Rituales, descentramientos territoriales y niveles de identidad: La Semana Santa Marinera de Valencia

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to study how the processes of spatial and identity recomposition brought about by a globalized world affect traditional religious rituals, with particular reference to the Semana Santa Marinera processions in Valencia (Spain). Instead of the ritual giving rise to a single local identity, it can be seen that levels of local identity -while not disappearing- overlap more and more with increasingly vague new territorialities ranging from processional networks based on canon law to state-organized meetings. Media coverage of the ritual means that new virtual communities with no fixed territorial base are created, and the complexity of this phenomenon further increases with the creation of virtual online communities. The spatial decentration of ritual, therefore implies the creation of new forms of identity constructed along hybrid and crosssectional lines, thereby strengthening the process of secularization.