Agave and prickly pear in the culture of Sicily: ways of borrowing

Abstract

In this article, drawing on her many years of fieldwork on Sicilian traditional culture, the author focuses on the fate of two ”objects” of the Columbus Exchange in Sicily – the agave and the prickly pear. The aim of the analysis is not only to explain the acculturation of these two plants in the context of the island region, but also to consider the possible direct contacts of this region with New Spain and the hypothetical participation of Sicily, which was part of the Crown of Aragon and later of the unified Spain, in the Conquest. Therefore, the study focuses on the phytonyms of plants in New Spain, metropolitan Spain, and Sicily. A comparative analysis of the views on agave and prickly pear in these three regions, as well as empirical data on the practical use of these plants in these regions, is conducted. This allows us to discover cultural parallels between Sicily and Mexico in their attitudes toward these two plants. The article devotes particular attention to the sacredness and symbolism of agave and prickly pear, observed in New Spain and Sicily. The author considers this fact to be the main argument in favor of the existence of cultural continuity and the transmission of cultural tradition from America to Sicily, ”bypassing” Spain.