Resumen

GARCIA-ESPADA, Antonio. San Simon Birthdays. Salvadorian Ethnographies. LiminaR [online]. 2016, vol.14, n.2, pp.163-181. ISSN 2007-8900.

This paper presents a series of case studies on celebrations of San Simon’s birthday in El Salvador from 2011 to 2014. From the participant observation vantage point this study introduces six fieldwork cases very different in form and substance. By showing the extraordinary malleability of the cult, this paper also aims to prove the inadequacy of the prevailing theoretical model, which explains the extraordinary popularity and spread of San Simon’s cult throughout the country in simplistic and paternalistic terms such as the result of poverty, ignorance and social exclusion.

Palabras llave : San Simon; Saint Jude; apocryphal saints; popular religion.