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An Oriental Encounter: Interculturality, Awe, and Equivocal Compatibility at the Egyptian Coptic Mission of Santa Cruz de la Sierra

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 September 2022

Jean-Philippe Belleau
Jean-Philippe Belleau*
Affiliation:
University of Massachusetts at Boston
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Abstract

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An ethnic church from the Middle East without a missionary tradition has grown in a decade to several hundred parishioners in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia. Using anthropology and ethnographic methods, this article argues that interculturality, even if marked by subjectivity, equivocations, culturalism, and ephemerality, can also be characterized by the seduction of symbols, mutual appropriation, and inclusion. I will give particular attention to the role of assigned beauty and awe in the constitution of meaning and show that shared relational intelligence and the emotional security provided by the priests allow for semiotic distortions to be overcome.

Resumo

Resumo

Una iglesia étnica del Oriente Medio, sin tradición misionera, ha crecido en la última década hasta varios cientos de feligreses en Santa Cruz de la Sierra, en Bolivia. Usando métodos antropológicos y etnográficos, este artículo aborda la conversión y el proselitismo como un encuentro intercultural y muestra que la interculturalidad, si está marcada por la subjetividad, equívocos, culturalismo y efimeralidad, también representa un fenómeno caracterizado por la seducción de los símbolos, la apropiación mutua y la inclusión. Damos atención especial al papel de la belleza asignada y del estupor en la constitución del significado, y mostramos que la compartida inteligencia relacional y seguridad emocional proporcionada por los sacerdotes permiten de superar las distorsiones semióticos.

Type
Research Article
Information
Latin American Research Review , Volume 50 , Issue 1 , 2015 , pp. 54 - 75
Copyright
Copyright © 2015 by the Latin American Studies Association

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