A batida no chão, o subir da poeira, o clamor da oração: pertencimento e memória na construção do Ritual de São Gonçalo

Abstract

Combining the religious anthropology studies, memory and performance, the text examines the universe of the inserts and negotiations experienced by a group of devotees from São Gonçalo, located in the rural and mountainous region of Água Branca/AL. It is questioned, in this aspect, under what conditions the dance ritual of devotion to the Saint becomes a reference to the construction of collective identities (bearer group) while conceiving alliances with other communities, promoting the continuity of the traditional practice close to the new generations. This question suggests, at first glance, two hypotheses: on the one hand, that the construction of these collective identities responds to a universe of religious sociability, on which devotional practices are meant, experienced in the family and community interactions which jointly foster ways of acting and thinking collectively; on the other hand, the proximity of the local actors, the kinship relations and the nature of the payments of promises contribute to the dynamics of rooting this practice even when articulated in contexts other than religious. This way, in-depth ethnography and participant observation were indispensable, about everything, to the direct accompaniment of the changes that were reconfiguring the senses and the successive episodes of the dynamics related to ritualistic performance. Thus, it was noticed that even in the face of adversity, the group finds in different spaces of sociability, unprecedented and effective forms of resonance devotion to the saint.