Encounter, mixture, and syncretism from the perspective of the Afro-Brazilian religion Terecô

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article seeks to ethnographically reflect on the entanglements between different religious practices through the perspective of Terecô, an Afro-Brazilian religion eminently practiced in the city of Codó, state of Maranhão, Northeastern Brazil. Specifically, it investigates the viradas (rhythm turns) that highlight the relationship between Terecô and Tambor de Mina (another Afro-Brazilian religion), to better understand the terms of these entanglements that challenge dominant trends in Brazilian Social Sciences since the nineteenth century. Terecô's incorporation of certain elements of Tambor de Mina is carried out in such a way that the relationship between the religions is established by maintaining the differences, in a dynamic that sheds light onto the notions of encounter, mixture, and syncretism. Thus, I propose an investigation of the idea of virada as mobilized by Terecô's practitioners so as to reposition the classic debate on syncretism and the entanglements between different religious practices.