The Untold Sacrifice: The Monotony and Incompleteness of Self-Sacrifice in Northeast Brazil

Mayblin, Maya

doi:10.1080/00141844.2013.821513

Cited by 19 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…For example, it is commonly emphasized that St. Joseph worked as a carpenter, or that Mary and Joseph were "simple people" (povo simples) akin to any rural fieldworker. When asked about particular saints, devotees tend to draw attention to the ways in which they suffered (Mayblin 2010). A saint's skin will have burnt under the same hot sun; their feet will have blistered walking the same rough ground; the saint will have bled when speared, felt hunger, endured pain.…”

Section: A Catholic Imperative For Likenessmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The appeal of the ordinary but saintly person is deeply embedded in the rural Catholic culture of the Brazilian Northeast (Mayblin 2012(Mayblin , 2013a(Mayblin , 2013b. 3 In priestly sermons and during conversations about saints, the emphasis is invariably on the quotidian aspects of saintly lives.…”

Section: A Catholic Imperative For Likenessmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although the sociology of gender in Catholic communities has also been described (Christian 1972;Drogus 1997;Flinn 2010;Martin 2009;Mayblin 2010), scholars of Catholicism have been more ready to examine the gendered nature of divinity itself (Børreson 2010(Børreson , 2001Bynum 1982;Daly 1973;Hammington 1995;Hebblethwaite 1993;Ruether 1993). I suggest this has something to do with the fact that for Catholics, gender constitutes a more self-consciously elaborated modality for thinking about sanctity.…”

mentioning

confidence: 97%

“…In Catholicism, God's character changed a good deal with postconciliar theology. Whereas previously God was more likely to be imagined as a distant and punishing figure, today he is likely to be defined as infinite agape-a forgiving, loving father/mother type (Mayblin 2012).…”

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Mayblin¹

2014

Current Anthropology

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Section: A Catholic Imperative For Likenessmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: A Catholic Imperative For Likenessmentioning

confidence: 99%

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confidence: 97%

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2014

Current Anthropology

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“…As one cycle blends into another – the life‐course with the agricultural seasons, and the productivity of the land with longer‐term climactic phases – liquids act as substitutes for the ultimate sacrifice in the ongoing sacrifice of ordinary self‐giving (cf. Mayblin forthcoming). Anthropologists writing about sacrifice have identified substitution as a key feature of sacrificial rituals in different cultures (Evans‐Pritchard ; Hubert & Mauss 1964 [1898]).…”

Section: Blood Substitutes and Substitutional Forms Of Sacrificementioning

confidence: 99%

The way blood flows: the sacrificial value of intravenous drip use in Northeast Brazil

Mayblin

2013

Royal Anthropological Inst

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The Way Blood Flows: the Sacrificial Value of Intravenous Drip Use in Northeast Brazil

Mayblin¹

2013

Blood Will Out

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This paper examines a preference among rural Catholics in Northeast Brazil to treat generalized forms of malaise with isotonic solution administered intravenously, even where such treatment goes against biomedical advice. It situates this practice within a nexus of local ideas about the value of blood and sacrifice, which emerge out of socio-historical and environmental factors particular to the region. In this context blood is merely one in a sequence of substances linked to the regenerative martyrdom of Jesus, to the agricultural cycle, and to the economic struggle for existence in a drought-affected region. The materialization of blood, sweat, and tears on the surface of the body indexes social relationships built on sacrifice. The appearance of such substances, often between categories of close kin, are ideally characterized by the loss or flow of substance in a single direction. In such contexts replenishing the blood with isotonics maintains a uni-directional flow, preserving the value of sacrifice.My mouth is dried up like baked clay ... you have brought me down to the dust of death.Psalm 22:16It was clinic day at the health post in the village of Santa Lucia; it happened every fifteen days. The brick building designated as the health post consisted of a single, rectangular room. Towards one end a faded cotton curtain separated the waiting area from the visiting doctor, Dr Renato, 1 who sat behind a laminate table. In a corner of this consultation area was a cupboard holding two cardboard boxes: one containing plasters, bandages, and antibacterial solutions; the other containing intravenous tubes, hypodermic needles, and packets of soro -sterile isotonic fluid. The clinic had barely begun but already the waiting area was full with patients. There were two assistants working with Dr Renato that morning: Rita, the nurse, and Lia, a general assistantcum-receptionist. Both women lived in the village, and between them and Dida, the health post cleaner, the clinic was kept clean and in good working order. It was Dida who held the keys to the building and she who, every fifteen days, would leave home early in the morning to unlock the door and prepare the space for the doctor's arrival. During fieldwork I was a regular attendee at the village clinic. Conversing with people in the waiting room was a good way to pass the hours. On this particular occasion I was greeted, somewhat unusually, by the sight of Lia, sitting at the receptionist's desk, and being hooked up to an isotonic drip. Rita, the nurse, was adjusting bs_bs_banner

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The Untold Sacrifice: The Monotony and Incompleteness of Self-Sacrifice in Northeast Brazil

Cited by 19 publications

References 14 publications

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The way blood flows: the sacrificial value of intravenous drip use in Northeast Brazil

The Way Blood Flows: the Sacrificial Value of Intravenous Drip Use in Northeast Brazil

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