Performing Piety - by Elaine A Pena (Paperback)

About the Book

"'Piety is not something you talk about, it is something you do, ' writes Elaine Pena towards the beginning of this excellent book--itself a wonderful "doing." Pena participates actively as an engaged scholar. This is necessary reading for scholars of religion, performance studies, Latino/a Studies, and popular culture." --Diana Taylor, author of "The Archive and the Repertoire: Performing Cultural Memory in the Americas"
"Pena provides a major contribution to our understanding of sacred space, of the world of contemporary Mexican migrants, and of the vibrant ways in which Catholics honor the Virgin of Guadalupe. This is an important book about a transnational devotion, a book that powerfully and sympathetically explores how devotees perform piety in often surprising ways." --Stephen Pitti, author of "The Devil in Silicon Valley: Northern California, Race and Mexican Americans"
""Performing Piety" offers a textured and empathetic approach to religion in practice. Pena is a shining example of the materialist turn in the study of religion: religion approached not as decontextualized beliefs or free-floating symbolic systems, but as thoroughly embodied practices embedded in everyday life. This book is clearly on par with the work of Robert Orsi, David Hall, Leigh Schmidt and other distinguished scholars of the 'lived religion' school." --Manuel A. Vasquez, author of "More than Belief: A Materialist Theory of Religion"

Book Synopsis

The Virgin of Guadalupe, though quintessentially Mexican, inspires devotion throughout the Americas and around the world. This study sheds new light on the long-standing transnational dimensions of Guadalupan worship by examining the production of sacred space in three disparate but interconnected locations-at the sacred space known as Tepeyac in Mexico City, at its replica in Des Plaines, Illinois, and at a sidewalk shrine constructed by Mexican nationals in Chicago. Weaving together rich on-the-ground observations with insights drawn from performance studies, Elaine A. Peña demonstrates how devotees' rituals-pilgrimage, prayers, and festivals-develop, sustain, and legitimize these sacred spaces. Interdisciplinary in scope, Performing Piety paints a nuanced picture of the lived experience of Guadalupan devotion in which different forms of knowing, socio-economic and political coping tactics, conceptions of history, and faith-based traditions circulate within and between sacred spaces.

From the Back Cover

"'Piety is not something you talk about, it is something you do, ' writes Elaine Peña towards the beginning of this excellent book--itself a wonderful doing. Peña participates actively as an engaged scholar. This is necessary reading for scholars of religion, performance studies, Latino/a Studies, and popular culture." --Diana Taylor, author of The Archive and the Repertoire: Performing Cultural Memory in the Americas

"Peña provides a major contribution to our understanding of sacred space, of the world of contemporary Mexican migrants, and of the vibrant ways in which Catholics honor the Virgin of Guadalupe. This is an important book about a transnational devotion, a book that powerfully and sympathetically explores how devotees perform piety in often surprising ways." --Stephen Pitti, author of The Devil in Silicon Valley: Northern California, Race and Mexican Americans

"Performing Piety offers a textured and empathetic approach to religion in practice. Peña is a shining example of the materialist turn in the study of religion: religion approached not as decontextualized beliefs or free-floating symbolic systems, but as thoroughly embodied practices embedded in everyday life. This book is clearly on par with the work of Robert Orsi, David Hall, Leigh Schmidt and other distinguished scholars of the 'lived religion' school." --Manuel A. Vásquez, author of More than Belief: A Materialist Theory of Religion

Review Quotes

"[A] lively and truly transnational study."--Deborah Kanter "Hispanic American Historical Review" (8/1/2012 12:00:00 AM)

"I strongly suggest religion and art students read this book."--Jeremy W. H. Arnold, Graduate Theological Union "Religious Studies Review" (6/1/2012 12:00:00 AM)

About the Author

Elaine A. Peña is Assistant Professor of American Studies at George Washington University.