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the fact that the tonnara equiprnent involves the use of small-scale port on Favignana's mattanza, the Italy Daily website quotes Ennio
boats, nets, anchors and gaffs explains the lack of resistance against
the mattanza. Its appearance is traditional and artisanal. In addition,
this type of fishery has been on the wane for a long rime now. The
bloody and drarnatic spectacle has only sparked a very lirnited
arnount of protests, even though i t is often described as being rather
4
crueF Onlookers can easily observe the rirual, but this in itselfhas
not given rise to contestation on their part or frorn journalists. If any-
thing, they seern to consider bloodshed part of its 'authenticity'. In-
deed, the mattanza did and does attract onlookers frorn without and
this no doubt has played a role in strengthening the identity of the
Favignana islanders and their pride in the runa kill.
In rnany cases, traditions rnay be cornrnodified (converted imo
currency) when enacted as a tourist performance, but some outsiders
are likely to clairn that by doing so they bave lost their aurhenticity.
To some extent, this has been the case with respect to the mattanza.
To earn extra incarne, the tonnaroti decided in 2001 that tourists
could buy tickets to watch the mattanza frorn boats at a rate ofUS$
20 to 2 5 per person. They desperately needed the additional rev-
enues. As one tuna fisherrnan said: 'for the tourists we represent
rnythical characters' (quoted in Singer 1999:65). They were well
aware that staging the performance of the tuna killing ritual would
alrnost certainly attract tourists, although the tonnaroti insisted that
it stili is work (Vialles 1998:147). But the owner of the vessels, Par-
odi, cancelled the selling of tickets as he feared there would be prob-
lerns over insurances. Only later, paying tourists were taken on
private boats to watch the spectacle.
Ironically, this cornrnoditisation of the ritual not only sparked
controversy but also evoked resistance frorn without. 25 In a news re-
24 'La mattanza è una pratica barbara' (the mattanza is a barbarie practice),
says one commentator in an exchange about the mattanza in an e-mail discus-
sion list. http://forums.about.com/ab-italian/messages?lgnF=y&msg=2679.3.
Last accessedJuly 22, 2004.
25 Fora brief peri od, there were two tuna fishery cooperati ves that were
vying for the quotas allocated by the Italian state. In addition to 'La Mattanza',
Parodi established 'Ceri pesi' (Centro Richerche Pesca Sicilia). The two were
united after negotiations with the Italian fishermen's association.
66
Bonfanti of the Sicilian branch of the Lega Anti Vivisezione, who
rnaintains: 'This exists only as a bloody performance for tourists. It's
no longer sornething done for survival or even economie rnotives.
They're not real fisherrnen. They're entertainers. It's like bull-fight-
26
ing. Nothing more than a barbarie spectacle of cruelty.' In a short
artide, Anna Mannunci also critiques the practice and the paying on-
lookers:
In the past, the slaughter was watched by many people and was
called a 'ritual' to make it sound a nobler, culture-specific - and
therefore more acceptable phenomenon. But the idea of selling
tickets for the massacre upset public opinion, and anima! rights
groups in particular. So much so that i t carne to nothing in the end.
Killing animals, whether cows, chickens, trout, tuna, or anything
else, is considered legitimate if i t is driven by necessity. Eating ani-
mals is considered necessary for survival and for the financial wellbe-
ing of those who earn money from the death of these animals.
Killing them in a visibly, publicly, bloodthirsty way like the fisher-
men ofFavignana is somewhat less generally acceptable but in this
case, as in many other similar cases, the ideology of tradition com es
to the rescue, excusing even the most repugnant practices. For those
who watch the 'ritual' slaughter, there are justifications: tradition,
obviously, and then culture, popular and local customs, which are
more fashionable than ever in these times of globalization, and so on.
Such arguments serve to free those who enjoy the spectacle of this
cruel killing from any feelings of guilt. T m not here because I' m a
sadist but for cultura!, and even democratic, reasons', spectators
might tell themselves. But paying for the privilege, with ticket
stubs, taxes and ali the rest, secularizes the event, calling imo ques-
tion the symbolic and rhetorical constructs that legitimize the pleas-
ure of watching an animal's death. Enjoyment thus excites outrage. 27
26 http://www.italydaily.it/Italian_life/Features/febbraio/mattanza.shtml.
Last accessed August 18, 2004. A German Greenpeace activist describes the-
Favignana tonnaroti as 'primitive people' (letter to the editor, Stern, August 3,
2000).
27 Mannunci, A. (2002) 'Ritual slaughter'.
http://www.slowfood.com/img_sito/riviste/slow/EN/29/macelli.html. Last ac-
cessed May 18, 2005.