TY - JOUR
T1 - Pentecostal exorcism and Afro-Cuban endorcism
T2 - Radical participation' and the proliferation of symmetries
AU - Canton-Delgado, Manuela
AU - Panagiotopoulos, Anastasios
N1 - DL 57/2016/CP1349/CT0008
UIDB/04038/2020
UIDP/04038/2020
PY - 2021
Y1 - 2021
N2 - In this article, we discuss personal moments of our respective ethnographic research on Guatemalan Pentecostalism and Afro-Cuban religiosity. Through our own involvement, we expose the approaches of the two religious forms, the former working by way of exorcism and the latter by way of endorcism. Guatemalan Pentecostal exorcism works by a radical expulsion of the previous non-Pentecostal past to strictly convert the person. Afro-Cuban endorcism, on the other hand, endorses the past, present, and future, as it accepts a simultaneity and multiplicity of 'influences'. No 'demon' is perceived, as in the case of Pentecostalism, no 'idolatry' is detected and, instead of conversion, what occurs is a cumulative incorporation of multiple initiations. Our approach, we argue, as also inspired by theories of 'radical participation' and 'symmetrisation', affords a useful vantage point to engage with fine ethnographic nuances of a proliferation of comparative symmetries in the study of religiosity.
AB - In this article, we discuss personal moments of our respective ethnographic research on Guatemalan Pentecostalism and Afro-Cuban religiosity. Through our own involvement, we expose the approaches of the two religious forms, the former working by way of exorcism and the latter by way of endorcism. Guatemalan Pentecostal exorcism works by a radical expulsion of the previous non-Pentecostal past to strictly convert the person. Afro-Cuban endorcism, on the other hand, endorses the past, present, and future, as it accepts a simultaneity and multiplicity of 'influences'. No 'demon' is perceived, as in the case of Pentecostalism, no 'idolatry' is detected and, instead of conversion, what occurs is a cumulative incorporation of multiple initiations. Our approach, we argue, as also inspired by theories of 'radical participation' and 'symmetrisation', affords a useful vantage point to engage with fine ethnographic nuances of a proliferation of comparative symmetries in the study of religiosity.
KW - Afro-Cuban religion
KW - Conversion
KW - Exorcism
KW - Guatemalan Pentecostalism
KW - Symmetrical ethnography
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85115439214&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - https://www.webofscience.com/wos/woscc/full-record/WOS:000700563000001?AlertId=865cd244-781b-4b6c-9443-5a285761bc17&SID=C1JHtuyxRG6xTSBKk9J
U2 - 10.1177/00377686211043715
DO - 10.1177/00377686211043715
M3 - Article
SN - 0037-7686
VL - 68
SP - 582
EP - 599
JO - Social Compass
JF - Social Compass
IS - 4
ER -