Table Of ContentGUARANIESYJESUITASENLAPROVINCIAPARAQUARIASEGUN
LASCRONICASDEMONTOYA,CARDEELYPERAMAS(SIGLOSXVIIYXVIII)
By
FRANCISCOBUSTAMANTE
ADISSERTATIONPRESENTEDTOTHEGRADUATESCHOOL
OFTHEUNIVERSITYOFFLORIDAINPARTIALFULFILLMENT
OFTHEREQUIREMENTSFORTHEDEGREEOF
DOCTOROFPHILOSOPHY
UNIVERSITYOFFLORIDA
2001
Copyright2001
by
FranciscoBustamante
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Manypeoplehavecontributedtothiswork.Themembersofmycommitteewere
alwaysavailablefordialogueandguidance.ProfessorFelixBolanos,mychairmademany
fineandacuteobservationswhichwereinvaluableforthedevelopmentofthiswork.He
hasalsoservedasarolemodel;Iwillaspiretoimitatehiminmyacademiclife.Professor
DianeMarringstimulatedmyinterestinresearchandgavemeallthesupportIneededto
accomplishmywork.ProfessorMarkThurnermotivatedmeevenfurtherandalwaysgave
meverygoodadvice.IgivespecialthankstoProfessorCharlesPerroneforhiscritical
observationsthatenrichedmyworkandhelpedmeseeotherpossibilitiesforfuture
research.Lastbutnotleast,IgiveveryspecialthankstoMr.JustinoLlanque-Chanafrom
theLatinAmericanCollection,thisworkcouldnotbeencompletedwithouthispermanent
help.
in
TABLEOFCONTENTS
page
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
iii
ABSTRACT vii
1 INTRODUCCION:LOSTEXTOSYSUCONTEXTO 1
Objetivoycorpus 2
Baseshermeneuticas 5
Basesmetodologicas 17
TextosdelasmisionesdelParaguay 23
Caracterizacionyjustificationdeloscuatrotextos 28
RuizdeMontoyaysuConquistaespiritual 28
CPaerrdaimealsyysussuDLeaclRaerpautbiloincadedevPelradtaodnyyCloomspienndidoisogduearHainsiteosriadelParaguay . 3450
Ponderacionglobaldeloscuatrotextos 45
Elcontexto:lasreformasreligiosasdelaModernidad 49
AugeycrisisdelaCompaniadeJesus 51
Politicaindigenistaespanola 57
IndigenasyeuropeosenelParaguay 59
LasmisionesjesuiticasenelParaguay 77
Consideracionesfinales 67
2 ELDISCURSODELACONVERSION 88
Laluchaporelcontrolespiritual 89
Dosvocesdeundebate:LasCasasyAcosta 89
Avataresdeunaaculturacionreligiosa 92
Lascreenciasdelostupi-guaranies 95
“Pueblossinfe,sinrey,sinley” 95
Losmitosfundacionales.LabusquedadelaTierrasinmal 100
RebelionesmesianicasylaTierrasinmal 102
Elfalsomonoteismoguarani 105
IV
Laimplantationdelcristianismo 108
Lapredicacion 108
Lacristinanizaciondelacosmogoniaguarani Ill
Criticasalacristianizacionsuperficialeincompleta 115
Criticaaunaevangelizationaliadaalaexplotaciondelindigena 118
Lacruzadacontraeldemonio 123
Unaextirpationdeidolatriasparaguaya 130
Eldiscursodelaresistenciachamanica 135
Laridiculizaciondeloschamanaesysusritos 138
Laantropofagia 139
Los"triunfos"delafe 145
Ladevociondelosguaraniesenlaepocadelosmilagros 147
LadevociondelosguaraniesenlaEdaddelaRazon 151
Consideracionesfinales 155
3 REPRESENTACIONESDELGUARANIREDUCIDO 162
Laaculturacionforzadadelosguaranies 163
Procesosdealteridadeidentidadensituationcolonial 163
Losusosdelpasado:el"antes"delosjesuitas 166
Justificaciondelafundaciondemisiones 168
Lareductionydomesticationdelosguaranies 171
Elmitodela"revolutiondelhierro" 173
Lareductioncomozonadecontacto 176
Resistenciasalasedentarizacion 178
Elchoquededosmoralessexuales 179
Penurias,virtudesyhabilidadesdelosmisioneros 185
Lalenguaguarani,instrumentobasicodesociabilidadenlamision ... 189
"Silotemporalestabueno,loespiritualvamuyadelante 194
Opinionessobrelasrelacionesentrelomaterialyloespiritual 194
Lapropiedad 198
Laigualdadsocial 200
Hacertrabajaralguarani 201
Eltrabajodelamilicia 208
Elgobiemodelamision 211
Elentramadourbanocomoformadecontrolsocial 217
Elindigenacomonino 222
Lasmisionescomojustificaciondelcolonialismo 224
Consideracionesfinales 226
v
4 REPRESENTACIONESDELOSENEMIGOSDELASMISIONES 230
ElOtrocambiadecara 231
Montoyaysualegatocontralasbandeiras 232
LaexpansionlusitanadesdeSaoPaulo 232
Lasfronterasterritoriales 235
LosbandeirantescomolospeoresenemigosdeEspana 238
Losbandeirantescomofalsoscristianos 239
Losbandeirantescomoinfieles 241
Losbandeirantescomoherejes 243
LaguerrasantadelasMisiones 244
Cardielcontraladiplomaciadelosimperios 247
LaexpansionbrasilenaenelsigloXVIII 247
Razones"paraquelosindiosodienmuchoalosblancos" 248
Laluchaporlariquezapecuaria 249
Peramasysuapostrofealosfilosofosliberales 252
UnareactioncontraelTerrorfrances 252
LaIlustracionylasmisionesparaguayas 253
Laimposibleigualdad 255
Apologiadelaaristocracia 258
Lacaridadcomorespuestaaladesigualdad 260
Elregresodelbuensalvaje 262
Unconvencidoreaccionario 263
LalealtadalAntiguoRegimen 266
Consideracionesfinales 267
5 CONSIDERACIONESFINALES 273
REFERENCES 284
BIOGRAF1CALSKETCH 297
vi
AbstractofDissertationPresentedtotheGraduateSchool
oftheUniversityofFloridainPartialFulfillmentofthe
RequirementsfortheDegreeofDoctorofPhilosophy
GUARANIESYJESUITASENLAPROVINCIAPARAQUARIASEGUN
LASCRONICASDEMONTOYA,CARDIELYPERAMAS(SIGLOSXVIIYXVIII)
By
FranciscoBustamante
August2001
Chairperson:AlvaroFelixBolanos
MajorDepartment:RomanceLanguagesandLiteratures
MydoctoraldissertationconcernschangesinthelifeoftheGuaraniIndiansof
Paraguayduringtheperiodspanningthe17thand18thcenturies. Iexplorehowthe
designandestablishmentofthemissiontownssystemisdepictedby threeJesuit
missionariesinthefollowingtexts:AntonioRuizdeMontoya’sConquistaEspiritual
(1639),JoseCardiel’sDeclarationdeverdad(1754)andCompendiodelaHistoriadel
Paraguay(1780),andJosePeramas’LaRepub/icadePlatonylosindiosguaranies
(1793).BeforetocolonizationbySpain,theGuaranilivedanomadiclife,cultivating
forestlandsclearedbyslashingandburning. TheSpanishencomiendasystemthreatened
theGuaraniwithenslavementorgenocide. The Jesuits'reductionssystememergedasa
waytoprotecttheIndiansfromtheencomiendaandtoguaranteeabasicstandardof
livingthatwouldallowthemtoreceivetheGospel. TheJesuitspromotedaradical
transformationintheIndians'materiallife.Theirforcedsettlementasshepherdsand
farmerscreatedculturaltrauma. Aculturalconflictwasoriginatedfromtheencounterof
twoverydifferentconceptionsoflife.Thefinalvictoryofthemissionaries,thoughsaving
theIndiansfromgenocide,wasanalternativemethodofreducingtheresistanceofnative
peoples. Withinthiscontext,IexaminetheliteraryformsusedbytheJesuitsto
characterizetheIndians.
Thedissertationisstructuredinfivechapters.Chapter1hastwoparts.Inthefirst,
Ipresentthetheoreticalframeofmyresearch(poststructuralism,postcolonialism,
anthropological,andhistoricalapproach),thereasonsforselectionofthetexts,andthe
methodIusetoanalyzethem.Ialsoprovideasketchofsomebiographicaldataofthe
threechosenmissionaries.InthesecondpartofChapter2ahistoricalbackgroundis
given,threeseriesofhistoricalprocessesfrom1500to1800aredisplayedtoexaminethe
parallelsbetweenthem:theevolutionoftheCatholicChurchandtheSocietyofJesus, the
SpanishIndianpolicy,andthecolonizationoftheParaguayandtheLaPlataregion.
Chapter2dealswithconversionoftheIndianstoChristianity,the“spiritualconquest”as
analternativetoarmedconquest.ItalsostudiestheIndianresistancetothenewfaithand
theparticularfeatureoftheIndians’Christianbeliefsanddevotion.Chapter3examines
thedeepchangesintroducedbythemissionariesintotheIndianculture.Theconceptions
oftime,wealth,andidlenessbetweenthetwoculturesarethemajorthemesofthis
chapter.Specifically,theculturalproblemsarosefromanewconceptionofwork,living,
andlodging. ThemeaningofpolygamyinGuaranicultureandthewaysthepriests
Vlll
counteractedthesepracticesarealsoexaminedinChapter3.Chapter4revolvesaround
theconceptofthemissionasafrontierinstitution. Istudytheconstantharassmentsthe
missiontownssufferedfromexternalenemies(mainlythePortuguesebcindeirantes)and
howtheIndiansresistedtheirattacks.Thischapteralsoincludesthereactionoffather
JoseLuisPeramasagainsttheideologicalattacksoftheFrenchphilosophersandhowhe
managedtodenythepossibilityofanegalitariansocietyinEuropebasedonthemodelof
theGuaranimissions.Chapter5setsouttheconclusionsofthedissertation.
IX
CAPITULO
1
INTRODUCCION:LOSTEXTOSYSUCONTEXTO
Entre1610y1767,enterritoriesqueenlaactualidadformanpartedeParaguay,
Argentina,BrasilyUruguay,laCompaniadeJesusimplementounsistemademisiones
destinadoatrasmitirelcristianismoylaculturaeuropeaalosindigenasdelaregion. Los
pueblosnativosafectadosaesesistemacolonial,adiferenciadeaquellossometidosal
regimendelaencomienda,pudieron librarsedelexterminioyformasextremasde
explotaciondesutrabajo.Sinembargo,sevieronigualmenteexpuestosaunarrasamiento
desuculturaoriginalporhabersidoobligadosaconcentrarseenpueblos,abandonandosu
formadevidaseminomadedecultivadorestropicalesparatransformarseenagricultores
sedentarios.Asimismo,suscreenciasreligiosas,suspracticassocialescomolapoligamiay
engeneral,todassuscostumbresancestralesfueroncelosamentecombatidasporlos
misioneros.Lostreintapueblosdemisionesseconstituyeronenloquesusdetractores
llamaronla"republicajesuiticadelParaguay",yaqueaunquesupervisadosporlas
autoridadesespanoles,elpoderefectivoresidiaenlosmisioneros.Estoprovocoenormes
resistenciasdepartedelosencomenderosdelaregionquesesentiandesposeidosdela
manodeobraindigena.Tambienseagregaronlosataquesdelosbandeiremtes,
1
