Water symbolics: fresh, salty and sour waters in the Azores

This paper aims to understand the symbolic representations and social uses of different types of waters on the island of São Miguel in the Azores. In this research, the authors discuss some of these differences in a specific socio-spatial context, the island of São Miguel, the island with the largest territorial dimension of the Azores, corresponding to about one third of the total area of the Azores archipelago. This island accounts for more than half of the Azorean population, has the highest economic activity and presents some of the main “eruptive centers” of the Azores: the volcanoes of Furnas, Fogo and Sete Cidades. To attain this goal, the authors analyzed, through participant and non-participant observation, the social representations of waters in the Azores through three symbolic analytical frameworks: fresh waters, salty waters and sour waters. In this study of symbolic water, the following categories resulted from the sociological analysis: sweet waters (the images of water that tends to be drinkable), salty waters (the allegories related to the sea) and sour waters (the allegories related to those waters that come from volcanic phenomena). This proves that the element of water itself can be understood differently, and that the social context in which individuals live is very relevant in helping to understand these different significations.