Baby Jesus’ Standing, Theft and Search – a Traditional Venezuelan Christmas Feast

Authors

  • Adlin de Jesús Prieto Rodríguez Simón Bolívar University
  • Marina Meza Suinaga

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.12797/Politeja.10.2013.24.16

Keywords:

Christmas Festivities, Venezuelan religious tradition, Baby Jesus, devotion, identity

Abstract

Baby Jesus’ standing, theft and search is a religious feast that is mainly celebrated within the Andean region of Venezuela, and as time has passed by, it has become part of the national cultural heritage. From our perspective of participant observers of the cultural object, this is an attempt to describe the celebration and to offer a possible hypothesis about the meanings related to the child’s search. Considering the generalized significance of this festivity, it would emphasize the fact that this tradition ratifies and evokes the recreation of several biblical episodes and the constant incorporation of Baby Jesus in the family as well as in the community which turns out to be an exaltation of religious, affective, cultural, and social values.

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Author Biographies

Adlin de Jesús Prieto Rodríguez, Simón Bolívar University

Holds a Master’s degree in Latin‑ American Literature from Simon Bolivar University, a Diploma in Distance Learning and Teaching and a Bachelor’s degree in Mother‑ Tongue and Literature from Carabobo University. She is a lecturer and researcher at the Language and Literature Department of Simon Bolivar University. Her current interests include teaching mediated by technology, digital reading, Venezuelan culture, and the study of memory, representations and self‑ representations in writing from Latin American testimonial discourses, mainly Venezuelan. She is a member of Latin American Studies Association (LASA). She belongs to the El Hablador Literary Journal Editorial Board. She is currently Researcher Level A in a Research Program promoted by ONCTI in Venezuela.

Marina Meza Suinaga

Graduated with a Ph.D. in Education from Universidad Pedagógica Experimental Libertador (UPEL) in 2007; she holds a Master’s degree in English Literature teaching from UPEL‑ IPC in 1995, and a Bachelor’s degree in English teaching from UPEL‑ IPC in 1987. She is a lecturer and researcher at the Language Department of Simon Bolivar University. Her current interests include ICTs for teaching English, Venezuelan culture and cults, English literature and Educational issues. She is currently Researcher Level A in a Research Program promoted by ONCTI in Venezuela. She belongs to a multidisciplinary team at Simon Bolivar University.

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Published

2013-05-15

How to Cite

Prieto Rodríguez, Adlin de Jesús, and Marina Meza Suinaga. 2013. “Baby Jesus’ Standing, Theft and Search – a Traditional Venezuelan Christmas Feast”. Politeja 10 (2 (24):255-66. https://doi.org/10.12797/Politeja.10.2013.24.16.

Issue

Vol. 10 No. 2 (24) (2013): Venezuelan studies

Section

Articles

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.