Deterritorialized bodies: new territory-body relationships in Umbanda liturgy
Maurício Ferreira Santana, Geraldo Pieroni
Intercom Revista Brasileira de Ciências da Comunicação January 1, 2023 DOI: 10.1590/1809-58442023129en (opens in new tab) via OpenAlex
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractWhen sacred territory is inseparable from the body, religious experience requires connecting bodies with their center of the world. The COVID-19 pandemic of 2020-21 made liturgical practice impossible for Umbanda practitioners, deterritorializing bodies from their sacred space. Disembedded bodies, as a form of identity resistance, exercise their liturgy online even with fragmentation of the egregore composed of spiritual entities, mediums, and consultants. The object of discussion is the online liturgies (giras) of the Adérito Simões channel on YouTube, broadcast between 2020 and 2021.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Umbanda practitioners participating in online liturgies on the Adérito Simões YouTube channel |
| Keywords | Liturgy Deterritorialization Context archaeology Body of christ Sociology |
| Key finding | Argues that the deterritorialization of bodies from sacred space during the pandemic fragments the egregore but that online liturgies function as a form of identity resistance for Umbanda practitioners. |
Abstract
Abstract Based on the assumption that the sacred territory is inseparable from the body, that is, for the religious experience to reach the epiphany/hierophany, it is necessary to connect bodies with their center of the world (ELIADE, 2019), we seek to problematize the context of the deterritorialization of bodies from their sacred space, in the face of a crisis that makes liturgical practice impossible - in the case discussed, the COVID-19 pandemic of the 2020-21 biennium and its impacts on the religious practice of Umbanda practitioners. We launched some questions about how these disembedded bodies (GIDDENS, 1991), as a form of identity resistance, exercise their liturgy in an online environment, even with the fragmentation of the egregore composed of spiritual entities, mediums, and consultants. The object chosen to discuss the topic is the online liturgies (giras) of the Adérito Simões channel on the YouTube platform, broadcast between 2020 and 2021.