Syncretism and Cultural Interchange
African ancestry was reworked within Bahian religious institutions and the lay confraternities end up serving this process of cultural intercourse. The belief system has absorbed the values of the dominant culture in a functional and creative way so that, in the name of life, complex processes of syncretism and cultural appropriation take place. One example is the descent of Our Lady herself to the confraternity every seven years to direct the celebrations in person through the Attorney-General and celebrate among the living the relativity of death. Other examples are found in the symbols of clothing and food, where there is constant reference to the links between this world (Aiyê) and the other (Orun).
Read more about this topic: Order Of Our Lady Of The Good Death
Famous quotes containing the words cultural and/or interchange:
“Quite apart from any conscious program, the great cultural historians have always been historical morphologists: seekers after the forms of life, thought, custom, knowledge, art.”
—Johan Huizinga (1872–1945)
“The press and politicians. A delicate relationship. Too close, and danger ensues. Too far apart and democracy itself cannot function without the essential exchange of information. Creative leaks, a discreet lunch, interchange in the Lobby, the art of the unattributable telephone call, late at night.”
—Howard Brenton (b. 1942)