The double power of religious image: a virgin ecuadoran in Manhattan

Authors

  • Francesco Alberto Romizi Universidade Estadual de Londrina

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5433/2237-9126.2016v10n18p139

Keywords:

Image, Symbol, Religion.

Abstract

Since 2004, a small group of Ecuadorians gathers regularly in Saint Veronica, a church in West Village, Manhattan. The main reason is the presence of a carved image of the most worshipped Virgin Mary in the north of Ecuador. This texts aims to analise the nature of this image’s “enchantment” over her devotees, attracting them from distant neighborhoods and other cities around New York’s metropolitan area. In particular, we will try to show how this religious image’s symbolic power derives from her abilities: to represent a mythical story and the cultural categories it brings about; to re-present – in other words, to make present again – the mythical entity of her devotees’ stories. An image invested of these two characteristics can be used, for those who revere her, to produce meaning.

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Author Biography

Francesco Alberto Romizi, Universidade Estadual de Londrina

PhD in Anthropology at Universitat Rovira i Virgili (Spain). Scholarship Postdoctoral PNPD / CAPES - PPGSOC / UEL.

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Published

2016-04-28

How to Cite

Romizi, F. A. (2016). The double power of religious image: a virgin ecuadoran in Manhattan. Domínios Da Imagem, 10(18), 139–158. https://doi.org/10.5433/2237-9126.2016v10n18p139