Introducing Amazonianistics

 Welcome to this blog! This post is meant to explain why I decided to start writing here, and what this is all about. Let us perhaps begin with its name: The Amazonianist. I generally refer to myself as an "Amazonianist", although this has led to confusion in the past — as I was misidentified as a linguist working with Amazon at one point at a conference in Athens. Considering the distance between Athens and Amazonia, I did not take it as overly insulting, but it was very funny nevertheless. The term "Amazonianist" itself is not quite parallel to the Spanish term "amazonista", while in German I would probably use "(der) Amazonist". I do not know why, but the flow of English "Amazonist" simply does not appeal to me as much.

When an Amazonianist is a person studying Amazonia, then Amazonianistics is the field of Amazonianists. The name of this blog is purposefully set as the term referring to the person. In other words, it's my blog, I'm an Amazonianist, so let's call it that way. All in all it's a silly name for a hopefully less silly blog. And as you might have noticed, there is another title for this website, which is what you can see up there. "The Amazonianists' Corner" is probably akin to many blog titles of the form "The ____ Corner". I must admit that I was not very creative in choosing this second title, but I felt having two names for the same thing is not very uncommon either. In fact, I might also write a post on synonymy at one point, also including Amazonian ethnonyms and glossonyms, i.e. names for peoples and names for languages.

Why did I decide to start a blog? Well, I think I do have things to share about one of my passions. As a linguist, and more specifically as a linguistic fieldworker, and even more specifically as a linguist doing documentary fieldwork in the Amazon, I would like to share my thoughts on this topic using not only my scientific expertise (which I may or not may have), but also my emotional connection to the people and their cultures there. On top of that, one other reason was the fact that I need something to do that does not feel like work, but still relates to work in some sense for when I neither want to work, nor want to take a break from work. Something inbetween work and non-work, so to say.

What this is all about? Well, in general, Amazonian languages and cultures. Again, I do not know everything about it, and I would assume nobody does — although perhaps some people come close. My academic focus lies in Northwestern Amazonia, specifically the Colombian part of Northwestern Amazonia, and within that, the area between the Caquetá (a.k.a Japurá) and Putumayo rivers in Southern Colombia. I have dabbled a bit in other Northwestern Amazonian languages, most notably those of the Vaupés to the North, and I am involved in a few projects that go beyond the Amazon's northwest, but my main expertise still lies within the C-P river basins. If you know a bit of geography, you can find the Putumayo quite easily by looking at the Colombian border with Peru in the South, to the east of a small triangle in which Leticia lies. Look at Map 1 in case you are still lost.

Map 1. The Caquetá-Putumayo Area. (Wojtylak 2020: 13)

My work currently centers around Andoke, but while the map says Andoke is spoken near the village of Araracuara, my own fieldwork does not take place there due to security. Instead, if you look at the aforementioned triangle, in its lower right corner, you can see Leticia. This is where I work. As a matter of fact I've also been to Puerto Nariño, which is to the northwest and about a three hour boatride away from Leticia.

Leticia is very safe, and it is very large. Together with its sister Tabatinga on the Brazilian side, it accumulates over 100'000 inhabitants. Many indigenous people have moved from their original home to Leticia, and it is with these diaspora communities that I work with.

If you want to know more about the labels in that map, look out for the next blog post, in which I will lay some groundwork for us to be all on the same line. If you want to know more about myself, check out the About Me page. Alternatively you can look at my academic webpage, although it is still in the works.

Until next time!