Practical Knowledge Transmission as Embodied Intentionality: Ethnography in an Artisanal Confectionary Shop

Abstract

In this article we assume that the relationship of practitioners with what might be called context gives rise to the need to problematize the origins and mechanisms of maintenance of practices and communities of practice. Based on data from ethnographic research in a candy factory in Pelotas, Rio Grande do Sul, we seek to show how the transmission of practical know-how is the result of embodied intentionality and analyze how this contributes to the perpetuation of certain social, cultural and historical structures. From the experiences and observations about the relationship between a master baker and her staff, we perceive that the process of transference of the know-how that is characteristic of this craft is conditioned by a specific incorporated intentionality associated with gender, ethnicity and life trajectory. We found that although the practice in question guides a relatively simple production system, the fact that most of the people involved do not achieve full mastery over the know-how that guides it indicates that transference relationships of this embodied knowledge involve more complex issues than the willingness or interest to teach or learn a practice.

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