Save Barbara! Paths to a popular festival in the city of Bahia
Popular religious festival; Saint Barbara; Iansã; Salvador, Brazil.
This thesis investigated the trajectory of the Saint Barbara festival, in Salvador, Brazil, seeking to understand the phases that the festival went through and which resulted in the popular religious festival that is known today, as well as the factors responsible for its continuity. To this end, the work used bibliographic review, documentary research (journals and official documents) and ethnography, which led to the study of the festival divided into three periods: invisibility, inconstancy and ascension. The analysis also extended to two spaces in the Bahian capital that help to keep devotion to the virgin martyr alive and concluded with some considerations about the future of the festival in question. In addition to seeking to fill the gap of a detailed research on the Saint Barbara festival, the importance of this thesis is to contribute to a greater reflection around the other celebrations that make up the calendar of popular festivals in Bahia, highlighting the various aspects involved in this type of celebration.