The ‘Mushroom Fever': Enchantment, Affect and Knowledge in Human-Mushroom Relationships in Israel

Abstract

This paper explores human-nonhuman relations, and role played by emotions in them. Using ethnographic research among mushroom growers and pickers, both local Israelis and immigrants from the Former Soviet Union (FSU), the paper explores cultural interpretations and practices among mushroom growers and pickers in Israel, aiming to contribute to our understanding of human-mushroom relations, as well as human-nonhuman relations in general. The findings suggest that mushrooms are a focus of emotional intensity, inviting us to trace the range of emotions evoked by mushrooms in humans, which we will explain using the term ‘mushroom fever’. These emotions, as shown in the paper, emerge from different knowledge patterns, the types of practices used by the participants and their socialisation processes.

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