Between Saints and snakes; narrative of power and religious assimilation in the colonial salvadorean northwest

Abstract

The present article presents the results of an exploratory study conducted in between 2020 and 2025, was focused on the recording and documentation of cultural heritage in the northwestern region of El Salvador, with the aim of deepening the understanding of intangible cultural heritage, particularly oral tradition. This article presents two of the legends found during the fieldwork and analyzes them through the lens of symbolic anthropology, in order to reveal some of the meanings behind the symbols present in the narratives. The article argues that these narratives correspond to a process of re-signification of symbols carried out during the colonial period, intended to lead native populations to adopt a new religion, in part by standardizing certain stories and using fear as a method of persuasion for the adoption of the new norm, as well as by readapting symbolic elements to permanently alter their original meaning.