‘Gestures that do’: Spiritist manifestations and the technologies of religious subjectivation and affect
Romberg R (2017)
Publication Language: English
Publication Type: Journal article, Original article
Publication year: 2017
Journal
Book Volume: 22
Pages Range: 385-405
Journal Issue: 4
Abstract
This article explores theoretically and ethnographically how gestures ‘do’ within Spiritist religious practices. According to the emic Spiritist notion of ‘manifestations’, certain gestures can bridge between material and spiritual realms and the various dimensions of the self. Embodying the moral economy and dispositions of Spiritism, such gestures are thereby investigated as affective and practical technologies for constituting the religious subject within Spiritism without passing by belief and cognition. Based on close ethnographic accounts and visual documentation of the work of Puerto Rican healers, the author traces the performative illocutionary power of gestures during cleansing, divination, healing and possession rituals. Finally, she proposes ‘inter-gesturality’ as a way to address the power relations behind gestural ‘quotations’ and to trace the embodied interrelationships that have shaped in the past and are shaping in the present the religious significance of gestures, the emotions they elicit, the religious subjectification processes they constitute and the spiritual healing they can promote.
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Israel (IL)How to cite
APA:
Romberg, R. (2017). ‘Gestures that do’: Spiritist manifestations and the technologies of religious subjectivation and affect. Journal of Material Culture, 22(4), 385-405. https://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1359183517725548
MLA:
Romberg, Raquel. "‘Gestures that do’: Spiritist manifestations and the technologies of religious subjectivation and affect." Journal of Material Culture 22.4 (2017): 385-405.
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