Salsa, sauce, and other ingredients: nature, evolution and conservation of cultural heritage

Titolo Rivista ECONOMIA AGRO-ALIMENTARE
Autori/Curatori Edgardo I. Garrido-Pérez, Katia Laura Sidali
Anno di pubblicazione 2014 Fascicolo 2014/3
Lingua Inglese Numero pagine 24 P. 81-104 Dimensione file 177 KB
DOI 10.3280/ECAG2014-003007
Il DOI è il codice a barre della proprietà intellettuale: per saperne di più clicca qui

Qui sotto puoi vedere in anteprima la prima pagina di questo articolo.

Se questo articolo ti interessa, lo puoi acquistare (e scaricare in formato pdf) seguendo le facili indicazioni per acquistare il download credit. Acquista Download Credits per scaricare questo Articolo in formato PDF

Anteprima articolo

FrancoAngeli è membro della Publishers International Linking Association, Inc (PILA)associazione indipendente e non profit per facilitare (attraverso i servizi tecnologici implementati da CrossRef.org) l’accesso degli studiosi ai contenuti digitali nelle pubblicazioni professionali e scientifiche

All cultural manifestations in the world, including food and music, derived from the cultural practices developed by the first Homo sapiens who inhabited the Earth. But, with so many cultural manifestations, which ones need protection? Should the same theory be adopted as the one which seems to be used by Geographic Indication systems and other forms of protection? How does cultural diversification occur? How do cultural manifestations increase, spread, or decline and how can such a decline be avoided? How does one detect whether a product is an example of cultural heritage to be protected and not a mere fashion or creation of single individuals? Here we discuss the nature of cultural heritage by answering these questions for Afro-Caribbean music and culinary art. At the same time, we reveal some misconceptions regarding evolution attributable to Biology, and which have been largely neglected by Biologists while being kept alive by some social scientists (e.g. social Darwinists). Cultural heritage studies used to extrapolate general theories from single case studies, have generated too many theories based on poor evidence. We, on the other hand, rather more coherently, bring together more than 80 examples of music and food into one single theory, able to be tested and perheps improved upon by further research. Six characteristics and principles of the theory are derived from the fact that cultural heritage is passed down from one generation to the next: (1) Conservative reproduction, (2) intra-generational variability, (3) transformation over time, (4) exposure to forces causing trends to proliferation - and decline, (5) exposure to forces leading to territorial expansion - and contraction, and (6) rise of new culture from previous ones. We provide examples of how a new cultural heritage can arise from previous ones by means of: (a) mingling with ther cultural heritage of other peoples, (b) unforseen innovation by creative individuals, and (c) geographically mediated differentiation. Inventions made by single individuals or families and non-inherited from previous generations are not to be considered "heritage" and should be protected under other denominations. Cultural manifestations that suffer a decline in practitioners through the generations need to be protected by means of legal, technical, educational, and even marketing practices gaining acceptance from the new generations who should be considered the key to the preservation of any heritage.

Keywords:Afro-Caribbean music, cultural evolution and diversification, food specialties, geographical indications, meme-theory

Jel codes:D12

  1. Alonso, A.D. (2010). Farmers’ relationship with hospitality businesses: a preliminary study. British Food Journal, 112(11), 1163-1174. DOI: 10.1108/00070701011088160
  2. Álvarez, A. (1999). “Un sonero en coche” [A son musician in a cart]. In Los Rostros de la Salsa [Faces of Salsa], edited by Leonardo Padura Fuentes. Mexico: Planeta.
  3. Begon, M., Colin R. T. & Harper J.L. (2008). Ecology from individuals to ecosystems. MA: Blackwell.
  4. Blackmore, S. (1999). The Meme Machine. Oxford: Oxford University.
  5. Boyd, R. & Richerson, P.J. (2000). “Memes: Universal Acid or a Better Mousetrap?” In Darwinizing Culture: The Status of Memetics as a Science, Robert Aunger, (pp. 143-62). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  6. Cavalli-Sforza, L. & Feldman, M.W. (1981). Cultural Transmission and Evolution: A Quantitative Approach. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
  7. Colón, W. (1999). “Los reyes de la salsa no sólo tocan canciones de amor” [Salsa kings play more than love songs]. In Los Rostros de la Salsa [Faces of Salsa], edited by Leonardo Padura Fuentes. Mexico: Planeta. Futuyma, D. (2009). Evolution, Second Edition. Sunderland (Massachusetts): Sinauer.
  8. Hernández, Pacini, D. (1998). Dancing with the Enemy: Cuban Popular Music, Race, Authenticity, and the World-Music Landscape. Latin American Perspectives, 25, 110-125. DOI: 10.1177/0094582X9802500306
  9. Jaffe, J. & Gertler, M. (2006). Victual Vicissitudes: Consumer Deskilling and the (Gendered) Transformation of Food Systems. Agriculture and Human Values, 23(2), 143-162. DOI: 10.1007/s10460-005-6098-1
  10. Kelsey, M.W. (1991). Dining out in ancient Rome.In Public eating-proceedings of the Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery. London: Prospect Books.
  11. Keysler, J.G. (1758, 1976). Travels through Germany, Bohemia, Hungary, Switzerland, Italy, and Lorrain. London: Linde.
  12. Laland, K.N & Brown, G.R. 2002. Sense and Nonsense: Evolutionary Perspectives on Human Behaviour. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  13. Lewens, T. (2012). Cultural Evolution, Integration and Skepticism. In H. Kincaid (Ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy of Social Science. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 458-481.
  14. Lopes, P.D. (1992). Innovation and Diversity in the Popular Music Industry, 1969 to 1990. American Sociological Review, 57(1), 56-71. DOI: 10.2307/2096144
  15. López (Cachao), Israel (1999). Mi idioma es un contrabajo [My language is a bass]. In Los Rostros de la Salsa [Faces of Salsa], edited by Leonardo Padura Fuentes. Mexico: Planeta.
  16. Manuel, P. & Orlando F. (2007). Mode, Melody, and Harmony in Traditional Afro-Cuban Music: From Africa to Cuba. Black Music Research Journal, 27(1), 47-75.
  17. Padura Fuentes, L. (1999). Juan Formell: No es fácil, no esfácil – introducción a la entrevista [Juan Formell: It’s not easy, it’s not easy – introduction to the interview].
  18. In Los Rostros de la Salsa [Faces of Salsa], edited by Leonardo Padura Fuentes. Mexico: Planeta.
  19. Perry, G. & Mace, R. 2010. The Lack of Acceptance of Evolutionary Approaches to Human Behaviour. Journal of Evolutionary Psychology, 8(2), 105-25. DOI: 10.1556/JEP.8.2010.2.2
  20. Peterson, R.A. & David G. Berger. 1975. Cycles in Symbol Production: the Case of Popular Music. American Sociological Review, 40: 158-173. DOI: 10.2307/2094343
  21. Regulation No 510/2006 of 20 March 2006 on protection of geographical indications and designations of origin for agricultural products and foodstuffs. Official Journal of the European Union.
  22. Regulation N. 2081/1992 of 14 July 1992 on protection of geographical indications and designations of origin for agricultural products and foodstuffs. Official Journal of the European Communities.
  23. Regulation European Union (2012): Regulation No 1151/2012 of 21 November 2012 on quality schemes for agricultural products and foodstuffs. Official Journal of the European Union.
  24. Richerson, P.J., Boyd, R. & Henrich, J. (2010). Gene-culture Coevolution in the Age of Genomics. In Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, May 11, 2010, vol. 107 (suppl. 2), 8985-8992.
  25. Sidali, K.L., Kastenholz, E. & Bianchi R. (2013a). Food tourism, niche markets and products in rural tourism: combining the intimacy model and the experience economy as a rural development strategy. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 22 (online publication available at www.tandfonline.com/eprint/byDM7aHc3YSasVMwFWVx/full).
  26. Sidali, K.L., Scaramuzzi, S. & Marchese, A. (2013b). Anatomy and Governance of gi consortia: cross-country perspective. In XXVth ESRS (European Society of Rural Sociology) Congress, July, 29 to August, 1 2013, Florence, 353-354. Sidali, K.L. & Spiller, A, (2014). Cultural property rights in the eu geographical indications’ system: Cui prodest? Economia Agro-Alimentare, 14(2), 95-102. DOI: 10.3280/ECAG2014-002006
  27. Underhill, P.A., Peidong Shen, A.A., Lin, L.J., Passarino, G., Weil H.Y., Kauffmann, E., Batsheva Bonné-Tamir, Jaume Bertranpetit, Francalacci, P., MuntaserIbrahim, TreforJenkins, Judith R.K., QasimMehdi, S., Mark T. Seielstad, R. Spencer Wells, Piazza, A., Ronald W. Davis, Marcus W. Feldman, L. Luca Cavalli-Sforza, & Peter
  28. J. Oefner. (2000). Y chromosome sequence variation and the history of human populations. Nature Genetics, 26, 358-361. DOI: 10.1038/81685
  29. Ventura, J. (1999). El Merengue puede ser una cosa muy seria y además esplendorosa [Merengue can be very serious and also splendorous]. In Los Rostros de la Salsa [Faces of Salsa], edited by Leonardo Padura Fuentes. Mexico: Planeta.

  • Guest editorial. Revisiting the Slow Food Movement: Three Cases of Heritage, Innovation, and Sustainability in Alternative Food Networks Luca Cacciolatti, Soo Hee Lee, Giovanna Sacchi, Jinha Lee, in Economia agro-alimentare 2/2024 pp.83
    DOI: 10.3280/ecag2024oa18190
  • Creative Cities of Gastronomy: Towards relationship between city and countryside Maria Bonaventura Forleo, Graziella Benedetto, in International Journal of Gastronomy and Food Science 100247/2020 pp.100247
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ijgfs.2020.100247
  • Kultur als Eigentum Katia Laura Sidali, Sarah May, Bernhard Tschofen, Achim Spiller, pp.389 (ISBN:9783863952044)

Edgardo I. Garrido-Pérez, Katia Laura Sidali, Salsa, sauce, and other ingredients: nature, evolution and conservation of cultural heritage in "ECONOMIA AGRO-ALIMENTARE" 3/2014, pp 81-104, DOI: 10.3280/ECAG2014-003007