Page - 99 - in JRFM - Journal Religion Film Media, Volume 07/02

Using Latinx Theology’s Lo Cotidiano | 99www.jrfm.eu 2021, 7/2, 87–106 fulfillment. Calling this event an “orgy” reveals Oller’s colonialization in the socio-cultural and religio-moral sense. Lastly, contrary to Oller’s arguably humanistic intent, El Velorio values the religious besides the non-religious in this material space. The small cross over the entry door marks the humble rural dwelling as Christian. The pres- ence of the priest makes “Catholic-ness” abundantly clear as well, even if ironically so: as previously stated, his face and body language express Oller’s critique of the institutional Church. I already mentioned the plausible reli- gious meaning of the ray of light shining on the dead child and of the “cross” formed by the stuck pig and the dwelling’s roof beam, the latter turning the pig into the crucified Christ. I also see a less-defined figure behind the old black man – is it perhaps some sort of angel? Can one make out wings and the angel coming out of the child’s body into the light? Could it be a veiled attempt at an allegory for the soul? Thus, a decolonial reading of this bak- iné’s lo cotidiano does not separate the religious from the non-religious. Reli- gious presence emerges in and sustains non-religious spaces, and apparent- ly non-religious acts can express a religious intent. Indeed, the religious and non-religious collapse into each other in the materialities of lo cotidiano.34 Further Signification, Now in a Theological Key: Hermeneutics, Relationality, and Creative Faith Signifying bakiné as an everyday celebration of life and popular beliefs has consequences for knowing and understanding popular religion, that is, for the theology behind religio-cultural practices such as the bakiné. Since El Velorio as pictorial God-talk springs from a colonial context, decolonial the- ology’s allegiance with other disciplines that think decolonially can be help- ful in parsing out these consequences. In the context of Puerto Rico, the decolonial subversive and liberative effort starts with a recognition of an autochthonous identity and culture that spring from a complex 500-year 34 “Materialities” are opportunities for the “material” to occur (see note 3 on material). In El Velorio, there are materialities visible in all those present in the bakiné which matter in various ways to each individual and to all together; for example, materialities of hospitality and solidarity between friends and family, and materialities of grief in the mother. Indeed, there are materialities between El Velorio and its beholders as well, some of which are made evident in this essay, like the materiality of colony.