Ante lo inexplicable: desafíos de comunicación y comprensión en el análisis antropológico del ritual

Sergio González Varela

doi:10.53897/RevESCC.2024.2.01

Authors

Sergio González Varela Universidad de Varsovia, Varsovia, Polonia https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9124-3782

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.53897/RevESCC.2024.2.01

Keywords:

anthropology, capoeira, sensitive experience, inexplicable, ritual

Abstract

The aim of this article is to analyze the issue of the inexplicable in the anthropological analysis of ritual. Communication problems exist with the symbolic elements and knowledge transmitted to the participants within the ritual context. Because the experience in this context is intense and outside the realm of everyday life, the article's central argument states that the transmission of ritual knowledge often occurs immediately as a non-verbal sensory experience, where participants interact with non-human entities bestowed with agency, affecting the performative dynamics. To support this argument, an ethnographic description of the Afro-Brazilian ritual of capoeira is made, where there are limits in the transmission of knowledge and where the power of leaders is defined as a discovery of an inexplicable, mysterious and secret force, which affects their lives and their social relationships. Finally, the text describes the way in which ritual practices such as capoeira and its encounter with the inexplicable affect the lives of participants over time.

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Author Biography

Sergio González Varela, Universidad de Varsovia, Varsovia, Polonia

Mexican. D. in Anthropology from the University of London. Associate Professor, Institute of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology, University of Warsaw, Poland. Research interests: Anthropology of ritual, performance and religion. Specialist in Afro-Brazilian cultures, particularly capoeira in Brazil. E-mail: s.gonzalez-varela@uw.edu.pl. ORCID: 0000-0002-9124-3782.

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