Paper short abstract:

Portuguese colonialism in Goa carried out a systematic process of conversion that we could call mimetic

Paper long abstract:

Portuguese colonialism in Goa carried out a systematic process of conversion that we could call mimetic, in the sense that by converting the higher castes, the Brahmins, it was hoped that the other castes would emulate them. Exceptions to this principle were the Gaudde, an original group that over time split into three different castes: the Hindus, the Christians and the Neo-Hindus (Christian Gaudde who became Hindu in 1928). The Gaudde are known by their specific way of dressing and particularly by their music and dances that represent a synthesis of Christian, Hindu and territorial practices, showing that the crisis created by their unprivileged status was imaginatively used as a tool to promote their cultural identity through heritage. Their performance also reveals a long-term negotiation between Portuguese and local culture translated today as Goan immaterial patrimony, in order to promote inside and outside the country the singularity of Goan culture.