Tedium and creativity: the valorization of manioc cultivation and piaroa women
Year: 2004
Type: article
Abstract: Through an exploration of Amazonian ethnographic material, this article challenges the idea that tasks normally associated with women are invariably considered to be less valuable than men's activities. I argue against the claims made by Rivière that manioc cultivation is devoid of creativity or differentiation. I find the process of manioc cultivation to be profoundly social; indeed, it provides a critical means by which prestige is attained, maintained, and expressed by Piaroa women. By gardening, Piaroa women create their own spaces and infuse the landscape with meaning. By processing manioc and thus providing the safest and most basic of staple foods, they create and re‐create sociality and the conditions for humanity. Finally, I explore the ways in which the region's rapid and far‐reaching economic and cultural transformations may affect the role of manioc and of women in Piaroa society.
Author: S.L. Heckler
Institution: University of Kent
Language: English
Subfield: History
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2012539529