Entre vulgariza？？es e singulariza？？es: notas sobre a vida social dos balaios

starting from a general reflection on the study of "material culture", in this article i experiment the analytic profitability of the theoretical formulations of igor kopytoff, author who suggested a research of the cultural biography of the objects, emphasizing their life stages and the gradations, overlaps and recurrences of classifications that cause their vulgarization or singularization in a given society. and searching a creative dialogue with this author, i use notes taken during a fieldwork with members of the carnival group afoxé filhos de gandhi of rio de janeiro, composed of practitioners of candomble and who used ritually "baskets" during a religious procession in the streets of the city named yemanja's gift.