A mandioca, alimento impensado

Abstract: This article examines manioc flour (cassava flour) as a complex intersection of history, symbolism, and ideology in Brazilian culture. The study focuses on Brazilian popular music (MPB), specifically analyzing the song “Farinha do Desprezo” (1972) by Jards Macalé and Capinam as a key example of food’s role in social consciousness. I argue that the flour's widespread symbolic meaning in Brazil is marked by ambivalence—highlighting the ongoing tension between its importance as a vital food source and its association with social neglect or disdain (“desprezo”). My analysis demonstrates how the song both reflects and reinterprets the food’s colonial legacy. It first depicts the flour as a metaphor for marginalization (“farinha do desprezo”) and then, through a semantic shift, transforms it into a symbol of liberation and self-determination (“farinha do desejo”). This process is understood as a form of symbolic decolonization, aligning with the philosophical concept of pharmakon, a substance that is both remedy and poison. The paper is divided into two parts: the historical context of the food, the detailed analysis of the song, and the final semantic move toward desire.