The Perverse Child: Desire in a Native Amazonian Subsistence Economy Author(s): Peter Gow Source: Man, New Series,

Vol. 24, No. 4 (Dec., 1989), pp. 567-582 Published by: Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2804288 . Accessed: 15/08/2011 15:43
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THE PERVERSE DESIRE IN A NATIVE SUBSISTENCE

CHILD: AMAZONIAN

ECONOMY

PETER Gow University East Anglia of

fromthe prominence of discussionsof food and sex in the daily lives of Native Amazonian Starting peoples, the articleanalysesthe place of sexual desireand the desireforfood in the subsistenceeconomy of the native people of Bajo Urubamba river in Peru. It describes the production, circulation and of consumptionoffood and exploresthelinksbetween thissystem and theconstruction gendercategories, sexual identitiesand relationsof marriage,affinity kinship.Through an analysisof the use of food and items as joking metaphorsof male and female genitals,it is argued that sexualityand food are made analogous at the level of desire. Finally, the analysisof forbiddenoral desire in childrenleads to the conclusion thatit is the constructionof persons as subjects of particularoral and sexual desireswhich structures Amazoman subsistenceeconomies.

The present article an analysis therole ofdesirein a Native Amazoniansubsistence is of of economy.1With reference the nativecommunities the Bajo Urubamba riverin to westernAmazonia, it explores the importantplace in the economy of particular the formulations sexualdesireand desireforfood. Itis arguedthat codingsofdifferent of on typesoffood on the one hand and of different genderand age categories the other, constitute heartof the subsistence the economy. Concern withfood and sex dominatesthe dailylives of Native Amazonian people. The production,circulation and consumptionof food is the centraldramaof village life and sexual relationships the primarytopic of everydayconversation.This are concernwithfoodand sex hasbeen notedbymanyethnographers ofNativeAmazonian An cultures. earlyexample of thisthemeis foundin Holmberg'sstudyof the Siriono thenwith of Bolivia (1950), which is a portrait a people obsessedwith food first, of the sex, and apparently verylittleelse. More recently, same themehas been explored in ethnographies ofthenorthwest Amazon byReichel-Dolmatoff (1971) and Christine Hugh-Jones(1979), of the Mehinacu and Bororo of CentralBrazil by Gregor(1985) and Crocker (1986) respectively, manyothers. and These more recentanalyseshave not followed Holmberg in takingthisobsession shown at itsfacevalue, but have insteadstressed symbolicqualitiesof thisinterest the is in food and sex. Seeger et al. have argued thatcorporeality a focal idiom in these about corporeality constitute only the societiesand thatNative Amazonian discourses theirconcretesocialpraxis mode ofunderstanding (1979: 16). Siminon-ethnocentric has of larly, Christine Hugh-Jones criticised manyethnographers Amazonia forpaying the littleattention the conceptualcontentof domesticlife(1979: 279). It is largely to
Man (N.S.) 24, 567-82

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influenceof Levi-Strauss's Mythologiques (1970; 1978), which begins with a seriesof Amazonian mythsabout food and sex, that has directedserious attentionto these problemsand has revealed how Native Amazonian cosmologies and discourseson societyare permeatedby metaphors bodilyprocesses. of little attention been paid to therelation has betweenthis concern However, relatively with food and sex and the subsistence economies of Native Amazonian societies.An exception to this tendencyis JanetSiskind,in her analysisof the economy of the 'The hunting in Peru. In an article entitled Sharanahua people ofthePurusriver eastern economy of sex' (1973b) and in her longer monographon the Sharanahua(1973a), of betweenthesexual divisionoflabour Siskindprovidesan interpretation therelation in this society and gender relations.She argues that the Sharanahua economy is structured around the exchange between men and women of forest game forsexual is to favours. scarcerelative the Game, the productof male hunting activity, naturally female-produced garden foods, while women are culturally scarce relativeto men because thelatter allowed and expectedto have more thanone wife.This 'hunting are economy of sex', as Siskind termsit, receives culturalexpressionin the jokes of of hunter withthecomment Sharanahua women, when theygreetthereturn a luckless 'There is no game. Let's eat penises!'.The same economyis also expressed theritual in ofthecollectivehunt,when women send men who are their sexualpartners, potential but not actual husbands,to hunt for them. Siskindfurther mentionsmany cases of similarrituals and jokes fromotherpartsof Amazonia and suggests thatthe 'hunting economy of sex' is generalto the aboriginalculturesof the tropicalforest region.2 Where I would take issue with Siskindis over her representation the 'hunting of economy of sex' as an exchangeof goods betweenproprietors. Siskindtreats flow the of game and sexual favoursbetween Sharanahuamen and women as an exchange relationship between the owners of two different objects: men give game to women in return sexbecause men aretheproprietors gameandwpmen aretheproprietors for of of theirsexuality. Strathern pointed out, such unstated As has of importation a commodity-based property logic can seriously hamperthe analysis social systems of where suchidiomsare quite alien (1984). In thepresent case, theimportation thisWestern of logic of proprietorship the contextof Native Amazonian subsistence into economies obscurestheoriginal issue:people arenot talking about the 'ratesofexchange'between different commoditiessuch as game and sexual favours,nor about theirrespective over productsor theirown bodies. In Native Amazonian daily life property rights about hungerand sexual desire,and the satisfaction thesedesires of people are talking by otherpeople. It is the natureof desirein these kinds of economies thatthe presentarticlewill to explore.I will try show thatthe desires and expressed certain felt for kindsof foods is systematically relatedto certaintypesof social relations.In particular, will argue I thatthe desiresforfood expressedby people in these econonies are not abstracted desiresthancan be satisfied a variety different in of ways,but rather thatthesedesires link people inevitably certainotherpeople. In these economies, relationships to are of desiresexperiencedby the partners the predicatedon the satisfaction particular in I relationship. will explore these issues as part of an extended analysisof a Native Amazonian subsistence to economy which is similar thatof the Sharanahuadiscussed of and consumptionof by Siskind.I explore the totalsystem production,circulation food in thiseconomy,in searchof the codes which governit. Centralto the present

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articleis the question of how this economy functionsaround the construction of particular subjectsof sexual desire and desireforfood and how these constructions necessitate the existenceof othersubjectswhich standin different relationsto these desires. The subsistence communitiestheBajo Urubamba economy thenative of of The Bajo Urubamba is a major tributary the Ucayali, which is in turna major of of tributary theAmazon itselfThe areaitselfis partoflowlandAmazonia and is covered in dense humidtropicalrainforest. Bajo Urubamba is a largeriverby Amazonian I'he of standards and the primary orientation the local population is to riverinelife and in ecology. The nativepopulationof the area lives in communities ranging size from 50 to 800 people. These communitiestend to be focused on core kin clustersof Piro-speakers, but with many affines and other co-residentassociatesof non-Piro in origin.The main languagesof the area are Spanish,Piro and Campa-Ashaninka, that order. Most people in the area are fullybilingual,many trilingual. The major exceptionis among young people under 25 yearsold, who tend to be monolingual in Spanish.I use the term'native people' here as a translation theirown term,los of I nativos. will use termsfromthe local dialect of Spanish,which has been heavily influenced Quechua, in preference Piro or Campa terms. by to The Bajo Urubambaareahas been intensively integrated intotheworldcommodity systemsince the expansion of the rubberindustry into the upper Ucayali region in about 1880, and all nativepeople are engaged in one way or anotherin commodity production and exchange.Duringtheperiodoffieldwork, lumbering thedominant was of in form commodity production thearea,althoughtherewas a smallcashcropsector. The present articlewill not addressthe issuesof wage labour nor of the circulation of no money in the local economy. With the exceptionof alcohol, virtually food items are purchased withmoney,nor can subsistence into cash. productseasilybe converted a the entirelogic of the local systemof habilitacion,systemof boss/worker Further, relationsbased on extended indebtedness,is predicated on the insulationof the subsistence sectorfromthe commoditysector.The local bosses,patrones, depend on being able to find theirlabourerswhen productionis possible (i.e. when creditis to themachieving subsistence availableto them),butmakeno attempt prevent security. mustbe: what constitutes The first food forthe question forthe presentanalysis nativepeople of the Bajo Urubamba?All varietiesof food available to nativepeople are organisedaround a centralcombinationof two typesof good. This is la comida, the meal, and refers a combinationof a type of game (forest to animal meat or fish) 'I and boiled or roastedplantains. When people say 'Ya hecomido', have alreadyeaten', mean thattheyhave eaten a meal of thistype.While plantains can be theyinvariably replacedby manioc and each typeof game by everyother,thereis no otherpossible combination.Even beans and rice,a popularAmazonian meal, does not rateas comida a legitima, real meal. While manyotheritemsare eaten; such as fruit, peanuts,maize, fungiand a varietyof insectlarvae, these never enterthe meal except as adjuncts. Normallytheyare eaten as snacks. 'rawwater') People on theBajo Urubambaconsiderdrinking plainwater(aguacruda, watermustbe transformed. One transformation to be dangerous.Beforebeing drunk to is to mix it with boiled and mashed ripe plantains create chapo.Far more popular fermented manioc beer. This beer is made by boilingand pounding howeveris masato,

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red massis left up manioc and mixingit with masticated sweet potato. The resulting to ferment two or threedays.To be drunk,wateris poured on the mass,mixed for a in and thenextracted through sieve. This producesa slightly pinkish liquid that varies fromthe initialsweet stagesto the very strongand bitterlast stages.Native people thisstrong form.When available,manioc beer ends everymeal. prefer This culinarysystem locked into a circuitof production,circulationand conis sumption. I will show how the meal is locked into this circuit,beginningwith production.Vegetable crops are grown in gardenscleared in the forest.The initial or The man clearingof the gardenis collectivein the formof the minga work-party. to whom the gardenwill belong invitesall the othermen of the community help. to On one level, thislabour is paid forwith food and especiallymanioc beer provided by the host,but it will also be reciprocatedas labour since the host will attendthe of native people say thattheyhave some rightto the mingas all his guests.Further, cropsgrownin the gardenswhich theyhave helped to make: at least,theycannotbe denied iftheyshould ask forpartof the crop. The work of planting, lightly weeding and harvesting gardenis done by the marriedcouple who own the garden,with the theirchildren help from and close kiniftheyneed it. The work ofharvesting plantains women's work and mustbe done everytwo to and manioc forcooking is primarily three days. Harvestingmanioc for manioc beer is also women's work and is more arduous given thatmore is harvestedat any 9ne time than is the case for cooking. of and transport plantainsand manioc, they While men may help in the harvesting will not cook eitherand most certainly will not make manioc beer. men's work. It is an almostdaily affair The productionof game is primarily and the of seldominvolvesan absencefrom community more thana fewhours.The major is the thankillingit. The problemboth in huntingand in fishing finding preyrather easiestprey to findare fishtrappedin pools in the forest the falling waterlevel, by which are killed by poisoning the pool with a varietyof vegetablepiscicides,while the most difficult verylarge catfish are feedingin the deep riverpools, taken with harpoons. Hunting forestanimalsfollows a similarprogression:the easiestprey to rodents monkeys and locate arethosesmallbirds, whichfeedin and aroundold gardens, while the hardestto hunt are tapirand spidermonkeywhich are extremely waryof as people and live farfrominhabitedareas. Central to huntingand fishing formsof is production,and to nativepeople's models of these activities, skillin locatingthe the extentto which prey.3 The ease with which game can be located determines in women and childrenparticipate production.Fish-poisoning expeditionsare open to all, as is hook-and-linecapture-of smallerfish.Women do not participate other in forms fishing of with a cast-net. Women except to steerthe canoe while a man fishes will accompanyhunting and reload the guns and will occasionallyhunt men to carry but themselves, thisis only when thereare no able men about. The sexual divisionof labour in productionis most intensein such strongly gender-identified tasksas manioc beer productionand the clearingof forest gardens, for in food production.However, when the but it is present varying degreesthroughout circulationof food productsis analysed,the gender-identification foods begins a of subtle change. While native people consider that anything that a person produces thisis not separablefromthe proper destination that of belongs to him- or herself, This destination determined the natureof theproduct is productas it is circulated. by which I will now discuss. and by the statusof the producerin relationto others,

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Plantainsand manioc are almost never given away in raw form.Someone who the needs thesestaplesmay requestthem of a co-residentand will be told to harvest is standingcrop in the garden.The presumption thatsuch requestswill seldom be since the structure labour-sharing gardenproductionmeans thatall of in necessary marriedpeople in the communityhave gardens.Cooked plantainsand manioc are onlyevergivenaway as partofmeals,eatenin thedonor'shouse. Manioc beeris given in festivals. fermented The away,butonlywhen itis servedto guests thehouse or during massis nevergiven to anyone. Manioc beer is the first to thingoffered visitors and if a woman has none she will apologise,forit is a seriousinsultnot to offer beer ifit is available.Manioc beer is essential all parties,fiestas, to whethergivenby an individual The fiesta judged by the quantity beer provided and any or by the community. is of hintthatthehostsare holdingback anyfortheirown consumption a common cause is of complaint.At mostfiestas meals are also provided,but only once. Partlybecause the supply of game fluctuates greatly, is a source of intense so it interest nativepeople. The only timewhen nativepeople are casual about game is to when it is abundant:in one case, when huge quantities fishwere being caughtby of a man cast-netting migrating the shoalsofbottom-feeders which ascend therivereach dryseason,his mothershoutedacrossthe villagein a high whooping voice
come runmngwith your basket. Such quantitiesof fishlike you never saw! Quick, sister-in-law,

This is in stark contrast the rainy to seasonwhen the fishare spreadout in thevastness of the floodedriverand forest; thenmen hide theirsmallcatchesin theirnetsand tell inquirers'There are no fish, just nothing'.Such carefulconcealmentof game is not a sign of meanness,since the game is oftengive to those fromwhom it has simply been so assiduously hidden. It is an attempt controlwho receivesgame, forgame to will be givento whoever actually sees it. A good catch,sufficient feed everyone,is to carriedthroughthe village. openlyand dramatically Presentsof game should be given to anyone who is hungry, i.e. everyone.The most important conventionis thatthe game a man produces should be given to his as wife. If the catchis easilydivisible, with a quantity smallfish, may give some of he to his close femalekin on the way back to his house, but she will receive the bulk of thecatch.The woman will clean thegame and sendpresents varying of sizesto women she names.Such presents often are carried children and maybe directly by reciprocated flow in the names of women, even when carriedby a by the receiver.The presents child or by the man who produced it: the name used is usuallya kin termand the withstatements 'Your auntsentyou thisfish'.Men do not send like game is presented is game to each other,forthe assumption thatall men can obtaingame everyday and a man's failure produce game is a reflection his lazinessor lack of skill.Men will to of ofteneat the meals servedby theirwives withoutenquiringwho caughtthe game. This has the curious but highlysignificant resultthatwhile women do not actually in produce much game manymealseatenby a married couple originate the circulation of game among women rather thanthe directproductionof game by the man. The cycles of productivelabour in food productionhave theirend-pointin the consumptionof meals composed of game and plantainsand of manioc beer. This in But at the level of productivelabour is gender-identified, strongor weak forms. circulationthe gender-identity a product is transformed. of The relationsin which thesetransformations occur and in which food itemscirculatecannotbe understood of but requirean analysis marriage and kinship. simplyin genderterms,

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Relations demand respect and of The natureofmarriage thenativecommunities theBajo Urubambais inseparable in of fromthe natureof food production.The house in which the couple lives and the gardenon which theydepend forvegetablestaplesare made only in the contextof a marriage: theyare things man mustmake forhiswife.There is no otherrelationship in which either or takesplace. Unmarriedmen do not house-building garden-making build houses or clear gardensforthemselves. One old man put it as follows:
When a man wants a wife, he builds a house and clears a garden to show thathe is hardworking.

this men do neither several Admittedly, is not strictly for true,formostnewlymarried years.Further, thisprescription obscuresa crucialaspect of the maritalrelationship. An unmarried man could only build a house or clear a gardenalone: withouta wife to make manioc beer, he could not hold a collectivework partyand thus no-one would help him. No otherwoman would make beer forhim. Similarly, while young in unmarried women mayhelp their mothers cooking,gardenwork or in manioc beer for preparation, theyneverown houses or gardensthemselves theyhave no husbands to make theseforthem. which make productionpossible Only married people controlthe crucialresources and theydo so through itselfBut, equally,all adultsshouldbe married. There marriage for adults. isno place inproduction unmarried Unmarried adults underno obligation are to do much work in the houses of theirparents otherkin and oftendo verylittle, or of but theyareexpectedand constantly This is a fact crucialimportance urgedto marry. in understanding economy offood productionin thesecommunities. the The unmarned adult does not produce, or produces verylittleand sporadically, because he or she has no-one forwhom to produce. The unmarried fedbecause theyare kin to are others who are producing, theseproviders but cannotdemandanyreturn, demand for is prohibitedin relationsbetween adult kin. The unmarried consume because they have kin, but do not produce because they have-no spouses. The food they eat is and thusworkingforeach other.Unlike kin, produced because theirkin are married spouses can and do make demandson each other. There is a fundamental in thesocialuniverse split aroundthisrelationship demand. of This is indicatedin the term respetar 'to (Piro: gishinika), respect'. Relationshipsof on respectare characterised prohibition alljoking about the one respectedand by by an absence of explicitdemand. The mostthatis permitted a polite request,oftenin is the high-pitched register denotingrespect.The mostintensely respectful relationship is thatbetween a woman and her son-in-law,which is characterised a complete by on which is carriedon in an extremely prohibition all but essential conversation, high and softtone. Other relations respect,of decreasingdegreesof intensity, those of are between a man and his son-in-law,a woman and herparents-in-law, betweenparents and adult children, between siblings, between parents'siblings and siblings'children, and to a lesserdegree stillbetween more distant kin such as cousins or grandparents and grandchildren. The relationship between spouses is not characterised respect: by fromeach otheropenly. spousesjoke about each otherand demand things Theplaceofsexuality The relationship and demandis foundin thefieldoffood production, betweenrespect but is most strongly markedin the area of sexuality. are People whom one respects

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people with whom sexual relationsare prohibited.Since mostjoking is of a sexual Relationsofdemandbetween nature, joking abouta respected personisalso prohibited. The relations between spousesare constituted by adultsare inevitably sexual relations. of thereciprocal satisfaction two types demands.On theone hand thereare demands of and forsexual satisfaction on the otherdemandsforfood. Men demand of theirwives thattheyharvest and manioc, thattheycook, thattheymake manioc beer plantains and thattheysatisfy their sexualdesire.Women demandofmen thattheycleargardens, theirsexual desire.Failureon thepartof one partner satisfy to huntand fish and satisfy Men who do not huntor fishforsome the demandsof the otherleads to retaliation. facedwith a wife who refuses cook. She will eat with her kin to daysare frequently a and provide nothingforhim. Similarly, man will not huntor fishfora wifewho is in which is tantamount negligent cooking. Serious negligenceleads to abandonment, in to divorce in thissociety.So common is abandonment/divorce thisarea thatthe refuse celebratemarriages the groundsthatnative on local Doninican missionaries to Admittedly, theyare seldom asked people have insufficient respectforthissacrament. to do so. The characterof the relationsbetween demand and sexualityon one hand and Conventionally, respect theotheris seen more clearly thecase ofsiblings-in-law. on in these relations characterised extremelack of respect,since siblings-in-law are are by expected to joke about each other at all times.This joking, among men especially, takes the formof the attribution homosexuality the other. One day, as I was of to husband,he leantforward and said in a serious sitting talking a man and his sister's to voice, pointingat his brother-in-law:
I am a big man, a chief,for I have two wives. I have one over therein my house and I have this one here.

one of bantering: Siblings-in-law the opposite sex are expected to engage in simnilar woman paid a visitto her sickbrother-in-law whiled away the timedebatingthe and tu effects his seriousillnesson his sexual potency,saying'De repente se ha podrido of ya pico','Perhapsyourpenis has rotted'. The relationof oppositionbetween sexualityand respectfunctions divide the to world into one of a rangeof potentialsexual partners who can be spousesand a set of anotherrelationship as establishes people forbidden spouses.But thissexualprohibition which can be translated into which refers to directly food. The Piro termkshinikanu, also carriesthe meanings 'one who loves, thinks Spanish as respetuoso, 'respectful', about, remembersanother'. It is in relationsof respectthat food, especiallygame, circulates. The productionof game and itsinitialmovementfromtheproducerto his of spouse occurs in a relationship demand. But beyond this,it is circulatedin the of relations caringwhich existbetween thosewho respecteach other.The expression me 'he/sheloves me a lot, and alwaysremembers and managesto give me something' ofgame distribution. Thus thereis a close connexionbetweentwo is frequently heard food products and two modes of relationship: modes of circulating sexualityand circulationthroughdemand on one hand and respectand circulationthroughcaron ing/memory the other. because incestis proThe circulation throughmemoryand respectis established hibited,but, equally, the circulationthroughdemand and sexualityis established This is an extremely important point, althoughone often throughheterosexuality. ignoredin anthropology Rubin 1975). It is a point one cannotignoreon theBajo (cf.

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because ifpeople are silentabout incest,which is almostnever discussed, Urubanmba As theyhave a greatdeal to say about homosexuality. I noted above, homo-erotic of joking is the orderof the day between brothers-in-law. it is homo-eroticism But is an interesting kind,forwhat people findfunny not the idea of choosing a partner of the same sex but the choice of organ.The receptivemale homosexual,the maricon, is treated with ridiculebecause 'le han hecho como mujer', 'theyhave screwedhim like a woman'. That thisis not simplymisogyny attested the ridiculewhich attaches is by to the penetrating 'to lesbian, the tacachera (fromtachachear, pound plantainsin an to one treats upright mortar').Both are ridiculedfortheirfalserelations theirgenitals: the anus as a male vagina,while the otherpretends have a penis. Their respective to partners not ridiculedat all, fortheypreservea truerelationship theirgenitals. are to The connexion between sexuality and food productionand circulation can clearly be seen in thesecases of genderidentity associatedwithsexual deviation.The maricon to may be a sexual partner a man, but he can neverbe a wife,nor can the tacachera be a husband.In local popular belief,all are forcedeitherto conformto the sexual and productivestereotypes to leave the subsistence or economy. Maricones leave forthe towns and citiesof Amazonia, where theybecome prostitutes homosexual cooks and I and waiters, while the only active tacacheraknew was unique in running successful a and in actually shop in her community buyinggame formoneyfromher neighbours. Oral and sexualdesire connexions between sexual desire and the Having shown thatthereare systematic construction thepersonas a producerin the subsistence of economy of thissociety,it is now possible to link thissystem the otherside of the obsessionof thesepeople to with food and sex. This is the fieldof oral desire.By oral desireI mean the desirefor of particular foods,not simplyas satisfiers hungerbut as sourcesof pleasure.Through an analysisof the connexions between sexual and oral desire, particularly the in relations between food itemsand sexual substances, will show how this I metaphoric lies relationship at the core of the subsistence economy. In terms oraldesire, of are plantains nothighly marked; people mayhave preferences forone variety over another, seldomremark thevariety but on being servedin a meal. In the absence of game,plantains al may be eaten alone, but only to enganiar estomago, the 'to trick stomach'(satisfy immediatehungerpangs).But ifplantains not highly are in markedas a source of oral pleasure,theyare essential two ways. First, game cannot be eaten in theirabsence since thiswould cause sickness.Secondly,as I noted above, his at theyare whatpeople really eat; one man expressed consternation thewell-being of the missionschoolteachers, who eat neithermanioc nor plantains. does satisfy to Game, by contrast, hunger.Indeed, it is with reference game that mentionhunger.Times when game is scarce,such as the heightof people generally therainy to de casi 'when we almostdied season,are referred as cuando murrimos hambre, of hunger'.This is a characteristic significant but for exaggeration, deathby starvation is unknown to local people. What such statements refer is a world lackingin oral to pleasure,as day followsday eatingonly plantainsand beans. The hungerforgame is a hungerfororalpleasureand everymeal is accompaniedby comments the relative on merits thefood being eaten. These include the speciesof game,fromthe extremely of desirablesuch as spidermonkeyand macaw to the slightly such as anteater nauseating Each individualcaughtis further evaluatedin terms age, smell,colour of and alligator.

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and especially fatness. its Further, each personhas his or herown particular preferences forgame speciesand oftenpersonalprohibitions eatingcertainanimals.The desire on expressedfor game is intense,as it is forparticular species. People not infrequently make statements the order 'I would give my life to eat collared peccary',or 'To of for my mother,eatingcapybarais like a festival, thenshe is happy'. The link between sexual and oral desirecan first exploredby notingthatboth be plantains and game are metaphoric the male genitals. of The termmitayo means game, but it is also a metaphorforthe penis. This is partof a sustainedseriesof metaphors which linkgame productionto male sexuality. example,animalsare said to 'want' For the hunter, just as women are attracted him, and so make themselves to available to be killed. Indeed, all the formsof huntingmagic, such as herbalbathsand tree frog in women as in attracting poison, are said to be equally as effective attracting game. This is seen as a liability theseformsof magic, fortheyattract women. Proper of all love magic,pushanga, attracts onlythedesired partner herself himself, love magic (or for is also used by women). is for Platano, 'plantain', alsoa metaphor thepenis,whichis easily enoughunderstood. But the only food metaphorused forthe vagina is huayo,'fruit'.Why should both forms realfood be metaphoric the penis,while a food which is peripheral the of of to culinary system metaphoric the vagina?I thinkthe reasonis thatthesemetaphors is of are not structured simply directreference the objectsthemselves, by to whetherfoods or genitalorgans,but at the level of desire. The use of foods as metaphorsforthe genitals occursonlyinjoking,fornativepeople have standard, names non-euphemistic, forthegenitalia. The use ofthefoodmetaphors injoking, I would agree,continuously drawsattention the metaphoric to between oral and sexual desire,rather relationship thanthatbetween food itemsand genitals objects. as The scarcity and desirability game forall people is analogous to the scarcity of and of desirability women formen. For men on theBajo Urubamba,as forthe Sharanahua men describedby Siskind,women are scarce. This is less a demographicfactthan a about a certaineconomy of sexuality. statement Women are scarcenot because there are fewerof them than of men, nor because men are polygynous, but because they controlwho theirsexual partners are. The scarce women are young women, those fromaroundpuberty theirearlytwenties. to Such women are the focusof the intense sexual interest all men who are not theirkin. They can afford pick and choose of to whom theywill sleep with and it is they,not young men, who are most criticalof theirsexualpartners. this because theyknow thattheirkin They can afford selectivity will defendthemfromany unwelcome advance. By contrast, young men receiveno to and supportfromtheirkin in trying secure sexual partners mustrelyon theirown resources.Indeed, a major motivationfor young men's entryinto wage labour in lumberingis theirneed to generatecash to supply theirlovers with store-bought presents. But where young men do receive support, and young girlsdo not, is in the issue of marriage.The parentsof a young woman ally themselves with one of her lovers and oblige them to marry and work foreach other.While I never heard of a a young girlbeing forcedto marry man who was not also herlover,therewere many casesin which thegirlrefused getmarried all. The difference not in thesexual to lies at of As relationship the man and woman, but in theirproductiverelationships. a lover, a woman receivespresents for from man in return sexualaccessshe herselfinitiated. the As a wife,a woman mustwork forher husbandand satisfy desireforfood.4 his

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It is at thislevel thattheanalogiesbetweengenitalia and food are operative. Women froma dearthof male sexuality, but theycan make finediscriminations never suffer between the respective men. Thus, forwomen, male genitaliaare values of different like plantains,and also open to infinite simultaneously super-abundant, varietyin desirability, like game. For men, women are scarce, like the fruits which appear seasonally arefrequently and stolenby otherpeople. Further, suchmetaphors jokes: are they elicit laughterwhen they are used. Siskindarguesthatit is because game and women circulate each otherin theseeconomiesthatsuchmetaphoric against equations are possible. In contrast, would argue that no such exchange takes place. These I on metaphoric equationsare humorousreflections the natureof desire,not economic balance sheets. Maniocbeer This point will become clearerif we considerthe othermajor termin the culinary system,manioc beer. Technically, the process of making manioc beer transforms low-value food (bothmanioc and sweetpotato)intosomething whichis highly valued. People on the Bajo Urubamba have a strongdesireformanioc beer: a mild stateof drunkenness consideredgood in itselfBut thisdrunkenness only good ifshared is is withothers, drinking in or It parties duringcollectiveworkparties. makespeople both more livelyand more willingto work. But thereare contradictions between drinking manioc beer and otherareasoflife.The consumption manioc beer precludesgame of huntnor fishwhen theyare drunk.Conversely, men if production:men will neither are seriously intenton hunting, theywill sneak out of the villageto avoid invitations to drinkmanioc beer. Male consumption manioc beer is a source ofseriousmarital of tension.Husbands and wives oftendrinkmanioc beer separately and frequently the wife wil not see her husbandfordays.Because men do not hunt or fishwhile they are drunktheir wives and children hungry. Women frequently oftheir husbands go say 'That one isjust a drunk.He goes off looking formanioc beer insteadof looking for food forus'. There is a surprising contradiction here,forthe thingwhich takesmen away fromtheirwives is a femaleproduct.But it is a femaleproductwhich circulates among men in the names of men: men inviteothermen to drinktheirwives' beer. There is a crucialpointhere. The circulation manioc beer,a femaleproduct,sets of and up two formsof sociality.One is the collectivework partyforgarden-clearing house-building,and the otheris the drinking party.Both are essentialformarriage: the first the set of exchangeswhich constitute in and the second in bringing marriage together young men and women as lovers.Yet the circulationof manioc beer is in contradiction with the circulation game. The gifts game thata man givesto his of of wife are centralto the relationship between them,just as the gifts male-produced of to of game between women are central the relations respectand caringwhich sustain kin ties. Given itsimportance withintheserelationships, does manioc beer operateas a metaphor, like game, plantains and fruit? Masato,'manioc beer', is not, to my knowledge,used as a metaphorof any sexual or corporealsubstance.5However, the actual process of making manioc beer, and variousritualusages,suggests thatthissubstanceis a sustainedanalogyto the process of the conceptionand birthofa child.The poundingof thelargemassofwhiteboiled manioc and the constant additionof chewed red sweetpotatoas it is spatinto themass is similarto native people's accounts of copulation,in which white semen and red

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blood mix to formthe foetus.The pounding of the massin an aluminiumpot causes thepot to swell out and is said to make the pot 'pregnant'(barrigona). fermenting The mass is storedin a paintedceramicpot which is explicitly likened to a femalebody. Further, last dregsof manioc beer, thinand strongsmelling, likened to ishpa, the are 'urine', but especiallythe amnioticfluidreleasedat birth. When the lastdregsof manioc beer have been drunk,the remaining massof fibres is thrownaway to be eaten by domesticanimals.When a childis born,it is of course in kept.However, theanalogybetweenmanioc beer and childis maintained therituals ofbirth: the immediately after childis born,thefather the childis expectedto tomar of la ishpa,'drinkthe amnioticfluid'. He actuallyconsumes aguardiente, cane alcohol, which is treated nativepeople as a highlyrefined by versionof manioc beer.6 The analogygoes deeper still,forjust as manioc beer disrupts flowsof game the fromhusband to wife, a newborn child disrupts maritalrelationsof its parents. the This disruption takes the formof the couvade prohibitions, which have been much discussed Amazoniansocieties.7In the case of the Bajo Urubamba,a crucialpoint for about theseprohibitions thattheyprohibitmost of the physicalbehaviourwhich is refers marriage. to Thus a man cannot hunt,fishor clear gardens, while the woman cannot cook, wash clothesor make manioc beer. Nor can eitherpartnerengage in sexualintercourse, witheach otheror anyoneelse. Performing actions theseprohibited causestheactivity reboundon the child.The object oftheaction (theanimalkilled, to the tree felled,the clotheswashed) will communicateits essence to the child. Thus the jaguars cause the child to cryconstantly through night,for jaguars have powerful nocturnal vision. The clothescause the childto writhein pain,just as theyare wrung in washing. Sexual intercoursecauses coughing, as the man's semen lodges in the child's throat.Food eaten turnsthe child into thatfood, while sexual activity turns sexual fluids into the child's food. Around the birthof a child, food and sex cease to be metaphorically relatedand transform intothe otherin thebody ofthe child.Gender-identified one food products threatento transform child into a game species or a forest the plant, while sexual intercourse to threatens lodge semen in the child's throat.Childbirththus effects a transformation the relationsbetween sexual and oral desire,notable also in the in father's of in drinking the 'amnioticfluid'.This is because the productionof children thissocietyis about the transformation flowsfromone sphereinto another.It is as of theparents children of thata newlymarried with couple become fulladultproducers, theirown house and garden.Equally, it is throughthese childrenthatthe demand relationsbetween members of one generationbecome relationsof respect across the between spouses and thejoking relations between generations: demand relations are of into relations respectand caringbetween siblings-in-law transformed uniform ascendentand descendentkin. It is thiswhich establishes analogyof the child and manioc beer. Both are the the summation alltheflowsin their of domainsofsexuality foodproduction, and respective but both cruciallyaffect relationswithinthose domains. Without manioc beer, the therewould be no parties whereyoung men and women meet,get drunkand initiate thesexualrelations whichlead to marriage. would Equally,withoutmaniocbeer,there be no work partiesand hence no houses or gardens, plantains make a meal and no to no house to eat in. But the cycle of conviviality and work surrounding manioc beer leads to the temporary cessationof game production, which is central marriage to and

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withoutchildrentherewould be no young the relations between spouses. Similarly, men or women, no kin or affines, nobody to get marriedand to produce. But the of production of childrentemporarily stops the satisfaction oral and sexual desire. are Manioc beerand children thusboth crucialto thesubsistence economyby effecting the transformations between flows.The analogybetween manioc beer and children is not established the level ofjoking, but at the level of productionand of ritual at practice. do Hhat children in thesubsistence economy Unlike manioc beer, childrenare not objects of desire,they are subjectsof desire. Where then do they stand in this subsistenceeconomy of desires?Sub-adolescent children notgender-identified Theirparents are seldomaddress themexcept producers. to demand thattheydo something. The taskstheyare assignedare invariably simply an adjunctto adultactivity: the steering canoe while a man fishes, fetching waterfor and especiallythe endlesstaskof looking cooking,washingdishes,peeling plantains, after The labour of these childrendoes not circulatein theirnames youngersiblings. of fortheyare treated extensions theirparents terms production.Further, as in of they on depend entirely theirparentsforfood: even older boys, who are encouraged to for huntand fish, depend on theirparents plantains. Not onlyare children gender-identified not producers, theyare not sexualsubjects. It is onlywhen the child enters adolescence thatthe parents cease to orderhim or her around and stopjoking at the child's expense. Simnilarly, derogatory the nicknames which parentsor other kin give childrenin infancyare dropped when they reach adolescence, only to be replacedlaterwith nicknamesgiven by siblings-in-law. This is because adolescents have begun to acquire 'blood', identified herewithsexualodour, and theymustcease to sleep withtheirparents siblings or and shouldsleep alone. This is thepreludeto activesexuality, searchfor the women byyoungmen and thereception ofloversbyyoungwomen. Pre-adolescent children, lackingsexuality, sleepwiththeir are parents, laughed at and orderedaround. This revealsthatthe reciprocalnatureof relationsof demand, ofjoking or of respectis exclusiveto relations between adults, while relations between adultsand childrenare asymmetrical. thatis of Lacking as theyare in sexual desire,it is the oral desireof young children most concernto theirparents. Both men and women findthe sound of theirchildren fromhungerextremely Men would oftensay thattheyhad gone crying disturbing. fishing even when theyheld out little me prospectof successbecause 'it hurts to hear from mychildren crying hunger'.Childrencannotcontroltheir hungerpangsand can withfood. But thereis anotherform oral desireshown by children, of onlybe satisfied which does not hurttheirparents much as infuriate so them. When I first heardpeople on the Bajo Urubamba say thatchildreneat earth,I was not greatly It surprised. seemed to me entirely possible thattheydid so in order to alleviatethesymptoms their of or infestations to gaincertain minerals deficient parasitic in theirdiets.One day, as I talkedto the old man whose house I lived in, the subject cropped up and I mentionedthatI had dim memoriesof eatingearthmyself, way by in of youthful interest tasteand texture. looked at me in horrorand slowlystated He 'For all thatI am now an old man,neveronce in mylifehave I eatenearth'.Somewhat and now more waryin my questioning,I began to investigate startled, earth-eating more carefully. Childrenwho eat earthare called viciosos, 'vicious ones', but literally

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perhapsbettertranslated 'perverts'. as When I suggestedto people thatpossiblythe childrendid thisbecause of intestinal worms,theylooked incredulousand suggested I had the causal link the wrong way around. The discoverythata child is perverse causes immense fearand alarm. One woman forceddog excrementinto her son's mouthin an exasperated effort cure him of thishabit.More orthodoxis a drinkof to theplantpirosanango, which causesviolentand prolongedvomiting. Perversion this of kind is alarming because the earthcollectsin the child'sstomach,leading to a general swellingof the body and then to death. From an adult perspective, is a formof it suicide. One woman shoutedloudly at a boy believed to eat earth'Why do you do this?Do you want to die? Do you want to go to the cemetery and cryon your own all nightlong?' on and indeed whetheror not Why children theBajo Urubamba should eat earth, a theyactuallydo, is hardto say. It possiblyrepresents sortof bizarreinitiative the on child. Childrenare at a seriousdisadvantage thissubsistence partof the, in economy. for Unlike adults,theyare not independent producersand so depend on theirparents the satisfaction theiroral desire.But because theycannot demand anything of from theirparents, Given these circumstances, it theycan only crywhen theyare hungry. does not seem totally intensehungerby improbablethatchildrenwill seek to satisfy theirown labour and eat the only substanceclose-to-handin any quantity: earth. However thatmightbe fromthe child'sperspective, is not how parents it. this see Froman adultperspective, child'shunger realfoodis legitimate. the for The satisfaction of thishungerevokes love in the child and therebygeneratesthe respectwhich is kinship.This real food is produced in relationsof demand between adult men and women relatedas sexual partners. Given to the child,it makesthe child'sbody strong and fullof blood. It is thisblood which will eventually allow the child to have sexual work hard and create more kinspeople. Of viciosos, is said no tienen relationships, it sangre, 'theyhave no blood'. Blood, as the emblem of kin ties and as the source of and the physical strength sexualprowess,defines body ofthehealthy, actively productive adult. In its lonely consumptionof a non-food,the perversechild destroys that withinitself which has the potentialto turnit into a healthyadult with relationships with others.Thus froman adultperspective, eatingof earthis a sortof attackby the thechildon thefuture thesubsistence of economy.Earthis producedbylabourwhich in is not gender-identified, a relationship whichis not one ofdemandand is consumed of directly the producers.Earth,the supremeantithesis real food, is produced and by 8 consumedin a perversecaricature the subsistence of economy. On the Bajo Urubamba, it is childrenwho make the whole subsistence economy but only because they are the passive recipientsof the productsof adult function, on labour and are not sexuallyactive.What seemed to me an innocuous activity the to the partof certainchildren, eatingof earth,is experiencedby adultsas a threat the in entire subsistence are economy.Perverse children, theeyesofadults, movingoutside the subsistenceeconomy which gives life to people, and by destroying themselves to threaten destroythat economy as well. For this,and out of parentallove, their out parentsforcethem to vormit the earthinside them. The subsistence economy of of the nativepeople of the Bajo Urubamba worksbecause only certainforms sexual and the desireto eat earthis not one of them. and oral desireare legitimate,

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Conclusion In summary, thisarticleI have arguedthatin the subsistence in economy of the native limitednumberand classesof foodsare linked people of theBajo Urubamba a certain I to a certain of of system social relations. have not arguedthatthesystem foodsreflects of nor thesystem socialrelations, that processes the thesefoodsdetermines ofproducing the systemof social relations.Instead,I have argued that each particular person is attributed with a particular genderidentity, both as a producerof specificfoods and as a sexual subject,and is providedwith the routeby which to satisfy both sexual and oral desiresthrough relations with otherpeople. Relations of marriage between men and women, based on mutualdemandforfood and sexual gratification, the central are but theyare both createdfromand create in turnrelationsof productiverelations, caringbetweenkin. In thissubsistence economy,people are made dependenton each otherbecause theycannotpossess,as individuals, totality productive, the of sexualand but childrenare not; men produce consumptive positions.Adultsare sexual subjects, some foods,women produceotherfoods;sexualdesires be satisfied somepeople, can by but not by others;the satisfaction oral desirescan be demanded fromspouses,but of in only awaited fromkin. Sex and food are thuslinked together a dense networkof relationsof mutual desire, and thus constitutea fertile field for both serious and humorousmetaphoric expansion. The concern of Native Amazonian peoples with food and sex can thusbe seen as in partof a larger system which corporealprocessesare partof generalsocial concern. such a propositionhas received attention As I noted in the introduction, frommany of ethnographers Native Amazonian societies.However, such analyses leave opaque to why corporealidioms should be so important Native Amazonian societies,rather than any otheridioms. I would argue,fromthe data presentedhere, t1hat power the of corporeal idioms in such societies derives from the importanceof the sexual, of productiveand consumingbody and itspleasuresin the structuring the subsistence economy. This pointcan be relatedto Collier and Rosaldo's analyses of'brideservice societies' which includesNative Amazonian societies,and to the discussion (1981), a category of thiswork by Strathern (1985). As Strathern pointsout, in such societies'itemsdo not come to standforlabour and do not come to standforpersons' (1985: 197). I would suggest, least forNative Amazonian societies,thatthe body and its desires at lies at the heartof the economy,serving a point of attachment social concerns. as for These economies do not operate around the formulation particular of subjects as of proprietors particular goods and by extensionthe exchangesfounded upon such nor proprietorship, around the giftexchange idioms of 'bridewealthsocieties',but rathertheyfunctionthroughthe relationsestablished between people by means of theirdifferent bodies and corporealdesires. The idiom is notproprietorial sincepeople are not seen as subjectswho possess theirbodies or labour power. The idioms are rather thoseofcorporeal and and identity integrity how theseareproducedor destroyed social relations.Concern with the body in shamaniccuringand sorcery, in through what is eaten and what is not, in the endlessseriesof prohibitions sexual and other of in of and and construction activities, theimagery kinship affinity in theritual ofidentity, discussedin the ethnographic so frequently can literature, thusbe seen as intimately linkedto the particular economies of Native Amazonian peoples. and hearingthe endlesstalkof food and Livingin a Native Amazonian community

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of to sex, it is easy to imaginethatone is listening expressions simplebiological need. where bodily functionlies outside Western formulation But this is a distinctively the Societyin the realmof Nature and Necessity.In Native Amazonian cultures body of and the satisfaction corporeal and its desiresare of immediatesocial significance Where Westem people benignly the ofsocialrelations. desireissimultaneously creation of view a child's eatingof earthas a naive explorationof the pleasuresand pitfalls an much more unfamiliar world,the nativepeople of theBajo Urubamba see something project is to build a world in In sinister. theireyes, the perversechild's horrifying only to itself. which its desiresmatter
NOTES

in on The present article based on fieldwork the Bajo Urubambariver Peru between1980 and is and by the by was 1982. This research funded the Social ScienceResearchCouncil of GreatBritain brief dunrng was of information collected Central ResearchFundof theUniversity London.Additional PeterGose, Overing, in like to return visits theBajo Urubamba 1984 and 1987. 1 should to thankJoanna on helpand comments and Torenfortheir Jones Chnrstina Andrew CeciliaMcCallum, MariaPhylactou, earlier versions. withthemeaning it has recendy that come article usestheterrn 'subsistence economy' The present has and Subarctic. Fienup-Riordhan As on Arctic to acquirein theliterature theCanadianand Alaskan is economy not EskimoofAlaska(1984), thesubsistence of pointed in herstudy theNelsonIsland out socialrelations specific of aboutthesatisfaction 'basichumanneeds'butaboutthecreation culturally of the of specific items from environment. circulation consumption culturaly and the through production, of economy, circulation labourand the on The present article focuses onlyone partof thesubsistence landandpeople. the of between ignores widercontext circulations people,andlargely goodsbetween 2 A rather in of by simlilar is argument putforward Kaj Arhem hisstudy theMakunaoftheNorthwest relation up betweenfood and sex encodesthe set thatthe metaphoric Amazon(1981). Arhemargues of in He relationship betweenthe Makuna and theirecosystem. arguesthatprotein the form game factor in limiting in just factor their animals thecritical is limiting ecosystem, as womenare thecritical their socialreproduction (1981: 196-206). 3 It is significant thegameanimals located terms whatis knownabouttheir and feeding are in of that is to species likely be and knowwhenand wherea particular sexualbehaviour. Good hunters fishermen the their People explicitly and how to attract gamebyimitating vocalisations. feeding also,in somecases, gamespecies. to state these that callsaresexually attractive theparticular 4 Thispointsupports in societies offers marriage bnrde-service Collierand Rosaldo'sclaim(1981) that havefailed distinguish to between deal to men,butI feelthat they little to advantage women,buta great and adultstatus. Unlesstheyareveryold and to whicharea transition adulthood, fully early mamrages, to womenon theUrubamba everything do possible find to expecting die soon,widowedor abandoned This of stock thantheir adolescent counterparts. hasa a new husband arefar crinticaltheavailable and less in of article. for whichI discuss a later section this children, dealto do withproviding their great metade 'mother's caUedleche la madre, 5Manoc beeris occasionally jokingly milk',butthereverse the use metaphoric of 'maniocbeer' occursin shamanism: comphoris neverused.The onlystandard for is 'my maniocbeer'. hallucinogens mimaatito, little monest used euphemism byshamans thecuring 6 Piro as ceremony, the people drinkthe strongly the Similarly, during traditional girl'sinitiation out of her initiation skirt into a adultwoman'sskirt. fermented of dregs thebeer,the girlis changed As is 'mouthclothing', are metaphoric women'sgenitals. the skirt and of Skirts calledmkalnamchi, are the sing: changed, guests numeta konchoga Konchoga, makes drunk. me Maniocbeerofthedregs 8 Thereareadultviciosos. wivesor young they Signiificantly, tendto be oldermenwho havelosttheir are in both sexualandproducmarried womenwhosehusbands absent lumbenrng: havelosttheir newly do but tivePartner arefully and on adults not,I was told,eatearth, rather dependent kin.Suchperverse in whicharegoodswhichcirculate theeconomy money. of and aspinrn camphor, ash, cigarette matches,
7 Cf Riviere 1974; Butt Colson 1974; Menget 1979.

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REFERENCES

Arhem, Kaj 1981. Makuna socialorganization: studyin descent, a alliance and theformation corporate of groupsin thenorth-west Amazon. Uppsala: Universitetsforlaget. Beattie,J.M. & R.G. Lienhardt (eds) 1975. Studiesin socialanthropology memory E.E. Evans-Pritchard. in of Oxford: Clarendon Press. Butt Colson, AudreyJ. 1975. Birth customsof the Akawaio. In Beattie & Lienhardt1975. Collier, J. & M. Rosaldo 1981. Politics and gender in simple societies. In Ortner & Whitehead 1981. natural Crocker, ChristopherJ.1985. Vitalsouls: Bororo cosmology, symbolism shamanism. and Tucson: Univ. of Arizona Press. structure ritual and Fienup-Riordan, Ann 1984. The NelsonIslandEskimo:social distribution. Anchorage: Univ. of Alaska Press. the Gregor, Thomas 1985. Anxiouspleasures: sexual livesofan Amazonianpeople.Chicago: Univ. Press. New York: Doubleclay & Natural History SouthAmerica. Gross,D. (ed.) 1973. Peoplesand cultures native of Press. as Hirschon, R.R. (ed.) 1984. Womenandproperty, women property. London: Croom Helm. Holmberg, Allen 1969. Nomadsofthelongbow:theSiriono eastem Bolivia.Garden City, NY: Govt Printing of Office [originally published 1950]. Hugh-Jones,Christine1979. FromtheMilk river: in spatialand temporal processes Amazonia. Cambridge: Univ. Press. Izard, M. & P. Smith 1979. Lafonction essaisd'anthropologie. Paris: Gallimard. symbolique: London: JonathanCape. Levi-Strauss,Claude 1970. The rawand thecooked. . 1978. The origin tablemanners. of London: JonathanCape. Menget, Patrick 1979. Temps de naltre,tempsd'etre: la couvade. In Izard & Smith 1979. Ortner,S. & H. Whitehead (eds) 1981. Sexual meanings. Cambridge: Univ. Press. the Reichel-Dolmatoff,Geraldo 1971. Amazoniancosmos: sexualand religious symbolism theTukanoIndians. of Chicago: Univ. Press. an New York, London: Reiter, Rayna (ed.) 1975. Towards anthropologywomen. of Riviere, Peter 1974. The couvade: a problem reborn. Man (N.S.) 9, 423-35. in Rubin, Gayle 1975. The traffic women: notes on the 'political economy' of sex. In Reiter 1975. Seeger, Anthony,Roberto da Matta & E.B. Viveiros de Castro 1979. A construcaoda pessoa nas sociedades Bol. Mus. nac. 32. indigenasbrasileiras. London: Oxford Univ. Press. Siskind,Janet1973a. To huntin themorning. huntersand the economy of sex. In Gross 1973. . 1973b. Tropical forest Strathern, Marilyn 1984. Subject or object? Women and the circulation of valuables in Highland New Guinea. In Hirschon 1984. 1985. Kinship and economy: constitutive ordersof a provisionalkind. Am. Ethnol.12, 191-209. -

L'enfant pervers: le desir dans une economie de subsistance Amazonienne IndigZene

Resume Partantde l'importancedes discussionssurla nourriture le sexe dans la vie quotidienne des populations et Amazoniennes Indigenes,l'articleanalysela place du desirsexuel et le desirde nourriture dansl'economie de subsistancede la population indigene de la riviereBago Urubamba au Perou. II decritla production, la circulation,la consommation de la nourriture explore le lien entrece systemeet la construction et des categoriessexuelles, les identitessexuelles et les relationsde mariage, d'affinite de parente. A travers et une analysede l'utilisation d'articlesde nourriture comme metaphoresde plaisanterie organesgenitaux des males et femelles,il est argumenteque la sexualite et la nourriture sont rendus analogues au niveau du desir. En dernierlieu, l'analyse de ce desir oral qui est interditchez les enfants, mene a la conclusion, que c'est la constructionde personnescomme sujets de desirsparticuliers oraux et sexuels qui structure les economies de subsistanceAmazoniennes.