Invocações religiosas e esculturas devocionais no processo de conversão indígena nas primeiras capelas da Freguesia de São Manoel do Rio Pomba (1767-1811)

Abstract

This research project focuses on the devotional invocations and sculptures used in the process of Indigenous conversion in the settlements of the Parish of São Manoel do Rio Pomba (1767–1811). It aims to understand the role of devotions and devotional sculptures in the catechization and conversion of Indigenous peoples in the settlements of the Parish of São Manoel do Rio Pomba, seeking to determine whether there were specific features and intentional choices in the devotional and iconographic repertoire intended for the task of converting non-Christians. It also seeks to reflect on the use of these devotional sculptures or devotional images as one of the instruments for implementing theological policy, examining the place of devotional sculpture within the broader project of establishing a “civilization” in the Catholic Christian conception. Finally, it intends to investigate whether the use of images served the purpose of combating the “Other” — the Indigenous person — by opposing polygamy, polytheism, anthropophagy, nudity, and nomadism, and through these cultural changes, promoting the adoption of behavioral categories of Western societies, such as monogamy, monotheism, and sedentarism, which were absent in the original societies.