Abstract

OSORIO, Patricia Silva. Folk culture festivals and heritage: battle arenas in identity politics. Etnográfica [online]. 2017, vol.21, n.3, pp.493-508. ISSN 0873-6561.

Present studies of festivities in anthropology are developed in a theoretical framework that emphasizes the multiple social interactions in expanding festive contexts and scenarios. Associated with tourism, spectacle, the market and “heritage,” festivities set in motion conflicting and paradoxical discursive zones. Political conflicts, identity claims and power and recognition disputes are some of the battles fought in the festive arena. Based on an ethnography carried out between 2009 and 2014 at the Cururu and Siriri Festival in Cuiabá (Mato Grosso, Brazil), this article aims to inquire into contexts in which expressions of popular culture are crossed by patrimonial policies. The latter offer visibility and public recognition, provide references and create consensus, while at the same time intensify different disputes associated with identity claims.

Keywords : festival; popular culture; heritage; identity politics.

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