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the Virgin of Guadalupe in New Spain: an inquiry into the social history of Marian devotion
Author(s) -
TAYLOR WILLIAM B.
Publication year - 1987
Publication title -
american ethnologist
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.875
H-Index - 78
eISSN - 1548-1425
pISSN - 0094-0496
DOI - 10.1525/ae.1987.14.1.02a00020
Subject(s) - veneration , colonialism , independence (probability theory) , relation (database) , mediation , colonial rule , symbol (formal) , history , sociology , religious studies , anthropology , ethnology , ancient history , archaeology , philosophy , social science , statistics , linguistics , mathematics , database , computer science
Veneration of the Virgin of Guadalupe in New Spain (1519–1821) is reconsidered from three angles: in relation to the more widespread devotion to images of Mary Immaculate in villages, in relation to the colonial capital of Mexico City, and as a model of mediation within the colonial society for Indian subjects as well as of protest against Spanish rule. From new documentation, the article posits more widespread early veneration of the American and Spanish Cuadalupes among non‐Indians and through Mexico City and Catholic priests than among Indians in syncretic cults. It also questions whether the Virgin of Guadalupe was unequivocally the “dominant” religious symbol in the future Mexico before national independence.