Syncretism, Bricolage and Mesoamerican Religión: an Approach to a Ceremonial Dance in Huave Culture
Although it is a category frequently used in anthropological literature, syncretism is not a notion that explains but should be explained. Through the discussions that have sparked ceremonial practices in Mesoamerica, this article examines the mechanisms that linked different religious traditions, a...
Main Author: | |
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Format: | Electronic Article |
Language: | English |
Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
Journals Online & Print: | |
Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
Published: |
2021
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In: |
International journal of Latin American religions
Year: 2021, Volume: 5, Issue: 1, Pages: 64-75 |
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Mesoamerican Indians
/ Popular piety
/ Syncretism
/ Huave Indians
/ Ritual dance
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RelBib Classification: | AD Sociology of religion; religious policy AG Religious life; material religion AZ New religious movements KBR Latin America |
Further subjects: | B
Religion
B Syncretism B Mesoamerica B Snakedance |
Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
Summary: | Although it is a category frequently used in anthropological literature, syncretism is not a notion that explains but should be explained. Through the discussions that have sparked ceremonial practices in Mesoamerica, this article examines the mechanisms that linked different religious traditions, according to the principles that rules the “intellectual bricolage,” as Lévi-al Strauss called it when he tried to explain the mythological structure. A ritual dance, known among the Huaves as snakedance, allows us to reflect on the links between the pre-Hispanic past and colonial evangelization, in order to identify the common elements that made cultural dialog possible. Under these circumstances, the notion of syncretism is revealed as the variant of a more general principle that alludes to the connection of signs or, better yet, to the way in which different symbolic systems are articulated through rules that are never arbitrary, not even at the most intense moments of historical vicissitudes. |
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ISSN: | 2509-9965 |
Contains: | Enthalten in: International journal of Latin American religions
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Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1007/s41603-020-00130-2 |