'Will the real St. Gerard please stand up?' An ethnographic study of symbolic polysemy, devotional practices, material culture, marginality and difference in the cult of St. Gerard Maiella (New Jersey)

This is an ethnographic study of devotion to the Roman Catholic saint Gerard Maiella (1726–1755). The study approaches the saint as a polyvocal symbol. The traditional and theologically orthodox meanings assigned to the saint by the institutional Roman Catholic Church, and by most Italian and Italian American devotees, are considered along with the divergent meanings the saint has for some of his gay male devotees, and for his Haitian devotees.; The study is focused on devotees of St. Gerard who live in and around the City of Newark, New Jersey where the National Shrine of St. Gerard Maiella is located. The themes explored in this study are difference, marginality, the meaning and function of saints in the lives of Roman Catholics and others, and religious pluralism. The impact of sexuality, gender, ethnic identity and race on devotional practices, ritual, and the material culture of the cult of St. Gerard are also explored.; The concept of “processual hagiography” is developed. Processual hagiography is dynamic and a means by which contemporary devotees “write themselves into the script” of the hagiographical narrative as a way to make meaningful their own lives and social locations in relation to the life of St. Gerard. The meaning of saints for Catholic gay men is also explored. The theory put forth is that wonderworking saints are sources of protection for gay men from oppression and homophobic violence through the display of saintly power and mastery over sexual desire.; This study is primarily anthropological and draws on the symbolic anthropology of Victor Turner and the psychoanalytic anthropology of Gananath Obeyesekere. The study is also multidisciplinary and draws upon history, queer theory, postmodern studies, material culture studies, Catholic studies, and experimental ethnography.