Performing cassava : a material semiotic investigation of the cassava and quilombolas of Espírito Santo do Itá

Abstract

This thesis explores the way the relation between the people and the cassava unfolds throughout the production and processing of this root in the quilombola community Espírito Santo do Itá, in Pará (Brazil). Based on ethnographic observations and interviews, this research follows a material semiotic approach, eschewing, thus, the nature/culture divide in an attempt to investigate the entities as they come into being through their relations. The discussion is divided into three chapters which examine distinct ethnographic moments, without the goal of producing a unified narrative. Firstly, the relation between traditional and scientific knowledge practices is explored in the planting task, identifying the creation of patterns of in/commensurability as comparisons between these practices are drawn. Secondly, the harvesting task is described with a focus on specific modes of ownership and measurement that inhabit the community and that need to be understood in relation to its position on the edge of capitalism. Finally, the different products the cassava becomes (flour, starch, and tucupi) are introduced as manifestations of the intimate relation between the community members and cassava, each one affecting this relation differently through their social-materiality.