Home

Abattage du porc et mascarade : la gestion d’une dichotomie

Katerina MELISSINOU

fr Anthropozoologica 39 (1) - Pages 351-363

Published on 30 July 2004

This article is a part of the thematic issue Animal domestications: social and symbolic dimensions. Homage to Jacques Cauvin

Pig slaughter and masquerade: managing a dichotomy

How can we interpret the contiguity between the slaughtering of a domestic animal, the pig, and the masquerade that refers to semi-wild animals such as the goats and sheep of Naxos? Our interpretation makes its way between the system of residence and the theory of procreation, both of which characterize the mountain village under study and divide the world into those who are included and those who are excluded, and which are constituent elements of gender identity. The figures of the excluded are evoked in many ways in relation to the category of "wild", the most disturbing version of which seems to be found within the category of the "domestic".


Keywords:

Domestic/wild, uxorilocality, pig, she-bear, “bad” mother, monsters, bell-bearers.

Download full article in PDF format Order a reprint