Uma festa antiga e outra à antiga: significados do rural contemporâneo observados a partir de práticas alimentares.

Abstract

Electing food as an observation point, this study of two rural celebrations in Comunidad Catholic Community of Sant’ to try to understand relationships that comply with contemporary rural communities. To do that, two festive events are analyzed in Sant’Ana Catholic Community: Sant’Ana Festival and Wine Day Festival, which take place in Maciel Colony (a rural area of Pelotas, Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil). Food consumption practices are highly regarded in order to identify by whom and for whom the festive parties are produced. In Sant’Ana Festival–a religious celebration held by and for the members of the community–industrialized cakes, ready-mixed cakes, are cooked in industrial ovens, in which the temperature is measured from the use of banana tree leaves. This way the tradition is present, although updated from modern techniques and ingredients. On the other hand, in the Wine Day Festival, food and beverage produced by the rural families themselves are offered to the city people, eager to consume them, thereby making contact with the country of their ideology. The construction of this work was made based on ethnographic research, monitoring the preparation and accomplishment of Sant’Ana Catholic Community, in the editions between 2010 and 2012.