Abstract

LEAL, BERNARDO. PAULINA MONTAÑO'S FREEDOM LAW SUIT. AN "ETHNOGRAPHY OF PERFORMANCE" APPROACH TO A LEGAL ACTION, CHOCÓ, 1738. Rev. colomb. antropol. [online]. 2010, vol.46, n.2, pp.409-433. ISSN 0486-6525.

This article is based on the legal action that the slave Paulina Montaño filed against her master Juan de Caysedo, in the colonial Chocó, between 1738 and 1739. I examine how much input and influence the slaves could have had in the making of the files and the chances they had in getting a balanced and fair trial against their masters. I also examine the procedures that followed in order to obtain their freedom. In this case, my support comes from the methodology "Ethnography of Performance" which provides the tools for a different kind of reading of the judicial process.

Keywords : Colonial Chocó; freedom; legal protection for freedom; performance ethnography; slavery; 1738.

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