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SYNCRETISM IN SICILY
vito finocchiaro
Apr 1, 2018
Living the rites of the Holy Week in Sicily means to fully indulge in tradition and discover the anthropological contents of which it is permeated.
Every city, every small village is characterized by its own rituals and symbols, which are rooted in the mists of time and are born from the influences of the various dominations that have taken place on the island over the centuries. Every corner of this land is full of celebrations, is full of exciting sets and fantastic costumes.
As Gesualdo Bufalino wrote ...
<< At Easter every Sicilian feels not only a spectator but an actor ... >>.
Between folklore and official liturgy, a script is staged where all the people are protagonists. Unique in all of Sicily is the Festa dei Giudei which takes place in San Fratello, a small town enclosed in the heart of the Nebrodi Mountains on the Sicilian Apennines, where the Gallo-Italian dialect is still handed down. An evocative festival of medieval origins, reminiscent of the day when the Jews led Jesus Christ to Calvary. The Jews have a very unique appearance.
For centuries they have been wearing showy clothes and so dressed they walk the streets of the city playing military trumpets. The Jew of San Fratello is not a simple folk character but he represents the soldier who stuck his spear into the cost of Jesus.
These Jews walk cheerfully through the streets of the city with trumpets and bells, with the clear intent to divert the attention of the population suffering from the death of Jesus.
A unique character, animated by a mad and at the same time grotesque emotional charge.
The scholar Benedetto Rubino wrote: "Who has not seen the Feast of the Jews in San Fratello certainly ignores one of the most singular and characteristic Sicilian chronicle on the solemn days of Wednesday, Thursday and Good Friday".
2018 © vito finocchiaro
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