Gramáticas evangélicas: discursos, identidades e afetos em igrejas históricas na zona norte do Rio de Janeiro

Abstract

From field research on historic Protestant churches in the neighborhood of Penha, North Zone of Rio de Janeiro, I describe processes of constitution of an evangelical identity based on the analysis of religious discourses. The data are the result of an ethnography carried out in the Methodist Church of Penha, the main scenario, comparing other contexts, such as the Lutheran Church and incursions in other local denominations. I analyzed the speeches in the services, events in the churches and in the neighborhood, interviews and testimonies of interlocutors. The theoretical categories used as identity, discourse, subjects, demands, signifiers, discursive practices and structures, in addition to others, were guided by post-structuralist debates and in particular the theory of discourse by Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe. Considering that all social practice is a discursive practice, the identities of the subjects are seen in their contexts and discursive structures. These do not have a secure foundation, as they are marked by contingencies, antagonisms and differences. With that, the understanding of identities goes through the discursive game around the signifiers that we use to make sense of reality. This is marked by differences and antagonisms that reinforce the complex network of power relations and tensions around identity formations.