).Isubscribetothelatterpointofviewfortworeasons:(1)followingtheideaof‘culturalsyncretism’asproposedbyMorandéandothers,itisreasonabletoexpectthatPachacutiYamca’schronicle,whoseauthorwas a direct descendant of Inka nobility (as he himself noted),would take part in this process of culturalmixture,juxtaposingthenewreligionwithhisformerAndeanbeliefs;(2)thecosmologicalfeaturesdepictedinthefigure,asdescribedbyZudemaorVilla-Millena,matchwiththeanalysisofotherAndeanartefactsthatarecarriersofsimilarcosmogrammaticpatterns;(3)finally,framingPachacuti’sdrawingasaWesternmotifneglectsallthefruitfulinterpretationsithasproduced;toputitanotherway,itcancelsallthesociallifethisdrawinghasprovokedovertheyears.

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Figure13:AltarpieceoftheKoricanchabyPachacutiYamca(1633)

Initssimplestvisualformthiscosmogramlookslikeafour-sidedplot,asquareoverlappinga

regular cross (comprising vertical and horizontal lines of the same length), with a circle

inscribedatitscentre.Theresultingimagedepictsatrapezoidalfigure,whereeachsideforms

a three-step staircase shape. Its design is thought to follow the astronomical figure of the

SouthernCrossconstellation,agroupoffourstarswithasimilarroletothatofthenorthern

hemisphere’s polar star (Aveni: 1991).55 Accordingly, the word Chakana means four stairs

(fromQuechuan:tawachakana)orthatof thefourbridges (fromAymaran:pusichakani). In

Quechuan,tsakanameans‘useful’or‘materialtobeusedasabridgebetweentwoseparated

parts’, recallingnotionsofpositionsandconnectionsofdifferentelements. Inthissense,the

wordChakanareferstotheassemblageofunequalforceslinkedbystairs,replicatedoneach

55 Onceayear–around3May–theSouthernCrosscomposesaperfectcrossinthesky.Thelinesbetweenboth

pairs of opposite points are perpendicularly crossed, shaping four quarterswith the exact same size. In theAndean world, 3May is the date to start the harvest, and it is still marked in festivals today, although itsastronomicaloriginmaybeinsomecaseshavebeenforgotten.TheCatholiccalendarlabelledthisfestivedateunder the name ‘TheCross ofMay’, and itwas celebrated in both Spain and theAmericas. The ecclesiasticdiscourseassociatesitsoriginswiththesearchforthewoodencrossonwhichJesuswascrucified,undertakenbytheByzantineEmpressSaintHelenainthefourthcenturyAD.But it iscommonintheAmericasforaPre-ColumbianfestivaltobediscerniblebeneaththeChristianone.

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sideofthefigure,composingasystemthatgatherstogethermultiplelevelsofmeaningswithin

oneuniquefigureofrelations(Estermann:1998).

Figure14:ImagebyGuillermoRomero(2006)

AsHarrissuggests(1987),thetripartiteworldexpressedintheChakana’sthree-stepstaircase

hasbeen reinterpretedand readapted since theearly coloniesby theChristianisationof the

Andes. The Christians found fertile ground in the region to impose their own Trinitarian

approachofHeaven,EarthandHell.Butasmentionedabove,this ‘evangelisation’wasnever

fullyachieved,butledtoasyncretism,whichretainedadeeppresenceofAndeanconceptions.

InHarris’sopinion, the three-foldmodel corresponds to threemythological stagesknownas

Pachas:56TaypiPacha,developedattheheightsofTiticacaLakeandatimewhenallelements

co-existedinharmonytogether;Puruma,atimeinbetweenperiodsoflight,aplaceofchaosas

well as creativity, associated with deserted lands but also water sources, where wildness

dominatedhumansandtheirrelationtosacredforces;andfinallyAwqaPacha, thetimeofthe

InkaEmpire,whichisstillcontinuingtoday.

56InQechua,Pachabringstogethernotionsoftimeandspace;itissometimestranslatedasuniverse,notinthe

sense of an undifferentiated totality or primordial flux, but rather as a composition or encounter betweenequalandopposedelements(seeHarris:1987;Estermann:1998;orLozada:2006).

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In their semi-Christianisedversion, these three time-spacePachas roughlycorrespondto the

heights, the land and the underground forces, renamed as ‘Hanan’, ‘Kay’ and ‘Ukhu’ Pacha

(Lozada: 2006). TheHanan Pachawould then correspond to an ideal cosmos, inhabited by

celestialforces,includingbothAndeanandChristiandeities;theKayPachawouldcorrespond

to the natural and cultural world; and theUkhu Pacha to chaos and demons. However, as

Harrisexplains,fromeachofthesePachasasetofcontradictoryforcesemerge,andgoodor

evilcannotbefixedintoonlyoneofthem.Forinstance,theUkhuPachaistheplace(andtime)

of the dead, who rather than adopting a celestial or infernal form, as the Christian model

proposes,keepplayinganactiveroleintheworldoftheliving(KayPacha)asfamilyguidesand

nature’sguardians.57Ordevils,rulersoftheundergroundforcesandmineralwealth,become

sourcesofambivalentmeaningsthatmightenrichtheworkerorcondemnhimtoruin:‘weeat

themineasthemineeatsus’(inNash:1983).Indeed,thecomplementaryforceofthedevilof

themines (El Tiú) is Pachamama (hiswife), usually associatedwith the Christian Virgin and

agriculture.Harrisdescribesherasthe‘abundanceandtotalityofthesproutingarchetypesof

theground’ (1987,48).Pachamama’salliancewithElTiú reinforces the ideaofcontradictory

elements in each Pacha, linking seemingly opposed forces by means of complementary

relations.

TheTrinitariancosmologywasnever imposedon theAmericaswithcompletesuccess,being

always resisted by a less rigid conception in which ambivalent elements remained

interconnected. In the same vein, the Chakana depicts the three Pachas through their

interrelations. Itbridgesthegapsbetweendifferentstrata,preventingthemfromfalling into

chaosbyconnectingthem.Asinthetalegas,theChakanarelatesdifferencesinsuchawaythat

57 BeforeChristiangraveyardswereimposedontheterritory,thebodiesofthedeadwerespreadalloverthe

landandburiedinMallku(cairns),usuallylocatedatcrossroadsoratfieldboundaries,whichbecamesacredlandmarks.Theneed tomonopoliseburial rites in thehandsof thenewChurch,aswell as theurgencyoffreeingtheterritoryfrom‘idolatries’ inordertomake itexchangeable(abletobeboughtorsold), ledtoathorough process of extirpation of these practices in the Andes. However, even in current times somecommunitiesstillplacetheirancestorsinmountaincaves,openingthemperiodicallytosharefoodanddrinkwith themallkus. In someothercases, thecrossesplacedover thegravesare takenoutandplacedat thefamilytable,welcomingthedeadtosharedinnerwiththeliving.ThefirstexamplewasnarratedbytheleaderofthePolarBearsdanceinAyquina,referringtohisownexperiencewheninvitedtoplaymusicinthevillageofRioGrande.ThesecondexampleisacommonpracticeinthevillageofSanPedrodeAtacama.

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singularitiesarenotkeptapartbutneitherarelimitsdissolved.Itworksbymediatingopposite

andcomplementaryforces,transitingbetweenthemwithoutneglectingeitherpastandfuture,

thedeadortheliving,femaleormale,upordown,andsoon,settinguptheinterrelations of

allthoseforcesthatcomposehumanexperience.

AsEstermannsuggests, ‘thehumanbeingdoesnot “represent”naturebut “co-creates” it in

ordertoreachandkeepthefullrealizationofthecosmos’(1998,195). Inthissense,hesees

threemainprinciplesgoverningtheChakana:a)correspondence,theverticalrelationbetween

thesuperiorandinferiorfinalpartsofthefigure;b)complementarity,thehorizontalrelations

betweenleftandright;andc)thecycliccourseoftime,withtheconjoinedextremitiesofthe

figureformingacircle.Atthecentreofthissystemofparallelandinterconnectedrealitiesare

thehumanbeings,theaxisofaspinningwheel,strugglingtoarticulatethecontradictoryforces

thatsurroundthemandbeingthebasalintermediaryelementofdisparateregistersofreality.

WhattheChakanaaccomplishesinitscurrentversionistheembeddingoftheparametersof

existence within an endless chain of being. Everything is equally alive in this ideal Andean

world,fromthemountainpeaks,homeofthemostsacredforces,tothewaterflowingbelow,

fromthecocaleaftoman-madetools,alloftheseelementsdeservingthesamerespectinthe

shapingof an interconnected cosmos (Ortman:2007). Thispantheist approachhelpsexplain

why the Chakana is rarely depicted alone (Villa-Millena: 1980; Estermann: 1998), having an

extraordinary transmutational ability thatworks at the basis ofmanyAndean artefacts. The

Chakanahelpsdefinetextiles,templesorrituals,actingasabridgebetweendisparateorders

of reality.58 In Harris’s terms, ‘Whatwesternmentalitywould have explained throughmore

abstract concepts, is here crystallised in more concrete forms, in more tangible times and

58 In Estermann’s (1998) view, the Andean cultural system stands far from Western conceptions of rational

thought or individualisation processes, and much closer to a celebratory understanding of a fully relatedcosmos.TheAndeanworldgains itsmodeofexistence,heexplains,withinthepracticaldimensionsofsociallife – such as harvests, handicrafts or festivals – and not in the register of abstract theology. It is in livedexperience that itsmeanings are fulfilled: ‘ForAndeanphilosophy, “reality” is present (or is presented) in asymbolicway rather than ina representativeor conceptualone. Themainpurposeof theAndean runa/jaqi[theChakana]isnottheacquisitionofanabstractortheoretical“knowledge”aboutthesurroundingworldbutthe“mythicalinsertion”andculticandsymbolic/ceremonial(re)presentationofsuch’(1998,104).

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places’(1987,14).Bymeansoftransmutingintodifferentshapes,theChakanapopulatesthe

worldwithallsortsoffiguresandcreatures.Inshort,whileexplainingthetotality,theChakana

isaddingcomplexitytoit.

Frommypointofview,whenlookingattheChakanaanditscurrentreinterpretationbasedon

thethree-stepstaircase,boththetalegasandthefestivalgainnewmeanings.Thekancha,as

theheart(chhima),mainaxisandmediatoryspace,canbedescribednowasaplaceoftransit

across the three steps or Pachas, interconnecting them. Under this frame, the courtyard,

leadingtothewatersource,canbeassociatedwithUckuPacha,thehomeoftheunderground

forces andmineral wealth; the sacred temple can be linked toHanan Pacha, the home of

celestialdivinities(thesacredicon)andidealimageofthecosmos;andthekanchacouldbean

analogyforKayPacha,theplaceofthelivingandcentreofa‘spinningwheel’.Accordingly,the

masked dances are a suggestive simile of the Chakana’s mediatory role, an explicit act of

balancebetweengravityandmovement,asthedancersstruggletoremainontheirfeetwhile

wearingheavycostumesandfollowingtangledrhythms.

Figure15.AvisualanalogybetweenthethreePachasandthearchitectonicallayoutfoundinAyquina(ownelaboration)

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Under this frame, dances in Ayquina can be seen as metaphors of the overall Andean

conceptionofathree-foldworld,withhumansplacedattheheartofatextile-likespace.This

positionisdrivenbytheneedtoweavetogethertheambivalentforcesofadynamicuniverse.

Bymeansof idealisedanalogies,all these forcesarebrought to thecentral square, inserting

them in a celebratory event thatwhile depicting the cosmos is co-creating it. The task is to

transformexperienceinordertoensurethecycleoflife.Butasstatedabove,itisnotonlythe

mythicaldimensionoftheAndeanworld-viewthatisbroughtontothestage,butalsoallthose

elementsbelongingtothesurroundingworld,includingtheemergingconsequencesofmining

expansion.Thus,animageofthecosmosinwhicheverythingisconsideredequallyaliveislaid

out.Itisnotabouteachisolatedpartbutabouttheco-existenceofmultipleregistersatonce.

Precisely for this reason, the reinterpretation of the Chakana within Andean current

representationpracticesisanincrediblyusefulmodel,workingasarelationalprinciplethrough

which objects gain a malleable form – as in the festival of Ayquina, where its expanding

capacity to incorporate new elements has created a textile-like dance model that weaves

togetheropposedforces.

HavingstatedthetransformativeabilityoftheChakana,whichgivesformtoawiderangeof

objectsandpracticesthroughouttheAndes,nowit ispossibletoask: ifthisrelationalmodel

hasframedsuchdiversity,whymightitnotalsoframeadocumentaryfilmabouttheAtacama?

Could this visual representation become a further expression of this widely reinterpreted

cosmogram?Of course, such a filmmight be amarginal achievementwhen comparedwith

properAndean-basedpractices, evenmore so coming froma single researcherbased in the

UK.However,theselimitationsdonotdecreethattheideaistobediscarded.

Yet, this proposal still needs to be applied to the current circumstances of the Atacama.

Outsidethetime-spaceofthefestivalofAyquina, largeeconomicnetworksarestrugglingfor

control of the territory. There is not only an expanding mining industry, but a flourishing

tourism industry as well. If the coastal areas and middle pampas of the Atacama are the

subjectof anongoingmobilisationofmining resources,peopleand technologies, the south-

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westernmountainsareco-optedbytensofthousandsofforeignvisitorseachyear.Whilethe

firsttrendhascutacrossthemainpartoftheterritory,involvingover500minesandanannual

productionofthreemilliontonsofcopper,59tourismhastakenovertheregion’smajornatural

landscapes.At the same timeasmining companieshavebeen searching formineralwealth,

tourismentrepreneurshavebeencollectingasetof‘mysticalsights’ toexploit.

Inorder toexplore these issues further, in the followingchapter Ipresent the resultsof the

qualitativeresearchstudyIconductedintheareaduringJuneandSeptemberof2013,which

wascomplementedbymypreviousexperienceandknowledgeofthearea,whereI livedand

worked for more than two years. During this fieldwork, the focus was not on the Ayquina

festivalbutontheeconomicforcessurroundingit.Thisfocuswasbasedontheneedtoplace

the festival and its changing aesthetic in context, socially and materially speaking,

understandinghowitscurrentfeaturesareinstraightrelationwithwhatsurroundsit.

59Source:AtlasdelasFaenasMineras(2011).

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CHAPTER4:ConflictsandStrugglesintheAtacamaDesert

The previous chapter discussed how a proper understanding of Andeanmaterial culture, its

objectsandritualpractices,mustalwaystake intoaccountthebroadercontext (Parry:2006;

Arnold:2009;Martinez:2010;andothers).Anyfixedaccountofcultureneedsthereforetobe

leftbehindandreplacedwithadynamicframe,inwhicheconomicandsocialdeterminantsare

centralfortheanalysis.Accordingly,thischapterdetailsthemainfindingsofmyethnographic

fieldworkcarriedout intheAtacama in2013,60which investigatedall the forcessurrounding

the festival of Ayquina in order to frame this ritual phenomenon in relation to its broader

surroundings.TheAtacama’sritualpracticeswerelefttooneside,withattentionturnedtothe

economicstructuresoftheterritory,allofwhichare invariably linkedtothepresenceofthe

copper-miningindustry.Iwillarguethatthesecompanieshavegreatlyinfluencedthecurrent

socialfeaturesoftheAtacama,withthefestivalofAyquinabeingafurtherexpressionofthe

industry’simmensemobilisationofhumanandnon-humanresources.

The starting point of this fieldwork, following Becker’s (2007) operations of making a

representationofsociety,61wasselection.Beckerexplainshowanyrepresentationofsocietyis

always partial, less than the represented in itself. Thus, a selection always occurswhen the

outsideistransformedintoanewmedium.Therepresentationofsocietydemandsthatsome

aspectsoftheworldarehighlightedwhileothersareleftinthebackground,limitingthework

to a particular set of materials and area of research. The first selection in this qualitative

researchwas in the decision to focus on one specific area of theAtacama: theAntofagasta

60Fieldworkwasconductedduringaperiodoffourmonthsandorganisedinthreejourneystotheareaofabout

fourweekseach.Atotaloftwenty-threeinterviewswererecordedandtranscribed,coveringsubjectsfromthethree main researched areas: Antofagasta City, Calama City and San Pedro Village. This chapter combinesextracts fromseveralof these interviews,whichare complementedby fieldnotesandahistorical reviewofeacharea.TheoutcomesofthisprocessarethreedescriptionsthatgiveanoverviewofthemainconflictsandstrugglesfoundintheAntofagastaRegion,Atacama.

61Inordertofabricatearepresentationofsociety,Beckeridentifiesfourmainoperations:selection,translation,arrangementandinterpretation.Formoredetailsseethechapteronmethodology.

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Region, where the festival of Ayquina takes place and the heart of the Atacama’s mining

industry.

Thesecondselectionwasinthedecisiontopayspecialattentiontoitsmaininhabitedareas–

while leaving asideAyquinaVillage itself, as this has beenexplored in theprevious chapter.

Within the selected area, three human settlements were distinguished, running in a coast–

mountains direction: Antofagasta on the coast, the administrative centre of the Atacama’s

mining industry; Calama in the pampas, amining workers’ enclave and departure point for

Ayquina; and finally San Pedro, centre of Andean communities and current host of a large

tourism industry.Athirdselectionwas inestablishingthe interviewsample(described inthe

chapteronmethodology),whichwascollectedfollowingasnow-ballprocess.

Finally, the last selection was in arranging all the gathered data (interviews, field notes,

documentreview,etc.)withinthesepagesinahistoricalframework,selectingsomeelements

to be narrated while leaving others aside. The result of this selection process has three

sections,eachofthemcorrespondingtooneoftheresearchedareas(Antofagasta,Calamaand

SanPedro). Theyareorganised in a coast–mountaindirection, from the lower to thehigher

altitudes,followingthebioclimaticzonesofthearea(Fig.16).62

62 Manyscholars(Murra:1975;Gartner:1998;andothers)havepointedoutthatthegeographyoftheAndesis

organisedaroundbioclimaticzones,definedbytheiraltitudemorethanbytheirpositioninanimaginaryflatplot. The rugged topographyof theAndes creates dramatically differentiated areas, each oneholding someexclusive productive potential, fostering fluid agreements of exchange between distant areas. Therefore,spatialcategoriesintheCentralAndesarebasedonacomplexassemblageofaltitude,productivefeaturesandinhabitants, embodying space with particular meanings. The relations between different areas are mostcommonlydriveninacoast–mountaindirection,shapingroutesofexchange,economiccontrolandpopulationmigration.

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Figure16:Cross-sectionsoftheAntofagastaRegion(ownelaboration)

1.Antofagasta:ProducingtheIdeological

The modern history and development of Antofagasta have been underpinned by iterative

boomandbust economic cycles,with a rapid andwidespreadexpansionof economicutility

followedbyanabruptend,asarecommoninresource-basedcommunities(Hefele&Morton:

2009). A single-resource-based community, such as Antofagasta, is characterised by having

onlyonedominanttypeofindustrysupportingit.Wheneithertheresourceisdepletedorthe

pricedrops,thecommunityexperiencesadramaticdownturn(Gunter:1981).Mono-resourced

communitiesareusuallylocatedinthehinterlands,farawayfromurbancentres,forcinglarge-

scale immigrationduringeconomicbooms,whichmightbe reversedonce theboom isover.

The settlement’s infrastructure is not meant to last and urban investment is almost totally

subordinated to production, shaping unstable and precarious social organisations (Gilmore:

1976).

ThecaseofAntofagastafollowsthesepatternsalmostexactly.Afteritsfoundationin1866,the

city was established as a port for the trade in nitrate, amineral fertiliser for agriculture of

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which thedesertpampashadplentiful reserves (Gonzales: 2010). Its large-scaleexploitation

wasdrivenbytheIndustrialRevolution’sdemographicexpansionsandtheconsequentneedto

increaseNorthAmericanandEuropeanfoodproduction.Nitratewasknownas‘thewhitegold’

and hundreds of camp towns populated the pampas. But this extraordinary boom abruptly

endedafterthe1929economiccrash.Theminingcampsstartedclosingdownwithoutwarning

and thousands of workers were displaced.While Calamamanaged to absorb part of these

populations, the still-incipient city of Antofagasta was faced with the arrival of hordes of

impoverishedmenandwomen,eitherplanningtosailbacksouthorsimplylookingtosurvive

byanymeans.Somemanagedtosetsail forthesouth,butthemajoritysettleddown inthe

increasinglydepressedcity.Oneofthemajornewspapersofthetimedescribedthesituation

asfollows:

Thenitrateindustryisdyingquickly,exhausted;itisnolongerabletocontinuefeedingfiscal

voracity.Alleffortsmadebythegovernmenttoextendtheoldregimeareonlyservingto

precipitatethelastgaspsofthevictim(Zig-ZagMagazine,20October1933.)

Notwithstanding this dramatic episode of economic downturn however, the current copper

boom,startingaround1990,hasexpandedalloverthedesert,bringinganextraordinaryrather

one-dimensional dynamism to Antofagasta. When the first transnational mining company

arrived in the area twenty-six years ago, the city’s population did not exceed the 200,000

inhabitants.Itsurbanareasurroundedtheport,stretchingbetweenthecoastalmountainsand

thePacificOcean,andalocalbourgeoisieoffoodproducerstoppedthecity’ssocialpyramid.

Yet, after the Pinochet dictatorship (1973–1990), the country’s borders were opened up to

foreign investors and new mines were opened all over the region, greatly expanding its

economyinjustacoupleofyears.Bytheendofthetwentiethcentury,Chilewasresponsible

forone-thirdoftheworld’scopperproduction(Aroca:2001);Antofagastabecameoneofthe

majoradministrativecentresoftheminingindustryandthelargestmineralporteverseenin

theAtacamaDesert.

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To a certain extent, Antofagastans seem to think of their city as the ‘California of South

America’,seeingsimilaritiesbetweenthegoldfeverofthenineteenthcenturyandthecurrent

copperboom.People come seekingwealth fromall over theworld,without considering the

efforttheworkhererequiresorthelackoflifequalityitimplies.EveryoneinAntofagastaisa

first-,second-or,inafewcases,third-generationimmigrant,allofthemattractedbytheebb

and flowof themining cycles. It is a city of fluxes: everything – people, capital, copper and

everything else – is about to depart for somewhere else, but asmuchmoney as possible is

beingdrawnfromthedepthsoftheminesinthemeanwhile.

However, in spite of the fact that copper production doubled between 1994 and 1999, the

miningsector isnot important intermsofbackwardandforwardlinkageswiththeregion, in

thesensethatonlyaverysmallproportionoftheproducedwealthstaysinthearea,whereit

might improve life quality or contribute to a more sustainable development (Aroca: 2001).

MostofthecopperincomeeitherisinvestedinthecentralChileanterritoriesorgoesabroad

intothecoffersoftransnationalcompanies.AlthoughhundredsofpeoplearriveinAntofagasta

everydayduetotheinflatedsalaries,andnewskyscrapersarebeingbuilteverywhere–aswell

asallkindsoffacilitiesincludinghighways,airports,casinosandhousing–theeconomicmodel

remains attached to boom–bust cycles (Cademartori: 2000). The city has never looked so

splendid, never been so rich, but everything in it is subordinated to extraction of a single

resource.63 This single-resource determinism can be visualised when looking at the

63Itisworthnotingthatscholarlyworkontheterritoryisscarce,withfewauthorshavingshownacriticalinterest.

Thecurrentpoweroftheminingindustryissooverwhelmingthatcriticsarerapidlyshutdown.Asanexampleof this territorial subjugation to corporative interests, the story of how the Quillagua oasis met its end isenlightening.InSpanish,thevillagenamesoundslikeQui’ll’Agua’:Aquihayagua(‘hereiswater’).Theoasiswas the only place in the pampas where agriculture was practised, and became a kind of free workers’settlementinthecontextoftheprivatecompanytownsbuiltduringthenitrateminingcycle(1870–1930).Butatsomepointduringthe1980stheoasismysteriouslydriedup.Aprofessorfromthelocaluniversitybegantomakeinquiries,hearingrumoursthatoneofthelargestmineshaddischargedwasteintotheoasis,acidifyingitswaterandultimatelytransformingitintoaquagmireoftoxicsediments.Itremainsunclearwhetherthiswasan accident or a planned manoeuvre; however, the professor concluded that the disaster was a directconsequence of themine’s action. But corporative interests could not allow this to go public. Providing anindicationofthecoordinationofstateandcorporative interests inChile,theprofessorreceivedacall fromaformerSenatoroftheRepublic,whotoldhimtoceasehis inquires,arguingtheissuewasa‘matterofstate’.Whenherefused,hewasquietlyremovedfromhisacademicpositionandmarginalisedintheChileanacademytothepointofinvisibility.Sometimelater,theminingcompanyfundedanalternativeinquiryintotheeventsat Quillagua. Some German scientists came to the area and suggested there was not enough evidence to

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infrastructure in Antofagasta Bay (Fig. 17). It is composed of three ports, all of them

fundamentalintheminingindustryandmajorlandmarksofthecity’surbangrowth.

Figure17:AntofagastaBayinfrastructure.

I:Mejillones;2:Coloso;3:Antofagasta(ownelaboration)

AfewkilometresnorthofAntofagasta istheportofMejillones(number1 inthefigure).The

areaused tobea fishing villageandaplaceAntofagastanswouldgo for recreation,but the

copper boom transformed it into the engine of mining production. Currently, seven

thermoelectricpowerstationspopulateitsshoresandtheportistheentrygateforallkindsof

fuels. The energy production follows a quite simple principle: coal is brought by ship and

burnedtoboilseawater;thiscreatesvapourandmovesasetofturbines.Energyistransported

across thepampas througha cable-based system into theworkingareasof themines.One-

establishdirectcausalitybetweenthemine’sworkandthewaterpollution.Whenthelocalresearcherfinallymetthem,theGermanteamtookhimasideandtoldhim: ‘Weknowwhatyouaresaying is right,but itwillneverbeacknowledgedinpublic.Ouradviceistoletitgo.’(ThisdescriptionofthedestructionoftheQuillaguaoasis isbasedonseveraloralhistoriesgatheredduringthefieldwork.Theprofessor inquestioncouldnotbelocated).

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thirdofthemines’annualenergydemandisproducedinMejillones(3,700GWh,closetothe

entireenergyconsumptionofScotlandin2013).64

IfMejillonesBay is the entry gate for energyproduction, the city port ofAntofagasta is the

goodsdisembarkationarea(number3inthefigure).Itwasbuiltduringthelastdecadesofthe

nitrate boom and expanded to both the north and the south. Although the city port still

dispatches a considerable amount of refined copper (42% of the port’s transferences in

2010),65 due to the current scale of the extraction itsmain function has changed from exit

pointofmineralstopointofentryforgoodsfortheurbanpopulationandtheminingindustry.

ThelastelementofAntofagasta’sportinfrastructureisColoso(number2inthefigure),atthe

southernmostpointofthebay,thelargestprivateportintheregion.ItbelongstoBHPBilliton,

theworld’snumber-oneproducerofcopper,whoseAntofagastanbranchwasresponsiblefor

8.1%ofthetotalcoppertradedintheinternationalmarketsin2008.66Builtin2001,thePortof

Colosoisthemostrecentadditiontotheregionalminingsystem,whosespecificfunctionisto

receivesemi-liquidcopperfromthepampas,embarkingitintocontainervessels.Thecopperis

passed along a 170-kilometre-long pipeline, which ends in Coloso. Those same vessels that

previously unloaded fuels inMejillones are filled up withmud-copper (barro de cobre) and

dispatchedworldwide.

Themain ‘inconvenience’ of Coloso is a small fishing community settled next to itsmassive

structures. The environmental conflict between the two economic systems has been solved

throughwhatisknownasCorporativeSocialResponsibility(CSR),alsocalledwin-winrelations.

At thecoreof thisconcept is the ideaofestablishingachannel throughwhich thecompany

delivers goods and services to the community,while the community agrees not to interfere

withtheproduction.Inotherwords,thecompanypaystokeepthepeoplequiet.

64DistributionandEnergyConsumptioninChile(INE2008)andRenewableElectricityStatisticsforScotland,

ScottishGovernment(2013).65AnnualMemoryReport2010(EPA).66AnnualReport2008(FME/BHP).

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Themaindrawbackforthecompanyisnottheobligationtotakeresponsibilityforthenegative

side-effects of its activities, an insignificant expense when compared with its utilities, but

rather that CSR attracts new, impoverishedpopulations to Coloso seeking charity. Themain

target of any CSR department is to keep the production as invisible as possible so as to

minimise the risksof socialuprising,butasmorepeopleareaffectedby the inevitable toxic

output, these risks increase. A fisherwoman from Coloso describes the relation of her

communitytothecompanyasfollows:

It is likeamarriagerelationship;wehavehadgoodtimesandbadones.Badrelationships

startedwhenthepipebroke,thepipeline,andtherewasaspillofconcentratealloverthe

place;thenwedivorced.Butnowwearebacktogetheragainandworkingbetter,because

formerlytheyjustgaveandgave,thecompanycameandgave,gaveandgave.Thenpeople

didnotrealisewhatwewerereceiving.Andwhenthespillhappenedwelostgreatpeople

from the company that worked with us and we went back to the beginning of the

relationship. Itwashard to trust in themagainandtoaccept thecompany’snewpeople.

Butwearefinenow,becauseweunderstoodtheideaofwork;somepercentcomesfrom

themandsomecomesfromthecommunity[...].That’stheidea.(Fromfieldworkinterview

inColosoport,April2013.)

Everymining corporation in theAtacama, including thenational copper companyCODELCO,

has created a specific department to solve ‘the social inconvenience’, alwaysworried about

losing what they call ‘Social Licence to Operate’ (LSO). Mining companies have come to

understand that a delegitimised productive system cannot withstand emerging social

movementsorpotentialstrugglesoverproductioncontrol.Thestabilityofcompanies’linkage

with their social territory must therefore be maintained at all costs, and the role of CSR

departmentsistokeepthisrelationshipasstableaspossible.

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Fromacriticalpointofview,itcanbearguedthatCSRdepartmentsworkasanideologicaltool,

inthesensethattheyseektoorganiserealitysuchthatconflictsremainhidden.Thegoalisto

influence public opinion in favour of the corporative interests, rather than actualising well-

being.Ahappycommunityisonethatdoesnotrisktheproductionprocess.CSRweb-slogans

oftenillustratetherhetoricalemphasis.

Weseesustainabilityasbeingintegraltohowwedobusiness,showingourbeliefthatour

long-term success requires us to prioritise sustainability over our business. (From BHP-

BillingtonChile,officialwebpage.)

Suchmarketing conceals, inmy opinion, the real impacts of the industry’s businessmodel,

namely, the rapid extraction of commoditieswhile they are profitable, subjugating all social

andmaterial forcestoashort-termproject.Thevariabletomanageisnotthe impactonthe

territorybut rather the socialperceptionof it.Decisionsare typicallymadeonbehalfof the

private,productiveinterests,exposingthesesingle-resource-basedcommunitiesto‘adifferent

setofconditionsinwhichlocalregionsbecomepartofaninternationaleconomyownedand

operatedbyahegemonicfractionofcapitalundertheauspiceofmultinationalcorporations’

(Bradbury:1979,149).AsCademartoripointsout,‘the[Antofagastan]localelitesdisguisethe

reproductionofthetraditionalmodelofcommoditiesexportationenclavewithamodernizing

discourse,education,technology,entrepreneurship,socialandenvironmentalresponsibility,as

ifhyper-growthmeantdevelopment’ (2008,352).Antofagastacannothelpbutbeassociated

with the definition of mining enclaves where: a) local economic agents do not control

productiongeneratedintheregion;b)commoditiesexportationprofitsareasignificantpartof

thecountry’sincome;andc)atthecentreoftheenclavepredominatepurecapitalistrelations

between capitalists (transnational corporations), local suppliers (sub-contracted small- and

medium-sizeindustries)andadenseproletariat(ibid.).

Thefactthatthelabourforceisalwaysinsufficienttosupplythecoppermineshaspromoteda

constantimmigrationprocess,pushinguphousingpricesandexpandinggentrifiedurbanareas,

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whichhavedoubledinsizesince1990.Fortheperiod2010–2016theestimatedconstruction

investmentreachedUSD13billions,correspondingto40%ofthetotalconstructioninvestment

expected nationwide.67 Prior to the copper boom, the cityscape revealed an extended, flat

agglomerationofbuildingsaroundtheport;butnowskyscraperslinetheseaside,suburbsare

growingeverywhereandbrandnewcarsaresellinglikehotcakes.

The inorganic urban growth of Antofagasta is equally expressed in its inhabitants’ labour

conditionsandconsumptiondynamics,mainlydrivenbyminers’inflatedwagesandproduction

bonuses. If CSR departments seek fluid links with affected communities, Corporate Human

Resourcesdepartmentsaimtokeepmineworkerscalm,avoidingstrikesandthusmaintaining

production. Inorder toachieve this, the companies are careful to sharewith full-contracted

workers marginal proportions of their surplus, creating a working-class elite in line with

corporativeinterests.Everytwoyearstheminers’unionsnegotiatetheirsalariesandbonuses

for production, obtaining large amountsofmoney.But as noted, suchbenefits only reach a

restricted group of workers, reintroducing the poor/rich distinction within mine labour.

Whoeverpossessesafullcontractwillshareinthebenefits,butthosewhoaresub-contracted,

part-timeorotherwiseexcluded,willstayinaprecarioussituationatthebottomofthewealth

distributionpyramid.

Yet,inaboomingcitylikeAntofagasta,socialdistinctionsarenotonlyorganisedaroundclasses

– derived from the position in the productive structure – but also driven by discursive

antagonisms.InAlthusserianterms,suchantagonismsareanexpressionoftheideological,that

superstructure under which lies the struggle for control of themeans of production: ‘[The]

reproductionoflabourrequiresnotonlyareproductionofitsskills,butalso,atthesametime,

areproductionof itssubmissiontotherulesoftheestablishedorder’(Althusser:1971,132).

Reflecting on a similar case of a resource-based community inNorthDakota,United States,

Chuck (2012) describes these discursive struggleswithin oil extraction communities. On the

one hand, he argues, are thosewho are certain that the extractive boomwill providewell-

67BuildingDirectory(DirectoriodelaConstruccion)Chile,2013.

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being for thecommunity;ontheotherarethosewhoareconcernedwiththenegativeside-

effectssuchdevelopmentcarriesalongwithit(eitherenvironmentallyorsociallyspeaking).

InthecaseofAntofagasta,theideologicalstruggle isoverthedefinitionofwhat is ‘thereal’,

not in a metaphysical but rather a material sense. The basic terms of this struggle can be

paraphrased as follows: what is the configuration of the Antofagasta Region? Is it a

postcolonialminingenclaveforcapitalextraction?Orisitanincreasinglyimprovedterritory,a

land of progress and economic development? If Antofagasta is just a postcolonial enclave,

resourcesmustbenationalisedandadministratedlocallytoensureasustainabledevelopment

for the people; but, if it is a virtuous case of economic progress, all obstacles should be

removedinordertoensureitcancontinueonitscurrentpath.

AsAlthusserpointsout,inordertodefinethecontrolofresources,theideologicalmusteither

negateorvalidatetheproductivesystemanditseffectsinpropertyholding,labourconditions,

surplusdistribution,etc.AlthoughdifferentsidesofthestruggleinAntofagastamightagreeon

the necessity of the industrialisation and the rationalised administration of the Atacama’s

resources, they disagree on how these processes should be carried out. If the city can be a

betterplace, should it be sustainableordeveloped?Which comes first?Who shouldexploit

andcontrolitsmineralresources?WhatdoesthefutureholdforAntofagasta?

The most visible traces of this struggle are found in a semi-public discussion between two

clearly identifiable groups: the Industrialists’ Association (AIA) and a groupof local scholars.

The first comprises the newelite born at the foot of the copper companies, createdby the

mining companies. The second is mainly composed of economists, linked to the regional

universities and concerned with the study of regional productive systems. While the

industrialistssupportthecurrenteconomictrend,andtheirinterestsmatchwiththoseofthe

companies, theeconomistsarecriticalof it,althoughtheyrecognise thebenefits thecopper

boomhasbroughttotheregion.ThediscourseoftheAIAisclearlyexpressedina2013article

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by its president, published in the biggest newspaper in Antofagasta and entitled ‘Transform

OpportunityintoReality’:

Asa region,wehaveagreatopportunity: “Antofagasta, the firstdeveloped regionof the

country”.However, it is importanttonoticeopportunitiescanbeeithertakenor lost.The

industrialistsandinhabitantsofAntofagastadonotwanttolosethisopportunityandwedo

not want to havewritten the bookAntofagasta, A Case of Frustrated Development. Our

dreamistohaveadevelopedandsustainableregion.(ElMercuriodeAntofagasta,28May

2013)

Developed and sustainable – that is the order of the terms. From the AIA’s point of view,

Antofagastacannotbeseenasaminingenclave(orcompanytown),inthesenseproposedby

itsadversaries,becausethiswouldmisconstruethedifferencesbetweentheoldminingsystem

andthenewoneestablishedsince1990.Theshiftfromonetotheother,theyargue,isadirect

resultofthearrivalofforeignminingcompaniesandtheirbusinessstrategies.Theypromotea

virtuous growth, not exploitative, pauperising or impoverishing as described by the critical

discourses, but rather creating a fruitful alliance with local producers and communities. In

otherwords, foreign investmentcreatesawin-winrelation inwhichcorporationsextract the

resourcesandthecommunitiestakeaportionofthesurplus.

Theeconomistsexpressanantagonisticdiscourse.Intheirview,Antofagastaisnotaplaceof

progress and opportunities but a modern mining enclave. Local agents do not control

production and resources, which are crucial to national interests. Indeed, Antofagasta has

turnedouttobedominatedbypurerelationsofproductionbetweencapitalists,localsuppliers

and a dense proletariat. Foreign investors take much of their revenue out of the territory,

generatingaweakbondwithlocalproducers;buttheyreinvestenoughtoraiseasmallgroup

overtherest,usuallyunderarelationofcompletedependency.

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[Miningenclaves]gatherlargenumbersofworkersinasmallareaoftheterritory,creating

whatisknownas“companytowns”.Workershavethepotentialforcollectiveactionbased

ontheirnumericalconcentration, theeconomicrelevanceof theirenclaveto thenational

economy,andbecausetheyarevictimsofexploitationincontrasttothesumptuouslivesof

foreignelitesandtheirassociatedlocalgroups’.(Cademartory:2008)

In adialectic-likeopposition to the industrialists’ ideology, theeconomists’ perspectivedoes

notimagineascenarioofuninterruptedprogress,butratherlooksbacktotheexperiencesof

previousminingcycles.Thereisnomeaningfuldifference,theyargue,betweentheoldmining

systemandthenew‘virtuous’system;botharebasedonthesameproductionstructureand

short-termextraction.Whywouldthecoppercycleenddifferentlytopreviouscycles?Acrisis

inproductionremainsalurkingpossibilityinthecopperboom.Politicalactionmusttherefore

betaken inordertoavoidatotaleconomiccollapse.Otherwise, theexoduswillbemassive;

cities will be emptied and only obsolete infrastructure will be left behind. The deathly

atmosphereofthepampaswillonceagainconsumetheterritoryandthe‘LongAntofagastan

Night’willreturn.Onlybychangingtherealrelationsofproductioncandisasterbeavoided.

Despite the antagonistic perspectives held by economists and industrialists, they become

equalsinthecontextofdefiningAntofagasta’spresent.DefiningwhatAntofagastaiswillhelp

showwhat to expect from its future. If it is immersed in a virtuousminingprocess, it has a

chancetoachievedevelopmentandresolveitscontradictions;butifitisaminingenclave,only

socialstrugglecantransformthecurrentproductivesystemandpreventacatastrophicendto

the copper boom. Projecting the future by defining the present is whatmatters here. Both

sidesstruggletoavoidafutureeconomicdownturn,althoughthisimageseemsbarelyvisible

giventhecurrentboom.Throughconvergencepointbetweentheimaginableandthepossible

seeps the projection of an abandoned desert, in which life hangs by the thin thread of an

almost impossible equilibrium. The artificiality of survival, only achieved through industrial

infrastructure, reveals its own finite temporality, as if theAtacamanhumanandnon-human

landscapescouldatanytimeactualisetheapocalypticpotentialtheycarrywithin.

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2.Calama:Production,SocialStruggleandFestivals

ThecurrentsocialfeaturesofAntofagastacannotbefullygraspedunlesstheyareinsertedina

widercontextandinastraightrelationwiththehinterlandcityofCalama,amajordormtown

forsub-contractedmineworkers.Calama’sclosenesstothemines,manyofwhicharelocated

in the mountains, places it in a key position in the Atacama’s mining structure. Unlike

Antofagasta, Calama has a long history; it is much older than any of the reviewed mining

cycles.Thiscityusedtobeanoasisat thegatesof theAndes,andapre-colonialconnection

point between the inner mountain communities (Lickan-Antai) and the nomadic fishing

communitiesspreadalongthePacificcoasts(Changos).

AsLatorre(1997)suggests,thetoponym‘Calama’mightcomefromtheKunzawordsCkolam

(partridge)andHara(lodging),orfromKara(place)andAma(water),bothversionsreferringto

some protected space able to host life. Calama is the last oasis on the route from the

mountainsbeforeenteringthepampas,anareaoftwohundredsquarekilometreswithalmost

nowater source before the Pacific Ocean. Preceding the firstmining expansion in Atacama

(1860),andexisting longbeforecolonial times,68Calamawasconsideredagreencrossroads,

wheretheinnervalleysofAltoLoa(north-east)andSanPedrodeAtacama(south-east)were

connected,avitalspaceforcommercialexchangesbetweendistantareas.

68ThefirstrecordedsettlementsinCalamadatefrompre-colonialtimes,goingback3,000yearsandmore

(Godoy&Westfall:2007).

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Figure18:FlatplotofCalamaCityshowingitsexits.Noticetheygoineverydirection,coveringthefourcardinalpoints(ownelaboration)

Thismiddle ground is also reinforced on a symbolic level, as Calama’sminersmerged their

culturalbackgroundswithAndeanrituals,givinglifetothefestivalofAyquinaasitiscurrently

known. This double role, as a central city in copper extraction and at the same time as a

gatewaytotheAndeanworld,meansthecityworksasahingebetweentwowaysofrelatingto

the surroundings. It is in this sense that Calama is at the region’s centre in almost every

register: geographically, it connects the coast with the highlands; economically, the copper

mines surround it; and culturally, it is themeeting point of traditional Andean andmodern

miningcultures.

Calama’sofficialhistoryusuallystartsafteritbecameChileanterritoryin1883.69However;the

oasishasplayedanimportantrolethroughoutdifferenthistoricaldevelopments.IfduringPre-

69Asbrieflydescribedinthepreviouschapter,theWarofthePacificbetweenPeru,ChileandBoliviawasdriven

by the expansion of the nitrate cycle, which caused a complete re-evaluation of the ‘useless land’ of theAtacamaasanextraordinarysourceofmineralwealth.Afterfouryearsofbloodyconfrontations,theChileanoligarchy (supported by British capital) found itself victorious, occupying the Atacama. The newly annexed

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Columbiantimesitscommercialfunctionwascrucial,duringcolonisationitwascentralinthe

campaigns to extirpate idolatry, the counterpart of the European inquisition court in the

Americas.70However,giventhelimitationsofthisresearch,Calama’scolonialhistoryneedsto

beleftaside;instead,thefocusisontheChileanhistoryoftheoasis.

AftertheWarofthePacificof1879,CalamabecameChileanterritorynotbecauseofitsas-yet-

unknownmineralpotentialbutbecauseof itswatersources. Inordertomakeprofitablethe

nitrateminesfoundeda fewyearsearlier inthepampas,waterwascrucial,andCalamawas

theclosestsource.Thus,thenewChileanboundarieshadtobesettledbeyondthesourceof

theriver,inthehighestpeaksofthemountains,whichincludedthehydrographicalsystemsof

Alto Loa and San Pedro,with Calama as the westernmost enclave. Even today, a pipeline

transportswaterthreehundredkilometresfromthemountainsinordertosupplythecoastal

cityofAntofagasta.

When theglobaleconomic crisisof1929drovenitrateextraction intoadramaticdownturn,

theChilean formernitrateworkers fled to thebordersof thepampas,seekinganymeansof

survival.Nothingwasleftbehindandalmosteverynitratecampwasshutdown.Workerswent

tothecoastalcitiessearchingforashiponwhichtoreturnsouth,butalsowenttothecityof

Calama. The lucky ones managed to find a position in the growing copper-mining camp of

Chuquicamata,which opened near the oasis in 1915.71 As a result, two cities emerged: one

territories needed to be secured with Chilean workers, giving rise to what MacEvoy (2010) called ‘theChilenisationofthedesert’.

70AninterestingpassageofCalama’scolonialhistoryisrecalledbytheethno-historianVictoriadeCastro(2009).She describes how on the night of 23 June 1635, during San Juan’s Night Eve, the priest Francisco de Otalguided‘TheFirstIdolatriesExtirpationCampaignofAtacama’.EscortedbytwomoreSpaniards,hediscoveredthreeoldIndiansengaginginidolatrypracticesinahouseinCalama.Theoldmenwerebanishedandtheidolconfiscated. Castro translates the idol’s name, ‘Sotar Condi’, as ‘hummingbird’, and complements the storywithaquotefromanIndianwhoobservedtheevent:‘ItistheoneallIndiansoftheseprovinceshavebyGod;ourfather[Otal]having itonhishand,agold-featheredbird,madeapreach’ (owntranslation).Otalwarnedthecommunity that if in threedays theydidnotconfess their idolatries, theoffenderswouldbe forgiven; ifnot,theywouldbeburnt.NothingfurtherisnotedbyCastro;however,shehelpscorroborateLatorre(1997)indescribinghowthe idol takes the formofabirdandCalamabecomes itshouse (Ckolam-Hara: thehouseofpartridges).

71Afteroveracenturyofexploitation,theChuquicamataminehasbecomethelargestcoppermineintheworld,coveringanareaof4.5kminlength,3.5kminwidthand1kmindepth.AsIwillshow,itsuninterruptedfastgrowthhascompletelytransformedthesocialandurbanfeaturesofCalama.

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closetothemine,richerandbetteroff,andtheotheradormcity,builtattheCalamaoasis.

ThefirstbecameaperfectexampleofNorthAmericanenclaves,propertyoftheGuggenheim

brothersunderthe‘ChileanExplorationCompany’.Itwasorganisedaroundastrictdistinction

of social classes and neighbourhoods. Each worker had a given ‘role’ – A, B, C or D – that

classified his work, salary, housing and rank, erasing all distinctions between private and

workinglife.

Aftertheminewasnationalisedin1970,duringthesocialistgovernmentofSalvadorAllende,

the Chuquicamata camp became one of the main enclaves of Chilean sovereignty over

Atacama. Its population became extremely proud of this status, picturing themselves as

privilegedworkerslivinginanidealsociety.AnintervieweewhogrewupintheChuquicamata

campremembersthosedaysasfollows:

LifeinChuquicamatawasspecial.Ithinkwefeltreallygoodlivingthere,everyonedid.Itfelt

asifwewereunique,expandingsovereignty,somethingrelevantforthecountry.Youcould

seeitinsports:wewereChileanchampionsofboxing,trackandfieldandbowling.Lifewas

beautiful and full of activities. Maybe a little artificial if compared with the rest of the

country.ItwashardmovingdowntoCalama.InChuquicamatawefeltlikewewerecreating

theChileannation.Everyoneunderstoodthat.Whenthecopperwasnationalised,allofus

wereworkingforChile. Itwasstrong. I thinkthatencouragedpeople.Everythingwastidy

andnice.(FromfieldworkinterviewsinCalama,July2013.)

Notwithstanding the emotional attachment Chuquicamatans had with their camp city, the

mine’s uninterrupted growth ultimately covered the place with the mine’s waste products.

Unable to keep workers living by the production area, the national company (CODELCO)

decidedtorelocatethemtoCalama,closingthecampin2007.Therelocatedfamiliessettled

down in the ‘New Calama Neighbourhood’, specially built for them. One of the last new

settlements was located on what is known as Topater, one of the few green areas on the

outskirts of the city. Topater was also the place where Bolivian troops resisted the Chilean

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invasionof1879;furthermore,theconstructionworkforthenewhousesrevealeditwasthe

siteofa large indigenouscemetery,whoseoldestburialsdatedback to500BC. It contained

several hundred bodies and an impressive collection of funeral artefacts including textiles,

ceramics,weaponsandhomeware.Theminingcompanystoredallthesearchaeologicalfinds

inawarehouse,andcontinuedbuilding.

ThepowerofCODELCOoverCalamahasalwaysbeenall-pervasiveanduncontested; theold

oasiswasseenbythecompanyasnothingbutChuquicamata’sbackyard.ForChuquicamatans,

Calama was a place of violence and dirt when compared with their idealised camp. For

Calamans,CODELCOhasdestroyedtheirnaturalenvironmentandsubjugateditspeopletothe

company'sselfishinterests.OneinhabitantofCalamacomments:

Calama is hard to bear. It is said it has 50,000 inhabitants; but, adding the commuting

population, it is saturated. It’s crazy. CODELCO transports hazardous substances via the

city’sringroad.Thereismuchprocrastinationonthepartofsomeoftheactorsinvolvedin

developingthecity.Thetownhallwantstodothings,butCODELCOalwaysintervenes.They

havereachedthetownhall’sheadandmanagedtoinstallaformeremployeeasmayorto

gaininfluenceonthecity’smasterplan.Theyadjustthingstotheirinterests.Topaterused

to be themost beautiful area in the city; it belonged to a private person, but he never

closed it. Itwaseveryone’srecreationalarea.CODELCOsaid,straightforwardlyandalmost

laughingatus:ifwearecomingdowntoCalama,wewillsettleinthebestplaceinthecity.

Andthat’swheretheybuiltthesuburbs.(FromfieldworkinterviewsinCalama,July2013.)

Despitethisunevensocialstructure,withminingproductioncontrollingeverythingelse,large

numbersofworkersareconstantlyarrivinginCalama.Itissaidajobcanbefoundintwenty-

fourhoursduetothealways-expandingdemandforlabour.Peoplefromalltheneighbouring

countriesgatherinthecity:womenfromBoliviaworkingascooks,Chileanmensub-contracted

in the mines, Colombian carpenters building new houses, and so on. Informal and illegal

activities,supportedbytheauthoritiesturningablindeye,alsocontributetoensuremoneyis

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availableherethatcannotbefoundanywhereelse.Anotherinterviewee,theoldestattendee

atthefestivalofAyquina,addsthefollowingdescriptionofCalama:

Calamaislikeawhirlpool,likethosecowboymoviesduringthegoldfever.It’smorecivilised

andwithmorelaws,butlifeisashardhere[...].ThereismoneyinCalama,butyouneedto

workhard.Outsidersfindworkrightaway,goodwork,andthesalarygapislarge,butthings

alsocostmorehere.Topurchaseahouseyouneedtospendthreeorfourtimesmorethan

in the south, because here there are very few available. People come to Calama seeking

adventure, work and money; but then they get used to it all and stay for good. (From

fieldworkinterviewsinCalama,July2013.)

From a broader and less considered perspective, outsiders often see Calama as a kind of

‘doomedcity’wherewealthcanbeeasilyobtained,butonly inreturnforanextremelossof

lifequality(ORDUM:2009).However,amoreaccuratedescriptionofCalama’ssocialdynamics

wouldrevealaquitecomplexenvironment,challengingtheideathatitsinhabitantsarepassive

recipientsofminingexternalities.

Calama’smodernhistoryisstronglyattachedtotheriseoflabourunionsinthenorthofChile,

whose first expression is clearly traceable in theold nitrate camps (Salazar: 2006;Gonzales:

2009;Mercado: 2009; etc.). The pauperised labour conditions that affected nitrateworkers

gaverisetotheChileanworking-classmovements,whichopenlychallengedcapitalistmodesof

production.InMercado’sview(2009),thefigureoftheearly-twentieth-centurynitrateworker

emerged as the political avant-garde of Latin America, becoming its first, almost mythical

expression.Theimpositionacrossthepampasofanextractionsystembasedonpurecapitalist

relations,heargues, ledto theemergenceof itscounterpart, theclass-consciousproletariat,

whichbecamecrucialduringthesubsequentstrugglesforamoreequalsociety.

Accordingly, the oasis of Calama inherited not only the displaced populations of the nitrate

industry, but also their political understanding of working conditions. It is this ideological

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continuity that partially explainswhy themilitary government, after the coupd'état of 1973

againstthesocialistpresidentSalvadorAllende,wassostronglyrepressiveintheAtacama.The

collectivememorystillrecallswhatwasknownasthe‘CaravanofDeath’,amilitarydelegation

commandedbytheGeneralBrigadierSergioArellanoStark,whichtraversedthenortherncities

of La Serena, Copiapó, Antofagasta, Calama, Iquique, Pisagua and Arica, leaving behind

seventy-onedeadmenandwomenaftersixdays.

After this serious blow suffered by the labourmovement, the following seventeen years of

dictatorshipinvolvedtherepressionofpracticesofsocialstruggleinCalama.Nevertheless, in

2008anewmayorwaselected,andwithhimthecollectivememoryseemedtobeawakened.

HeproclaimedthatCalamawasnotjustacoppercitybutalsoanagriculturaloasis,inhabited

forcenturies:CalamaistheWhipala,theOasis,andtheCopper,heproclaimed.Iftheimageof

thecityusedtobemainlyassociatedwiththemines,nowthatsecondidentity–aspartofan

indigenous territory – was also politically articulated. Even the festival of Ayquina gained a

political dimension, playing a substantial role in Calama’s identity construction, becoming a

furtherexpressionofthisterritory’suniquewayofbeing.

ThesuccessofthehybridrhetoricamongCalamansisshowninthemayor’sabilitytocreatea

discursive image where industrial extraction and the Andean world co-exist as one. The

political climax of the new approach came when a general strike was organised by the

inhabitants of the oasis. On 29 April 2011,more than a third of Calamansmarched on the

streets, with themayor heading the column, in the largest demonstration ever seen in the

oasis.Thatsameyearalmosteveryhouseinthecityhadablackflaghangingfromitsdoor,ina

clearsignofsupportfortheemergingsocialmovementanditsdemands.Oneofitsmostactive

agentsrecallswhatthemovementwas,andstillis,fightingfor:

1.Keeping5%ofthecopperproductionutilitiesinthecity.2.Economiccompensationforthelackofgovernmentalinvestmentinthecity(USD400million).

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3.DefinitionofCalamaasanExtremeZone.724.Economiccompensationforthere-settlementoftheinhabitantsoftheChuquicamatacampinCalama.5.Startofalong-termprocesstowardsthere-nationalisationofminingandwaterresources.

DuringmyfieldworkcarriedoutintheAtacama,almosteveryweekInoticedanewstrikegoing

on.Mostdidnotentirelysucceed;however,theyevidencedtheconstantdevelopmentofan

interconnectedsocialmovement,withiterativeepisodesofebbandflow.Atthebaseofallthe

strikesistherecentemergenceofanewtypeofworker–thesub-contractedemployee.This

kind of labour implies several hundred people working for the mining company but none

actuallybelongingtoit.Theyarehiredthroughanintermediary–usuallytheownerofasmall

servicesproviderenterprise–totakeonspecifictasksintheproductionchain.Manyofthese

tasksareexactlythesameasthosedonebythecompany’sfull-contractedworkers,butthere

is a largegapdividing the twokindsofworker.On theonehand, thisexternalisationof the

human labour releases thecompany fromany responsibilityover theworkers;on theother,

the precariousness of working conditions experienced by sub-contracted workers not only

means lowersalariesand fewerbenefits,butalso the fragmentationofworkers’unions into

severalsmallgroups.73

Asanexampleof theongoing struggles, inAprilof2013 the sub-contractedworkersofBHP

Billitonmanagedtostriketogether,paralysingproduction.Demandsfocusedonworkers’long

journeys back home during off-days, asking for plane tickets to avoid the 20-hour-long bus

journeys(mostofthesesub-contractedworkershavetocommutefromthesoutherncitiesto

thedesert,coveringadistanceof2,000kilometresorevenmore).Phonecallsweremadeto

72AccordingtotheChileanlaw,therearesomeareasofthecountrythat,giventheirisolation,aregrantedwith

benefits such as lower taxes, higher salaries for some strategic professionals and economic benefits forinvestmentsintheterritory.

73 ThecurrentChileanLabourCode,sealedduringPinochet’sdictatorship,forbidsunionstobeorganisedaroundproductiveareassuchasmining,constructionortransport.Instead,workers’legalassociabilityisinrelationtotheircontractualaffiliation.Forsub-contractedwork, thismeans thatcollectivenegotiationsmustbecarriedout between the owner of a service provider enterprise and his direct dependants, protecting miningcompaniesfromhavingtodealwiththeirexternalisedhumaninputs.

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several parties, local union leaders aswell as central government agents. The day after the

strikebegan,thecompanyhadalreadymadeupitsmind:allsub-contractedworkershadtobe

firedandcontractswiththeservicesprovidersdirectlyresponsibleforthoseworkerscancelled.

The company elected to assume the economic cost rather than yielding to the workers’

demands.

DuringapublicdebatebroadcastedbyalocalradiostationofCalamainSeptember2010and

available on the web, the heads of the sub-contracted copper workers of the city, Cristian

Cuevas,argued:

Whatsituationarewe in, theworkers?Workingmorethantwelvehoursaday,andeven

thentherighttobewithourfamiliesisdeniedus.Wesufferexceptionalworkingjourneys,

which violate the workers’ dignity, pauperising us. We, the workers, must convene to

demandourrights,labourjusticeandhumandignity.

Closetotheendheadds:

Ifwedon’t strikewewill not have rights; ifwedon’t organiseourselveswe are going to

keeponbeingsmashed.With thestrengthof theworkers,with the force thatLuisEmilio

Recabarren, father of the labour movement, left us, with the women and men of this

province,Calamawillriseupasone,andthecountrywillfollow,representingthosemillions

ofpeoplethatfeelalone.Togetherwewillfighttomakethebreadreacheveryone’stable.

Fromaneconomicpointofview,Calamans’socialstruggleisdirectlyrelatedtothecontrolof

the productive forces in the Atacama, challenging its international ownership as well as its

centralisedandoligarchicaladministration.Theworkers’politicaldesireistobuildanewsocial

structure with them at its centre, to redistribute the country’s wealth less controversially,

amongall itscitizens.This isthe ideal–or ideology, inJameson’sterms(1991)–thatguides

politicalaction,aimingforafutureinwhichstructuralcontradictionscanbesolved.

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3.SanPedro:TheLastKingoftheAtacama

ThisthirdandfinalsectionlooksatthevillageofSanPedrointheinnermountains,which,asI

willshow,divergesfromthepreviouslydescribedstructuresofminingproductiontounfolda

different yet related kind of political conflict. The much smaller scale of San Pedro when

compared with Antofagasta or Calama74 drove my ethnographic fieldwork to pay closer

attentiontothehistoryandspecificactorsinvolvedinshapingthevillageasitistoday.

MostscholarsagreethatSpanishcontrolof theAtacamabegan in1557,asadirect resultof

theBattleoftheQuitorFortress(PukarádeQuitor),locatedafewkilometresfromSanPedro

Village. The oral history recalls that after several days of unsuccessful siege, Francisco de

Aguirre – the Spanish commander, a veteran of colonial wars since 1530 – rode his horse

againstthepukara’swalls,killingtheanimalintheeffortbutopeningagapthroughwhichthe

invading troopswould finally take the fortress. Three hundredmenwere decapitated, their

headsnailedonhighstakes to let themrotunder thesun.NoLickan-Antaiwarriorsurvived,

andtheirwomenandchildrencameback fromtheirhideouts in themountains tosurrender

(Hidalgo:2011).

After the Spanish victory, a holymasswas celebrated to cement peace. Gerónimo de Vivar

(1558) recorded how the surviving population built a chapel to express the inclusion of the

victorious creed as part of their own religious practices, as they had done during previous

Tiawanaku and Inka domination. But this kind of symbolic submission was not going to be

easily accepted by the invading authorities. For them, what was important was not the

inclusion of the European credo into the natives’ religious universe, but the complete

extirpation of any ‘false belief’ and its absolute replacement by the ‘Only True God’.

Throughout this forced conversionprocess, the extirpationof 'idolatries'was thehardest to

consolidate.

74Permanentinhabitantsfor:Antofagasta–300,000;Calama–140,000;SanPedro–4,000

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In1614,forexample,thepriestofChiu-Chiudenouncedtotheecclesiasticalauthoritiesof

theArchbishopofLaPlatatheexistenceofidolatrouspracticesamongsomeAtacamans. In

hisroleas‘VicarandEcclesiasticalJudgeforthePunishmentandExtirpationofIdolatries’he

described[...]thecontinuityofcertainceremoniesandperformancesrelatedtolocaldeities

inAtacamanritualpractices.(Sanhueza:2009,73)

Withinthiscontinuousprocessofcolonisation,controloftheAtacamawasfinallycementedby

theSpanishinthelatesixteenthcentury,whenthevillageofSanPedrowasre-foundedasthe

governmentalcentreoftheregion.Itsurbandesignfollowedtheusualchessboardpatternof

Spanish enclaves in America, although it was surrounded by autonomous indigenous

settlements(Ayllus)spreadalongthevalley,hamperingtheeffectivenessofcentralisedpower

andforcingallianceswithlocalchiefs.

The Spaniards domain over the Atacama stayed relatively stable during the two following

centuries,until theBourbonReformsof theSpanishCrownunleashedwhat is knownas the

‘GeneralIndigenousUprising’.In1780TúpacAmaruII(JoséGabrielCondorcanqui),amestizo

descended from Inkanobility, headedanarmyagainst the colonial power,with the struggle

expanding all over the South-Central Andes. Proclaiming himself ‘Inka, Lord of Caesars and

Amazonia’, he sought to integrate Indians, criollos75 and black populations against colonial

abuses;butthemovement’sownexpansionreshapeditintoaracialstruggleagainstSpaniards

and Criollos, leading the rebel army to its final defeat in 1781 (Gutierrez: 2006). All

revolutionaryleaderswerecapturedandtorturedandsufferedpublicexecutions,andthosein

theAtacamawerenoexception.ThelocalleaderwasTomásPaniriandhisexecutionisrecalled

asasimilareventtothatofTúpacAmaru:Paniri’shandsandfeetweretiedtofourhorsesand

hisextremitiesthuspulledinoppositedirections,sothathisbodywasdismembered.Eachpart

was taken to one corner of the Atacama and his head left in Chiu-Chiu, site of the oldest

Christianchurchintheterritory(1611).Despitethefailureoftheindigenousrevolt,fortyyears

75 Criollo’ is thenamegiven todescendantsofSpaniardsborn inAmerica,whowere the localelitesduring the

colonialperiod.

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latertheSpanishCrownwouldloseallitsAmericancolonies,asitspowerwaschallengedand

replacedbytheemergenceofnation-statesundercriollocontrol.

As a result of the Latin American Wars of Independence, in 1825 San Pedro de Atacama

becamepartoftheBoliviannationandtheEncomienda becameasystemofpatronagebased

on serfdom. The Atacama’s role as a connecting point between Peru and Chile remained

unchanged but the exploitation of new minerals on the coast changed the scale of its

productions. San Pedro’s first post-colonial economic boomwas achieved during the nitrate

mining cycle (1880–1930), when cattle were brought from the other side of the mountain

range(Salta,Argentina)anddeliveredtothepampas.Afteranextremelyhardjourneythrough

themountains,thecattleneededtorestandbefedinordertobedeliveredingoodcondition

totheminingcamps.Themuleteerswentbackandforth,theimageofthousandsofheadsof

cattlemarchingfromtheheightstowardsthedesertstillremaininginthesocialimaginary.As

it had done before, San Pedro was interconnecting vast territories, political centres and

economicenterprises.

Bytheendofthenineteenthcenturythecattletradewascontrolledbyanoligarchyofrecent

immigrants to the territory, attractedby thenitratemining, knownas ‘theCroatians’.76 This

neweconomiceliteruledtheareawithoutsignificantchallengeforaboutseventyyears,until

the Chilean invasion of 1879 and remained for several decades afterwards. The Croatians’

presence is still traceableallover theAtacamaDesert,but their commercialactivities inSan

Pedrowereabruptlyendedafterthenitratecrisisof1929;theydefinitivelylefttheareaduring

the1950s,whentheymovedtothecoastalcities.Inthecontextofthewidespreadeconomic

crisisandthisretreatingelite,anewfigureemerges inSanPedrodeAtacamawhoseactions

proved extremely influential for the village’s current social configuration: a Belgian priest,

GustaveLePaige.

76TheCroatianswereeconomicmigrantsfromtheBalkans,whoestablishedthemselvesinChileandArgentina.

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LePaigearrived in theAtacamaafterseveralyearsofmissionarywork in theBelgianCongo,

settling down in the mining camp of Chuquicamata. He was a member of the Jesuit

Congregation and had a strong inclination for science. However, Le Paige rapidly came to

dislikemining life,moving toSanPedro in1955, attractedby thewidespreadarchaeological

sitesfoundinthemountainoases.Influencedbytheliberationtheologymovement,77LePaige

rapidlymanagedtogetthelocalpopulationonhissidebyconfrontingtheremnantsoftheold

Croatianoligarchy.Fromthepulpitherailedagainsttheabusesandexploitationslandowners

were inflicting on the peasants, portraying them as an illegitimate source of power in open

conflictwiththetrueownersofthe land:theAtacamans.Afewyears later,noCroatianwas

left in the village, as they abandoned the now-unprofitable lands, and the priest grew to

resembleakindofmessianicliberatoroftheoppressedcommunities.

Thereafter,LePaigestartedtobeknownasthe ‘LastKingoftheAtacama’.Hiscontroloverthe

village became absolute. No one entered or left San Pedro without his approval. Some

unconfirmedrumoursevensuggestedtheexistenceofasecretpoliceunderthecontrolofthe

parish, in chargeof enforcing the correct behaviour of any outsiders.One interviewee,who

currentlylivesinthecoastalcityofAntofagasta,relateshowhearrivedinSanPedroforafew

daysduringthemid1970s,asayounghitchhiker.Heremembersquitewellhis firstmeeting

withthepriest.Inhisopinion,LePaigewasanalmostmythologicalfigure,andheforbadehim

toleavethevillagewhenhefoundoutthenewoutsidercouldworkasanarchitect.Completely

seducedbythepriest’scharisma,hestayedinSanPedroforthenextfiveyears.

Another interviewee describes a quite specific episode indirectly related to Le Paige. One

afternoonshewashavingsomedrinks in theonlybar inSanPedroopentooutsiders,when

suddenly a group ofmen entered the place and started beating one of her friends. All the

outsiders jumped off their seats to intervene, but one of the assailants turned around to

77LiberationtheologywasamovementoriginatedinLatinAmericaduringthe1950sand1960s,whichproclaimed

the need to reinterpret Christian doctrines ‘through the eyes of the poor’, seeking social change towards amoresociallyequalsociety(Gutierrez:1972).

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threatenthecrowd:‘Anyonewhodarestointervenewillbethenext’.Thebeatenmanwasleft

semi-unconsciousattheborderofthevillage,andnoonetriedtostopit.

Despite the completeness of his political control, the ‘Last King of the Atacama’ never

abandoned his interests in science and archaeology, the areas in which he grounded his

spiritualpower.WhileplacinghimselfattheheadofSanPedro’ssociety,heduguphundreds

of funeral sites around theoasis, accumulating the findings in his personal residence,which

would later be transformed into the Archaeological Museum of San Pedro de Atacama

(MASPA).AftertheCroatians’finaldeparture,hewouldpreachfromthepulpitwithaskullin

hishand,commandingtheaudiencetorealiseitwasjustabone,andnooldspiritswerehiding

in it. ‘Deadsoulsare inHeaven’,hewouldsay, ‘asGodcommands’– that is,notamongthe

living, so no ritual should be offered to them. Such rituals, he said, were just ignorance,

misunderstandingandprimitivism.LePaigecamenotonlytocontrolpoliticsinSanPedro,but

also,mostofall,thecropsandtheirsymbolicmeanings.Perhapswithoutnoticingit,thepriest

hadturnedintothelastextirpatorofidolatriesintheAtacama,dissectingthecultofthedead

tomakethebodyanobjectofscience.78

However,thestruggleovercontrolofthedeadisstillfullyunderwayinSanPedro.Atacaman

communitieshaveclaimedtheirancestorsbackfromLePaige’smuseum,butscholarsrefuseto

surrenderthem.Theyarguecorpsesmustbepreservedingoodcondition,andreburyingthem

will only destroy all meaningful data; so, they must stay locked up in specially designed

warehouses– ‘Weare keeping them for further research’, LePaigewouldhave said,with a

skull in his left hand. None of the interviewed scholars from the museum seemed to fully

78Fromabroaderhistoricalperspective,thegoalofmonopolisingfuneralritesintheAtacamahasbeenacentral

partofeveryidolatryextirpationcampaign,yetithasneverbeentotallyachieved.Itwasinthisarenathatthemost violent ideological struggle tookplace, due to indigenous communities’ resistance to abandoning theirexistingfuneralcults.OneanthropologistinterviewedduringthefieldworkthoughttheimagesworshippedinAndeanfestivalsareareifiedreplacementofthecultofthedead,whichincludedtakingthebodies(gentíles)out of their tombs and carrying them in procession, a ritual celebration. Even in current times, during earlyMay,someAtacamanfamiliesplacethediningtablebythewindow,withthecrossfromsomerelative’sgravelain upon it. All the family members have dinner together, sharing with the gentíl food and alcohol andcelebratinguntilsunrise.Likethecrosses,inritualfestivitiesplastericonsbecomethematerialreplacementforthecorpse,transmutingthegentíl’spowersintoaChristianfigure.

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understandwhythecommunitiesaresokeenonretrievingthecorpses,ifpriortotheirarrival

locals did not concern themselves with them at all.79 As a hypothetical explanation,

anthropologists have proposed the term re-ethnification to describe how researched

communities re-appropriate academic discourses, turning them against those who built the

narratives in the first place. Consequently, every anthropologist in San Pedro suffers some

degreeofguiltregardingherorhisworkinthearea.

ThegroupofscholarsinSanPedrowasbuiltupduringLePaige’s‘reign’,asheconstructeda

networkbeyondthelimitsofthevillageandcontactedecclesiasticandacademicelitesinthe

Chilean capital.A fewyearsbeforehepassedaway (in 1980), peoplebegan to come to the

villagetostudyLePaige’smagnificentarchaeologicalcollectionandayounggroupofscholars

begantoassembleattheMuseum–thesameoneswhoarecurrentlyrefusingtoreturnthe

cadavers.Atthetimeoftheseyoungscholars’arrival,LePaigehadalreadycollectedhundreds

ofarchaeologicalobjects,andthepristinebeautyofthistinyvillageinthemiddleoftheAndes

amazedthenewvisitors.Oneintervieweewhoarrivedtoconductethno-historicalresearchin

themid1980sdescribestheplaceasfollows:

SanPedrowasatinyvillage,withjustabitoftourism,acoupleofhostels, justonepublic

phone;electriclightwascutoffat11p.m.Itwasafrontiervillagewithasimplelife(...).The

landscape is centralhere; therearemanybeautifulplaces, and ithas that kindofbeauty

that produces a special experience in several cultures. (From fieldwork interviews in San

Pedro,August2013.)

AfterLePaigepassedawaythenumberofvisitorsunderwentanexponentialgrowth.Thefirst

groupofyoungscholarsattractedothers,andaconstantflowofvisitorsdeveloped.Therewas

nolongerrigidcontrolonwhocouldstayorshouldleave,sothenewimmigrantssettleddown

andstartedtoexertcontrolover landandhouses. Inthefollowingyears,SanPedrobecame

widely known as a touristic spot, framed as a magical, mystical mountain place, a perfect 79 Three scholarsworking at themuseumwere interviewed. Surprisingly, all of themagreedupon theneed to

keepthebodiesinthemuseumwhileappearingunawareofthelong-termfightovertheirreturn.

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destinationtogetintouchwithnature,farawayfrommundanityofurbanlife.Currently,more

than60,000touristsarriveinthevillageannually,anditisnowpackedwithpremiumhotelsas

wellascheaphostels.Horsebackriding,hotsprings,birdwatching,exoticfoodandincredible

landscapesareadvertisedoneverystreetcorner.Aroomatoneofthevillage’smostfamous

premium hotels costs USD 1,700 per night, offering amaximum level of comfort. From the

outside, everyone looks wealthy and happy, living in a village that promotes itself as ‘the

archaeological capital of Chile’, and, as a touristic business webpage describes it, 'place in

perfectharmonywithMotherNature andadestinationofmagical contrasts'. SanPedrohas

becomeacosmopolitancentre,gatheringpeople fromallover theworldat theheartof the

Andes.

Notwithstanding this attractive notion of harmony, the tourism industry has developed a

strongpresence in the territory, replacingdominanceofecclesiasticaldiscoursewith itsown

structures of commercial power. It is the touristic rhetoric that nowmonopolises both the

economy and the meanings of San Pedro de Atacama, transforming it into an aseptic

landscape, themain commodityof the industry. Theenvironment is understoodas an asset

thatmustbepreserveduntouched. Eventheindigenouscommunitieshavebeendraggedinto

thisstagedperformance,inthedevelopmentofwhatisknownasethno-tourism.Onetourism

entrepreneurinterviewedcomments:

Atouristentrepreneurwhojustreferstothelandscapebutnottotheculturedoesnothave

aclearvision.ThereisavalueintheAtacamanpeopleandthatvalueisprofitable.Tourists

wanttogetintouchwiththeAtacamans;butwithoutbeingtold,theywouldneverknow.

(FromfieldworkinterviewsinSanPedro,August2013.)

As could be expected by looking at San Pedro’s history, underneath the current touristic

merchandisingliesacomplexsetoftensionsandcontroversies–notjustbetweenthetourism

industry and indigenous communities, with both fighting over land ownership, but also

between the industry and the ArchaeologicalMuseum,which thinks tourism has fostered a

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lossofindigenoustraditionsandwaysoflife.Toaddanotherlayerofcomplexity,afourthactor

completesthescenario:theexpandingminingindustry.

Inthefollowing,Itranscribethemainpassagesofaninterviewconductedduringthefieldwork,

interweaving these with my own observations.80 I give special attention to this because it

highlightsmanyofthemainconflictsandstrugglesofSanPedrodeAtacamadescribedinthis

section.The transcribedpassagesprovide insights into thedynamicsof the tourismbusiness

anditsexplicitoppositiontotheminingindustry.

TheHaciendaBeter

AtthenorthernborderofSanPedrodeAtacama’ssalt lakestandsthe‘HaciendaBeter’.This

manor house follows the usual shape of colonial buildings, forming a ‘U’ around a central

courtyardthatoverlooksthecountrysideandtheLickankaburvolcano.Everydetailiscarefully

planned:arealisticportraitimmortalisesaBengalitiger;somebeautifullycarvedHindudoors

areusedastablesontheterracecover;andfour largeclay jarsdecoratesthecornersofthe

innerpatio.

DonMiguel,81thegeneralmanager, issitting intheadministrationoffice.Theroomoccupies

thegreaterpartofthehouse’snorthernwing,leadingdirectlytothecourtyardandflankedby

four linesofwoodenpillars.HeclaimstobeaBuddhistandtoenjoythe lookingatthestars

duringthedarknightsofSanPedro.Hesaysitimproveshismeditationexercises.DonMiguelis

discussingwiththefieldadministrator,asizeableAtacaman.Afteraroundfifteenminutes,he

bidshimfarewell,andstartscallingintheworkersonebyone.AllofthemareBolivians.The

80 Here I follow Denzin’s (2001) description of ‘the performative interview’, which is described as a way of

acknowledgingtheworldand,at thesametime,co-creating itandgiving it itssituatedmeaningfulness: ‘Theinterviewisafabrication,aconstruction,afiction,anorderingorrearrangementofselectedmaterialsfromtheactualworld’ (2001, 25). I am aware this sub-section’s style does notmatch entirelywith the previous andfollowingsub-sections,butIthinkthisisjustifiedbytheinsightsitprovidesinregardsofhowSanPedro'ssocialstructureiscurrentlyarticulated.

81Theoriginalnameoftheintervieweehasbeenchangedforthepurposesofthistranscription.

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time is approaching noon and it is nearly the end of themonth. Apparently DonMiguel is

negotiatingthewagesowedtotheworkers.He indicatestoeachworkerhis totalsalaryand

proceedstosubtractalltheexpensestheHaciendahasincurredfortheworker’smaintenance:

food,water,shelter,etc.DonMiguelcitesthefinalamountandcallsthenextBolivianintohis

office.

Shortlyaftertheinterviewbegins,thefieldmanagerbouncesintotheoffice:

-Excuseme–saystheAtacaman–Ileftmykeyssomewhere.

-DonMiguelreplies:Arethesewhatyouarelookingfor?

-No,no,no...

-Theyarenotherethen.

DonMiguelcontinuesexplaininghowtheHaciendaworks:

What at the beginning was a boutique hotel project is now an endeavour to safeguard

territory[and]localtraditionstoo.Butmixedwithbitsofmodernity.Thatisthecompany’s

aim.Companyandfoundation.

The discussion goes on and now DonMiguel elaborates onwhat he calls the creation of a

‘“green territory”, then a “green region” and, why not, a “green country”’. What he is

proposing is the creationof a territorial ‘pinstripe’, differentiating inner sectors fordifferent

kindsofproductions.Yet,whatunderlieshisproposal isadirectattackagainst theHacienda

Beter’sworstenemy:theminingindustry.Bothcompeteforthesameresource:landproperty

andvaluationcontrol.WhiletheformerisatenaciousagentofpremiumtourisminSanPedro,

thelatterstrivestoexpandmineralextraction.Ifconservationistsdefineterritoryaslandscape,

minersareinterestedinwhatisunderneath.Thefirstwantstowatchwhilethesecondwants

todig.

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Some territory is closed, let’s say...for tourism,andwhat is leftout is formininguse,but

theseindustriesmustmaketheirsocialinvestmentintheprotectedarea.

ButDonMiguel’sproposalgoes further.He suggestsnotonlya territorial greenenclavebut

alsoitssocialpurification.Aftertheterritoryisfenced,andwiththeactivecooperationofthe

localgovernment,thievesanddrunkardsshallbepersecutedandexpelledfromthearea.

It’san ideaI lovesomuch.WhenIwas intheSERNATUR[GovernmentalTourismOffice] I

fought for it. Maybe it’s a little discriminatory; I don’t know... It’s a good system for

everyone.Ultimately,theminersandtheirfamilieswillenjoythispark,butiftheycometo

livehere,theymustbehave.

Atthispointoftheinterviewseveralstoriesaboutminingaretold,allofthempointingoutthe

industry’s perversity: for example, the current geothermic projects taking place in the

highlands, Don Miguel thinks, are not searching for clean energy but for water inside the

mountainsthatcouldserveminingproduction.Theindustryisdesperatelysearchingforwater,

turningvalleysupsidedown,drainingwetlands,dryingravines,suckingeverythingbonedry.All

inthetaskofenlargingtheirextractionprocesses.‘WHENAREWEGOINGTOSTOPTHEM?!!’–

heexclaims.

Hestands,reachesfortheofficedoorandclosesit.Heisspeakingtoomuchandneedstobe

morecareful.

Tourism can be quite sustainable while mining can kill the entire region. Mining eats

everything.Catarpe,atownfullofbeautifulplaces,touristicones,isalreadyhostingminers.

How is thatgoing toend?Youcansee the tavernsallaroundhere...in themyou findany

kindofpeople.Theyarenottheprofilewearewillingtoreceive;itisnotconvenientforus.

Theminerisnotsomeonewhofeelsaneedtobecleanandtidy.

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Thenheadds:

Wemustsafeguardtheautochthonous,everythingthatcharacterisesthevillageaesthetic.

Wemustbuildaterritorythatdoesn’taffectthevisualexperienceyouhopetohaveduring

yourtrip.Visitorswanttoexperiencealandscape,andnothingmustbeallowedtointerrupt

oraffectthatlandscapeaesthetic.Andinthatcontext,theproductsareinserted.

As I had been informed beforehand, the Hacienda Beter is the property of Fallabela

Enterprises, the largest retail industry in Chile, with a presence in several South American

countries.Theeldestdaughteroftheclanrunsthisconservationproject.Sheoftenflieswith

friendsinaprivatehelicoptertoSanPedro,lookingforamoonlightdinner.Shefeelsintimately

linkedtotheplace.Shewearsallwhiteandenjoysyoga.

DonMiguelalsofindsspaceinhisdiatribefortheAtacamans.Somehowhemanagestoassert

his interest in people; he says that good and bad people are everywhere, so he dealswith

specific subjects and never with communities or social organisations. Subtly enough, he is

separating individuals from groups, isolating every individual from any kind of social

organisation.Andonlythen–heproposes–canyoustartnegotiating.

What does “my land” mean? My land? What is that? After all, this planet belongs to

everyone. I livedtenyears inPucónbutmembersofthe localauthorityconsideredmean

outsider.But theyareoutsider likeme too.How longhave theybeen in that territory?A

hundred?Twohundredyears?So,whatistheirland?Myland?Whatisallthatabout?

Itisabout1p.m.andeveryoneintheHaciendaisgoingforlunch.DonMiguellosttrackoftime

while explaining his thoughts so passionately. He looks at his watch and starts closing the

speech.He finishesbywonderingaloudaboutapotential relationwemayhave incommon,

somecousinofhis inColico Lake, in the south, SergioPalma.Heasksme ifbyanychance I

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knowhim.Justbeforeleavingtheplace,afterforbiddingmetotakepictures,DonMiguelgives

afinalwarningorconfession:

Tourismislikeavirus:ifyoudon’tcontrolit,itmayeatyou!

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Chapter5:HistoryofaVisualTranslation

Thislastchapteranalyseshowthewrittenandthevisualpartsofthisprojectareconnectedas

two complementary outcomes, with the first exploring the possible translations of the

Atacamaandthesecondactuallyundertakingsuchatranslationintotheaudiovisualmedium.

The chapter starts by describing inmore detail what I have referred to in chapter 2 as the

imaginary script, and thenprovidesawrittendescriptionof thecollectionof footageand its

arrangement at themontage stage; finally, the final outcome – in the form of a 62-minute

documentaryfilm–anditsdistributionaredescribed.Thechapterworksasareflexivepiecein

the sense that it describes the stages, negotiations and people involved in this visual

fabrication as part of the research outcome. Throughout it, I explore how the relationship

betweenme(andthefilmingteam)andthefilm’sparticipantsshapedthecontentsandform

ofthefinalpiece.TheoverallchapterisinspiredbywhatRose(2007)describedas‘multilayer

image-making’,referringtohowimagesarecomprisedbytheirinternalmeanings,thecontext

inwhichtheywereproducedandtheagencytheygainonceplacedincirculation.

The first sectiondescribes indetail the imaginary script thatwasused toguide theshooting

stage, presenting a list of possible scenes and their descriptions. It also lists the team I put

together toundertakethe filmproduction,anddescribeshow itwasassembled.Thesecond

sectionturnstohowthisscriptwastransformedasourrelationshipwiththefilmedsubjects

developed.Itsthirdsectiondiscusseshowthecollectedimageswerearrangedatthemontage

stage, and how the Chakana model and film industry standards contributed to give the

documentaryfilmitsfinalform.Toconclude,thelastsectiondescribesthefilm’safterlifesince

itwasreleasedinSeptember2015,andhowitisstillproducingnewencounters.

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1.RevisitingtheChakana:TowardsanImaginaryScript

The fabricationof a visual translationof theAtacamabeganwith the compositionofwhat I

havecalledan imaginaryscript.This refers toa ‘transitionalspace’ (Guzman:1997)between

designingandactuallymakingadocumentaryfilm,whichguidesandnarrowsdownwhatitis

being lookedfor throughouttheprocess. It is imaginarybecause it isalwaysopentochange

and variation, being as sensitive as possible to what is found while making the film. The

imaginaryscriptworkslikeamapthatneedstobeconstantlycontrastedwithwhatisactually

discoveredontheterrain,searchingforthebalancebetweenaguidedapproachandanopen

onethatallowschangestobeconstantlyaddedtoit.

Theimaginaryscriptforthisparticularfilmproductionwasbasedonaninterpretivemodelof

myownthattranslatedthemainactorsandcentralconflictsfoundintheAntofagastaRegion

(chapter 4) into the parameters of the Chakana cosmogram (chapter 3). Itwas an effort to

transformthefindingsofthiswrittenthesis intoatoolthathelpedvisualisetheterritoryand

thus guided the shooting. This imaginary scriptwas the last translation within the written

medium beforemoving into the audiovisual one, and it corresponds towhat Becker (2007)

calls the operation of selection. By this concept he indicates that, in order to create a

representationof society, it isnecessary todefinecriteria thatguide theprocess, identifying

whattohighlightandwhattoleaveinthebackground,whichwaspreciselytheroleperformed

bytheimaginaryscriptinthisfilmproduction.

AsthisisasociologicalstudyconcernedwithtranslatingtheAtacama,theimaginaryscriptwas

theresultofaprocessofdatacollectionandcombination.Atthebaseofthisprocesswasthe

Chakanamodel,acosmogrammaticpatternthat ispresent inaseriesofAndeanobjectsand

practicesandorganisesdifferent,oftencontradictory,dimensionsofrealitywithinonesystem

of relations.82As shown in chapter3, theChakanaallowsdifferent layersof social life tobe

82Inchapter2itwasdiscussedwhythereisnoagreementastowhethertheChakanareallyexistsasahistorical

figure, or whether it is an invented tradition. However, in the last few decades, an emergence of Andeansymbolshasbeenpromptedamongindigenousgroupsandnewcomersaswell,whoreinterpretthemastools

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articulated within a tripartite model of relations, with upper, middle and lower sides. In

addition,theChakanaorganisestheserelationsaroundacentralpointthatallowsmediationor

transitionbetweenthem,andateachofitsfourextremesisagiven,labelledactor(humanor

non-human).

The outcome of this translation process visualises the Antofagasta Region within a partial

representationthathasselected,transcodedandcombinedthefindingsofchapters3and4,

renderingitsmainactorsandconflictsintotheparametersoftheChakanamodel.Ittranslates

acomplexanddiversemultiplicityintoatwo-dimensionalscheme,bringingordertoit.Indoing

so,thisrepresentationhadtoleavemanyelementsaside,fabricatingastableandidealsystem

of relations that was put together by a series of operations and is now opened to

interpretation.ThecombinationoftheChakanacosmogramandthemainactorsandstruggles

in theAntofagastaRegionmodelleda representationof the totalityof this territory that, by

layingoutacentralelement,locatedtheopposingforceswithinit.

Thefollowingimage(Fig.19)showstheresultofthistranslationoftheAntofagastaRegioninto

theChakanamodel.Atthecentreofthediagram,workingastheaxisofaspinningwheel,was

located the notion of ‘Land’, aroundwhich everything else was organised. Each end of the

squared-crossdiagramshowsoneofthemainactors identifiedintheareaanditsrelationto

this notion of ‘Land’. The upper side of the diagramwas labelled ‘Indigenous Communities’

(Lickan-Antai), corresponding to the longest-standing inhabitants of the territory, whose

relationtothelandcanberepresentedbytheideaofinheritance,understandinglandasthe

baseof theirhistoricalandculturaldevelopment,orasa livingentity that theymustprotect

andpreserve.Conversely, the lowerendof thediagramwas labelled ‘Museum’, referring to

theArchaeologicalMuseumofSanPedrodeAtacamaandthepeopleworkinginit,forwhom

forknowledgeandaction.OneofthemanyexamplesofthistrendcanbefoundinthepoliticaldiscoursethemajorofCalamahasmadeof thecity, inwhichAndeansymbolsandmining traditionscoexistaspartof thecity’s culture (see chapter 4). Among all the reinterpreted symbols, the Chakana has a prominent position,beingre-appropriatedbyseveralgroupsasanimageofresistanceandlocalidentity.Whetheritisahistoricalfigureornot,theChakanaispartofthecurrentimaginaryintheAntofagastaRegionandintheAtacamaDesertatlarge,andthisprojectisafurtherreinterpretationofit.

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land isasource for researchandaheritagethatshouldbekeptasunchangingaspossible.83

Themiddlepartofthemodelwaslabelledtorefertothe‘Mining’and‘Touristic’sectors,both

driven by a capitalist-oriented relationshipwith the area, and for which land is a source of

mineralsoracommoditisedlandscape,respectively.84

Figure19:TheChakanamodellingoftheAntofagastaRegion

83Thedifferencebetweeninheritanceandheritageishereunderstoodsuchthatthefirstiswhatispassedfrom

onegenerationtoanotherbyreasonofbirth,whilethesecondreferstotheinstitutionaleffortofpreservingobjectsandtraditionsfromthepast.

84Oneachstep-likesideofthefigureappearsapairofopposingconcepts(extraction/agriculture;local/outsider;etc.),referringtosomeofthemainconflictsbetweenthedifferentactors.Forexample,theconflictbetweenCommunity (at the topof the figure) andMining (at the left of the figure) is representedby theoppositionbetween local farmingandminingextraction,whichareoftenantagonisticduetocompetition forcontrolofwater. The relation between Community and Tourism (on the right side of the figure) is rendered as theoppositionbetweenlocalinhabitantsandoutsiders,whofightoverthepropertyoffarminglands.Therelationbetween Museum (bottom of the figure) and Tourism is driven by the struggle between two kinds ofknowledge.Thefirst,representedbyanthropologistsandarchaeologists,isdescribedas‘scientific’knowledge,whichisincompetitionwitha‘new-age-like’kindofknowledgethatisnotguidedbysystematicresearchandisfocusedonself-improvementratherthanonmakingacontributiontoscience.Finally,MuseumandMiningarerelatedintermsofnational-stateandmine-companyinthesensethatthefirstdependsonpublicfoundingandthesecondonprivatecapitals.

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After having translated the Antofagasta Region into this diagram, the next step was to

transform it into amore detailed imaginary script.Although the diagram rendered all those

elements that might have been included, at this stage it still presented a high level of

complexity,withtoomanyactorsandpossibleconflictstolookat.Inordertonarrowdownthe

selection,theimaginaryscriptdesignwasfocusedononlyonemainpairofrelations, leaving

theothersinthebackground:thestrugglesandlinkagesbetweentheminingindustryandthe

indigenouscommunities.Thisselectionwasdrivenbythefactthatthesetwoactorsaremore

widespread throughout the territory thananyof theothers, andat the same time, because

thereisatransitionbetweentheminingsectorandtheindigenouscommunitiesatthefestival

ofAyquina,wheretheChakanacosmogramwasfound.

Thisnewselectionallowedamoreprecisefocusthatguidedthecollectionofimagesandthe

overallconstructionofthedocumentaryfilm,makingitpossibletodesignanimaginaryscript

that included types of images, locations, characters and a shooting plan. The zoomed-in

selectionisvisualisedasinFig.20:

Figure20:Sub-sectionoftheChakanamodel

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FollowingtherelationalprinciplesoftheChakanacosmogram,theimaginaryscriptwasframed

todelve intotherelationbetweentheextractive industryoftheAntofagastaRegionandthe

indigenouscommunitiesbyexploringthereligiousfestival inAyquina.Asshowninchapter4,

this festival is the result of several hybridisation processes that have combined indigenous

ritualpracticeswithChristianisediconsand,morerecently,ithasbeentakenunderthecontrol

oftheminerslivinginCalamaCity.Thiscombinationhasledthefestivaltobecomeameeting

pointwhereboth theminingsectorandthe indigenouscommunitiesaremergedwithinone

socialevent,leadingtonewhybridisationsandconflicts.

Byfocusingonthisfestivalandtheactorsthataregathered in it, theselectedsub-sectionof

thediagramwastransformedonelasttimebeforewritingtheimaginaryscript(Fig.21).Atthe

centre of the diagram was placed the festival of Ayquina, corresponding to the mediatory

elementofthediagramaroundwhicheverythingelseisorganised.Atthetopofthefigurethe

label ‘Indigenous Communities’ was retained, and at the bottomwas now placed the label

‘Mining Industries’. These two actors and their opposed locations within the diagram

establishedthemainconflictsortensionstheimaginaryscriptwasgoingtoworkwith,having

thefestivalofAyquinaastheirmeetingpoint.

Therightandleftofthediagramwerelabelled‘UrbanLife’and‘MountainsLife’,respectively.

This horizontal axis (Urban–Mountain) emphasises the opposing worlds in the Antofagasta

Region(Miners–Indigenous)andthetransformationexperiencedbyitsurbaninhabitantswhen

leaving behind their work in the mines to become ritual dancers during the festival. The

clearestexpressionofthistransitfromoneworldtotheotherisinthewalksomeinhabitants

ofCalamaCityundertaketothevillageofAyquinainthemountains,coveringarouteofmore

thanfiftymilestoreachthefestival.Thesuperbeffortthisjourneydemandsbringswithitthe

crossbetweentwodifferentkindsofrationalities–thecapitalist-orientedandtheritual-based.

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Figure21:TheChakanamodelforthe

relationbetweentheminingindustryandindigenouscommunities

The layout of this diagram, simple as it is,was used as the guiding structure to elaborate a

preciselistofpossiblescenestobecollectedduringthefilmingprocessandasamodelforthe

followingmontage.Itshowedthatthecollectionofimagesneededtocoverthreemajorissues:

a) the industrialmining;b) the festival;andc) the indigenouscommunities,withthe journey

fromtheurbansettlementstotheinnermountainstraversingallofthem.

To facilitate the collection of scenes, the imaginary script design was divided into three

settings.ThefirstwasAntofagastaCityandthecoastsoftheregion,wheretheminingindustry

has itsmajoradministrativecentres.ThesecondsettingwasCalamaCityand the journey its

inhabitantsundertake to themountains.The lastwas the festival itself, its ritualdancesand

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the indigenous communities living in its surroundings. One stay in the region lasting about

threeweekswasallocatedforeachsetting.

Beforeprovidingthelistofscenes,itisworthremindingthattheimaginaryscriptwasdesigned

toprovidetheresearchwithamapofrelationsto lookforandtranslate intotheaudiovisual

medium,selectingbeforehandthoseelementsthatweretobesoughtout,butalwaysleaving

roomfortheunexpected.Itwasthroughthisdialoguebetweentheplannedandtheunknown

thatthefilmingprocesswasdesignedandundertaken.

Listofpotentialscenes:

Afterhavingdesignedtheselectiontoguidethe inscriptionandcollectionofthe images,the

Chakana diagramwas translated into a list of ten possible scenes. The listwas divided into

threegroups,eachonecorrespondingtoaspecificsetting;theirspecificcontentswerebased

on the findings of chapter 4. Three scenes were designed for the Antofagasta Region and

Calama City, respectively, and four scenes for the festival and the indigenous communities.

Eachscenewasnumberedandgivenatitletoidentifyit,withabriefdescription.Thegeneral

designwas thought as a journey from themining industry in the coastal areas to the inner

mountains, where the festival takes place. Finally, a closing scene was added to the list,

referringtothereturnfromtheinnermountainstotheurbansettlementsoncethefestivalis

over.

A.ForAntofagastaandtheminingindustry:

1.Abandonedminingarea:Anoldminingcentre,areminderoftheboomandbustcyclesof

themining industry in the region.Thesceneshowsabandonedmining infrastructure, ruined

factory interiors;theoceanisheard inthedistance.Theminingcentre’s life isover;onlythe

wavescrushingontherocksstayinmovement.

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2.Functioningminingindustry:Thesceneopenswithaminingexplosion;itshowstheworkof

the miners, the machines they use and the process through which copper is produced.

Everythingisinmovement;thecopperextractionisneverinterrupted.Themountainsaredug

up,themineralismeltedandaloudsirenmarkstheshiftchange.

3.ThecityofAntofagastaanditsurbanexpansion:Everywhere inthecity,newbuildingsare

beingbuilt; the traffic is intense.At adiscovenueagroupofworkersdanceand relaxafter

what seems a long shift. The city never sleeps; all the time, workers are returning from or

leavingfortheminingenclaves.

B.ForCalamaCityanditsinhabitants:

1. The city of Calama: These scenes begin with open shots of the city. Slowly, the camera

approaches, showing situations of the daily lives of the inhabitants of Calama. A group of

children isplayingfootballonthestreets;aman isatwork,discussingwithhiscolleagues.A

taxidriverarriveshometohavesupperwithhisfamily.

2.Preparationforthefestival:Thesamepeopleshowninthepreviousscenearenowmaking

thearrangementstodepartforthefestival.Someofthemarefixingtheircostumesandmasks,

othersarepreparingtheirbagstostarttheannualwalkintotheinnermountains.

3.Thewalker:Alonelymanwalksthroughthedesert.Hehasbegunhisjourneyonedayago

andnowfindshimselfsurroundedbyanoverwhelminglandscape.Hisfamilyiswaitingforhim

atthefestival,wheretheywillalldancetogetherduringthefivedays.

C.Forthefestivalintheinnermountainsandtheindigenouscommunities.

1.Thedance: It isdark in thevillageofAyquina.Agroupofpeoplearedressingup in fancy

costumes.Theyresemblepolarbearswiththeirfurrywhiteoutfits.Oncedressedup,theyjoin

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amuch larger group of people, allwearing the same polar bear-like costumes.Music starts

playingandtheyalldancetogethertowardsthevillage’smainsquare.

2.Thevillagefestival: It isdaytimeandthesceneshowslifeatthevillage. It iscrowdedwith

people and there is loudmusic everywhere. People arewearing all kinds of outfits – devils,

cowboys and Indians, monsters are seen everywhere. In the main square, dances are

performedoneafteranother,uninterrupted.

3.Thewalker’sarrival:Themanwhowaswalkingthroughthedesertarrivesatthevillage.He

isexhaustedandhisfamilyreceiveshimwithjoy.Theyallgotorestandpreparetogether–itis

nowtheturnofthefamilytoperforminthesquare.

4. The indigenous community: We hear the voices of some members of the indigenous

community,whotellhowtheirworldhaschangedsincethearrivaloftheminingindustry.We

seethemlookingatthefestival,wonderinghowthingscouldhavechangedsomuchinsucha

shortperiodoftime.

D. Closing scene: The festival is over. People are returning to Calama City, and the camera

travelswiththemdownfromthemountains,backtotheindustryandthepampas.Everything

returnstothewayitwas.ThevillageofAyquinaisnowempty,andmustwaitawholeyearto

seeitsstreetscrowdedwithdancersagain.

Thislistofelevenscenescomprisedaminimumworkingplanforthecollectionoftheimages,

towhichwouldbeaddedmoreintimateglimpsesintothecharacters’lives.Thoughschematic,

thelistfollowedthegeneralideaofdepictingthetransitbetweenthecitiesandthemountains,

showing how these twoworlds co-exist in the lives of the peoplewho live there. However,

before showing how this imaginary script changed once wewere engaged in collecting the

images,itisnecessarytodescribethefilmcrewImanagedtoputtogether.

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Theteam:

Once the sceneswere listedand consolidated itwasnecessary toput together thematerial

elements to enable the collection of the images. Twomain issues needed to be sorted out

beforegoingintothefield:first,establishinganestimatedbudgetandtofindingthenecessary

fundingfindthecorrespondingfounding;andsecond,assemblingafilmcrew.

Thefirstofthese issueswassolvedquiteunexpectedly.Whilewritingthisthesis inLondon, I

puttogetheraninitialdraftofwhatthefilmmightlooklikeusingsomepreviousfootageIhad

collectedintheAtacamain2010.WithitIcomposeda20-minuteshortfilmaboutthefestival

ofAyquinaand,on theadviceofoneofmycolleaguesatGoldsmiths, sent it toa small film

festival ineastLondon, theHackneyWickFilmFestival.The film’s receptionwasbetter than

expectedand itwasnamedBestDocumentary Filmat the festival.Given this success, Imet

with one of the festival’s organisers, who after some discussions declared his interest in

funding the project, becoming its executive producer. Funds were given by his non-profit

organisation Openvizor, and we agreed the copyright of the film would be shared in equal

partsbetweenthebothofus.85

SecuringtheseresourcesrapidlychangedthescaleofwhatIwasinitiallyplanning,whichwasa

small and low-budget documentary film. It presented me with an opportunity to make a

professional piece of work as a visual outcome of my PhD work, investing more time and

resourcesthan initiallyplanned.Thefirststep inthisnewcontextwastoputtogethera film

team,ofwhichIbecamethedirectorandproducer.Ididknowhowtousetheequipmentbut,

giventhisunexpectedchangeofplan,Igotintouchwithacamerapersonandaneditortohelp

meundertaketheproject.IalsocontactedalocalproducerfromAntofagastawhosehelpwas

85 Before getting in touchwith the executive producer, the estimated budget for the projectwas aroundGPB

5,000,whichIwasgoingtofundbymyself,potentiallywithsomehelpfromtheChileanGovernment.However,theexecutiveproducerthoughtthissumwasnotgoingtobeenoughandhewaswillingtocontributemoregenerouslytotheproject.TheinitialbudgetgrantedforthefilmwasGPB18,000,someofwhichwasusedtopurchase recordingequipmentand finance theproductionof the film,whilehalfwasspenton financing theteaminthefieldandthecorrespondingexpenses(transport,food,housing,etc.).AsecondsumofaboutGPB8,000waslateradded,dedicatedtopost-producingthefilm(montage,sounddesignandcolourgrading).

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constantandinvaluable,andwithwhoquicklybecameanequalpartnerinthefilm.Giventhis

new scenario, it became increasingly clear that this thesis (in both its written and visual

element)wasbeingtransformedintoadeeplycollaborativeenterpriseinwhichmanydifferent

skills and kinds of knowledge had to be coordinated. Thus the project was able to cross

disciplinaryborders,dealingwithtechnical issuesbeyondthesociologicalworkandalsowith

mypartners’approachestoourmatterofconcern:theAntofagastaRegion.

Openingtheprojecttoacollaborativeenterprisewaswithoutdoubt,Ithink,therightchoice;

however, it brought some unexpected difficulties. First of all, being in charge of a film

productionofthisscaledemandedcompletededicationonmypart,withtheworktakingmuch

longerthaninitiallyplanned.Thiswastruetoanextentduringtheshootingprocessbutmainly

throughoutthemontageandpost-productionstagesoftheproject(Iwilladdressthesestages

inmoredetail lateron, showinghow film industry standardswere introduced to theproject

throughthevoiceof theeditor).Asecondunexpected involvementcausedbythechangeof

scale was the need to secure professional post-production, which was conducted in Soho,

London,byMolinareTVandFilm. Forme thiswasenteringa totallyunknownworld, full of

words and references I had never heard before. It was a hard but incredibly instructive

experience.

Thechangeofscaleoftheproject,involvingnewactorsandchallenges,greatlyinfluencedthe

collection and arrangement of the images. However, the image-making was also highly

influenced by the field itself, whose inhabitants determined, to a great extent, the kind of

images we were able to make and collect. In the following section I describe the main

challengeswefacedwhenshootingintheAntofagastaRegion,describingtherelationshipswe

established with our participants and the complexities we encountered during our journey.

Through thisdescription, I showhow the imaginary script, remainingopen towhat the field

wassuggestingandpresentingtous,wasreshapedduringtheshooting.

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2.TheCollectionofInscriptions

Just before travelling to the Atacama to start shooting, I met with the camera woman in

Santiago, the Chilean capital. She was going to be in charge of the project’s direction of

photography,whileIwastodirectsoundandconducttheproduction.Thelastequipmentwas

boughtinApril2014andsoonafterwardswetravelledbyplanetoAntofagastaCity,whichis

located1,800kilometresnorthofSantiago.Oncewearrived,wemetthelocalproducer,who

wasbornintheareaandhadbeenworkinginthefilmindustryforabouttenyears.Thecrew

was then completed and the shooting could start. During about six months of working

together,wewouldcollect thirty-twohoursof footage,allofwhichwasclassified ingroups,

foldersandstandardtitles,transferredandbackedupinadigitalarchiveinterface.

The first thing we did in Antofagasta City was to get in touch with the participants of the

project(IhadalreadydiscussedtheirparticipationwiththemduringtheexploratoryfieldworkI

undertookin2013–seechapter4).Duringthewritingofthescript,Ihaddecidedtoworkwith

threefamilieswhohadshownaninterestintheproject,allofthembeingactiveparticipantsof

thefestivalofAyquina.Theplanwastojointhematthefestivalandrecordhowtheylivedthe

experience.Startingfromthere,theideawastotraveltothedifferentsettingsoftheregion,

exploringtheotheractorsIhadidentifiedandhowtheyrelatedtothefestival.

The chosen families had already been interviewed during the previous fieldwork, so a

relationship was quickly able to grow between them and our film crew. Among the many

subjectsIhadinterviewed,Ichosetoworkwiththethreefamiliesforoftworeasons.Firstly,I

hadtolimitthesampletoensuretheshootingprogramwasfeasibleandtheamountofdata

remainedmanageable.Secondly,Ichosethesesubjectsinparticularbecausetheheadofeach

familywasworkingorhadworkedintheminingsector,86providinguswithagoodopportunity

86 Although I searched for a familywhoseheadwas femaleandwaswilling toparticipate in theproject, Iwas

unsuccessful.Among the fifty-twodancesperformedeachyearduring the festival,only twoof themhaveafemale dancer as leader, further complicating the achievement of a gender-balanced sample. After beingcontacted, the twowomen both explained that they preferred to live the festivalmore privately, and theydeclinedtotakepartinthefilmproject.

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to see how the productive and the ritual dimensions interact in the Antofagasta Region. In

addition,eachofthethreeselectedfamiliesbelongedtoaparticularkindofdance:theTinku

dance,whoseorigin is found inAndean ritual fights; the Polar Bears dance (OsadaDevota),

whichhasemergedsincetheexpansionofcopperminingintheareawasbegunin1990;and

theCowboysdance(VaquerosdelNorte),asmallgroupcomparedwiththeothertwo,inspired

bytheoldmoviesscreenedinthepampas.

Thegoodrelationshipsweestablishedwiththeseparticipantswerebasedontrustandmutual

cooperation, and remain strong today. I think the relationship was driven by the common

interest of both parties in the project. If for us, the film crew, the project was part of our

professionaldevelopment,forthem,theparticipants,itwasawaytoaddvaluetotheirritual

dancesbyhavingthemrecordedandlatershownonthebigscreen.Ibelievethataprocessof

producingavisuallybasedartefactlikethisdocumentaryfilminitselfprovidesafoundationto

establisharelationshipwithparticipants,becauseitenablesacommongroundthatisequally

meaningful forbothsides.Researchersandparticipantscan relate toawell-knownobject (a

filminthiscase),whichlatercanbeappropriatedbybothparties.

Duringthefilmingprocessitbecameevidenttomethatthepotentialityofworkingwithvisual

media did not reside only in finding a new language to achieve a representation of society;

beyondthis,itcouldenableanunderstandingofresearchasareciprocalrelationship.BythisI

mean that fabricating a representation that relies onboth thewritten and the visual allows

participants to be offered something back, a precise object they can use for their own

purposes. To use Rose’s (2007) multilayered view of images, a visually based outcome

increases thepossibilities for thecirculationof research results,bothwithinandbeyond the

limitsofacademicdiscoursesandaudiences.

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The reciprocal encounter between the filmmaking team and the filmed subjects reached its

climaxduringoneparticularscene:theCowboyduel.87Asexplainedinchapter2,thecamera

wasnottakenintothefieldtoshowthetruthofwhatitwaslookingat.Onthecontrary,Iwas

fully aware that the collected footage was the result of a co-production between the

researcher,thesubjectsofresearchandtheemployedmachine(orinscriptiondevice,touseB.

Latour’s term).Bythis Ipointoutthatthecamerawasnot intendedtoworkasa ‘flyonthe

wall’, invisible andunnoticed, but rather as aprovocativepresence that explicitly interacted

withthefilmedsubjects.

Followingthisapproach,twooftheparticipantsoftheCowboysdancewereaskedtoperform

directly to the cameraduring the festival, actingout the cinematic imaginary of their dance

(Fig.22).WeagreedwiththemthattheywouldactoutaWestern-movie-likeduel,88following

theHollywoodproductionsofJohnFord89andothers:close-upsofthefaces,handsandguns;

medium-longshotsofthetwomenpoisedtoshoot;andafastfinale.Thiswasawayofputting

ourselves(thefilmmakers)withinthefilm,asitwasobviousthatthescenewasacted–ashift

awayfromanynaturalisticapproachtodocumentaryfilmmaking.Thepresenceofthecamera

was not hidden; on the contrary, it was used to drive our participants into an explicitly

cinematographicspace.

Atthesametime,thissceneallowedustocreateadialoguewiththeparticipants,creatingan

image thatwould have never have existed ifwewere not filming it. The camera became a

means to seewhatwould otherwise have been invisible, that is, the desire of the Cowboys

dancerstobepartofaWestern-likefilm.Atthispoint,Ithink,theideathatresearchpractices

co-constructtheirobjectsbytransformingthem(Latour:2005)wasfullyinevidence,withthe

cameraasanactive inscriptiondevicethatproducedwhat itwas lookingat.Thisscenedoes

87Scenenumber8inthefinalfilm.Formoredetailsaboutthenumberingofscenes,seethenextsection,‘Back

tothescriptinthemontageroom’.88 When the Cowboys dance leader was asked why the group performed this dance, he straightforwardly

answered: ‘Because there [are] toomany Indians in the festival’. By this hewas referring to the ‘Red-SkinIndian’ dances, based equally on the Hollywood and Spaghetti Western films, which were abundantlyscreenedduringthenitrateminingcycleinthepampas.

89SeeforexampleTheGood,theBadandtheUgly,finalduelscenes(Ford:1966).

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not inscribea transparentmirrorof reality; rather, it recordshowparticipantsbehavewhen

standinginfrontofacamera,andheremoreprecisely,howtheyperformtheirdreamoftaking

part inacowboyfilm. Ithinkthiswasacentralscene,whichhelpedusconductalltheother

shotscenes.Allthetime,theparticipantsknewweweremakingafilm,andactedaccordingto

thestandardstheythoughtafilmshouldhave.Theywereperformingtothecameraintheway

theywerewillingtobeseen.

Figure22:Theduelscene

This co-constructionby the film teamand the filmed subjectswasnotonly carriedoutona

narrativelevel(thecontentoftheimage),butalsounderpinnedourtechnicalunderstandingof

the audiovisual inscriptions we were producing. At every stage of the filming process, the

camerawastranslatingintoanewmediumthethingsitwaslookingat,transformingthelight

in-motionandsoundofthingsintoatwo-dimensionaldigital interface.Whileframingagiven

subject thecamerawasnotrecording, forexample, therewerealsothingshappeningoutof

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frame.Thecamera’sframingwasproducingaselectionthatcutdownthesurroundingthree-

dimensionalworldintoa16:9digitalframe.Theinscriptionswerethereforealwaysdefinedby

the type of shot, the frame or camera movement in question, which had often not been

decided beforehand but was improvised as we were shooting and interacting with our

participants. Throughout the filming process, the images were being produced out of the

interactionbetweenaninscriptiondevice(thecamera),theresearchers(thefilmteam)andthe

researchedsubjects(theinhabitantsofthedesert).

However, these ideal terms of exchange were not alwaysmet. During the image collection

process we also had to face some difficulties that escaped our control. After shooting the

festivalandthejourneyitsparticipantsundertooktothevillageofAyquina,wehadtofocuson

twomoresettings:ontheonehand,thecoastalcitiesandtheirmining infrastructure,which

posed no considerable problem as their subjects were non-human (machines, buildings,

landscape,etc.);ontheother,theindigenouscommunitiesandtheirrelationswiththemining

sectorandthefestivalofAyquina. Itwasprincipally inthe lattersettingthatthe initialscript

hadtochangetoadapttothelimitationsandopportunitiesposedinthefield.

InthefollowingIpayspecialattentiontoourunsuccessfulattemptstoestablisharelationship

withthelocalcommunityofAyquina,90whohaveseenthevillagetransformedbytheimmense

numbersofminersanddancerswhoarriveeveryyearforthefestival.Althoughwemanagedto

establishadialoguewiththecommunity’smembers,itstermsstronglyaddressedsomeofthe

images collection and their consequent combination at the montage stage. The following

descriptionwaschosenamongothersbecauseoftheconflict itdescribes,acknowledgingthe

keyproblemswefacedduringthefilmingprocess.

During the festival ofAyquina,whilewewereworkingwith theCowboysdancers, someone

approachedus tosaythat thecommunitywantedtalkwithus.Someminutes laterwewere

guidedtothecommunaloffice.Oncethere,wewereinterrogatedaboutourworkandwhom

90‘Community’or‘Pueblo’isthenamebywhichlocalinhabitantsoftheinnermountainsrefertothemembersof

agivenvillage.

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hadwespokentobefore filming:91Areyou filming just thedances, thevillage, theVirgin,or

somethingelseaswell?Theytoldusthat,accordingtotheILOConvention169,92nothingcould

bedoneinthevillagewithouttalkingwiththemfirst.Westruggledtomakeourpositionclear,

explainingthatwewerefollowingsomedancers fromCalamaCity, filmingtheirdaily livesat

the festival. They seemed to weigh up our words, and suddenly the conversation changed

direction.Thecommunitywasnotagainstourfilming;rather,wewererequestedtowidenour

perspective.Theywantedus to filmnot just theexcitingbits of the festivalbutalso itsugly

side,moreprecisely,theproblemsthataroseeveryyearwiththehundredsofdancersarriving

in the village: the collapsed sewers, the heaps of rubbish left behind, and the community

members who had to work constantly to provide the visitors with facilities. In short, they

soughttohighlightthehardtimestheywentthrougheveryyearduringthefestival.

Aswehadheardbeforehand,behindthisconfrontationlaya larger,deeperconflictbetween

communitymembers andminer dancers.Onone side, thepilgrims anddancers complained

that thePueblowas takingadvantageof them:Theyaremakingabusinessoutofour faith.

Visitorswereindeedchargedtoenterthevillage(anentrytax),andasingleroom,withoutany

facilities, couldcostoverGBP600 for the festiveweek.Someof thevisitorsadded, in some

dismay,thattheVirginseemedmorelikeacommunityassetthansomethingbelongingtothe

people.Andforus,thedevotees,thereisnothingforitbuttosufferthecommunity’sgreed.

On the other side, thePueblo was shouldering a festival that drew an immense number of

urbanvisitors.Ifthroughouttheyearnomorethantenorfifteenpeopleinhabitedthevillage,

duringthecelebrationsthepopulationexceeded10,000.93Everyyear,thefestivalbringsatide

ofbodies,pushingtheurbaninfrastructuretoitslimitsandleavingmanynegativeexternalities

91 Allquotes inthissectionarefromtherecordedmaterial,whichwasfullytranscribedintotextandtranslated

intoEnglish.92 The ILO Convention 169 (International Labour Convention) is the major binding international convention

concerning indigenouspeople,whichtheChileanGovernmentsigned in2008.BytheConvention, indigenouscommunitiesaregrantedtherightofconsultationwheneveranexternalpartywithintheirterritoriesconductsanaction.

93 Mostof theyoungerandmiddle-agedvillagers (that is,membersof thecommunityofAyquina) livedown inCalama.ButtheyalsoholdpermanentresidencesinAyquinaandhaverelativeslivingin it,takingcareofthevillagewhenrequired.

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behind afterwards. The money they were charging, the villager argued, was needed to

maintainthevillageinthesecircumstances,andwasafairpriceforwhattheywereoffering.

Subtly enough, what was underlying the community’s argument was an effort to keep the

territoryundertheircontrol.

From my point of view, the dispute between dancers and villagers can be thought under

severalperspectives.Whichwasmorelegitimate:thedevotees’clamourtofreelyexpresstheir

faith, or the community’s resistance to the urban invasion?Was the festival’s sacred icon a

universalimage,accessibletoall,orwasitratheratthemercyofthecommunity’sinterests?

DidtheAndeancommunitieshavetherighttodefendtheirhistoricallands?Whowasmaking

moneyoutofallthis?Shouldtheinterestsofonegroupoutweighthoseoftheothers?

Bytheendofourencounteratthecommunaloffice,thecommunitywassuggestingweshould

filmthevillageandthedifficultiesitfacedduringthefestival.Inshort,thevillagerswereasking

to have their voice in the film as well, the ability to give their own view on what was

happening. Acquiescing to this request,we headed to the village’s tollhouse,where visitors

had topay threepounds (3,000Chileanpesos) toaccess thevillage.The taxcollectorswere

mostlyyoungpeoplewhodidnothavemuchtodowiththeelders’decision-making,yetthey

receivedallthevisitors’complaints.

WealsowenttofilmthedepartureofSanSantiago(asacrediconfromthevillageofToconce),

whichwasbeingtakenbackhomeaftervisitingAyquina’sVirginofGuadalupe.94Thedeparting

iconwaswrappedupat the veryborderofAyquina, by thenewgraveyard, and carried the

thirtykilometresintotheinnermountainswhereToconceVillageis located.Withafollowing

procession,thesaintwastakenbycar,stoppingonceinawhileatlittlecoveredshrinesalong

the route. At each of them, people gathered to playmusic, drink andmake an offering to

94 ToconceVillage isan indigenoussettlement locatedtothewestofAyquina,whose inhabitantsbelongtothe

same ethnic group (Lickan-Antai) as all the other villages spread along these inner mountains. A commonpracticeamongthesecommunitiesistocarrysacrediconsfromonevillagetoanotherduringfestiveperiods,reinforcingthebondsbetweenthecommunitiesandtheirbelongingtothesameculturalarea.

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Pachamama.95Wewentwith them,butatour firstopportunity to filmtheshrines,wewere

stoppedfromdoingso.ThepeopleofToconcedidnotwanttheirimagetobefilmed.Wewere

allowed to continue filming but only from a distance, andwithout disturbing or getting too

closetotheicon.Afterdiscussingthetermsofourprojectwiththem,thelastpromisegivenby

the head of the community of Ayquina,MrMario Berna,was thatwe couldmeet again on

December the 12th for the Fiesta del Pueblo.96 The initial agreementwas that, althoughwe

could not film the icon of Toconce, we were welcomed to take part in the community of

Ayquina’sfestival.

Thefollowingphotographs(Figs.23and24)weretakenjustafterthecommunityofToconce

demanded that the camera keep its distance. As the stills show, the terms of this dialogue

directlyinformedtheimagemaking,withtheresultbeingacollectionofopenshots,depicting

distantsubjectswalkinginprocessiontowardsthemountains.

Figure23:ProcessiondepartingfromtheoutskirtsofAyquinatoToconce

95Pachamamarefersto‘MotherEarth’intheAndeancosmology.Forfurtherreferencesseechapter3.96TheFiestasdePuebloarepartoftheritualcalendaroftheinnermountains,beingexclusivelyreservedforthe

indigenouscommunities’members.

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Figure24:EnteringthevillageofToconce

Upperside

Middleaxis

Lowerside

Figure25:AbstractedcompositionofFigures23and24

In a similar way to many of the images we collected from the Antofagasta Region, these

photographs are influenced by the context that produced them. They assemble within one

frametheinscriptionofthelandscape,thepeopleandthepresenceofthecamera,witheach

ofthesedimensionsinformingtheothers.Carefulexaminationshowsthatthecompositionof

boththeseimagesinvolvesahorizontallineacrossthemiddlethatdividestheframeintotwo

equalsides(upperandlower).Theinscribedactionisattheverycentreoftheframe,around

which the rest of the composition is arranged. There is also a diagonal line suggesting

movement. This visual composition, I think, worked as a way of translating the Chakana

diagram within the very construction of the audiovisual inscriptions, in the sense that the

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layoutoftheimagessetadivisionofelementsaroundacentralaxis(thepeopleinprocession)

thatarticulatesthem.

WewerebackinCalamaCityby1December,waitingtoattendAyquina’slocalfestivalonthe

12th.SeveralconversationshadbeenconductedbyphonewithMrBerna,seekingtosecurehis

agreement forus to filmthe local festival.Unfortunately, thiswasharder thanexpected.Mr

Berna,thoughpresidentofthecommunity,didnotentirelyspeakonitsbehalf;heneededto

consult with all its members before reaching an understanding with us. The day after our

arrivalinCalama,werangMrBerna,whoansweredthephonesoundingupset.Hehadalready

cancelledourmeetingthedaybeforebutnowsuggestedmeetingatthecommunity’sofficein

thecitycentre.Iwaitedformorethananhourforhimtoshowup,andacrisisofconfidence

start to grip me:Was it a mistake to call him in advance? Maybe this meeting would fall

throughtoo.Whatifhedoesn’tcome?Doesthatmeanit’sallover?Eventuallythepresident

arrived.Another,oldermanhadbeenwaitingaswell.Hegreetedusinquiteafriendlymanner.

ThepresidentwentintotheofficewiththeothermanwhileIkeptwaitingoutside.Theirtalk

sounded loudand cheerful andwenton forquite awhile. They said goodbye toeachother

morethanfivetimes.Therewasalwayssomethinglefttosay.

Abouttwentyminutes later itwasmyturn.Thepresidentmaintainedeyecontactandspoke

kindly.Heexplainedthattherehadbeenameetingwiththecommunity,wherethepriesthad

pushedthemtomakeuptheirminds:We’vetalkedenough;makeupyourminds.Doyouwant

thevillage tobe filmedornot?At theend the communityhadconcluded thatdidnotwant

theirfestivaltobefilmed.Wecouldattendanywayandtakepicturesorrecordsound,butno

filmingwasallowed.Thepositionwasclear,soweleftthecamerasaside.Nofilmicinscriptions

werecollectedduringAyquina’slocalfestival.97

Thesenegotiationswithparticipantsdidnotonly informthekindandnumberof inscriptions 97Althoughthedescribedconflictisnotshowninthefilm(asthiswasnotauthorised),ithighlightshowdifferent

media suitdifferent situations.Wewerenot allowed toundertakeaudiovisual recordings,but therewasnoresistancetoourreportingthroughalphabeticinscriptions(writing).Inthissense,achievingthetranslationsofthesocialworldintoanewmediarequirestoselecttherightmediumforeachcircumstance.

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collected;theyalsoopenedaspaceformoreanthropological,theoreticalideas.Firstofall,the

image-making in the inner mountains of the Atacama proved problematic. Almost every

Andean ritual isorganisedaroundan iconic image, fixedandunique, a sourceof veneration

andworship.Thus,thefilmicimage,immutablebutmobileandreproducible,becameasource

ofdispute,mistrustand,overall,somethingtobestronglyrejected. Infact,astrongtaboo is

constructedaroundfilmingintheinnermountainsoftheregion.TakingpartinAndeanrituals

isnotforbiddenforforeigners;onthecontrary,thecommunitywelcomessuchparticipation.

Rather,thetabooisoninscribingtheiconicimageandritualpracticesintoanimmutablebut

portableformatsuchastheaudiovisual.Thesacredimagecannottobesplitofffromitstime

and space; it cannot be translated into another materiality in order to move freely. The

worshipped icon must stay under the community’s control, and foreigners cannot take its

image-inscription away. It might be photographed or filmed by lay people and used as a

mnemonic tool, but a film production cannot inscribe it in order to use it as part of a

publishableproject.

Thistaboosurroundingsacrediconsgaveusadeeperunderstandingofourfilmproduction.Its

constructions involved not only the technical complexities found in any image collection

process,butalsothepoliticsinvolvedinsuchanendeavour.Whileweweretryingtotranslate

thelifeoftheinhabitantsoftheAntofagastaRegionintotheaudiovisualmedium,thesubjects

ofour researchcarriedwith thema setof ideas regardingbeing filmed,placing themat the

coreofanynegotiationprocess.Itwastheresearchedsubjectswhohadthegreatestinfluence

onthekindoffootagewecouldcollect,andthisbroughtlimitationsthatwehadtodealwith.

When we took the camera into the field, we found ourselves caught in a network of pre-

existingrelations–thoughwewereuncertainofourplaceinit.Wewerenotonlysurrounded

but stared at:What are they doing here?What do these strangers want from us?And we

neededtogiveareplythatwentbeyondmerelyrecordingwhatwewerelookingat.Whatkind

ofrelationshipwereweestablishingwiththefieldanditsinhabitants?Sucharelationshipwas

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necessary,butitmighthavetakenanyform.Anditwasthroughthesearchforthisrelationship

thattheimageswerecollected.

In my view, a documentary film depends on the makers’ relationship with their subjects;

without such a relationship, it is doomed to fail. Filming others has never been a realistic

endeavour based on the transparency of translations; rather, itmust always be based on a

dialogicencounterbetweenthe filmedsubjectsand the filmmaker(s). Itdemandsaconstant

exchangeof agencywith the studied groupsbecause the camera filmswhat it is allowed to

muchmorethanwhatitwants.Thus,anegotiationprocessalwayscomestotheforefront.By

itsmerepresence,thecamerainterfereswithwhatisbeingrecorded,inbothamaterialanda

politicaldimension.Whiletranslatingthereboundedlightofobjects,itmakeseveryoneaware

ofitspresence.Thefilmedsubjectsmightreacttoitspresenceeitherplayfully(We’regoingto

beonthetelly!)orpolitically(Whyareyoufilmingus?)–buttheyalwaysreact.

Likeanysocialgroupthatismadethesubjectofrecordings,thisproject’sparticipantsbrought

theirownconcernsandexpectationsregardingthefilmingprocess,whichdifferedfromplace

toplaceandfromtimetotime.Yet, ineverysituationitwastheparticipantswhoinfluenced

the possibilities of the image-making. They comprised the outside and thus showed or

concealed what the camera could look at. The filming process was subject to multiple

constraints,fromtechnicaltonarrativeinnature,buttheparticipantswerecertainlythemost

influential.Therecordingsweredependentonwhatitwasprovidedbythesubjectsthecamera

was looking at. Once the camera was placed in the field, the participants stood back,

demanding explanations, and a dialogue had to be opened up. It was only through this

inescapable negotiation that the collection of images of the Antofagasta Region could be

undertaken.

Oncethecollectionoffootagewascomplete, itwastakentotheeditingroom,whereanew

setofcriteriademandedconsideration.Inthefollowing,Iunderlinethemainissuesregarding

the editing process, showing how the in-motion imageswere arranged during themontage

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stage by following a system of relations, expectations and composition rules that emerged

fromthedialoguebetweenthisproject’sowntrajectoryandthedisciplineoffilmmaking.

3.Backtothescriptinthemontageroom

Similar toLatour’s (2005)descriptionofhowsciencetransforms itsobjectsbyastep-by-step

process,fromthecollectionofinscriptionstotheirsuperimpositionontoacoherentsystemof

relations, the visual representation of the Antofagasta Region was based on a chain of

transformationsthatwentfromthecollectionofaudiovisualinscriptionstotheircombination

withinatimelinesequence.

Thisprocessof transformationcanalsobeunderstoodthroughtheoperationsBecker (2007)

describes when explaining how a representation of society is fabricated. In his view, the

processstartswithselectionfromamongdifferentpossibilities,followedbythetranslationof

theselection intoanewmediumand then thearrangementof thecollectedpieceswithina

givenmaterialandlanguage.ForbothLatourandBecker,thefinaloutcome(written,visualor

otherwise) of the research is fabricated by following a step-by-step transformation process

thatchangesthephenomenonintoanewobject,co-constructingwhatitseekstoexplain.The

new object adds complexity to the phenomenon by providing a given audiencewith a new

pointofviewtorelatetoit.Thisisthecase,forexample,withcartography,whichtransforms

certaingeographyintoaflatplotbycollectingspatiallandmarksandprintingthem,providing

userswithaportableobjectthathelpsthemreadorvisualisethesurroundings.

In the case of the visual representation of the Antofagasta Region, a similar transformation

processtookplace.Itstartedwithaselection(guidedbyanimaginaryscriptandtheChakana

model),whichwasthentranslated intotheaudiovisualmedium.Thirty-twohoursof footage

werecollectedandbroughtback toLondon,whereanewtransformationhad to takeplace:

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themontage. This transformation followed a systematic plan of selection and combination,

endinginafeature-lengthdocumentaryfilmentitledTheRegion.

The first stepof thisprocesswas to transcodeall the footage intoa light format (ProResLT:

442) to facilitate its manipulation. All the dialogues were transcribed and translated into

English.TheeditorandIwatchedallthefootagetwice,takingnotesandjudgingwhatworked

best,creatingasequenceinFinalCutPro7.0foreachscenewehadrecordedinthefield.At

theendofthisfirststage,wehadidentifiedtwenty-eightscenesassuccessful,anddiscarded

abouttenothersthatdidnotworkaswethoughttheywould.

After having everything now ready to start combining the scenes within one audiovisual

narrative,weturnedbacktotheimaginaryscriptandcompareditwithwhatwehadactually

filmed.Amongtheelevenoriginallyproposedscenes,wehadcollectedallbuttheonereferring

toAyquina’sindigenouscommunity,whereonlyabriefdialoguehadbeenrecorded.Wealso

had eighteen additional scenes to work with. The first choice wemade was to replace the

missingscenewitharchivefootage,whichwasobtainedforfreefromtheChileanFilmInstitute

duetotheir interest intheproject.ThefootagecamefromafilmshotbyP.Petrovicin1950

entitledCobre,vidaymilagrodeunmetal(Copper,lifeandmiraclesofametal),whichmixed

documentaryfootageoftheAtacamawithenactedscenes.

Thenumberofcollectedscenes(twenty-nine)exceededtheinitialdesignsoitwasnecessary

toreworkthescript.Aftertryingseveralmontageoptions,lookingforwhateachscenehadto

tell us, I decided to go back to the Chakana model that had guided the beginning of the

process, thistimeusing itasatemplatetoorganisetheactualsceneswewereworkingwith

(Fig.25).Weselected thirteenscenes thatwe thoughtwouldworkwithin this templateand

thatwouldallowthemontagetofollowtheChakanadiagramstructure.Atitscorewasplaced

the festival, as the mediating factor between the mining industry and the indigenous

communities.Ontheuppersidewereplacedtheimagesofthemininginfrastructureandatits

basethoserelatedtotheindigenouscommunities(thearchivefootage).Ontheleftsidewere

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the scenes aboutCalamaCity andon the right those corresponding to the landscapeof the

innermountains, all ofwhichwere traversed by the dancer’swalk from Calama City to the

mountains.

These montage choices were equally informed by the previous findings of the research

(chapter3),whichshowedthedualconformationoftheAntofagastaRegion.Ontheonehand,

its economic structure is mainly organised around mining labour and, on the other, its

inhabitants take part in the dancing performances of Ayquina. Many of the interviewed

subjects described the experience of transformation theywent through at the festival each

year,leavingbehindtheirdailyurbanlifetobecomepartoftheritualintheinnermountains.

The thirteen selected scenes therefore followed the criterion of showing this dual

configurationoftheregion,thetransitortransformationbetweentwoworlds:theminesand

theAndes.

The montage in itself became a kind of analytical tool, not just in terms of collecting and

combininginscriptionsabouttheAntofagastaRegion,butalsointermsofunderstandinghow

the filmedsubjectsperformed in frontof thecameraand,aboveall,whatelementsof their

lives they were willing to show andwhich to hide. At the same time, having collected and

organising the footage was a way of looking back on the region, now mediated by its

audiovisual inscriptions, to understand how landscape was a central issue, even a highly

relevantactor,inthelivesofpeoplelivingthere.Italsohelpedusthinkmoredeeplyaboutthe

performances at the festival, and how easily the camera was accepted by those whowere

alreadyinvolvedinthestagingofthefiction-likeworldoftheFiesta.

Finally, themontage showedhow the Chakanawasmore than just a template to guide the

selectionandcombinationof the footage,becomingamodel thathelped tounderstand the

diverse actors and conflicts of the Atacama. In spite of its unclear origins, historical or

otherwise, the Chakana proved to be a highly useful tool to interpret a wide range of

phenomenawithin a relatively simple layout, underlining the idea that a cosmogramof this

type is a way to give order to chaos, rendering visible what would otherwise remain

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unobserved. The following images (Fig. 26) show the thirteen selected scenes and their

arrangementwithintheChakanatemplate:

Figure26:TheChakanatemplateandscenes

1.Theabandonedminingtown 2.Theminingindustry 3.ThecoastalcityofAntofagasta 4.UrbanlifeinAntofagasta 5.CalamaCityoutskirts 6.InsideCalamaCity 7.Thewalktothemountains 8.Themountains 9.Thearrivalofthewalker 10.Thefestival 11.TheCowboys’duel 12.Theindigenouscommunity 13.Archivefootage

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Thislayouthereafterbecametheguidelineofthemontage,visualisingtheentirefilmwewere

lookingforwithinasingle image.However,thethreemajorsegmentsthatthetemplatewas

articulating(miningindustry,festivalandindigenouscommunities)didnotrelatetoeachother

in terms of an engaging audiovisual narrative. Once we placed the scenes on a sequential

timeline, itwasnoteasy toseewhatwasthe filmtalkingabout.At thispoint thecross-over

betweensociologyandfilmmakingreachedanew,unexpectedpointwherenegotiationshad

totakeplace.

The translation of the collected data (the images) into the materials and language of

documentaryfilmsinvolvedtheencounterbetweentwodisciplinesthatdonotworkinexactly

the same direction. On the one side, sociology is usually based on a strict method that

producesasetofresultsguidedbyblack-boxprocedures(theinputisneveragoodpredictorof

theoutcome),anditsresultsarevalidwhenasolidandlogicalargumentationispresented.On

theotherside, filmmakingdoesnot followastrictmethodofproduction,subordinating it to

the final piece it is looking for.Moreover, theargumentative logic is replacedbyadifferent

sourceoflegitimacy,whichisdependentonitsaudienceandtheirperceptionofanaesthetic

experience(Munch:2001).Whilesociologyseekstoconstructfacts,filmmakingaimstocreate

anengagingpiecebasedonemotion,rhythmandcoherence.

Innegotiatinghowbothdisciplinescouldrelatetoeachother,themontageprocessbecamea

kind of writing in itself, searching for visual grammar and syntax that, though sometimes

feeling insightful, often seemed far away fromourexperiences in the field. Theundertaking

was no longer about what actually happened in the Antofagasta Region while we were

shooting;moreprecisely,thegoalwastobuildafilmnarrativethatcouldstandbyitself.

At the same time, this narrative was designed to follow the overall proposal of this thesis,

namelytocreateavisual translationabletobecomepartof theworld ithastranslated.As I

shallshowinthenextsection,thesocial lifethefilmgainedafteritsreleaseyieldsimportant

insightsabouthowtheresearchoutcomehasengagedwithdifferentaudiencesand,aboveall,

howithasbeenre-appropriatedbythefilm’sparticipantsandtheirsocialcircles.Thenarrative

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presentedbythefilmhasworkedasapowerfultoolinvisualisingtheAntofagastaRegionand

inpromotingthefestivalofAyquinaasoneofthemajoreventsoftheAtacamaDesert.

Through themontageprocess the film’s narrativedemanded its own right to exist, taking it

beyond the often-strict accuracy that social researchers are used to. It stopped mattering

whethera close-upofa face, for instance,was recordedonadifferentdayor inadifferent

location.Ifitservedanarrativepurpose,wedecided,imageswouldbeinsertedinplacesthat,

strictlyspeaking,theydidnotbelong.Thesearchforanarrativegainedpriorityoveralmostall

other criteria, subsuming them under the task of making a strong, meaningful and

cinematographicpieceofwork.Thegoal,inshort,wastofabricatearepresentationofsociety

thatwasbornoutofsociologicalpracticebutstructuredaccordingtothelanguageoffilm.

Ofcoursethewrittenaspectsofthisthesisand its findingswerestillpresentthroughoutthe

montage,butnowanextradimensionwasneeded.Thecollectedpiecesandtheirarrangement

intotheChakanatemplatehadtoleavesomeroomfordifferentcriteriaofcombination,which

would emphasise the connectionbetween the scenesmore strongly. The first option in this

regardwas to visualise ‘themanwalking through thedesert’ throughout a largepartof the

film, dividing the original scene into different sections and placing them in between other

scenes.Thiswouldbeonewaytomaketheaudienceidentifywithacharacter,followingthe

man’sjourneyasaleitmotifthroughoutthefilm.Thesecondchoicewastochangetheoriginal

positionsofsomeofthescenes,withoutchangingthegeneralstructureoftheChakana(mines,

festival,mountains),inordertobetterinterweavethemintotheoverallnarrativeofthefilm.

The taskwas to recombine the scenes in order to stress a certainmood or to clarify some

aspectofthenarrative;theywouldbecombinedasiftheywerepartofanetworkof images

thatactedindependentlyandreactedoneachothersimultaneously.Thetimelineofthefinal

arrangementofthethirteennumberedscenescanbevisualisedasfollows(Fig.27):

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Figure27:ConsolidatedtimelineandtheChakanatemplate

Toacertainextent, the finalmontageresembledthe ideaof thecosmogramasdiscussed in

chapter 1 (Tresch: 2004), as a particular kind of object that displays an entire universe by

meansof itselements’positioning,sequentiality,appearance,colour,sonority,etc.That is,a

cosmogram isa singleartefact that candisplaya self-containeduniversewithin thematerial

limitsofaparticularobject.Itlaysoutanecologyofrelationsthatareharmonicallyandideally

suitedtoeachother,articulatingalivingbodyofinterconnectedorgans.Inananalogousway,

themontage was directed towards composing a visual world within its limits, fabricating a

universe of interconnected bodies and environments that worked as a living narrative. The

montagestartsintheoldminingcentres,movingthroughthecurrentextractiveindustryand

thecitiesconnectedtoit.Then,ajourneytotheinnermountainsbegins,wherethefestivalis

encounteredandalongwithitthehistoryofthisterritoryanditsindigenousinhabitants.Atthe

end, the festivalparticipants travelback to thecities, to theirworkand themines, closinga

circularnarrative.

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RegardlessofthesuccessorotherwiseofthisrepresentationoftheAntofagastaRegion,what

becamemost relevant for this projectwas the attempted cross-overbetween sociology and

film, to produce amaterial outcome created by both, awritten and a visualwork. The two

fieldswerebroughttogetherascomplementaryapproachestothesameobjective,whichwas

toreflectuponhowthesocialworldcanbetranslatedintoanewmediumand,fromthere,to

attemptatranslationthatwentbeyond,yetnotagainst,thewritten.Whilethewrittenwasthe

exploration of how to translate the Atacama by following a locally grounded model (the

Chakana),thevisualelementwastheconcretetestingofthisidea.

Finally,oncethemontagewasconsolidatedandhadbeendiscussedwithothersinaseriesof

private screenings, it was time to enter the post-production stage. Since the budget was

available to finish the work with film industry professionals, the consolidated timeline was

takentoMolinareTV&Films,aproductionhouselocatedintheSohoareaofLondon.During

this stage, an extended discussion took place over whether or not to include a specially

designed soundtrack. In my view, this might have seemed too exotic, and would have

invalidatedmuchoftheworkalreadymadeduringthemontageprocess.Intheeditors’view,a

soundtrack could only improve the work. After discussions, we agreed upon a last

transformation,whichwouldimplyareworkingofsomeoftheoriginallyrecordedsoundsand

thecompositionofanewsoundtrackusingin-studioinstruments.Thus,anewparticipantwas

broughtin,aLondon-basedcomposerwhocreatedthesoundtrackforus.Wealsoaddedsome

Foleysoundstothefilmandproducedadetailed5.1surroundsoundmixthatsuitedcinema

screenings.Lastly,thefilmwascolourgradedandburnedasBlue-ray.

Without doubt, the post-production process we went through was key in securing a

professionalpieceofwork,whichhasincreasedthefilm’scirculationpossibilitiesandallowed

itsengagementwithbroaderaudiences. It improvedtheaestheticexperienceofthefilmand

madeitsuitablefordifferentvenues,fromclassroomstocinemas.

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Ithinkthatthedecisiontomakeafilmasacomplementaryoutcomeofmyresearchpractice

allowedthisproject toestablishabetterengagementwith itsparticipants, co-constructinga

pieceofworkthatwasequallyusefulforbothsides.Inthisway,Ithink,thisprojectwasableto

workbeyondthestrictlimitsofmyPhD,leadingtonewencounterswithotherdisciplinessuch

as filmmakingand, at the same time, stimulating reflectionsonhowsocial research canuse

differentmediatocreateitsfinalresults.

However,themakingofthefilmdidalsoimposesomelimitationsonmyPhDresearchpractice,

mainlyintermsofthetimeandenergyrequired.IsometimesfeltIwasmakingtwoprojectsat

the same time, the written and the visual, which, although deeply connected, demanded

double the attention.On theonehand I had tomeet theexpectationsof anyPhD research

and,ontheother, Ihadto learnanddealwiththetechniquesanddiscoursesof filmmaking.

Ultimately, I think the project has been a success and, as I show in the next section, it has

allowedmetocreateavisualworkthathascirculatedinmanydirectionsandisstillproducing

newencounters.

4.Thesociallifeofthefilm

Onlyafterthemontagewasconsolidatedandthepost-productionstagecompletedinAugust

2015wasthefilmreleased.Astheexecutiveproduceroftheprojectsuggested,thefilmwould

onlybefullycompletewhenputintocirculation.Bythishewaspointingoutthatthisfilm,like

any other, needed to be distributed in order to exist.We designed a distribution plan that

focusedonthreepotentialaudiences: first, theacademicaudience;second,thefilm industry

audience;andthird,butnot least, theaudiencecomprisedbythe film’sparticipantsandthe

inhabitantsoftheAtacamaDesert.

ThefirstpublicscreeningofthefilmtookplaceinGoldsmithsCollege,London,anditwaswell

receivedby thisacademicaudience. Itprovokedan interestingdiscussionabout theworld it

wasvisualising,mainly inrelationtothe festivalandthedancingperformances,aswellas in

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respectoftheprocessofconstructingthefilm.FormanyofmyPhDcolleaguesitwassurprising

toseeanoutcomewhosemakinghadinvolvedsomanypeople,emphasisingthedisciplinary

cross-overoftheproject.

Afterthisopeningscreening,whichhasbeenrepeatedinseveralacademiccontextsduringthe

past couple of years, the filmwas sent out in applications to takepart in documentary film

festivals. These included two main kinds of festivals: those specially concerned with

ethnographicfilmmaking(amongwhichtheGöttingenEthnographicFilmFestivalwasthemost

relevantof them,butwhichalso included festivals screenings inMexico,Spain, theUSAand

Chile),and thoseconcernedwith film industryproductions. In this secondgroupof festivals,

thefilmreceivedtwoprizes:‘BestForeignDocumentaryFilm’attheArizonaFilmFestival2016

in theUSA, and forerunner as ‘Best Documentary Film’ at the INEDITMusic Film Festival in

Chile,2017.

Figure28:TheRegion,releasedposter

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However,thetranslationoftheAntofagastaRegion intothefilmmediumanditssubsequent

distributionwasonlyfullycompletewhenitwasscreenedbackintheAtacama,withthefirst

public non-ticketed screening taking place in Calama City’s municipal theatre. People were

invitedviasocialmediaandthemainparticipantsofthefilmcontactedbyphone.CalamaCity

Councilprovideduswiththevenueandthenecessaryequipment,allfreeofcharge,andmore

thantwohundredpeoplearrivedattheevent.ReturningthefilmtotheAtacama,itneedsto

be said, took longer than initially expected, mainly due to montage and post-production

schedules. During this unexpected delay, people from Calama City contacted us on many

occasionsaskingforareleasedate,expressinghowmuchtheywerelookingforwardtothefilm

screeningintheircity.

Ontheeveningof7April2016,thescreeningfinallytookplace.Wehiredabrassbandforthe

eventandeveryoneshowedupintheirbestoutfits,crowdingthetheatrewithparticipantsof

the festival of Ayquina andmany others. People laughed andwhisperedwhile the filmwas

running,andsomeofthekidsevengotuptodanceeverytimeadanceappearedonscreen.

Once the filmwas over, the audience clappedenthusiastically, althoughno commentswere

madeinsidethetheatre.IknewbeforehandthatpeopleinCalamadonottalkeasilyinpublic,

being known for their long silences before speaking out loud. Yet, once outside the venue,

manyof themapproachedusandcommentedon the film.Everyoneappearedquiteexcited

aboutwhattheyhadjustwatched,wishingusblessingsandcongratulationsforourwork.We

gave out some of the film posters and committed to a new screening, this time during the

festival itself, inSeptember2017.Theplan is tohave the filmshowingona loopduring the

festival, and to have copies available to buy throughout (as it has been requested by the

festival of Ayquina’s participants). Though it is still in the future, we have received written

confirmationoftheevent.

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Figure28:FirstpublicscreeninginCalamaCity,April2016

Figure29:LocalbrassbandperformingoutsidethecounciltheatreofCalama

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AsabriefglimpseonthenewencounterspromptedbyafterthisfirstscreeninginCalamaCity,

wewereapproachedbyagroupof youngpeoplewhoaskedus tokeep filming the festival.

Theywantedustofilmaspecificdancegroup,theSamboSaya,whichwillbecelebrating its

fortieth anniversary this year. Some of these young people belong to the indigenous

communityofToconce,andarewillingtobepartof theproductionteam.Thisshowshowa

long-termrelationshipcandevelop,openingupaccesstothosecommunitieswhodidnotwant

tobefilmedduringthisproject.

Thedayaftertheevent,wetravelledintothepampastogiveasecondscreeninginthevillage

ofMaríaElena,thelastinhabitednitrateminingcamp,wherewemetagroupofmiddle-aged

womenwho had briefly taken part in the project. During our visit we committed to a new

audiovisualproject,thistimefocusedontheurbansettlementsleftbehindbyindustryafterits

massiveexploitationoftheland’sresources,whichitsinhabitantsrefusetoabandon.Thisisa

workinprogressthatwillbereleasedinDecember2017.

Fromananalyticalpointofview,overall thisprojecthas testedhowagiventerritorycanbe

translated, exploring the potentials and limitations of the audiovisual medium. It has also

shownhowsocialresearchoutcomescanstandonasupplementarydimensionoftheirobjects

ofknowledge,engagingatthesametimeasaddingcomplexitytothem.Equallyimportantly,it

has attempted to create an image of the Antofagasta Region based on a cosmogram (the

Chakana)thatiscurrentlyinuse,designingapieceofworkthatcombinesdifferentregimesof

signswithinonesingleartefact.Thevisualoutcomewasnotonlytheresultofacombinationof

filmwithmyresearchpractice;italsoassembledtheaestheticsofAndeanobjects,ananalysis

of how translations can be made and, last but not least, the experiences and discourses

collectedfromtheinhabitantsoftheAtacama.

AtthecentreofthisprojectwasthemethodologicalapproachproposedbyLatour(2005),who

seesresearchasastep-by-stepchainof translationsthatmust transform itsobjectswithina

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newmediuminordertovisualisethem.Thewrittenaspectsofthisprojectsettheparameters

formakingavisualtranslationoftheAtacama,whilethefilmwasconstructedbyfollowinga

concatenated process of collecting and superimposing audiovisual inscriptions towards

stabilisingafinalpiece.TheprocesswasequallyinspiredbyBecker’s(2007)fouroperationsin

theconstructionofarepresentationofsociety,which impliedselectingagivenphenomenon

andtracestotranslate,followedbytheiractualtranslation,arrangementandrelease.Thefilm

thisthesis ispresenting isanexplorationofhowsocial researchcanopenuptoothermedia

thatcomplementthewrittenform,towardscreatingengagingimagesthathelpusunderstand

thesocialworldwelivein.

4.FilmDetails

Title: LAREGION(THEREGION)

URL: https://vimeo.com/198880201

Password: laregionTrailer: https://vimeo.com/154105922SocialMedia: https://www.facebook.com/laregiondocumental

IMbD: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5440904/

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CONCLUSIONSInthisthesisIhaveexploredthenotionoftranslationasunderstoodinsocialsciences,which

refers to the process through which an object of knowledge is displaced into othermedia.

Severalauthors Ihavediscussed(Callon:1986;Latour:2005;Guggenheim:2014;andothers)

have used the concept of translation to replace the idea of objectivity, asserting that the

creationofknowledgeisbasedonthemanipulationofboth,theobjectofknowledgeandits

representation.Bythisitismeantthatwheneverresearchisconducteditneedstotranslateits

objectofknowledgeintoanewmedia,written,visualorotherwise,thatnecessarilytransforms

this object of knowledge in order to visualise it. As B. Latour (2005) has proposed research

productionmethodsarebasedonaseriesofoperationsthatcollect,inscribeandsuperimpose

the traces of a given phenomenon towards stabilising a new artefact, which is never the

phenomenon itselfbut its figurationwithinanewmedia.This is thecase, for instance,ofan

academicpaperthathasbeencreatedbyasetofoperationsthatstartedwithobservationsin

thefield,whicharetranslated intonotes, thentranscoded intotables, tables intochartsand

charts into conclusions. At each stage, a transformation has occurred, modifying and

transformingtheobjectofknowledgeintosomethingelse.

Followingtheseideas,Ihaveproposedthatsociologicalpracticecanexpandthelanguagesand

materials it employs to undertake translations of the socialworld, opening it to newmedia

beyond,yetnotagainst,thewrittentext.Relyingontheworkdonebyvisualanthropologists

and visual sociologists, I composed a project that had two interconnected lives. The first

consistedofawritteninquiryintohowthesocialworldcanbetranslatedintoavisuallayout,

and the second attempted to actually fabricate a visual outcomeas a result ofmy research

practice,whichtooktheformofafeature-lengthdocumentaryfilmentitled‘TheRegion’.The

two complementary outcomes, the written and the visual, were aimed at establishing a

dialogue across disciplinary borders by following the standards both of sociological practice

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andprofessionalfilmproduction.Together,theyexploredhowsocialresearchcouldlearnfrom

filmmakingandviceversa,howthecreationofimagescouldlearnfromsocialresearch.

By exploring the concept of translation and its relation with other theoretical approaches

withinthesocialsciences(Jameson:1991;Toscano:2012;andothers),thewrittenaspectsof

thisproject set theparameters toundertake the translationofagivenobjectof knowledge,

namely, theAtacamaDesert, into themediaofdocumentary filmmaking.Thisvisualartefact

wasequallyguidedbythefouroperationsthatH.Becker(2007)describesasbeinginvolvedin

thefabricationofanyrepresentationofsociety,whichareselection,translation,arrangement

andinterpretation(seechapter2).

Using this approach, I developed the first of these operations (selection)within thewritten

form,whichwasorganisedintotwocomplementarysteps.First,Iundertookaliteraryreview

ofculturalstudiesabouttheAndesWorld(SouthAmerica)anditssouthernarea(theAtacama

Desert),whichfocusedonasetofrepresentationsandritualpracticesfoundintheareaand

lookedfor thecommonaestheticpatternstheyshare.Second, I selectedagivenareawithin

theAtacamaDeserttodevelopqualitativeresearch,namelytheAntofagastaRegion,wherea

strongrelationbetweenlarge-scaleminingindustriesandritualfestivitiesisfound.

ThecombinationofthesetwostagesdrovemetodesignwhatthedocumentaryfilmmakerP.

Guzmán(1997)hascalledan‘imaginaryscript’,whichisatransitionalspacebetweendesigning

andactuallymakingafilm.TheactualimaginaryscriptIdesignedinthecontextofthisproject

wasbasedon the findingspresented inchapter3,whichmainoutcomewas todistinguisha

localcosmogram(Tresch:2004).98ThiscosmogramisknownastheChakanaanditisfoundat

the basis of many Andean representation strategies. Despite the fact that there is no

agreement as to whether the Chakana is a historical figure, or whether it is an invented

tradition,IarguedthatbecauseofbeingawidespreadmodelthroughouttheAndes,itcould

98Asdiscussedinchapter1,thenotionofcosmogramreferstoaparticularkindofobjectonwhichanimageof

thewholeisinscribed,visualisingalivingbodyofinterconnectedorganismsandenvironmentsamongwhichisthecontextforhumanexperience.

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equallybeusedasthebasistodesigntheimaginaryscriptand,therefore,guidethetranslation

oftheAntofagastaRegionintothemediaofdocumentaryfilmmaking.

TheChakanacosmogramisarelationalsystemofrepresentationthatmodelsdissimilarorders

of reality within a network of connections, in which opposing forces (such as mining

exploitation and indigenous communities) are mediated by ritually based practices.

Accordingly,theimaginaryscriptIdesignedinordertoundertakethevisualtranslationofthe

AntofagastaRegion,followedtheChakana’srelationalstructure.Icombinedthefindingsofmy

qualitativeresearchinthearea(chapter4)withthisstructure,whichwaspresentedinthefirst

sectionofchapter5.

Afterhavingsettheimaginaryscriptthatwasgoingtoguidethefilmproduction,thewritten

aspects of this thesis gave room to follow) Becker´s operation: translation.99 At this point

Becker´sdescriptionofhowtofabricatearepresentationofsocietywasconsideredinrelation

to Latour’s (2005) description of how researchmethods produce their outcomes,which are

basedonthenecessarytransformationoftheirobjectsofknowledgeanddrivenbycollecting

andcombiningsetsof inscriptions.Intheparticularcontextofthisresearch,thecollectionof

inscriptions was based on the video-camera, which produced large-format digital files that

recordedthe light,movementandthesoundofthings,thesebeingthematerialswithwhich

therepresentationofhowtheAtacamawasgoingtobemade.

Atthisstageofthevisualartefactfabrication,theimaginaryscriptwasahighlyusefultoolthat,

by proposing a set of thirteen potential scenes to be recorded, guided the collection of

audiovisualinscriptions.However,thecollectionprocessshowedthatthescriptneededtobe

adaptedandre-writtenduringtheshooting,openingituptotheunexpectedeventsthatwe,

asafilmteam,foundinthefield,amongwhichtwoareworthhighlighting.Ontheonehand,

werealisedthatthecamerawasrecordingwithoutinterferenceandthecamerawasanactive 99 Despitethefact thatthewrittenaspectsof thisworkhadalreadyachievedatranslationprocess intermsof

combiningasetoftracesoftheAtacamaDesert(literaryreview&qualitativeresearch)withinthetextmedia,Irefer here to translation as the process of producing and collecting audiovisual inscriptions about theAntofagastaRegion.

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presenceinrelationtothefilmparticipants’behaviour.Thus,wedecidedtotakethisfactasan

advantageratherthantryingtominimiseit.Muchofthecollectedfootagewasadirectresult

of the relation between the camera, the filmed subjects and my research practice, co-

constructing the collected footage together. This was the case, for instance, of the Chilean

Cowboys’ duel scene, inwhich two of the participants of the dancewere asked to perform

directlyfacingthecameraduringthefestival,actingoutthecinematicimaginaryoftheirdance

(seechapter5).

Ontheotherhand,someoftheplannedscenesaboutlifeintheindigenouscommunitieswere

notfilmedastheparticipantsbelievedinatabooaboutfilmingsacredicons.Althoughwetried

hard to establish a relationshipwith a groupofmembers from the indigenous communities

livingintheinnermountains,wewerenotallowedtofilmthem.Duetothisrestrictionwehad

to re-write some of the scenes of the imaginary script and adapt others, showing how the

visual artefact this thesiswasproducingwashighlydependanton the filmparticipants’own

requests. It was not about what we wanted to film but more precisely, about what the

researched subjectswanted to showor to keep fromus. It is in this sense, I think, that any

representationofsocietyisaco-constructionbetweeninscription,researcherandobject,and

thatitisonlythroughthistripleassemblagethatanewartefactcanbeproducedasresultofa

researchpractice.

Once the collection of inscriptions was completed, they were brought back to London and

arrangedduringthemontagestage.Throughoutthisprocessofarrangingandcombiningthe

collected footage, the Chakana was used to guide the footage editing, providing a general

model of how the different scenes should be organised in relation to each other. The final

outcome of this stage produced a sixty-two minute long documentary film that depicts a

journeyfromtheminingareasofthedesert intothe innermountains,wherearitual festival

takes place which populates a tiny village with all kinds of fantastic creatures. This final

outcomewasalsodrivenbyfilmindustrystandards,whichprovidedtheprojectwithaproper

visual languagetoworkwithand, therefore,achievedthecrossoverbetweensocial research

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and filmmaking practice. Finally, the film was released in 2015 and distributed on several

circuits, including film festivals, academic contexts and, last but not least, among the

inhabitantsoftheAntofagastaRegion.

This research process, including both written and visual aspects, was designed as an

experimentalapproachtotheexpansionoflanguagesandmaterialsintheoutcomesresearch

fabricates, thusopeningtherangeofartefacts itcandesign.At thecoreofmyproposalwas

the idea that the research process is directed towards the creation of an artefact (written,

visualorotherwise)thatisplacedincirculationintheworld.Theseartefactsarenotamimetic

representationofphenomena,but their transformation intoanewmedia,beingplaced ina

supplementarydimensiontotheirobjectsofknowledgeandinsertapointofviewfromwhich

toreadorrelatetothetranslatedphenomena.

Rose’s(2007)descriptionofimagesashavingasiteofproduction,asiteofinternalmeanings

and a site of the audience, is equally useful to describe artefacts produced by a research

practice.Inthefirstplace,artefactsofthiskindneedtoacknowledgethewayinwhichtheyare

produced,workingas reflexivepieces that include thehistoryof theirmakingaspartof the

research results. In the second place, these artefacts are composed of a set of internal

meanings,whicharethesubstantivecontentstheyarrangetogetherasaresultofatranslation

process.Thirdly,theseartefactscandisplaytheirfullpotentialonlywhenputintocirculation,

meetingaudienceswhomight interpretorusetheminwaystheartefactdesigndidnotplan

beforehand.Onlywhen these artefacts aremade publicmight they become an actor in the

widersystemofrelationsthatcomposethesocial.

However, the engaging potential of a published artefact (an academic paper, a film, or

multimediaproject)demandanawarenessofthepowertheartefacthasinshapingtheworld

inacertainway,thustriggeringactionsaccordingly.Thematerialandsubstantivefeaturesof

anartefactdefinethewayinwhichthephenomenonithastranslatedisseenandunderstood

bytheartefact´sreadersorusers.Atthispoint,Ithink,apoliticaldimensionneedstobeadded

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to the process by which the social world is transformed into a new media. Because a

transformationisbotharbitrary–thereisalwaysadifferentwaythepiecescouldhavebeen

arranged – anddeterminedby standardways of doing things as givenby the community of

makers inwhichtherepresentationoperates(Becker:2007),theseartefactsco-constructthe

worldtheyvisualisebyprovidingapointofviewthatprescribeswhattheyaredescribing.Both

dimensions determine this point of view, the curatorial approach of the researcher and the

institutional constrains surrounding the artefacts production. It is on this level that these

artefactscreateanargumentabouttheworldthatisnotobjectivebutratherpolitical.

As Toscano (2012) has suggested, the idea that in order to represent society it needs to be

transformed into a newmedia, does not imply that representing the structures that govern

sociallifehavetobeexcludedfromsocialresearch.Onthecontrary,hearguesthat,becauseof

providingapointofview,theseartefactscanrepresentanideaoftotalitythatacknowledgesin

an explicitway how that representationwas fabricated, paying painstaking attention to the

employeddevices, signsandmaterials.These representationscanprovide readersandusers

with a point of view that, although arbitrary as well as determined, help to visualise what

wouldotherwiseremaininvisible.Furthermore,Jameson(1991)showsthattheroleofthese

artefacts is to stress the gap between isolated experience and a broader sense of totality,

connectingthemonadicpointofviewthatwe,asindividuals,arerestrictedtowiththewider

structuresthatdefinethesocial.

The construction of artefactswithin sociology is therefore not just amatter of translations,

materials and devices; it is also a way of imagining what is not visible to the naked eye.

Artefactsareawayoftransformingachaoticmultiplicitywithinacoherentandstablesystem

of relations, making it available for new readings and interpretations. These artefacts can

render an image of totality by translating it into a newmedia, likemaps dowhen awhole

territoryisrenderedontopaper,makingthemvisible.However,itisnotpossibletofabricatea

representationofthiskindifthereaderisnotawareofboththerenderedimageandalsothe

pointofviewandcraftworkbehindit.

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Fromtheresearcher’sperspective,theprocessbywhichaphenomenonistransformedintoa

newmediaisalsoawayofstudyingandlearningaboutthatphenomenon.Thiswasthecaseof

thiswrittenandvisuallybasedproject.Itsdevelopmentwasnotonlyanexplorationofhowa

translationof theAtacama into themediaofdocumentary filmmaking couldbeundertaken,

but it was also a way of understanding this territory and its current economic and social

features. It showedhowdifferent rationalities coexist in this desert andwhat relations they

establishwithoneanother.

On theonehand, this researchhas shownhowahighly developedmining industry controls

almosteveryaspectofthelivesoftheinhabitantsoftheAtacama.However,ashasbeingthe

case inprevioushistorical stagesofeconomicdevelopmentof thisdesert, thisminingboom

cycle isbasedontherapidextractionofmineral resourcesthatmightendabruptlyoncethe

businessstopsbeingprofitable,alongwithalltheassociatedconsequencesthismighttrigger.

On the other hand, this research has also shown how mining immigrants that have been

attractedby this iterativeboomandbust economic cycles, haveentangled their own rituals

and background with the indigenous ritual practices in the area, adding new layers to the

traditionalfestivalsfoundintheDesert´sinnermountains.Inthiscontext,thenewcomershave

appropriatedsomeofthesefestivals,changingtheirscaleandperformancesbutkeepingmany

ofthefeaturesbelongingtotheAndeanWorld,composingofameetingpointbetweenmine

workersandindigenouscommunities.Inmyview,thecurrentfeaturesoftheritualfestivalsin

the Atacama are a privileged space to inquire into the continuities and ruptures that have

shapedthisterritoryduringthepastfewdecades.

Whentracingthehistoricaldevelopmentofthesefestivals,thedifferentlayersthathavebeen

addedtothemovertimecanbeassociatedwiththedifferenthistoricalstagestheAtacamahas

gone through. From the early evangelisation of indigenous communities during the colonial

period,followedbytheChilenizationoftheDesertafterthePacificWarof1879-1883,tothe

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currentexpansionof themining industry. Eachof these stageshas addednew layers to the

festivals (Christian Icons, Chilean symbols and pop-culture images, respectively), all of them

nowsimultaneouslyparticipatingintheseevents.

Finally, this research has shown how the festival of Ayquina, a major ritual event in the

AntofagastaRegion,sharesmanyoftheaestheticfeaturesfoundinotherAndeanobjectsand

practices, all of them governed by the Chakana cosmogram. The three-fold architectonical

layoutonwhichthefestivalofAyquinaisdisplayedcanbeinterpretedasanexpressionofthe

Chakanawhich,despitetheuncertaintyofitsactualorigin,isseentobestructuringtheAndean

worldviewwithinathree-foldtemplate(theheights,thelandandtheunderground).

Accordingly, the festivalofAyquina isstructured inaclosedspace (wherethesacred iconof

the festival is kept), there is an open courtyard leading to the water source, and an

intermediatespace(thesquare)wheretheritualdancestakeplace.Inmyview,thisthree-fold

template is a metaphor of one of the most common Andean representation strategies, in

whichopposingdimensions(theclosedspaceandopencourtyardinthiscase)aremediatedby

iconicfigurations(theritualdancesofAyquina).Ihaveconcludedfromthisthesisthatwhatis

atstakeisthatbymeansofrepresentingtheworldanditscreatures,theAyquinadancersare

able to connect the sacred and natural forces in a symbolic way, ensuring the cycle of the

worldkeepsflowinginrelativebalance.

Thecombinationofthewrittenandvisualaspectsofthisthesishavebroughttolighthowthe

transformationofagivenphenomenonintoanewmediaisnotjustamatteroffabricatinga

visually mediated artefact but is also a way of exploring and understanding the translated

phenomena.Fabricatinganartefactofthiskindisawayofexpandingresearchpracticetobe

used for new languages,materials andmedias,whichdoesnot implyneglecting thewritten

textasatoolforconductingresearch.Onthecontrary,thewrittenmaybecomplementedwith

otherstrategiesofrepresentationthathelptounderstandthesensorialandvisualaspectsof

sociallife.

188

AsS.Pink(2010)hasargued,researchshouldnotonlybe interested indescribingthesenses

but using them to guide and influence our understanding of the world, opening research

beyond the text to the tacit, unspoken,non-verbal dimensionsof social life, fromwriting to

documentaryfilmandphotographyandtonewengagementswithartpractices.Followingthis

approach, I thinkthat this thesisattempts toexplorehowthetranslationof thesocialworld

into the media of documentary filmmaking is just a first step in widening the strategies

sociologistscanusetoconductresearch.

Whenitisassumedthatresearchcanoperatebycreatingandcollectinginscriptions,itimplies

thattheseinscriptionsdonotneedtobeexclusivelybasedonwrittentext.Itisalsopossibleto

designresearchbasedonacollectionofimages,drawingsorevenobjects,whichcanlaterbe

combined with and /or contribute towards the composition of different kinds of artefacts.

Thus,researchcanbedirectedtowardsworkingwithdifferentmediastoconstructandpresent

results, from the written to the visual, but also from cartography to multimedia and art

installationorperformance.Whateverthefeaturesofthechosenmediaontowhichthesocial

is translated are, what this process of transformation demands is to engage research with

otherdisciplines,exploringthecrossoverbetweendifferentstrategieswhenrepresentingthe

social. The central task, in my view, is to fabricate artefacts that help us to visualise and

engagewiththewiderphenomenathatsurroundourindividualexperience.

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