Latin America Research Seminar – “Almitas milagrosas” in Bolivia: Rites and Objects of Devotion as Portals of Hope for the People

Presenter: Natalia Chávez Gomes da Silva, PhD Candidate, Deparment of Spanish and Portuguese

Abstract: Five women murdered by different men in Bolivia between 1973 and 2003 have been iconized as popular saints (“almitas”) by the communities near the site of the tragedies: Mama Adela (Yotala, Chuquisaca), La Niña Patricia (La Paz city), Inocencia Flores (Oruro city) , Santa Cholita (San Benito, Cochabamba), and Shirley Quispe (Sipe Sipe, Cochabamba). Devotees go to their memorial sites – tombs, grottoes, and altars- to ask and thank them for miraculous help in difficult personal situations; they ask for health for mysterious, serious or chronic illnesses, they ask for success and protection in migration, they ask for fertility, work, repayment of debts, financial success, judiciary processes, family relations, envy and “mal de ojo”, among other things. This research uses Jill Dolan’s concept “performative utopias” to think about the revolutionary potential of cultural practices of faith that link the material world with a complex spiritual dimension that includes both Catholic values and Andean worldviews. “Performative utopias” address questions about the adaptation or reaction to postcolonial and postmodern social contexts in Bolivia. The observed practices are performances in the sense that they always happen in a public place and that they depend on a material expression of communication between the devotees and a holy figure. These expressions/acts can be: going to the place of the “almita” image(s), praying, lighting colored candles, leaving written letters and engraved metal plates, and inviting cigarettes, alcohol or coca leaves to the “santita”. Both the acting devotees and those who watch the acts end up being part of the devotional event that is perpetuated and maintained over time through ritual (practical) or oral communication of the practices and their motivations.

Bio: Natalia is a Ph.D. candidate in Spanish Literature and Cultural Studies at Georgetown University. She holds a BA in Communication (UPSA University, Bolivia) and an MFA in Creative Writing in Spanish (New York University). Her main area of research interest is the narrative and material forms that shape Latin-American social categories (such as indigenous people, mestizxs, women, among others) in contemporary non-fiction literature and other cultural artifacts such as digital literature, performance, and mixed media. She is currently working on her dissertation titled: “The Gendered Expansion of History: Techniques and Materiality of Womanhood in Bolivian Undefined Expressive Artifacts.”

LARS will meet twice a month, on the second and fourth Wednesdays from 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. (see schedule below). Lunch will be served.

To see the full LARS schedule, please visit: https://clas.georgetown.edu/research/latin-america-research-seminar-lars/