Chupar Frutas in Salvador da Bahia: A Case of Practice-Specific Alterities

This chapter by Mattijs van de Port and Annemarie Mol interferes with the naturalization of eating by comparing two modes of engaging with fruits in Salvador da Bahia, Brazil: comer and chupar. In comer, a piece of fruit crosses distinct bodily boundaries and gets swallowed; in chupar, juices spill over hands, while stones or fibers that have made it into a mouth are taken out again. Some fruits, like apples, compel a person to comer, others, like mangoes, invite chupar. But fruits do not decide by themselves how they will be handled: at a dinner table, in public, or in places that need to stay clean, comer is advisable; chupar fits backyards and more intimate company. And then there are gratifications: comer may come with the pride of being able to pull it off; chupar offers such pleasures as overflowing juices and childhood memories. All in all, our comparison reveals that ‘eating’ is not a given precedent, but that comer and chupar evoke different worlds, populated by different entities (bodies, fruits), and colored by different pleasures. One might say that the ontologies involved are different, but that is not quite strong enough. For one, the relevant alterities also include activities and normativities. And then, two, the boundaries between the worlds of comer and chupar are markedly fluid and shot through with partial connections.