Etnográfica

The efficacy of passions: sensitivity and identity among Candomblé’s initiates

Dans le Candomblé de Bahia, un système de préceptes et de restrictions personnalisées se trouve connecté avec les intentionnalités des entités invisibles. La relation de ces entités avec linitié peut sexprimer par le truchement dun ensemble de sensations et de réactions négatives (sensibilités). En principe, un orixá (divinité) ou un odu (signe du destin) se trouve à lorigine des réactions négatives qui laffectent (dégoût, allergie ou intolérance alimentaire), tout en donnant lieu à des interdits rituels spécifiques. Une conceptualisation implicite de ces tabous (quizilas) en tant que conséquences incorporées des antipathies ou aversions des entités invisibles invite à considérer le poids de ces agentivités émotionnelles dans la construction de la nouvelle identité du novice.

In the context of the Candomblé cult of Bahia, a system of personal prescriptions and avoidances is connected with some extra-human intentionality. Actually, the relation of extra-humans with the initiate could be expressed through sensations or physical negative reactions (sensibilities). Generally, an orixá (deity) or an odu (sign of destiny) are at the origin of his negative reactions (disgust feeling, alimentary intolerance or allergy), which could arise as a ritual interdiction. An implicit conceptualization of these taboos (quizilas) as an embodied consequence of an extra-human aversion or antagonism emerges, from which we can analyze the weight of this kind of emotional agencies in the ritual construction of the new identity of the Candomblés initiate.

Religion is made with the harvest of land: a conceptual questioning of “religion” in Africa and the Yorùbá case

O presente artigo visa analisar o conceito de religião e suas implicações concetuais para a observação das religiões africanas, partindo do caso dos yorùbá da África Ocidental e visitando o candomblé, religião brasileira de matriz africana fecundada com o comércio de escravos. Pretende-se, então, traçar um roteiro diferente para a concetualização da experiência religiosa africana nos enfoques anteriores, procurando oferecer alternativas face às categorias clássicas de monoteísmo, politeísmo e panteão e observando simultaneamente o que constitui a atitude religiosa no caso yorùbá e seu descendente candomblé, a partir da ideia de que a religião nos presentes estudos de caso se faz.

This paper aims to focus on the concept of religion and its conceptual implications to the observation of African religions taking the Yorùbá religious attitudes and beliefs, as well as candomblés, as case studies. It is our intention to trace a new itinerary in the conceptualization of African religious experiences taking the native structures as the scenery for theory. Having present the idea that religion in those contexts is made, it is intended to present alternative categories to the classic monotheism, polytheism and pantheon.

The hidden transcript in a neighborhood’s re-housing process: the case of Hindus in Quinta da Vitória

Este artigo parte da etnografia realizada junto da população hindu de um bairro nas franjas da cidade de Lisboa. Tal como dezenas de outros conjuntos residenciais de construção informal, a Quinta da Vitória foi inscrita no Programa Especial de Realojamento (PER) e os seus habitantes seriam realojados em habitação social. Comparativamente com outros núcleos residenciais inscritos no PER, o processo da Quinta da Vitória levou mais tempo a ser concluído. Neste artigo procura-se descrever e analisar as formas como a população em causa reagiu, ao longo do processo de realojamento, a esta política social de habitação de grande envergadura no país. O objetivo central do artigo é explorar, através do caso em apreço, a conceptualização de James Scott (1990) sobre formas de resistência subtis, naquilo que o autor apelida registo escondido, e o desenvolvimento das suas componentes, até um registo mais público de resistência. Através da análise deste processo, espera-se ainda contribuir para uma melhor compreensão da aplicação das políticas sociais em Portugal.

This paper results from an ethnography among the Hindu dwellers of a neighborhood in the outskirts of Lisbon. As dozens of other informal settlements, Quinta da Vitória was one of the neighborhoods included in the Special Re-housing Program (PER), and its inhabitants would be resettled in social housing. Comparing with other similar settlements, the PER process at Quinta da Vitória was too long. In this paper I will describe and analyze the ways by which the Hindu residents responded to this huge social housing policy in Portugal, which was meant to end up with all shanty towns. The main purpose of this paper is yet to explore James Scotts (1990) conceptualization on subtle resistance and about the hidden transcript, its forms, and development into public forms of resistance. The article is also expected to contribute to the larger debate about social policies in Portugal.

Landscapes, soundscapes, mindscapes: introduction

This article aims at providing a state of the art of current interdisciplinary and comparative research approaches on the intrinsic links between sound and place. It explores the role of sound in appropriating and humanizing space, turning it into a place, a site of human intervention and sociocultural practice. The authors direct as well to the various refigurations of the sound and place correlation in an era of increased de-territorialization, transregionalization, and hybridization of cultural practice.

Pretende-se neste artigo fazer um balanço da investigação comparativa e interdisciplinar atual acerca das ligações intrínsecas entre som e lugar. É analisado o papel do som na apropriação e humanização do espaço, que assim se torna lugar, local de intervenção humana e prática sociocultural. São também tratadas as várias reconfigurações da correlação entre som e lugar, numa época de crescente desterritorialização, transregionalização e hibridismo na prática cultural.

Inhabited silence: sound constructions of monastic spatiality

This paper is based on an extensive and engaged ethnographic study in which the researcher lived the life of a postulant in two French Carmelite monasteries. The aim is to discuss the relation between sound (auditory sensation) - here intended as silence, i. e. the absence of sound or noise - and monastic space, highlighting to what extent the construction of space is implemented on a basis which is mostly sound-related and how such a soundscape, in turn, can produce and preserve certain shared behaviours and life values. Thus, the focus is not so much on silence and its generally accepted devotional function as a medium for prayer; rather, the emphasis is placed on its social value as a performative, group-building and identity de/construction tool.

O artigo baseia-se num estudo etnográfico extensivo no âmbito do qual a autora experimentou a vida de noviça em dois carmelos franceses. Pretende-se discutir a relação entre som (sensação auditiva) - aqui compreendido como silêncio, ou seja, como ausência de som ou rumor - e o espaço conventual, destacando até que ponto a construção do espaço é realizada, em grande medida, a partir do som, e como essa paisagem sonora pode, por sua vez, produzir e sustentar determinados comportamentos e valores partilhados. Assim, mais do que a função devocional do silêncio como meio para a oração, generalizadamente aceite, a ênfase é colocada no seu valor social como ferramenta performativa, de (des)construção identitária e de formação grupal.

Churches in search of a vocation: what does the sonic environment say?

La perception de lespace architectural est une expérience globale qui engage la totalité des sens. Louïe, autant que la vue, en conserve une empreinte qui se lie étroitement avec lappartenance aux lieux et lidentité territoriale. Léglise se présente comme un espace de référence sur le plan sonore, autant pour ses particularités acoustiques que pour les pratiques séculaires qui y ont cours, sonorités qui irriguent les mémoires individuelles et collectives. Cet article présente une enquête en cours qui interroge les sensibilités dhabitants de Montréal (Québec) à légard des espaces ecclésiaux, à lheure où nombre déglises ferment ou sont converties à dautres usages. Cette étude, inspirée de lapproche des ambiances architecturales et urbaines, relève à la fois de la caractérisation physique des lieux et de celle des perceptions et représentations de lespace. Ici, le sens des lieux senchevêtre avec lexpérience spatiotemporelle suscitée par les effets sonores de ces grandes caisses de résonance .

The perception of architectural space is a global experience that engages all the senses, especially the auditory sense. Places have their own sonic imprint, which is closely intertwined with the sense of belonging and territorial identity. Church space is a paragon with regard to its sonic dimensions, for its particular acoustics and the fact that it has been a privileged setting for performances of speech and music, features deeply embedded in memories. This article discusses the core of a research project that examines sensibilities of Montréals (Québec) inhabitants towards church spaces, in a context where many of them are closed down and are being converted to other uses. This study draws from the architectural and urban ambiances approach. It combines aspects of the physical characterization of place, the individual perceptions, and representations of space. In this case, the sense of place entangles closely with the spatiotemporal experience produced by the impressive sonic effects of these large resonating chambers.

In the forest, music: between restlessness and intimacy feelings (Goğğam, Ethiopia)

Sur les plateaux éthiopiens du Goğğam, les bergers passent une grande partie de leur temps à siffler, chanter ou jouer de la flûte. Ces forêts sont des lieux à la marge de la vie sociale, peuplées de bandits. La musique peut être à la fois considérée comme un outil de contrôle de cet espace sauvage, et comme un risque de se faire entendre des rôdeurs malveillants de la forêt. La musique est donc un acte de bravoure en même temps quun intense moment de solitude et de vulnérabilité.

In the Ethiopian Highlands of Goğğam, the herders spend most of their time whistling, singing, and playing the flute. These forests are social marginal lands and music can be considered as a tool for controlling the wild but performing music appears risky, for the herder reveals his position to potential thieves. Music is therefore an act of bravery in an unfriendly environment, a moment of both solitude and vulnerability.

Enchanting spaces: echo and reverberation at Romanian popular parties

This contribution describes how Roma professional musicians in Romania use electronic sound processing for live performances in various contexts. It focuses on four techniques - amplification, mixing, reverberation and echo - which are intimately linked in the practice of these musicians. The latter two effects are modeled on natural acoustic phenomena, but are used by the musicians to create sound environments with artificial, impossible or paradoxical properties. The article details how these techniques are used, in relation to the typical interactions between the musicians and their audiences. This leads to the argument that artificial echo and reverberation (building upon amplification and mixing) are used by Roma professional musicians as techniques to enchant both the performance places and the social relations which they host.

Este texto descreve a forma como os músicos profissionais rom (ciganos), na Roménia, usam o tratamento eletrónico do som em espetáculos ao vivo em diferentes contextos. Centra-se em quatro técnicas - amplificação, mistura, reverberação e eco - intimamente ligadas entre si na prática destes músicos. Os últimos dois efeitos têm como modelo fenómenos acústicos naturais, mas são usados pelos músicos para criar ambientes sonoros com características artificiais, impossíveis ou paradoxais. É aqui detalhada a forma como essas técnicas são utilizadas e como se relacionam com as interações habituais entre os músicos e o público. Isto conduz ao argumento de que o eco e a reverberação artificiais (conseguidos com base na amplificação e no mixing) são usados pelos músicos profissionais rom como técnicas para encantar tanto os lugares onde ocorrem os espetáculos como as relações sociais que eles encerram.

A situated sound art: meaning and space

Les installations sonores situées telles que je les conçois utilisent non seulement lacoustique du lieu, mais également le contenu sonore souvent très diversifié de lespace public, pour projeter lauditeur dans de nouveaux espaces perceptifs. Une composition sonore à partir de prises de son in situ et un système de diffusion adapté au lieu me permettent ainsi de travailler sur une démultiplication des espaces, en réactivant les représentations mentales des auditeurs. À partir de certaines de mes créations sonores récentes, je montrerai de quelle façon jutilise la signification des sons, la matérialisation dun corps sonore et la spatialisation du son pour construire chacune de ces uvres.

The sound installations I create take benefit from the acoustics of the place but also from the very rich sound content of the public space, in order to bring the listener into new perceptive spaces. A sound composition based on situated sound recordings and with an appropriate sound diffusion system enables us to work on the condensation of spatial complexity, by reactivating mental representations of the listeners. Illustrating my working progress with recent sound creations, I will show the way I use the meaning of sound, the materialization of a sound body and the spatialization of sound in order to build up these sonic works.

The “faithful friend”: cod and Portuguese identity

O bacalhau possui um estatuto único na cozinha portuguesa, pois é ao mesmo tempo um alimento muito frequente no seu receituário e um símbolo da própria identidade nacional. Neste ensaio procede-se a uma reconstrução genealógica dos diversos motivos e processos que conduziram a esta situação, procurando mostrar que dinâmicas de natureza religiosa, económica, política e ideológica se combinam com uma longa socialização e incorporação, que se traduziu num gosto específico por este tipo de alimento entre os portugueses.

Salt cod has a unique status in Portuguese cuisine, as it is both a very common food, and a symbol of the Portuguese national identity. This essay proceeds to a genealogical reconstruction of the various reasons and processes that led to this situation, trying to show that dynamics of religious, economic, political and ideological nature combine with a long socialization and incorporation, which translated into a specific taste for this type of food among the Portuguese.

Encounters of Body and Soul in Contemporary Religious Practices: Anthropological Reflections

De Casa em Casa: Sobre um Encontro entre Etnografia e Cinema

Naturalezas en Conflicto: Conservación Ambiental y Enfrentamiento Social en el Parque Natural Cabo de Gata-Níjar