Representacions festives de l'alteritat a CatalunyaEl Ball de la Patera d'Igualada: un entremès de moros i cristians del Corpus a la Festa Major

Abstract

Historically, the figure of the moor has been used as a powerful identity-building device. The importance of this resource in Catalonia and most of the Iberian Peninsula lies in the idea of alterity, linked to what was considered as foreign or strange. In a festive context, the moors appear tied up to the political purpose of the ruling classes (Monarchy and Church) of defining them as social and political enemies. In this thesis, we address how the royal entries and royal celebrations, as well as the new Feast of Corpus Christi and festivities of the patron saints, were used as an ideological framework and showcase. These events provided the necessary context for the new negative conception of the moors to be instilled – a project that saw increasing success during the 16th and 17th centuries, coinciding with the fall of Constantinople in 1453 and the expansion of privateering in the Mediterranean Sea. We have also made an extensive historical analysis of a show called Turquia or Patera (Moors and Christians), held in Igualada (Barcelona) from 1489 to 1896. Even though we could probably talk of an earlier origin, this festivity can be considered perhaps as the most relevant of its genre in Catalonia. Moreover, it appears to have had obvious effects and consequences in another local festivity, “Reis” (the Three Wise Men), which is celebrated in the city since 1899 and is currently under analysis to rid it of its possibly offensive ethnic traits.