“Aqui eu encontro minha felicidade”: devoção e conversão na festa de São Pedro de Barra do Camaratuba e Aldeia Cumaru

Abstract

The present ethnographic work was carried out in the community of Barra do Camaratuba district of Mataraca and in the village Cumaru - Baia da Traição, both located in the state of Paraíba. The objective was to research and analyze the ritual of the solemnities of the Saint Peter that takes place between the 20 and 29 of June. The analysis of this ritual was based on the religious experience of Pedro José, popularly known by Pedro de Fogo, such a cut was indispensable for the research, since Pedro de Fogo's life history was intrinsically connected to the ritual formation of procession between the two communities. But also, with the description of several personages, coming from different social and religious positions. The conversion of Pedro de Fogo to another religious denomination raised new questions, leading to an understanding of how the continuity of the ritual in the two communities occurred, especially with regard to the processions of receiving and returning the image of St. Peter, as well as who was the current responsibility for it. To reach the goal I collected data through participant observation, describing the whole ritual through oral narratives and film recording. The work begins with the presentation of the sense of celebration and the perception of sociabilities, so that through this can understand the connection between the communities mentioned. Next I present Barra do Camaratuba and Aldeia Cumaru in an effort to configure their religious field and its changes, focusing on the feast of Saint Peter and the life story of Pedro José (Pedro de Fogo). At the end I present the script of the ethnographic film and expose its creation process and the difficulties encountered in the field of a native anthropologist. Finally, the work presents a dynamic manifested by the visions of tradition, in an environment defined by religious oppositions.