Inimkond: Roger Canals

The next event from the "Inimkond" seminar series will be hosted by Roger Canals (University of Barcelona) who will speak on the subject of "A goddess in motion. The cult of María Lionza today in Venezuela, Barcelona and on Internet."

María Lionza is a figure very well-known to the population of Venezuela. Described and represented in many different and apparently contradictory ways (as Indian, white, mixed race or black, good or evil, seductress or virgin), she is the main figure of an important cult of possession. Today, this cult is experiencing some crucial transformations: on the one hand, it is increasingly practised out of the venezuelan borders. On the other hand, within Venezuela, it becomes more and more marginalized despite the attempts of many believers for its political and cultural recognition both at a local and global level.

The case of the cult of María Lionza represents a privileged ethnographic example to reflect on the nature of contemporary religious processes. It shows the necessity to take into account human mobility, material culture and the raise new technologies when studying these processes.