The fox’s journey to heaven and his uncle the tiger: Amerindian cross-cultural textures in two repertoires of Mapuche tales of the fox

Abstract

This paper shows the Amerindian cross-cultural contents of two repertories of Mapuche tales of the fox. The first one corresponds to a fox’s journey to heaven, originated in Central Andean area. The second one is about a fox and his uncle, the tiger, taken from Chaco narratives. Through a narratological analysis, it stands out the recurrence of the motives that give form to the tales. In relation to that, we argue that the representation of the fox as a trickster, common to these narratives, expresses a general problem, propitious for cross cultural representation. The contradiction in the fox’s behavior exposes the tension between basic necessities and vital impulses, and the cultural norms to conform them, which constitutes a common experience of human condition.