POPULAR RELIGIONS AND CULTURAL IDENTITY IN THE NORTH GRANDE OF CHILE

Abstract

The symbolic relationships between catholics and pentecostals is the key issue of this article. Father and Mother are important figures in daily life. The presence of Mother (and the absence of Father) for catholics, and the certainty of having a father for pentecostals creates a psycho-social and cultural dynamics worthy of attention. The drama of the Latin American crossbreeding is seen in catholics through a generous and overprotective mother and a missing father, beloved but constantly reproached for. The virgin, the Andean version of Pachamama, represents folk culture. The evangelicals for their part have abjured the mother. The certainty of having the father, just but inflexible - punitive- represents the other source of Latin American crossbreeding, the conqueror’s religion throuhg Jesus. The two are, however, key figures in the cultural and religious imagery of men and women.