Call For Papers REC 65 (Jan-Jun 2025)

Colombia Celebrates: from festivities and rituals to tributes and commemorations

Thematic volume edited by Shems KASMI and Carlos TOUS

 

In addition to the celebration or valorisation they entail, festivities and rituals are presented as a mirror of the daily life of a society (Babcock, Isambert, Myerhoff and Ruby, Turner). In this sense, festivity, ritual and ceremony constitute both a story that a human group elaborates and a story that the group tells itself (Piette). The reflection of this mirror thus unleashes a process of reflection on this daily life, which can be questioned, deformed, magnified, sublimated, criticised or refuted. Ritual then becomes an ‘intervalary framework’ in this daily life, insofar as it involves a double process: the ‘decontextualisation of a message, of a set of everyday social interactions, and the recontextualisation of this same message and of these same social interactions according to the logic of the ritual framework’ (Piette). The papers in this volume of REC (articles of up to 8000 words or interviews of up to 4000 words) will explore the different processes and modes of celebration that have marked and continue to mark daily life in Colombian societies, and will be articulated around the following two axes:

 

I-Festivities and rituals: from joy and liberation to vindication and critique

Despite the injustice and violence that have shaped daily life in Colombia for several decades, civil society and institutions do not cease to celebrate notable episodes of national history, to celebrate the ceremonies that structure the country’s cultural identity, or to honour the memory of emblematic figures of the past. While it is true that regional festivals–pagan or religious–, carnivals, parades, fairs and festivals are some of the moments of communion, liberation or collective joy in Colombia, and that they constitute an indisputable cultural heritage, it is important to address their festive aspect without forgetting the paradox that characterises their organisation and the social relations and representations that they establish. Indeed, although they are considered to be popular festivities, often originating from the underprivileged or marginalised classes (peasants, Afro-Colombian and indigenous populations, etc.), these festivities are often the object of institutional instrumentalisation that perpetuates both the injustice they denounce and the social liberation they claim. It is therefore essential to recontextualise the signified of several major elements of the national festive tradition by rethinking their signifier and their relationship with the country’s current social and political situation.

 

II-Tributes and commemorations: memory and the re-signification of memory

Another face of these celebrations is that of tributes and commemorations. In this area, the study of (auto)biographical writing is of particular interest to us. Moreover, the current political and social context, marked by the peace agreement signed between the Colombian government and the FARC in 2016 and by the murders of social leaders, invites us to study the role of the National Centre for Historical Memory and the memory work carried out by different artists and activists whose works pay tribute to the victims of the armed conflict and to the social leaders who have been assassinated since the signing of the agreements with the FARC. Finally, while it is true that the very recent social unrest (2021) in several cities in the country has unleashed unprecedented hostility on the part of state forces, this violence has not prevented protesters from sabotaging various control mechanisms. In fact, as in several Latin American countries in 2021, numerous statues and monuments commemorating the ‘heroic acts’ of various historical figures from the Conquest and the colonial era have been destroyed during the demonstrations and replaced by counter-monuments that highlight the spirit of struggle and resistance that reigned in the streets, a gesture that contributes to the re-signification of these sites of memory (Nora).

 

The articles may address different periods, fields and methodologies of study, thanks to comparative, interdisciplinary or historical approaches, or specific case studies, in order to enrich the scientific literature on the processes of decontextualisation and recontextualisation involved in celebrating Colombia.

 

Deadline for submission of papers: 15 February 2025

 

Only those articles that best fit the thematic, conceptual and methodological lines of this call will be selected. Likewise, only those articles that rigorously comply with the editorial guidelines of the journal, available in the Guide for authors, will be considered: https://colombianistas.org/ojs/index.php/rec/about/submissions

Bibliography

 

Babcock Barbara, « Reflexivity: Definitions and Discriminations », Semiotica, 30, 1/2, 1980, p. 1-4.

De Molina Consuelo, Vallenatología: orígenes y fundamentos de la música vallenata, Bogotá, Ediciones Tercer Mundo, 1973.

Isambert François-André, Le sens du sacré. Fête et religion populaire, París, Les Éditions de Minuit, 1982.

Martín Miguel Ángel, Del folclor llanero, Villavicencio, Gráficas Juan XXIII, 1978.

Myerhoff Barbara, Ruby Jay, « Introduction », dans Ruby Jay (dir.), A crack in the Mirror. Reflexion Perspectives in Anthropology, Filadelfia, University of Pennsylvania Press, 1982.

Nora Pierre, Les lieux de mémoire, Parìs, Gallimard, 1992.

Ocampo López Javier, El pueblo boyacense y su folclor, Tunja, Corporación de Promoción Cultural de Boyacá, 1977.

Ocampo López Javier, Las fiestas y el folclor en Colombia, Bogotá, Panamericana Editorial, 2006.

Piette Albert, « Fête, spectacle, cérémonie : des jeux de cadres », Hermès, La Revue, vol. 43, nº 3, 2005, p. 39-46.

Quintero Rafael, Cali salsa forever, Cali, Universidad del Valle – Programa Editorial, 2022.

Stevenson Samper Adlai, Barranquilla y el desarrollo histórico de sus músicas, Barranquilla, Libra Libros Proyectos S.A.S, 2017.

Suárez Pineda Luis Francisco, “Celebraciones de la Semana Santa en algunas regiones de Colombia”, Bogotá, Thesaurus, Tomo XX, 1965, p. 481-606.

Turner Victor, From Ritual to Theatre, Nueva York, PAJ Publications, 1982.

Zapata Olivella Manuel, El hombre colombiano, Bogotá, Editorial Antares, 1974.

For editorial guidelines and submission of essays, please consult the journal’s website: https://colombianistas.org/ojs/index.php/rec/about/submissions