Ethnographic narratives of the divine holy spirit festival in alcântara-ma: memory and tradition

From the narratives of participants of the Divine Holy Spirit Festival held in the city of Alcântara-Maranhão-Brasil seeks to verify cultural tradition and collective memory as evidences of preservation of local identity. Celebrated in several parts of the country, this celebration acquires in the city of Alcântara a singular importance either by the representation of the royalty and its aggregating force in Republican times, or by the social hierarchy that is perpetuated and is symbolized in the paper of the characters during the celebration. From a methodological point of view, a bibliographical review was carried out, followed by the observation in the field and the testimony of the festivity participants. As part of a larger study on this festivity, the paper proposes to discuss the construction of a collective memory about the origins and the actuality of the party with regard to the reappraisal of a past lived and reflected in the current reality of the community.