Fictive Feasting: Mixing and Parsing Bolivian Popular Sentiment ROBERT ALBRO Department of Sociology and Anthropology Wheaton College Norton, MA 02766 SUMMARY In this article I analyze the vitalizing relationships betweenfictivekinship (compadrazgo) and Andean cultural practice. I distinguish several recognized strate- gies offictivekinship in the region of Quillacollo, Bolivia. While provincial folk are quick to insist that Andean culture, as such, no longer exists in this region, at the same time ritual kinship, recognized as a remainder of Andean cultural practice, is one typical way that "the Andean," as a cultural trope and moral discourse, continues to permeate peoples' lives. This argument uses Fernandez's insights about "wholes" and "parts" to emphasize the play of synecdoches, a regional preoccupation with "partness" and the right relation among parts, expressed by the orchestration offictiveties. Garlic he loved, and onions too, and leeks, And drinking strong red wine till all was hazy. Then he would shout and jabber as if crazy, And wouldn't speak a word except in Latin. —Geoffrey Chaucer, "The Prologue," The Canterbury Tales Leftover goods From former meals Long simmering are reborn Redeemed again as victuals— Inspiration for the forlorn! —James Fernandez, "Garlic Soup: A New Year's Garland" Public Sentiments Quillacollo's radio reporters, really just a handful of people, were to have their annual fiesta, and the persistently apologetic fellow charged with carrying off the event had cornered me. He was asking if I wouldn't throw something into the pot, though in Bolivia the requisite idiom would be "to make a little cow" (hacer una vaquita). He must have thought my sponsorship a likelihood, since I was often lumped in with this crowd as an albeit unconventional "reporter." "Sponsors" (padrinos, literally, "godfathers") scared up for such situations are expected to contribute the lion's share of the fiesta staples: crates of beer, barrels of chicha (corn beer), food, the people obliged to cook it, the music, the amplifi- cation, and even the fiesta hall. Such sights as a teetering stack of continuously replenished beer crates, a dance-hall floor slick with spilled drink, or heaping plates of panpaku (a meat and potatoes dish) hurried into the hands of recent arrivals, are the sights and smells of a sponsor's generosity. And I was used to them, having attended many similar misachikus, as these events are generically called, in the past. But surprised by the unexpected request, I lamely offered to contribute a sum of money, which I proceeded to fork over. When later relating this to some Anthropology and Humanism 25(2): 142-157. Copyright ©2001, American Anthropological Association.