Dance of the Dolphin: Transformation and Disenchantment in the Amazonian Imagination

Western Folklore, Winter 1998 by Gabbert, Lisa

Dance of the Dolphin: Transformation and Disenchantment in the Amazonian Imagination. By Candace Slater. (Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press, 1994. Pp xi 314, acknowledgments, map, illustration, photographs, appendices, bibliography, index. $57.95 cloth, $17.95 paper)

Candace Slater's discussion of Dolphin stories examines transformation as manifested in various facets of Amazonian society. Her book strives to focus, "as much as possible on the transformation of a people and a landscape as reflected through their own symbolic forms" (3). Central to her analysis is an examination of the fluidity between man and Dolphin and each figure's relationship to place, as well as a discussion of the Amazonian landscape as a primary determinant of political, social, and psychological realms.

Slater approaches these narratives with a unique and refreshing amalgam of literary and anthropological perspectives, informed and enhanced by historical, social, and geographical knowledge. She introduces the intricate web of relationships embedded in Dolphin stories by situating them broadly in Amazonian social/political history as well as locally in her storytellers' individual lives. Slater then discusses several manifestations of Dolphins including encantado, lover, and white man. As encantado, Dolphins effortlessly and unpredictably change from dolphin to human, embodying a fundamental mystery whose underlying sexuality potentially threatens social order. Anybody might become the object of a Dolphin's insatiable desire and be carried off to the enchanted river bottom. As lovers, Dolphins attend parties and seduce humans, often reflecting stereotypical conceptions of male and female sexuality. Yet few people escape a Dolphin encounter without being indelibly affected, and thus Dolphins challenge sexual stereotypes through their ability to engender physical and psychological transformation. As white men, Dolphins assume the status of outsider. Blond and blue-eyed, they represent foreign domination and wealth. Yet, as manifestations of particularly Amazonian characteristics, they also resist complete foreign control. Slater ends with an examination of the dialectic between the dominated and the oppressors, concluding that resistance to established hierarchies of power may be found within the central paradoxes, profound ambivalence, and continual movement of the Dolphins.

Slater's shape-shifting Dolphins resist definition and therefore destruction. Yet, while Slater notes that the stories incorporate and assimilate modern elements (a Dolphins' river-bottom home has modern appliances), her approach probes beyond simple conceptions of folklore-as-reinvention. Contemporary explorations of place, literary themes based in social reality, and most importantly, her storyteller's perceptions, all serve to demonstrate how these narratives are fundamentally interdependent and essentially alive. She states: "At stake is far more than whether Dolphins dress up in white suits and party dresses to go to country dances or jump into unsuspecting people's hammocks on moonlit nights. Debates about the enchanted being's precise nature-or, indeed, their mere existence- are above all evaluations of Amazonia's, past, present, and future and impromptu definitions of an at once individual and communal self" (216).

This book is a pleasure to read. It is suitable for all levels of inquiry and can be assigned to both undergraduate and graduate students. Slater's fluid prose reads like a novel for those interested in Amazonian culture and folklore, while her integrated approach makes this a must read for those interested in innovative methodology.

LISA GABBERT

Indiana University Bloomington, Indiana