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Judith Butler and the Pomba-Gira

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Queer in the Tropics

Part of the book series: SpringerBriefs in Sociology ((BRIEFSSOCY))

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Abstract

This Chapter examines the pressure that conservative sectors in Brazil continue to exercise against progress made in the fields of gender and sexuality. It also comments on the violence of these groups’ protests and rallies. Based on research experiences, the article calls the opposition between religion and alternative forms of sexuality and gender into check. Considering Judith Butler’s theories, the work examines possible openings, as well as the possibilities of mediation, and the limits of thinking in accordance with fixed categories. It also signals that the best path for considering these questions may be by drawing closer to the multiplicity of agents and their unprecedented forms of agencies, as well as the creativity of their poetics when associated with religion. Furthermore, the work defends the necessity of bending agency, including bending Butler’s own theories.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Here, I use Otávio Velho’s definition of religion as a form of knowledge (Velho 2010). In my personal correspondence with Velho, he also alerted me to the dangers of reducing everything to pre-defined categories.

  2. 2.

    For a further discussion of homosexuality, gender, and cure in pastoral perspectives, see Natividade (2006).

  3. 3.

    A Babalorixá or “father-of-a-saint” is the central authority figure within a terreiro, responsible for leading both religious events and other activities.

  4. 4.

    This story circulated in a variety of newspapers and blogs. The sentence cited above appeared in the Curta mais site: http://www.curtamais.com.br/goiania/exclusivo-pastor-kleber-lucas-rompe-o-silencio-e-fala-pela-primeira-vez-sobre-polemica-visita-a-terreiro-de-candomble. I learned about the story from Otávio Velho.

  5. 5.

    Marcelo Niel, a psychiatrist and Candomblé practitioner in a Abassá de Babá Okê, a terreiro of the Angola lineage, reminded me of the story of Giselle Cossard Binon, better known as Ominarewa. Binon, of French origin, came to Brazil and visited the saint’s house maintained by Joãozinho da Goméia. While there, she began to feel dizzy and wound up fainting, a phenomenon known in Candomblé as “receiving the saint” (“bolar no santo”). That was the beginning of her life in Candomblé. Eventually, she became a respected “mother-of-a-saint” in the Ile Axé Atara Magba saint’s house located in Rio de Janeiro’s Santa Cruz neighborhood. Her story is examined in further detail in Clarice Peixoto’s documentary (Peixoto 2009).

  6. 6.

    Ritual percussionists in Candomblé and other Afro-Brazilian religions (T.N.)

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Preventive Medicine, Federal University of Sao Paulo (Unifesp), São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

    Pedro Paulo Gomes Pereira

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  1. Pedro Paulo Gomes Pereira
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Pereira, P.P.G. (2019). Judith Butler and the Pomba-Gira. In: Queer in the Tropics. SpringerBriefs in Sociology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-15074-7_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-15074-7_6

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

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