Kanhgág Eg Vẽjẽn food: Building the digital food spaces
Rev. Cadernos de Campo, Araraquara, v. 23, n. esp. 1, e023009, 2023. e-ISSN: 2359-2419
DOI: https://doi.org/10.47284/cdc.v23i00.16865 20
of digital languages, and spaces to interact, like, and share. As a result, agreements are
established, achievements are celebrated, and abundant food is exalted. This celebration is not
limited to the quantity of food but also the importance attributed to the preparations of typical
dishes, how one eats, with whom, and where these moments are experienced. These situations
involve social display and competition, expressed through clothing, language, selected
ingredients, and behavior. These events are shared so that others know about the occurrence,
the food, and the guests, thus consolidating a specific image and narrative in the digital space,
both in collective groups and individual profiles.
Eating together creates communicative gestures beyond mere nutrition or eating, as
observed by Montanari (2008, p. 157). Typical foods have both a biological and cultural
dimension because, as Montanari quotes from Roland Barthes, "[...] the symbolic charge of
food is even stronger when it is perceived as an instrument of daily survival [...] the table as a
metaphor for life" (MONTANARI, 2008, p. 158, our translation). For the Kanhgág, typical
foods are intrinsically linked to work activities, whether in the production of medicines,
cultivation of native foods, collection of plants, hunting, fishing, or honey harvesting. Eating
together is an act of collective healing, as Dorvalino Refej Cardoso (2017) pointed out, where
food is seen as medicine: "It is recommended to prepare the food with water that is alive, taken
directly from the source. It is essential to share the food with those in need and those who are
hungry because it comes from God" (REFEJ CARDOSO, 2017, p. 51, our translation).
This tradicion in kanhgág culture occurs in various situations, such as when relatives
come to share a meal, during family barbecues, community festivals, meat roasts, or during a
fishing trip by the river. Who pays, who buys, who cooks, who is the host, and who is the
visitor, as Massimo states: "[...] the expressive character of the meal is never distinct from the
concrete value (economic and nutritional) of the consumed food. It is therefore essential to
identify a grammar of food and decode its rules" (MONTANARI, 2008, p. 164, our translation).
Similarly, those who share photos and content in the group can be seen as preservers and
references for the community, as is the case with Cléber Kronum, the most active member. The
sociability of these food spaces, like the group on the social network, goes beyond the act of
eating and sharing but is related to the construction of just life, in which each individual has a
functional role and preserves references: "Another essential aspect of eating together is the
sharing of food. The allocation of one piece instead of another is never random [...] but
reproduces power and prestige relations within the group" (MONTANARI, 2008, p. 163, our
translation). The consumption of posts in the virtual environment of the group occurs as a form