Celebrations in Honor of the Virgin of Río Blanco: Rite and Spectacle

Abstract

Official religion promotes the pilgrimage to the town of Río Blanco, in the department of Palpalá, province of Jujuy, Argentina, where devotion is paid to the Virgin of the same name. This pilgrimage takes place every year on the four Sundays of October and brings together people from different parts of the province.

Although many people participate in the pilgrimage to Río Blanco as an expression of religious devotion, for other attendees the celebration constitutes a social gathering linked to spectacle and secular entertainment. This latter practice is informally encouraged by the Church as a means of attraction in order to maintain the celebration’s relevance.

The theoretical and methodological framework follows Foucauldian lines. This study proceeds through contrast and comparison with other instances, seeking to identify ruptures from a constructive standpoint. This standpoint finds its limit in the emergence of contradiction. The analysis begins with seven interviews conducted with pilgrims and with people who participate in the social spectacle. These discourses make it possible to trace the ramifications that different statements generate around the same topic. To this end, the field of emergence, delimitation, and specificity of these statements are taken into account.

In conclusion, the festivity of the Virgin constructs a semiotic boundary constituted by profane activities. The boundary that separates the sacred from profane activities allows for the legitimation of all cultural spaces, but, above all, it generates the reproduction and strengthening of the religious core, which remains immovable precisely because of the presence of these other spheres.