No manto de Nossa Senhora de Guadalupe: a hibridização das culturas espanhola e asteca do século XVI e as antigas manifestações Marianas

Abstract

Beyond the boldness of focusing on the controversy of the Mexican Virgin of Guadalupe, we used the climax of the turquoise mantle as a metaphorical element of the heteroclite “suture” of the 16th century, in New Spain, in search for references of this garment. The general objective of this thesis is to investigate Guadalupe’s cape, alongside the clash between the Spanish conqueror and the indigenous people, drawing a comparative line in the old Marian manifestations. From the creation of the “mantology” neologism, the hypothesis that the mantle is the symbol of hybridity between two disparate cultures and reflected in the ancient “apparitions” of Nossa Senhora Maria. The following trajectory is covered: exposure of the research assumption, the conceptualization of terms and the delineation of sources. Then, the essence of “mantology”, the tradition of Mary and the use of the mantle are explained. Issues of myth, evangelizing mission and testimonial chronicles are addressed. For comparative purposes with Guadalupe iconography, the Aztecs' clothing, codes, female deities, jade stone, manuscripts and works of art are analyzed. From the empirical basis, it is concluded that the turquoise mantle is unique, without precedent in the Catholic imagination. Finally, it is confirmed that the Virgin of Guadalupe concatenated creases between white and nautical men who clarify the mixtures that occurred in Mexican post-colonization and still survive in a constant hybrid dialogue