Kojkol

Image

Fire

Format

jpg

License

Creative Commons Licence

Contributed date

June 26, 2019 - 2:54pm

Critical Commentary

One of the moments that reinforced the idea that "matter matters" took place while talking to Eve, a 26-year-old woman. I asked her if there was a word in nahuatl (native language of the region) to name the open-air fire they use to cook, and she said they call it "kojkol." Eve then tried to explain to me the meaning of “kojkol”: "They refer to it in that way because, if it does not light up, then they talk with him." “With whom?”, I asked. "With the fire," she said, and added: "Sometimes, for example, we arrive [home], and my grandmother, she talks to “kojkol” because he does not want to light up; he is sad." I asked if she knew what her grandmother was saying, and Eve told me: "I've never been able to listen with care, but I think she talks about the family's worries. She tells him that everything will be fine, that he doesn’t have to be sad, but, yes, she talks to the fire."

Source

This photo was taken on 2019 during participant observation.

Cite as

Emilia Ruvalcaba de la Garza, "Kojkol ", contributed by Emilia Ruvalcaba de la Garza, STS Infrastructures, Platform for Experimental Collaborative Ethnography, last modified 26 August 2019, accessed 28 March 2024. https://stsinfrastructures.org/content/kojkol