A “cabrita” from the net

the art of counting the fishing in a community of artisanal fishermen

Abstract

The article analyzes an experience narrated by artisanal fishermen from the community of Quatipurú Mirim (Tracuateua/PA): the “cabrita”. This term names a temporary organization of fishing aimed at supplementing families; income and diet. It is based on the reports that emerged in the interviews to highlight the very constitution and mobilization of oral history as a methodology for producing oral sources in historical research. To this end, we intertwined a bibliography on memory from the scope of Oral History and the concept of performance from Anthropology to broaden the horizon of orality, addressing communication strategies (gestures, intonations, behaviors and interactions) that imply the elaboration of narratives. Thus, the “cabrita” emerged in narrative performances, sometimes on a teaching stage, sometimes in the context of the boss’s “secret” and community “shame”. Constituting moments of affection between the interlocutors and meanings that were analyzed in the context of the interaction.