Andino-Catholic Rituals in Automobile Bolivia: Bendiciones, Ch’allas and K’oas Performed by Drivers from Chuquisaca

In the article, I explore different motorcar blessing rituals undertaken by drivers from the Bolivian region of Chuquisaca, while centering primary my description on the side of the doing of the rituals and only linking them on a second stage to individual meaning and theological reflections. In tha...

Full description

Saved in:  
Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of Latin American religions
Main Author: Moser, Manuel (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Check availability: HBZ Gateway
Journals Online & Print:
Drawer...
Fernleihe:Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste
Published: Springer International Publishing 2021
In: International journal of Latin American religions
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Chuquisaca / Motor vehicle / Blessing / Catholicism / Folk religion / Syncretism
RelBib Classification:AD Sociology of religion; religious policy
AG Religious life; material religion
AX Inter-religious relations
BR Ancient religions of the Americas
KBR Latin America
KDB Roman Catholic Church
NCB Personal ethics
RC Liturgy
Further subjects:B Ethnography
B Etnografia
B Bolívia
B Automovilidad
B Automobility
B Sincretismo
B Ritual
B Automobilidade
B Bolivia
B Syncretism
B Etnografía
Online Access: Volltext (kostenfrei)
Description
Summary:In the article, I explore different motorcar blessing rituals undertaken by drivers from the Bolivian region of Chuquisaca, while centering primary my description on the side of the doing of the rituals and only linking them on a second stage to individual meaning and theological reflections. In that way, I show that the interviewed drivers differentiate the performed rituals first of all by their components (and not by their addressees) and consider all three of them as necessary parts of Catholic faith regardless of the positioning of the clerics. The interviewed drivers attribute effects of safe driving and economic successes to the rituals, but also experience them as partly linked to accidents and incidents and by consequence increase in the aftermath of misfortunes their ritual offerings. Therefore, I conclude that drivers of automobile Bolivia through the performed rituals are reproducing a social system of reciprocity that goes beyond human counterparts and that religious synthesis in their reflections is to be understood as a reaction from below (rather than a cause) to anti-syncretistic discourses amid religious elites.
ResumenEn el presente artículo se exploran rituales que choferes de la región boliviana de Chuquisaca emprenden para bendecir sus coches motorizados. Enmarcando primero el enfoque en los procesos del hacer de los diferentes rituales, estos solo se vincularán en un segundo momento a cuestiones de significado personal y reflexiones teológicas. De tal manera se demuestra que los choferes entrevistados diferencian los rituales celebrados en primera instancia por sus componentes (y no por sus destinatarios) y consideran a los tres rituales como partes necesarias de la fe católica, sin preocuparse por el posicionamiento de los clérigos. Los choferes entrevistados atribuyen tanto efectos de conducción segura como éxitos económicos a los rituales, pero también los experimentan como vinculados en parte a accidentes e incidentes y, por consiguiente, aumentan sus ofrendas después de haber sufrido infortunios. Por lo tanto, concluyo que los choferes a través de los rituales realizados están reproduciendo un sistema social de reciprocidad que va más allá de contrapartes únicamente humanas, y que la síntesis religiosa en sus reflexiones debe entenderse como una reacción desde abajo (en lugar de una causa) a discursos anti-sincretistas mantenidos por élites religiosas.
ISSN:2509-9965
Contains:Enthalten in: International journal of Latin American religions
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1007/s41603-021-00145-3