The tomato paste tin can

An African journey (Burkina Faso)

Bibliographic Data

ID2391163
AuthorsMuriel Champy (Aix-Marseille Université, IMAF (Institut des Mondes Africains) Aix-en-Provence, France, corresponding author)
Year2019
Volume24
Issue2
Pages125-143
Publication date2019-06-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Material Culture (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1359-1835 • E-ISSN: 1460-3586
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/1359183518820370
OpenAlexW2913656642
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited20

In Burkina Faso, where imported goods now constitute the basic ingredients of the daily urban diet, tomato paste seems to epitomize the country's position at the end of the globalized food chain. With the expansion of this manufactured comestible, the empty tomato paste tin can also has gradually replaced previously used calabashes and plastic bowls to become the sole recipient used by child beggars for receiving food donations. As such, it has become the primary graphic symbol for child begging, in particular, and for African underdevelopment in general. But this iconic status should not eclipse the fact that most Burkinabe households use this same can for a large array of daily tasks. This article patiently follows 'the can' through the variety of its uses, from tomato paste container to water recipient, measuring instrument, begging device, seat or cooking pot, thus offering a contribution to the social study of objects. It reveals that street children and Koranic students are both marginalized by using it, and also included in the various informal networks it ties together. Usually framed as an emblem of 'underdevelopment' and 'poverty', the can becomes a symbol of the transformations of the Burkinabe economy and of the rapid changes of consumption patterns the country is experiencing

Art · Begging · Business · Consumption (sociology · Economic growth · Economics · Emblem · Political science · Position (finance · Poverty · Social science · Sociology · Symbol (formal · Underdevelopment · Visual arts · African Studies and Ethnography · Aging, Elder Care, and Social Issues · French Urban and Social Studies · Law

Tools

Open DOISci-Hub