The pirarucu net: Artefact, animism and the technical object

This article explores the decision of a group of Amazonian lake fishermen to ban the use of nets to catch the pirarucu fish as part of an official agreement. It discusses the approach to artefacts found in the agentive turn and in recent explorations of Amazonian animism in Anthropology. It adopts t...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of material culture
Main Author: Sautchuk, Carlos Emanuel (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Sage Publ. [2019]
In: Journal of material culture
RelBib Classification:AG Religious life; material religion
BB Indigenous religions
BR Ancient religions of the Americas
KBR Latin America
Further subjects:B Gilbert Simondon
B technical object
B Fish
B Amazon
B anthropology of technology
Online Access: Volltext (Resolving-System)
Description
Summary:This article explores the decision of a group of Amazonian lake fishermen to ban the use of nets to catch the pirarucu fish as part of an official agreement. It discusses the approach to artefacts found in the agentive turn and in recent explorations of Amazonian animism in Anthropology. It adopts the concept of technical object influenced by the anthropological approach to technology and in line with the ontogenetic perspective of Gilbert Simondon. The main focus is the way in which the fishermen compare the different modes of existence of the harpoon and the net. For them, the pirarucu net is a poor way to catch fish since it captures by itself, which is a form of cowardice in relation to the fish and drives them away. The ethnography centres on the operation of these objects and the way in which different properties of the fishermen and fish emerge through these processes.
ISSN:1460-3586
Contains:Enthalten in: Journal of material culture
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1177/1359183518804268