L’imbrication des processus vitaux et des processus techniques dans la gestion et la préparation du manioc chez les Makushi de Yupukari (Guyana)

Abstract

This paper makes use of the methodological approach known as “chaine operatoire” to examine the ways in which Makushi villagers living in southern Guyana cultivate and process manioc tubers, taking example on the way Ludovic Coupaye studied yam cultivation process in Papua New Guinea (Coupaye 2013). Manioc-based foods and drinks, which are prepared using unique indigenous techniques and artefacts, have been, and to a large extent continue to be, central to Makushi subsistence and way of life. Basing myself on ethnographic data I collected in the late 1990s, as well as on data collected by Lewis Daly in the last few years, I examine the particular ways the Makushi have of distinguishing plants, objects, and techniques. This leads me to discuss the varied uses of the agency inherent in living kinds people make in their everyday practical encounters with the plants they grow, and to reflect on the nature of changing technical choices. I conclude with a theoretical discussion of plant domestication as it can be envisaged from the perspective of modes of articulation between vital and technical processes.