Abstract

GAYTAN ALCALA, Felipe. In the path of darkness: shrines (humilladeros) and cenotaphs in the face of evil in the city. Soc. relig. [online]. 2020, vol.30, n.54, pp.155-174. ISSN 0326-9795.

Contemporary cities reveal the dynamics of violence, assaults, and constant dangers to which their inhabitants are exposed. Different social sectors have translated these threats as the presence of evil and have resorted to religious forms and objects to try to ward off fear and repel the evil force that lurks. In this work we analyze two urban markers-architectural objects that have been used to contain the evilness in the great city, taking Mexico City as a reference. These two markers are the so-called shrines (humilladeros) and cenotaphs. The first ones are landmarks - sacred landmarks formerly placed at the entrance-exit of the towns that delimited the forest from the houses and distinguished the wolf from the man. Today these shrines (humilladero) are still in force and mark the border between the community in different neighborhoods, some to try to prevent violence (badly) from entering the neighborhoods. Instead, cenotaphs are memory markers that denounce the evil that occurred in someone who lost his life, and in his memory, a cross has been placed in the street or avenue. In both cases, an attempt is made to contain the evil and wickedness of men. The questions posed are: How do the religious urban markers (shrines and cenotaphs) perform the prevailing evilness in the city? Does its meaning provide certainties to ward off fear? The methodology to analyze them will be based on the use of metaphors to contain evil based on the proposal of Georg Lakoff (2017) and the concept of an iconic act that allows us to analyze the strength and impact of these objects placed in the streets of Mexico City.

Keywords : evil; evilness; cenotaphs; shrines (humilladero); urban marker.