Abstract

BOTTA, Sergio. The absence of the taíno gods. About the hermeneutical failure in the work of Ramón Pané. Latinoamérica [online]. 2013, n.57, pp.161-187. ISSN 2448-6914.

The Relación acerca de las antigüedades de los indios by Ramón Pané represents the first ethnographic record after the first European contact with the Americas. It is also the first attempt to describe and understand the indigenous religion of the Caribbean peoples. This article analyzes the effort made by Pané to introduce this different kind of religiosity within a recognized conceptual model and, at the same time, pays attention to the hermeneutic failure of his project.

Keywords : Ramón Pané; Christopher Columbus; Taino; Idolatry; Gods; Cemís.