Document Type

Article

Department/Program

Anthropology

Journal Title

Cultural Anthropology

Pub Date

8-1997

Publisher

American Anthropological Association

Volume

12

Issue

3

First Page

335

Abstract

The process of fermenting banana juice and ground millet into banana beer is an elaborate craft, practiced and appreciated by Haya men. As is the case in many African communities where the plenitude and desirability of beer is intimately connected with, if not indistinguishable from, the establishment and vigor of sociality itself, Haya brewers and drinkers are scrupulously attentive to the details of this often lengthy procedure (Carlson 1989; Karp 1980; Taylor 1991).' Many told me of their concern that jealous neighbors or sorcerers (often one and the same in Haya neighborhoods) would spoil their efforts by pouring kerosene into the frothy mixture during the night. But Haya evaluations of the fine points of the brewing process are by no means limited to anxious attempts to safeguard their valuable libations; there is, in fact, what can best be described as an aesthetic of beer production, and it is the demands of this aesthetic that dictate a careful and precise technique

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1525/can.1997.12.3.335

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