Book description
Yanantin and Masintin in the Andean World is an eloquently
written autoethnography in which researcher Hillary S. Webb seeks to
understand the indigenous Andean concept of yanantin or
“complementary opposites.” One of the most well-known and defining
characteristics of indigenous Andean thought, yanantin is an adherence
to a philosophical model based on the belief that the polarities of
existence (such as male/ female, dark/light, inner/outer) are
interdependent and essential parts of a harmonious whole.
Webb embarks on a personal journey of understanding the yanantin
worldview of complementary duality through participant observation and
reflection on her individual experience. Her investigation is a
thoughtful, careful, and rich analysis of the variety of ways in which
cultures make meaning of the world around them, and how deeply
attached we become to our own culturally imposed meaning-making strategies.
Hillary S. Webb is the managing editor of Anthropology of
Consciousness, the peer-reviewed journal of the Society for the
Anthropology of Consciousness.
