Riso, encantamento e suspensão: Aporias e paradoxos numa festa transmontana do ciclo de inverno

Abstract

Based on a longitudinal study of the winter cycle ceremonies in northern Portugal, this text aims to respond to the apparent paradox between the decrease of the number of residents of the interior of Trás-os-Montes, and the increase in participation in the festivals, and its derivations. The involvement in parades held in various parts of Portugal and Europe, as well as the suspension due to the pandemic, in 2020, is emphasised. I propose an approach, which inserts the winter festivities in a long time, and which takes into account the relationship between ‘outside’ and ‘inside’. My central argument is based on the appropriations of culture in contemporary situations, discussing the coexistence and transition between two types of connection with the celebrations. One of them refers to a use-value, the other to an exchange-value, corroborating the transposition of a rural society articulated with production to another associated with consumption, as an amenity.