Benzeção nas comunidades quilombolas de Laranjal e Cambambi : uma etnografia multiespécie da arte do cuidado entre humanos e não humanos

Abstract

This research aims to analyze the benediction system as a "web of relations" and a possibility of abduction, involving both human agencies and "more than human" entities such as plants, vegetables, saints, souls, and enchanted beings. Benediction is considered an artistic expression of care that permeates the aesthetic and ethical production of social interaction, establishing connections with various modes of existence. The study focuses on two quilombola communities, one in Poconé, in the Mato Grosso Pantanal, and another in Chapada dos Guimarães. The objective is to understand how intrinsic interactions with other forms of existence influence the social dynamics of these communities and how the benediction system is employed to reactivate potentials of agencies, especially to deal with immanences that affect the body, territory, and life. The body is conceived in relation to the earth, in a mutual metonymic interaction. Ethnographic research introduces conceptions of corporality, such as the "mother of the body," the "companion of the child," the navel, and the "arrangement," allowing for a broader reflection on the relationship between humans and "more than human" in the territorial context of these collectives.