Pastorela

The pastorela is a musical form of pastoral origin with a simple and happy rhythm. As a poetic composition, it had special development among the Provençal troubadours in Occitania. , Catalonia and Galicia. In Latin America, however, it developed from the XVI century as a religious dramatic genre, similar to the Christmas cars, taking root especially in Mexico. The word comes from the French word "pastourelle."

Troubadour shepherds

In Occitania, Catalonia and Galicia, the pastorelas relate the encounter in the countryside of a gentleman with a shepherdess, whom he tries to seduce. It is a dialogue composition, in which it is described in tones that are sometimes moralizing and other picaresques a situation invented by the troubadour, but on many occasions in identifiable geographical locations. The dialogue often shows the respective speech patterns of the aristocracy and the villains. The treatment of the figure of the shepherdess is very respectful, and she often shows greater ingenuity than the knight when it comes to resolving the compromising situation in which she finds herself. In the most common outcome, the shepherdess rejects the knight through her ingenuity or, more often, with family help. Other times the outcome is left open and less clear.

List of pastorelas

25 pastorelas written in Occitan are preserved:

Mexican pasturelas

As a religious dramatic genre, the "pastorela", also called in Latin America "posada", had its origin in the sacramental autos brought to the New World by Franciscan missionaries, taking advantage of some aspects of the dramaturgy of the Nahuatl culture and other indigenous American peoples. Over four centuries, the geographical and cultural expansion of the pastorelas has developed a rich regional tapestry.

Among the oldest pastorelas in colonial Mexico is The Comedy of the Kings, performed in 1527 in the atrium of what would later become Cuernavaca Cathedral; and among the most famous, La pastorela de Tepotzotlán, written by Jaime Saldivar and Miguel Sabido in 1963, which is staged every year in the inn of the Tepotzotlán convent. Like many other popular traditions, they were collected by the Teatro Campesino, including social and political aspects in their dramatizations.

Other sources propose among the most rancid representations the "pasturela of Zapotlán", where the first battle between San Miguel and Lucifer is still recounted in the indigenous language; and the "pastorela del Altillo" in Mexico City.

Argument

Alternatively they relate, in a festive and participatory tone, the adventures they experience, the Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph on their way to Bethlehem on the one hand, and on the other the dialectical struggles between the shepherds and the demons that represent the seven sins. capitals, harass them with traps, obstacles and temptations to make them give up. Other times it is the archangel Saint Michael who fights battle with Lucifer, once again parodying the confrontation between good and evil, and with a happy ending.

Antonio Caño described the simple characters of the farce like this: "...a sagacious and funny Lucifer, a well-intentioned but stupid archangel, and some lazy and hungry shepherds, ready to fall into the carnal temptations that They offer them..."

A Mexican pastorela

Next are images of the 2019 pastorela of San Juan Achiutla, Oaxaca, Mexico, where it is lost in the memory of the oldest since when it was performed, what they say is that their parents and grandparents in turn mentioned that when they They were children, the pastorela was already performed, so its origin fades into the distant past. The fact is that year after year, every December 24, the pastoral representation of the birth of Jesus Christ is held, with the participation of volunteer peasant-actors and sponsorship of the godparents of the Pastorela, one of the families of the small town between the mountains that For this they offer themselves. It should be mentioned that there is not and has not been any government support or any cultural organization to carry out this celebration, due solely to the persistence and will of the Achiutlecos to preserve their traditional and devout staging.

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  Representation of the Annunciation

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  Pastors being framed by Satan

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  The audience is still attentive to the plot

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  Questioning to diabolical intrigues

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  The Holy Pilgrims asking for an inn

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  Old man trying to derail the shepherds

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  Lucifer's still raging

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  Attention caught by the struggle between good and evil

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  Representation of the moment of miraculous birth

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  The shepherds astonished by the divine enlightenment

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  The shepherds worshiping the Holy Child God

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  Representation of the Holy Family. Within the vitrin, the small, ancient and venerated figure of the child Jesus.