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Anthropophagy and sadness: cloning citrus in São Paulo in the Plantationocene era
Journal article   Peer reviewed

Anthropophagy and sadness: cloning citrus in São Paulo in the Plantationocene era

Tiago Saraiva
History and technology, v 34(1), pp 89-99
02 Jan 2018

Abstract

Anthropophagy citrus cloning Plantaionocene São Paulo Tarsila do Amaral
The present text engages the painting Anthropophagy (1929) by Tarsila do Amaral as a performance in overcoming Brazil's tropical sadness diagnosed by artists, politicians and scientists. While anthropophagy, or ritualized cannibalism, is central to the recent ontological turn promoted by the anthropologist Viveiros de Castro, the historically situated use of the concept as the one tried in this essay suggests its value in writing new histories of science and technology that challenge entrenched divisions between Global North and Global South. The essay details the scientific practices involved in saving São Paulo citrus orchards from the sadness virus through the cloning of Californian oranges. Contrasting with narratives emphasizing how the north imposes its presence in the south, or how the south resists the north, history of science and technology written as history of anthropophagy calls attention to devouring of the north by the south.

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