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Chapter 3. Mortification, an Interactional Perspective: La Mortificación
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n 57 CHAPTER 3 Mortification, an Interactional Perspective: La Mortificación Yo tengo mortificaciones; tu tienes mortificaciones; todos tenemos mortificaciones! We all have minor and major troubles that beset us. This chapter discusses a single concept, mortificación, but the method of examination can be used to clarify other terms relating to people’s well-being. What is taken up in these pages is the intentionality of consciousness of the emotion called mortificación, the experience of being mortified. The consciousness of mortification is experienced in the consciousness of body and in social interaction, what the phenomenologists call intersubjectivity. What is presented in these pages is not new, since it is well known in the mental health literature. This literature, however, does not connect experiences of being mortified to phenomenology, which provides yet another perspective. I hope that making these connections will typify and elevate the concept, which is the intent of phenomenological research. La mortificación is a term used by middle- and older-generation Spanishspeaking people to refer to “mortification,” or troubles that disturb their well-being and peace of mind. In various social strata and cultures, some individuals create disquietude or distress in people they vex. These vexing interactions are known among Hispanos as mortificaciones. In addition, mortificación can be any situation for 58 n Chapter 3 which one cannot muster a response. Mortificación has to be considered within the value system of platica, respeto, and vergüenza. Platica is warm, friendly conversation , while respeto translates directly to respect and the dignity of the individual. Vergüenza is a more complex concept and needs to be defined beyond the simple definition of shame. It also means innocence and can involve the valuations made by society upon one’s character and family upbringing. Denzin has argued that in researching the development of concepts from everyday life, the investigator must first learn the specific meanings attached to the processes represented by the concepts. This approach “permits the researcher to discover what is unique about each empirical instance of the concept while he uncovers what it displays in common, across many different settings. Such a concept forces (in fact allows) the sociologist to pursue the interactionist view of reality to the empirical extreme” (Denzin 1970a, 455–56). Denzin, who is a sociologist, has argued that concepts and symbols must ultimately be located and linked to interactions with others in the social world. In this chapter Mortificación is explored through its roots in religious history and through its presence in relationships where one person causes another to have thoughts and feelings that destroy self-esteem. Definitions and Etymology The earliest references to mortificación are found in El libro de San Cipriano, a medieval treatise on the invocation of spells, pacts, incantations, and exorcisms, written around 1000 c.e. by Jonas Sufurino. In chapter 13, Sufurino provides a procedure to determine if a person is suffering from natural sickness or is mortificado (tormented) by an evil spirit. This exorcism calls on the archangel Michael for help in enchaining and humiliating the demon. Sufurino writes about San Cipriano (Saint Cyprian), who learned the use of spells, hexes, and incantations. San Cipriano is known as the patron saint of magicians, at one time using spells, hexes, and incantation against another saint (Butler 1962, 652–53). A special prayer to San Cipriano is said when people believe a spell has been cast on them, or to deal with mental illness in the family. This linking of mortificación with a malevolent spirit was also common among Spanish-speaking people in northern New Mexico. When an adult son had been drinking too much, parents identified his drinking as a maleficio (evil) and their torment by it as their particular mortification. There are several definitions of mortification: (1) mortification of the body by hardships and macerations, (2) gangrene , and (3) vexation or trouble. Definitions of the term mortificar are even more revealing and direct in their implications: (1) to mortify, to destroy vital qualities; (2) to subdue inordinate passions; (3) to afflict, disgust, or vex; and (4) to practice Mortification, an Interactional Perspective n 59 religious severities to conquer one’s passions (Velázquez 1973). In addition, the New Catholic Encyclopedia defines mortification as the deliberate restraining that one places...