Muito barulho por nada ou o “xangô rezado baixo”: uma etnografia do “Quebra de 1912” em Alagoas, Brasil

Abstract

In June 1939, Gonçalves Fernandes visited Maceió, almost thirty years after the episode that became locally known as “1912 racket”, involving the destruction of almost every afro-religious cult house in the state’s capital and neighbouring towns. Gonçalves Fernandes noticed the existence of a religious modality that he called “silent candomblé”, having dedicated to the subject all the first chapter of his book O Sincretismo Religioso no Brasil. the ceremonies carried out in cult houses in Maceió in that period are described by Fernandes as a closed liturgy, with neither dances and chants nor the excitement caused by the drums, being, therefore, ceremonies surrounded by mystery and secret where whispering and non-fancy attitudes prevailed.