Can a pig speak? Disease, systems, and sacrifice in the Caribbean

Abstract This article analyses the creole pig massacre in Hispaniola, particularly in Haiti, that happened between the end of 1970s and early 1980s. Drawing from both an ethnographic work and a historical analysis, I first focus on the trajectory of a disease that affected domestic pigs in the whole globe and generated a series of politics and scientific assemblages to contain its spread. From there, I analyze the cultural and political motivations and the techno-scientific means that gave rise to the massacre as well as the different theories about the disease. On the last part, I discuss the impacts of the massacre in peasants’ daily life, arguing that this event became, according to specialists, a ritual sacrifice that aimed at modernizing Haiti’s pigs raising systems. My argument here is that this event reveals concurrent visions of animals and domestication.

摘要 本文分析了1970年代末至1980年代初发生在伊斯帕尼奥拉岛（Hispaniola），尤其是海地境内的克里奥尔猪（creole pig）大屠杀事件。本文结合民族志研究与历史分析，首先聚焦于一场波及全球家猪的疫病的传播轨迹，以及为遏制其扩散所形成的一系列政治与科学集合体。以此为切入点，本文进一步剖析了催生此次屠杀的文化与政治动因、技术科学手段，以及围绕该疫病的各类理论。最后，本文探讨了此次屠杀对农民日常生活的影响，并指出：在专家看来，这一事件本质上是一场旨在推动海地养猪体系现代化的仪式性献祭。本文的核心论点为，该事件揭示了关于动物与驯化的两种并行观念。