Dos Joaquimitas, Franciscanos e Aragoneses aos Açorianos: a hospitalidade na teia da comensalidade na festa do Divino Espírito Santo em Alcântara (MA) e Distrito de Criúva (Caxias do Sul- RS)

Abstract

The research titled Dos joaquimitas, Franciscan and Aragonese to the Azoreans: The Hospitality in the web of Commensality in the Feast of the Divine Holy Spirit in Alcântara (MA) and District of Criúva (Caxias do Sul-RS), has as its object the practices of Commensality in the celebrations of the Divine Holy Spirit in Alcântara-MA and in the District of Criúva, Caxias do Sul-RS, in their interconnections with Hospitality. The objective is to establish relations of the practices of Commensality and the interconnections with Hospitality, in the Festivities of Divino Espírito Santo as celebrated in Alcântara and District of Criúva as an expression of cultural differences (South / Northeast), culturally distinct, but approximated by the party. It answers the questions of research: how does Hospitality in the rituals of the feasts of Divine Holy Spirit? Do the feasts of the North and the South present substantial differences in their rituals? The methodological strategy, of a qualitative nature, followed the presuppositions of the participant observation, involving besides the observation in festive spaces like houses of the faithful, more properly; open interviews with people from the community involved, visitors and religious managers; photographic records and recordings of processions, masses, banquets and dinners. For data treatment, the Max QDA software was used. For the understanding of the Holy Trinity, especially in the dimension of popular Catholicism, the historical rescue reported to the Low Middle Ages and the exaltation of the Holy Spirit by Joachim De Fiore, a Cistercian abbot, argued that the Holy Spirit's time would be of equity and social justice. The ideas of the monk influenced, among others, the queen Isabel de Aragão, that starts to encourage the exaltation and the festivities in homage to the Divine. In later times, devotion will be especially strong in the Azores, from where it arrives in Brazil at the hands of the Azorean immigrants. The historical digression prioritized the understanding of Hospitality, imbricated in the ways of celebrating Divino Espirito Santo, currently celebrated in many Brazilian states, but with different contours in each region. In Alcântara-MA, hybridizing to indigenous, African and European traditions, the Festival reports the quilombola culture expressed especially in the food and beverages served, in a rich and gratuitous way, to all who make themselves present. The festivities are centered on the tutelage of the Caixeiras do Divino, with strong quilombola marks. In Caxias do Sul-RS, the District of Criúva has its own history, not necessarily associated with that of the municipal headquarters, where Portuguese traditions and tropean heritages are mixed, later hybridized with the presence of other European ethnicities. The Feast is led by couples in the community, in direct relationship with the Catholic Church. In both cases, the traditions associated with the festival are anchored in the family, which passes them between generations. In theoretical terms, research associates festivity with Hospitality and Commensality. As a result, it is pointed out that the feasts resemble the emphasis on Commensality, meaning a large distribution of food in the name of the Holy Spirit, in the gathering and receiving of devotees and in recognizing them as the legitimate Other who places in the Holy Spirit faith and gratitude. Both settle in the Catholic religion, remaining faithful to the predicates of popular Catholicism to the traditions of local cultures. In Alcântara, with a per capita income three times lower than that of Criúva, the distribution of food is free and pervades almost the entire period of Festa. Already in the southern party, the offer of food gratuitous occurs only during the praises; in the other days there is sale of tickets for the dinners and lunches, to guarantee the financing of the Festa. The constituent characters of the legacy, like the Azores, are basically the same, varying the roles they play in the festivities. They denoted Hospitality with the practices of Commensality, although Hospitality in the sense of alterity is established in the period of Pentecost and then, the social conflicts return to rule.