El drama evangelizador como rito de paso: la ritualidad estructural en el Nacimiento de San Juan y en La conquista de Jerusalén

Abstract

This paper studies the process of ritual revaluation of missionary dramas in the sixteenth century Mexico through the formal analysis of its stage representation. Dramatizations are related to the model of rites of passage, based on the structural similarities between indigenous rituals and Christian festivities in the New World. We show that the change of the performativity value of the missionary dramas was caused by its performing within the ritual structure. That representation conditions encouraged participants to embody both dramatic roles and ritual functions during the ceremonies which interrelated the dramatic experience with the reality of living ritual. The proposed scheme is applied on two plays performed in Tlaxcala in 1538: Nacimiento de San Juan and La conquista de Jerusalén.