@article{Mąka†_Jodłowska_2020, title={ANDEAN PISHTACO AS A SYMBOLIZATION OF SOCIAL TRAUMA, ACCULTURATION AND CONFLICT (XVI-XXI C.)}, volume={39}, url={https://estudioslatinoamericanos.pl/index.php/estudios/article/view/326}, DOI={10.36447/studios2019.v39.art8}, abstractNote={<p>Th e Andean pishtaco is one of the most intriguing and diffi cult to defi ne fi gures in the collective imagina-tion. It does not fi t into any of the categories of supernatural beings present in the beliefs of the Andean peoples. It exists within its own, autonomous category, genetically rooted in the historical reality of the fi rst decades of the conquistadors, as well as in the indigenous mythology. It is a conceptualization and visualization of a deep cultural trauma and its psychological resolution, which provides imaging for the new, unknown existential fears. Fear of the unknown establishes the emotion helplessness, while fear of a known enemy enables development of defense strategies. In Andean millenarian myths of the period aft er the Conquista the pishtaco came into existence as a symbolic fi gure of an enemy which would disap-pear only aft er the awaited revitalization of the idealized Incan empire. Pishtaco has neither one single face, or even one single appearance. During the last 500 years it appeared in the costumes of a monk, a cruel Spanish hacendado, a soldier, a doctor, or anyone perceived as a “stranger” by traditional campe-sinos. Th e oldest visualizations, documented as early as in the XVI c., are still alive today, interconnected with the ones created later. Even today the belief in the pishtaco remains surprisingly strong. It constitutes a proof for a perfect internal structure of this belief, allowing it to adapt to the new threats. Pishtaco at-tacks the Indians, kills them and melts their fat, however, it does not eat it (since it is not a variation of a vampire!), but transfers it to the White Men, who use it to harden the devices they produce. Th e oldest and most common oral lore tells about adding the Indian fat to the metal alloy used to create bells. Th e newer lore tells about using this fat to power vehicles, computers, or telephones. Th e logic of this belief is based on an extremely positive valorization of fat in the traditional Andean communities, that have seen it as a substance of life and vital powers, since the earliest times. Pishtaco kills Indians and takes away the-ir fat in order, and in this way their vital power serves the enemy. Th is belief contains universal symbolism and the metaphor of eternal confl ict between the dominated Andean peoples, and diff erent embodiments of their enemies. Pishtaco is a fi gure of fear of a threat to the physical existence, and of acculturation that leads to the destruction of the group identity. Ironically, it is also an integrating aspect for those, who believe in it, allowing to identify the enemy, and mobilizing to defense.</p&gt;}, journal={Estudios Latinoamericanos}, author={Mąka†, Mirosław and Jodłowska, Elżbieta}, year={2020}, month={Dec.}, pages={131-141} }