Abstract

ROCHA, Gilmar. The word and gesture: embodiment and performance in folias de reis. Etnográfica [online]. 2016, vol.20, n.3, pp.539-564. ISSN 0873-6561.

Folias de reis are popular religious manifestations which have great importance in some regions of Brazil. During the Christmas cycle, folias’ pilgrims start their journey in urban and rural areas conveying the sacred word to devotees of the Holy Kings; in return they receive donations, food and lodging, thus putting into movement the donation system. Not coincidentally, the understanding of these groups finds in the work of Marcel Mauss (1872-1950) a source of inspirational analysis. In particular, the body, in its performative, gestural, and emotional dimensions, occupies a symbolic centrality in folias, revealing a complex system of “elementary gestures of reciprocity”. The analysis is developed based on ethnography elaborated among a folia known as Estrela Guia, in its pilgrimage through the city of Vassouras (RJ), in the years 2012 and 2013.

Keywords : gift; body; gesture; emotion; folia de reis.

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