THE YANOMAMI CRISIS THE ETHICAL AND EPISTEMOLOGICAL IMPLICATIONS

The article presents the history of the research conducted among the Venezuelan Yanomami and the controversies which arose surrounding that research towards the end of the 1980s. This is the greatest controversy in modern anthropology and one of the most serious in the whole history of the discipline. In literature this stormy discussion (which even extends beyond anthropological circles) is known as the 'Yanomami crisis'. The author argues that the reasons for the 'Yanomami crisis' can be found in earlier sources and are the result of complex interparadigmatic disputes. In addition, he presents criticisms of the work of the first Yanomamologists from the perspective of the anthropological New Criticism and, finally, he discusses the most important consequences of the crisis - both those concerning the way in which the research was carried out, the ethical standards and the way in which the anthropology of culture functions in public discourse.