Gender and Space during Guatemala’s Holy Week: An Ethnographic Account
At midnight of Sunday, 9 April 2017, the Sunday known as Palm Sunday during Holy Week (<i>Semana Santa</i>), the streets of Guatemala City were packed with parishioners, passers-by, and strollers watching the procession of Jesús Nazareno de los Milagros, “<i>King of the Universe<...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2019-01-01
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| Series: | Religions |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/10/2/76 |
| _version_ | 1818366172946497536 |
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| author | Karen Ponciano |
| author_facet | Karen Ponciano |
| author_sort | Karen Ponciano |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | At midnight of Sunday, 9 April 2017, the Sunday known as Palm Sunday during Holy Week (<i>Semana Santa</i>), the streets of Guatemala City were packed with parishioners, passers-by, and strollers watching the procession of Jesús Nazareno de los Milagros, “<i>King of the Universe</i>”. The procession’s itinerary takes almost eighteen hours to complete and it is one of the most popular processions among Catholics in Guatemala. What was I, a female anthropologist taking notes and pictures, doing as part of the entourage of the image of Jesus? The question is not gratuitous because this specific space, namely, the entourage itself, is reserved exclusively for male bearers, the so-called <i>cucuruchos. </i>This ethnographic incursion took place within the framework of an ongoing research project on the construction of gender subjectivities in urban religious spaces in Guatemala City, a project that attempts to answer larger questions on the various processes of subject formation within religious spaces. In this article, however, I will focus exclusively on the construction of gender subjectivities during the celebration of the Holy Week in Guatemala City. This paper discusses how a religious space can be analyzed as a “place of encounter” that will intensify social relations coming from beyond, and going beyond, the processional space itself. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-13T22:31:56Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-5b077310da3242f49cb73de5dc5b45c9 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2077-1444 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-13T22:31:56Z |
| publishDate | 2019-01-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Religions |
| spelling | doaj.art-5b077310da3242f49cb73de5dc5b45c92022-12-21T23:29:04ZengMDPI AGReligions2077-14442019-01-011027610.3390/rel10020076rel10020076Gender and Space during Guatemala’s Holy Week: An Ethnographic AccountKaren Ponciano0Instituto de Investigación y Proyección sobre Diversidad Sociocultural e Interculturalidad, Universidad Rafael Landívar, Guatemala 01016, GuatemalaAt midnight of Sunday, 9 April 2017, the Sunday known as Palm Sunday during Holy Week (<i>Semana Santa</i>), the streets of Guatemala City were packed with parishioners, passers-by, and strollers watching the procession of Jesús Nazareno de los Milagros, “<i>King of the Universe</i>”. The procession’s itinerary takes almost eighteen hours to complete and it is one of the most popular processions among Catholics in Guatemala. What was I, a female anthropologist taking notes and pictures, doing as part of the entourage of the image of Jesus? The question is not gratuitous because this specific space, namely, the entourage itself, is reserved exclusively for male bearers, the so-called <i>cucuruchos. </i>This ethnographic incursion took place within the framework of an ongoing research project on the construction of gender subjectivities in urban religious spaces in Guatemala City, a project that attempts to answer larger questions on the various processes of subject formation within religious spaces. In this article, however, I will focus exclusively on the construction of gender subjectivities during the celebration of the Holy Week in Guatemala City. This paper discusses how a religious space can be analyzed as a “place of encounter” that will intensify social relations coming from beyond, and going beyond, the processional space itself.https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/10/2/76gender subjectivitiesurban religious spacesHoly Week in GuatemalaCatholic Brotherhoods and AssociationsReligious festivities |
| spellingShingle | Karen Ponciano Gender and Space during Guatemala’s Holy Week: An Ethnographic Account Religions gender subjectivities urban religious spaces Holy Week in Guatemala Catholic Brotherhoods and Associations Religious festivities |
| title | Gender and Space during Guatemala’s Holy Week: An Ethnographic Account |
| title_full | Gender and Space during Guatemala’s Holy Week: An Ethnographic Account |
| title_fullStr | Gender and Space during Guatemala’s Holy Week: An Ethnographic Account |
| title_full_unstemmed | Gender and Space during Guatemala’s Holy Week: An Ethnographic Account |
| title_short | Gender and Space during Guatemala’s Holy Week: An Ethnographic Account |
| title_sort | gender and space during guatemala s holy week an ethnographic account |
| topic | gender subjectivities urban religious spaces Holy Week in Guatemala Catholic Brotherhoods and Associations Religious festivities |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/10/2/76 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT karenponciano genderandspaceduringguatemalasholyweekanethnographicaccount |