A Bibliographic Itinerary of a Festival: The Case of the ‘Bugiada and Mouriscada’ of Sobrado, Portugal*
2023; Routledge; Volume: 134; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1080/0015587x.2023.2252666
ISSN1469-8315
Autores Tópico(s)Religious Tourism and Spaces
ResumoAbstractThis article presents a Portuguese Midsummer festival—the ‘Bugiada and Mouriscada’ of Sobrado, also known as São João de Sobrado (Saint John of Sobrado)—examining the event through the scholarly literature. By way of a bibliographic review that, for the first time, brings together the dispersed publications written about this festival, it will be possible to identify different paradigms of ethnological research. With a particular focus on the twentieth century, this mapping will be conducted through the eyes of both foreign and Portuguese scholars who have written about this cultural manifestation. Notes* This is an adapted translation of an article published in ANTROPOlógicas 18 (2022). The original version, in Portuguese, is available online: https://revistas.rcaap.pt/antropologicas/article/view/217301 This work is part of the research project ‘FESTIVITY, Cultural Heritage and Community Sustainability. Research and Communication in the case of Bugiada and Mouriscada of Sobrado’, carried out at the University of Minho (Portugal) and funded by the FCT (Foundation for Science and Technology; grant PTDC/COM-CSS/31975/2017), as well as by other Portuguese national funds (UIDB/00736/2020, core funding; UIDP/00736/2020, programme funding).2 For a detailed description of the festival day and its various performative and symbolic components, see Pereira (Citation1982), Pinto (Citation1983; Citation2000), and Pinto et al. (Citation2016).3 As they are outside the scope of this article, neither the references found in print sources such as national and regional newspapers and other periodicals nor the documentation found in archives (reports, fieldnotes, photographs) will be considered. The study and analysis of these documentary records are yet to be done.4 Leite de Vasconcelos was a renowned Portuguese philologist, archaeologist, and ethnographer. He graduated in Natural Sciences and Medicine, and soon demonstrated a particular interest in popular traditions. In 1901 he received his PhD in Philology from the University of Paris. He was the founder of the Portuguese Ethnographic Museum (today the National Archaeology Museum) and despite his many interests, he dedicated himself to dialectological studies.5 The author talks about the Valongo Bugiadas. It should be noted, however, that Francisco Seara had already mentioned the Valongo Bugiada of the Saint Anthony festivities (cf. Seara Citation1863; Citation1896, 20).6 José Alberto Sardinha, referring to a report by Father Reis, argues that the origin of these dances lies in Corpus Christi processions, which spread to other dates in the calendar and sprang up during the Saint Anthony festivities in Valongo, and later those in honour of Saint Mammes. He therefore argues that ‘the Sobrado mourisca and bugiada did not originate from any Corpus Christi procession in that area, rather, from imitations of the bugiada dances from the town of Valongo, having directly come from the Corpus Christi processions held there previously’ (Sardinha Citation2012, 60–62).7 This is the time mentioned by Gallop (1961, 171) but his travelling companion, Violet Alford, reports that it was 5:00 pm (Alford Citation1933, 227).8 From the previous report, we learn that Alford was present at the Braga festival ‘On Midsummer morning, 1932’ (Alford Citation1933, 221).9 For a timely review of Alford’s work and influences—from Cecil Sharp (1859–1924) to James Frazer (1854–1941)—as well as her broader institutional and intellectual background, namely the British folklore societies and scholarship (with disciplinary interplays between folklore, anthropology, archaeology, and changing conceptions of folklore), see Paul Cowdell’s (Citation2021) recent article.10 This lack of knowledge was long-lasting. As Pinto noted decades later, the Sobrado festival ‘remains ignored by many scholars on these issues, even in the city of Porto’ (Pinto Citation1983, 60).11 The same one Alford (Citation1933) had already publicized.12 About the concern with survivals and origins, as well as continuity and authenticity, see Cowdell (Citation2021).13 The author certainly came across this information through Gallop’s work, as this is the bibliographic reference she presents in other texts (Kurath Citation1949b, Citation1960) when she talks about Sobrado. The information collected from a secondary source may even explain the inaccuracy of stating that the Velho performs the Afternoon Services.14 Reprinted four years later (Chaves Citation1942b).15 It is not improbable because a similar situation occurred with another folk theatre performance, the Auto da Floripes in the region of Minho, which Gallop observed and photographed by invitation from Luís Chaves (Raposo Citation1998, 204).16 Later, he mentions Sobrado again to say that this mourisca has cavalry (see Chaves Citation1942a, 430). An identical description to that quoted earlier is presented in Chaves (Citation1944, 24; Citation1945, 23).17 Interestingly, the same one he used, years later, in a text that does not mention the festival (Leça Citation1956).18 They are part of the collections of the Portuguese Cinematheque archive, accessible online: http://www.cinemateca.pt/Cinemateca-Digital/Ficha.aspx?obraid=8136&type=Video19 However, some of his fieldnotes on the Sobrado festival (archived in the Torre de Moncorvo Memory Centre) reveal that he was in Sobrado in 1965, 1967, and 1968.20 This work is part of a list later published (Santos Júnior Citation1982, 239).21 As is well known, they had a very close relationship. They worked together and exchanged information. In this text, Veiga de Oliveira even makes a direct reference to his companion: when ‘analysing the “Regiments” of the Corpus Christi procession in several Portuguese locations, Benjamim Pereira notes that, in many of them, mourisco and bugio groups and dances took place, sometimes very similar to those seen today in São João of Sobrado’ (Veiga de Oliveira Citation1995, 282).22 In a later publication, Abelho re-edits Rangel’s Citation1963 text ‘Dança dos Bugios e Mourisqueiros’ (Rangel Citation1970). Six photographs of the Sobrado festival appear at the end of the book, but they are not dated, nor the photographer identified, so it is unknown whether they were taken by Rangel or Azinhal Abelho. What is certain is that none of them coincides with those published in the 1963 Praça Nova article.23 These costumes are still in the museum.24 These and other considerations were also presented in Portuguese, in an exhibition brochure (Pereira Citation1986).25 Although he made two brief references to the Sobrado festival around this time (Pinto Citation1981, Citation1985).26 ‘Passion’ is a Sobrado emic concept, expressing the love and sacrifice the locals nourish with regard to the festival. It includes emotions, family, community, memory, identity, and other aspects, the anthropological complexity of which cannot be explored here.27 Although first printed in 1977 (see Pinto Citation1983, 12 and 57), shortly after the Carnation Revolution.28 See, for example, M. C. Araújo (Citation2004), Pinto et al. (Citation2016), Cunha (Citation2019), and E. Araújo and Ribeiro (Citation2021).29 The cases, for example, of Gonçalves (Citation1985, Citation1996), Alge (Citation2006, Citation2007), Krom (Citation2012), Dewulf (Citation2015), Matellán (Citation2015), Ribeiro (Citation2018), and Reboredo (Citation2019). It should be noted that, as is the case for this article, some of these works were produced as part of the FESTIVITY research project and were written by members of its team. Those works are available online: https://www.festivity.pt/publicacoes-330 However, extended stays in the field are scarce, even for work carried out during the twenty-first century. For example, Barbara Alge spent only two days in Sobrado: ‘The study is based on field research carried out by the author on 29 November 2004 and 24 June 2005, in Sobrado’ (Alge Citation2007, 73). Xosé Reboredo also reports a passing visit: ‘I went to Sobrado on 24 June 2014 to get a live view of it, though it was only a fleeting visit’ (Reboredo Citation2019, 362) and ‘When I arrived in Sobrado on 24-06-2014, it was 12 noon and the process was starting’ (Reboredo Citation2019, 364).31 The research project FESTIVITY took a step in that direction. I lived in Valongo/Sobrado between 2019 and 2021, intermittently. Unfortunately, fieldwork was deeply affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.32 For an overview of the research project goals and outputs, visit online: https://www.festivity.ptAdditional informationNotes on contributorsCarmo Daun e LorenaCarmo Daun e Lorena holds a BA in Sociology (2003) from the NOVA University of Lisbon, Portugal, an MA in Social and Cultural Anthropology (2009) and a PhD in Anthropology (2018) from the University of Lisbon. For her doctoral thesis ‘Class, Memory and Identity in Cape Verde: An Ethnography of the Carnival of São Vicente’, she conducted archival research and ethnographic fieldwork in the archipelago. Between 2019 and 2021, she was a researcher at CECS—Communication and Society Research Centre (University of Minho, Portugal) on the project FESTIVITY. Currently she is a researcher at CRIA—Centre for Research in Anthropology (NOVA University of Lisbon). Her methodological approach combines historical and ethnographic research (in Portugal and Cape Verde) and her research interests include carnival and other festivities, social memory, identity, and cultural heritage.
Referência(s)