Sacred Gifts, Profane Pleasures

In Marcy Norton’s book Sacred Gifts, Profane Pleasures: A History of Tobacco and Chocolate in the Atlantic World, we are introduced to a world of cross-cultural exchange between Europeans and Mesoamericans. My classmates have been quick to point out the stark differences between Norton’s attempts to showcase tobacco and chocolate in a less Eurocentric way and even discussed the commodity “web”. However, the importance of religion for both sides can’t be ignored. In most of the commodity books we’ve read, religion has played a very limited role. But in Norton’s book, it’s a key player. Here we learn how Mesoamericans adapted to Spanish colonialization through the conservation of their traditional practices. According to Norton, those living under Spanish rule considered tobacco and chocolate “a link to past traditions that were under attack …or subject[ed] to atrophy with the disintegration of pre-Hispanic social structures. The goods themselves…served as mnemonic reminders of traditional deities, worship styles, and social protocol” (64). Although they were able to keep these traditions alive, they were forced to adjust them in an effort to minimize persecution.

            Adaptation was an important aspect to keep Mesoamerican traditions alive. Their continual use of chocolate and tobacco also gave them agency with their Spanish conquerors. We see Christianity envelope these Mesoamerican customs and start to incorporate tobacco and chocolate into their own religious behaviors. Even when these commodities became popular goods for other reasons, they still held obvious significance in religious rituals, “consecrat[ing] bonds of caste, trust, and intimacy, surpassing even food and drink as objects of commensality” (174). Norton’s narrative of the religious aspects, both for Christianity and Mesoamerican traditions, was an interesting viewpoint for what a commodity is and how its importance can change not only the original cultural rituals, but conquering perspectives as well.