Crossroads of knowledge: Ethnographic dispatches of narratives from young Umbanda followers in the terreiro and at school

Abstract

This study was carried out based on a qualitative ethnographic study, developed using autobiography, autobiographical narratives and ethnographic narratives, with young umbandistas from two barracões located in the municipalities of Mineiros and Novo Gama in Goiás/Brazil and from a state public school in Mineiros, between the months of October 2021 and July 2022, with the following objective: to understand how young umbandistas from Mineiros and Novo Gama, in the terreiro and at school, position themselves in terms of identity and religious belonging. At the intersection between school, Umbanda barracks, everyday life and culture, there are traces of intercultural youth identities. The school is a plural and intercultural place, where multiple identities and religious differences are manifested. However, to maintain religious identities, it is necessary to understand the limits between them and the religious differences that define them and which symbols and representations gravitate around them, as well as the effects of the impacts, positive or negative, that cross them, in addition to the relationships and teaching-learning processes present in their context.

Keywords

• Young Umbanda fans
• Crossroads of knowledge
• Dispatches
• Identity
• Cultural studies
• Umbanda