São João, alegria do povo: devoção e festa no Banho de São João da Comunidade Monte Castelo, Corumbá-MS

Abstract

The Banho de São João celebrations in Corumbá, Mato Grosso do Sul, held by devotees of Saint John the Baptist, feature the crafting and decorating of mastros (something like a poles) and processional floats (something like a portable shrine), the performance of novenas (nine-day prayers), and the sharing of food, culminating in processions for the baptism or bathing of the image of St. John the Baptist in the waters of the Paraguay River, on the night of June 23.Relational dimensions and the many forms of interaction between devotees and saints are integral to these observances, entailing complex communication through various languages, media, and signs—most notably sculptural images and saintly flags. In this thesis, I understand such celebrations in the field of anthropological theories of rituals and an anthropology of devotion, emphasizing that ritual not only manifests or evidences, but also organizes, operates, creatively reformulates some relationships, having effectiveness in itself, doing things. In this sense, my effort is to reflect, theoretically and ethnographically, that celebrations are held for what they mean or represent, and also for what they do. To this end, I propose an ethnographic consideration of the different forms of interaction between devotees and saints, the role played by the festeiro (celebration organizer), and the objects and performative effects of the festival. Focusing on the festival of the Monte Castelo community and from reports and conversations with some festeiros and devotees, from direct observation and participant, I will analyze what the festival means, represents, evidences and does, thinking about it in the most articulated and least dichotomized way possible.