Two-time Parranda. The Slow Death of the Matachín of Capitanejo

Abstract

This article analyzes how the parranda of matachines in Capitanejo, Santander, is transformed after the paramilitary incursion at the beginning of 2000, finding a simulation of the real party. This research has been carried out through participant
observation and semi-structured interviews, from the prolonged field work carried out in December 2014 and the uninterrupted participation in the parranda of matachines
of Capitanejo during the last eleven years. I conclude that the parranda of matachines are in a moment of crisis in which they can take two opposite directions: merge into a generic costume party, losing their meaning and therefore assuming the risk of disappearing, or recovering their vocation as world upside down, breaking
institutional dependency. This analysis contributes to the studies of festivals and carnivals in Colombia, understanding their depth in the social dynamics of the present.