Pitakhufa: prática cultural de purificação social, solidariedade e os conflitos de interesses na comunidade sena da Província de Sofala

Abstract

This paper discusses the practice of the Pitakhufa purification rite, which marks the Sena community with customary norms as a standard of being, in the face of recommendations based on the discoveries of science. After showing the different concepts and perspectives on rites in general and the Mozambican specificity, it became clear that the rite is relative to the human being. In order to deal with the problem, the positions of different forces in society in relation to the procedure and the possible solutions to the daily issues that the world offers and that require a reflection on the way of being were presented and discussed. The religious, sanitary (scientific) and customary approaches are divergent in many respects, but all aim to resolve human concerns in different ways, but among these perspectives, the goal is to find the safest way to practise the ritual or solve the ills faced. The study aimed to understand what the current trend is in the practice of rites in the Sena community in the face of the appeals made in this dialogue in Sofala province. The aim of this study was to seek an understanding of the dynamics between customary practices and the pressures to adjust them in order to make them safer and at the same time ensure that they are passed down from generation to generation. The study was based on bibliographical research and interviews with interlocutors who practise or have information about the ritual. The study took as its time frame the period from the independence of Mozambique (1975) to the present day, taking as its basis for discussion the various studies that have already been carried out on Mozambican rites and contrasting the literature that deals with culture and its dynamics.