Os meus tios queriam phalhar, mas os meus pais não aceitaram: influencia social do cristianismo protestante na prática do lobolo – caso da Igreja evangélica assembleia de Deus, na Cidade de Maputo, 2023

Abstract

The present study discusses the social impact caused by religion on the practice of lobolo, focusing on the experiences of believers of the Evangelical Assembly of God Church (IEAD), in the City of Maputo. It is argued that adherence to religious practices, specifically the Protestant Christian religion, creates a social impact on the practice of lobolo, which is evident through the problematization of some traditionally privileged ceremonies and rituals. This argument results from the crossing between the information obtained, both in the literature review as well as that obtained in fieldwork through the use of the qualitative method operationalized through the following techniques: semi-structured interviews addressed to twelve believers of the IEAD, in the city from Maputo, selected through snowball; and direct observation of two lobolo ceremonies. This methodology and its techniques allowed us to capture various information about the processes, procedures, senses and meanings about the practice of lobolo, which were later analyzed in the light of Alfred Schutz's phenomenological theory (1997). This analysis points to the following main results: 1) The practice of lobolo allows members of the families involved to officially get to know each other before the new family is formed. 2) The lobolo is seen as a space where the bride's parents give their daughter's hand to the groom and say words of blessing to the new family that is being formed. 3) the lobolo practiced by the faithful of IEAD proves to be cheap and therefore easy to practice, as it excludes items that a traditional lobolo brings. On the other hand, it is simple because it does not involve some spiritual processes linked to tradition.