Radicalization of Religious Discourse in El Salvador: The Case of Oscar A. Romero Author(s): Timothy Shortell Source: Sociology of Religion, Vol.

62, No. 1 (Spring, 2001), pp. 87-103 Published by: Association for the Sociology of Religion, Inc. Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3712232 Accessed: 22/09/2008 22:30
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2001, 62:187-103 of Religion Sociology

Radicalization

of

Religious
of

Salvador:

The

Case

Oscar

Discourse in A. Romero

El

TimothyShortell*
ofNewYork CityUniversity Brooklyn College,

in El Salvador. It was a The late 1970sandearly1980swerea period of greatconflict in LatinAmerica, the Church had timefor the Catholic Church.Likeelsewhere remarkable Oscar With the Church conservative the became history. ministry courageous of Archbishop Romero, Thediscourse church a keymember movement of thepopular of thepopular fighting forsocial justice. andactive more Content reveals thatthediscourse became material wasprophetic. concrete, coding a heterodox discourse theRomero's tenure. ideological force. Prophetic religious represents during in El Salvador howprophetic wasrelated to the shows religion Analysis of therhetorical strategies as thecountry movements intocivil andthepopular descended between theoligarchy political struggle war.

Until the mid-1960s,the Catholic church in El Salvadorwas similarto other nationalchurchesin LatinAmerica.The bishopsmaintained close contact with the coffeeoligarchy and relations with the military were governments The a contained number of who generallygood. large priesthood Europeans, tendedto be rather andwasa muchstronger in the cities conservative, presence than in the countryside. The evangelismdirectedat the peasantry was traditionalandsuperficial. Beginningin the 1960s,part of the churchdeviatedfrom its traditional course, and began to engage in a differentkind of pastoralactivity among communities. As this new strategy this partof the church campesino developed, an in became important factor the popular for socialjustice.By 1977, struggle this component of the church wasso activethat the Salvadoran elite pressed the Vaticanto namea successor to the retiring who rein in would the soarchbishop called "popular church." The Vaticanchose OscarA. Romero,a conservative and bookishprelate, as the new archbishop. It gavehim the taskof recapturing the "unityof the Church," which in this context meantbringing the radicals
back into the fold.

2900Bedford NY 11210.E-mail: York, Avenue, Brooklyn, shortel@brooklyn.cuny.edu.

Direct allcorrespondence toTimothy Brooklyn ShoreU, ofSociology, Department College, University City ofNew

87

88

SOCIOLOGYOF RELIGION

Romero thosewhohopedfora return to the traditional church disappointed of He quicklybecamethe acknowledged almostfromthe verybeginning. leader the popular churchandvoice of the oppressed masses. By 1979,he wasan interand for nominated nationalsymbolof the struggle againstrepression injustice, the Nobel Prize. to the popular This churchas "prophetic." By 1980, many werereferring in March assassination label has been appliedcountlesstimessince Romero's 1980 (Martfn-Bar6 1982, 1985;Sobrino1985, 1990).Besides meaningthat the in the politicalstruggle, it is not clear churchwasan activeparticipant popular what it meant for Romeroand his church to be prophetic.How had the One productive Howhadthe community discourse changed? approach changed? of the discourse of the popular to this questioninvolvesan ideological analysis church. Ideologyconsistsof the circulationof symbolicobjects in orderto socialrelations, hierarchical and reproduce or, moreplainly,"meaning produce is a technique 1997: in the serviceof power" 7). Ideological analysis (Thompson of describingand explainingthe rhetoricalstrategiesby which meaning is What is said,and whatis forand againstdomination. deployedin the struggle andlocatedin its socialcontext. not said,mustbe identified Ideologicalanalysisrequiresthat statementsbe interpretedin light of denotation and connotation. Statementsalwaysoccur in a field of underare possible,in a sociological certainmeanings sense,and othersare standing; not (Foucault1972). Statementsare in competition:orthodoxmeaningsare meant to excludethe heterodoxmeaningsthat challengethem. If a meaning it is doxic(Bourdieu achievessingularity, 1977).1 Rhetoricalstrategiesof varioussorts attempt to establishorthodoxyor of dominaof the strategies a number contest it. Thompson(1997) enumerates and reifiunification, dissimulation, fragmentation, tion, including legitimation, is one that disputesthe meaningsasserted cation. A radicaldiscourse by the first The ones. well as as these dominantdiscourse,using contrary strategies, their these strategies is to identify by marking partianalysis stageof ideological
cular forms.2

Radical religious discourse can be identified by certain ideological characteristics. When discourse functions as part of some oppositional social movement, it becomes more materialin orientation; it is concerned with the total experience of the persons - physical, psychological and social. Such it describes real, temporalagents and actions. discourse becomes more concrete; Finally, radicaldiscoursemakesreferenceto subjectsas activein history, engaged
It and"subjugated discourses" to "scientific refers Foucault terms. knowledges." 1 TheseareBourdieu's one. thana theological areusedin a sociological sense,rather be clearthatthe terms should 2 Although to Thompson's is indebted work,I amusingsomeof the sameconcepts the present analysis churchratherthan the of the popular in slightlydifferent ways,becauseof my focusis on the discourse one. traditional

RADICALIZATION OFRELIGIOUS DISCOURSE IN ELSALVADOR 89

in the socialworld.Conservative or reactionary discourse is alignedat religious the opposite end of theseideological dimensions abstract (i.e., it is metaphysical, andpassive). The secondstageof ideological in the rhetorical analysis interprets strategies context of their historicaldevelopment and their relationto social processes. and subversive Simplyput, dominantinstitutionsdeploy orthodoxstrategies institutions on heterodox ones. The success or failure of rhetorical rely strategies involvesthe dynamic of the balance of power. progress The present to describe the radicalization of the religious studyis an attempt discoursein El Salvadorby way of a case studyof the sermons of OscarA. Romero(Romero1989). In orderto do this, content codingof a sampleof Romero's wasundertaken. The goal of the codingwasto mark sermons the disof orthodox themes radical and to chartthe ideoalternatives, placement by toward a critical, orientation. logicalmovement prophetic METHOD Forthe purposes of analysis,Romero's homiliesweregrouped togetherto createthreepoints in time. These pointsare purelydescriptive. Therewasno reason to suspect thatthe discursive of threeperiods. But consisted development several in one near the of Romero's time, comparing points beginning ministry (timeA), one in the middle(timeB) andone nearthe end (timeC), allowsthe overalltransformation of the discourse to be illuminated. The timeperiods used resulted fromthe incidentalcontiguityof the homiliesin time;those homilies eachotherin timeweregrouped nearest to expectthat together.It is reasonable homilieswouldbe morealike than distantones. Thus,the present contiguous homiliesaccording to theirtemporal rather analysis grouped together proximity, than by calendar homilies was the of the year.Grouping necessary given nature a morereliable used,and also becauseit provides descriptive procedures profile of the discourse at eachpoint.3 Coding PartI of the codingsimplytalliedthe presence of eleven themes:FAITH, HOPE, SIN, SALVATION, LOVE, CONVERSION,CHURCH, POOR, In the homiliesstudied,each OPPRESSION, JUSTICEand LIBERATION. was treated as a codable unit. The paragraph presenceof any of the eleven themesin each paragraph wasrecorded. This partof the codingwasdesigned to
3 The decisionto compare threepointswasdetermined, in part,by the availability of the published sermons. Thisstrategy is purely in orderto studythe beginning, middle andendof Romero's methodological, Thediscourse couldhavebeenstudied withmorecomparison ministry. results wouldbe points,buttheoverall the same.

90

OFRELIGION SOCIOLOGY

- whatthingsarebeingtalkedabout measure the topography of the discourse relativeto other things? This set of eleven themesis by no meansinclusiveof the entirediscursive domain.An attemptwasmadeto balancethemesthat, at facevalue,seemedto suggest a conservative or radical discourse. The goalwasto createa collectionof themesthatbothcharacterize the discourse, by exhibiting its overalltransformation, andoffera glimpse into its distinctive personality. PartII of the coding placedthe text along three ideologicaldimensions: AbstractConcrete(Abs-Con); andPassive(Met-Mat); Metaphysical-Material in this partof the analysis: Active (Pas-Act).Fourthemeswerepursued POOR, SIN andHOPE. LIBERATION, of legitimation measures the ideological The Abs-Condimension processes was used to and unification.It focuseson the degreeto which the discourse to the of its experienceconformed ensurethat the audience'sunderstanding version of Salvadoranhistory. At the orthodox narrativeof the "official" aimto erasedifferences betweenpeople,andto situate thesestrategies endpoint, of the domiexperiencein a generic,mythichistorythat reflectsthe interests At to as standardization. This is whatThompson nant institutions. (1997) refers concrete lives of to the the discourse radical the specific, points endpoint, the personsor groups,especiallythose known to the audience.By expressing unreal the discourse the of the audience's actualcharacter exposes experience, characterof the "official"narrative,and therefore, its complicity in the
oppressivesocial arrangements.4 The Met-Mat dimension measuresthe ideological processof reification. At the orthodox endpoint, the discourseincluded only the spiritualcomponent of the eschatological,thereby limiting religiousmeaning to experience, particularly the realmof "the soul."At the radicalendpoint, the discourseacknowledgesthe significance of both material and spiritual experience. In this way, religious meaning is given a sociologicalsignificance. Lastly, the Pas-Act dimension measuresthe ideological processesof disempowerment and naturalization.At the orthodox endpoint, the discourserelates and naturalforcesthat cannot be human experience as the resultof supernatural altered;humans are presented as objects in the grand narrative.In contrast, in its radicalform, the discourseassertsthe agency of the audience, and especially, their responsibilityin participatingin the social movement which sought to end the long history of oppression. In the second partof the coding, these three dimensions measuredthe global shift in the discourse in terms of its social function. This coding strategy was meant to capturethe ideological strategiesof the discourse.While the historical record suggests that the religious discourse did, in fact, become more radical, insofaras religiousformswere intimately involved in the popularresistance,this
unitsare unitsarescored+1. Neutral unitsarescored-1 andradical 4 Foreach dimension, orthodox 0. scored

RADICALIZATIONOF RELIGIOUSDISCOURSEIN ELSALVADOR

91

showedhow thatchangewaspossible, andof whatparticular partof the analysis it consisted. developments Analysis Multidimensional scaling(MDS)wasusedto generate mapsof the discourse at eachtime period.MDSproduces an n-dimensional response spacein whicha set of proximitiescan be depicted (Everittand Dunn 1992). That is, MDS a graphthat best accountsfor the patternof associations estimates in a set of when the optimal data. The technique is most usefulfor studyof discourse In this case,a mapof the solutionmakes solutionis 2- or 3-dimensional. for an effectivemeansof studying the complexpattern In amongelementsin discourse. a seriesof maps,changesin the relations can be traced. amongelements Despite their conceptualsimplicity,MDS solutionsare not alwayseasily interpreted. This is becausediscourse is verycomplex,andsomeof the changein discourse cannot be attributed to theoreticalcauses.Still, the techniquemayfacilitate of a particular discourse. insightinto the development To describe someof the changestakingplacein the discourse, as evidenced distancesbetweenthe pointsrepresented by the MDS solutions,Euclidean by the themes are used as indicesof the degreeof association betweenthemes. Thesedistances arecompared, and ratiosareconstructed, to illustrate shiftsand displacements. RESULTS Beforediscussing the quantitative a briefpresentation of the major results, eventsin the politicallife of El Salvador is given.5 TimeA can be seen as havingtwo parts. the firsthalfof the period, During fromFebruary to September At the 1977,thereis a periodof intenserepression. as Romero was installed as forcesattackedthe onset, just archbishop, security crowdthat had gatheredin PlazaLibertad to protestthe fraudulent elections before. a month Father Rutilio Grande was murdered. The later, days Only archdiocese in a human responded, part,by forming rightscommittee.In May, FatherAlfonso Navarrowas murdered. The town of Aguilareswas occupied the monthof June,its churchdesecrated. In June,as well, a deathsquad during threatened to assassinate the entirecontingent of Jesuits in the country. Thus,in the firstfourmonthsof his ministry, two priests had been killedand the entire This occursin the context of state terroragainstthe Jesuitorderthreatened. nascent movement. popular

5 Fora detailed account of Romero's 1986.Fora discussion life,see Brockman of the role 1990;Delgado of thechurch in Salvadoran 1989. politics,seeMontgomery 1982; 1982; Dunkerley Berryman 1986;Prendes

92

OFRELIGION SOCIOLOGY

Fromthe very beginningof his ministry,Romerohad cause to connect violence againstthe churchwith violence directedat the people themselves. becauseit waspartof the popuThe churchwasa targetof stateterror precisely and behind.In his homilies larresistance. Yet,at this point,the discourse lagged in his theological interwascautious andtraditional firstpastoral letter,Romero of wasbeingspoken,but at the margins A radicalreligious discourse pretation. Men like Grandeand Navarrodevelopeda powerful the dominantdiscourse. of articulation resistance,but it lacked institutionalbacking,and religious subversive. remained therefore The second half of time A was relativelyquieter.Severalnotableevents occur duringthis period,however.DuringOctober, the labor ministrywas forces.At the same attacked by security by activistsand subsequently occupied time, BishopRevelo, while in Rome, denouncedsome of the archdiocesan clergy, accusing them of Marxism.In November, the infamousLaw of the wasenacted.The periodendedwith two Order andGuarantee of Public Defense at the Agriculture events, the NationalGuardattackon protesters important weekslater. a few massacre week Easter and the in March Bank Development The homilies fromtime A were clusteredfrom December1977 to April fromthe homiliesby a of early1977wasseparated 1978.The intenserepression the end of this period at violence of flare The sudden calm. of relative up period the contextof the homilies. punctuated the firstfromJune1978to April Time B also can be dividedinto two parts, the first The 1979. and the and 1979, second,May June politicalcontext,during the part,continuedroughlythe samestate of affairsas characterized firstsix monthsof 1978.Therewereimportant events,but they tendedto be separated Two morepriests of less severerepression. in time, and so give the impression and werekilled in this firstpartof time B. Romero BishopRiverareleaseda followed by the other bishops' pastoralletter on the popularorganizations, Mexico for the bishopsconin was Romero Puebla, hastily compiledreply. wason the increase. terror state in 1979.Beginning March, ferencein February In just The secondpartof this time periodis marked by intenserepression. In forces. attacked security two months,there wereseveralpopular by protests when the was occupiedby security organizations popular May,the Cathedral forcesattacked.What makesthis event especiallynoteworthyis that it took into the media,and shovedEl Salvador place in the presenceof international accuto the due was The worldspotlight. damaged country's reputation already the for harmful was mulationof murdered singularly priests,but this event A sixthpriestwaskilledin June. government. event of this period,however,took place in the Perhaps most important In neighboringNicaragua. June, the Sandinistasfinally succeededin overThe revolutionsent shock brutalSomozadictatorship. throwingthe corrupt, the It also infused alliancein El Salvador. the oligarchy-military wavesthrough confidence. new a with resistance popular

OFRELIGIOUS DISCOURSE IN ELSALVADOR 93 RADICALIZATION

fromDecember1978 to June1979. The homiliesfromtime B werespread occurred the fromJune1978to March1979. Most during relatively quietperiod The Easter1979 homiliestook place in June,amidthe intenserepression and revolutionary spirit. anticipated Unlike timesA and B, the politicalcontextat timeC is relatively uniform. time C. that beganin June 1979continuedthroughout The intenserepression The fear elicited increased the Sandinista following victory. activity by Popular that event provoked, in part,the coupof October1979.In the aftermath of the forcesredoubled theirviolentactivitiesin the countryside and coup,the security in response to the actionsof the popular What the organizations. distinguishes levelof repression. post-coup periodis an unprecedented in the to have December seemed 1979, Ironically, politicalsituation actually In of that the significantly. the early part the month, it appeared improved werefinallyable to articulate forthemselves the peoples' organizations popular visionof a new society.That optimism, whichfoundits wayinto the homilies, The firstthreemonthsof 1980werenightmarish. When dissipated veryquickly. to markthe anniversary in of La Matanza, 250,000 marchedin San Salvador were attacked forces. Members of the 1980, they January by security guerrilla the marchers firedbackat security forces- though organizations accompanying the disparity of forcesmadethe returnof fire largely Thus, in a way, symbolic. 1980 the of war. civil January represents beginning The homiliesfromtimeC occurred in December 1979through March1980. The homiliesfromOrdinary Time and Lent in 1980 takeplaceat the nadirof the descentinto civil war.Because the repression hadbeenincreasing foralmost a yearpriorto the lasthomilies,they, unlikethoseat timesA andB, cannotbe measured againsta relativecalm. They are very much wordsspokenin the middle of a crisis. TheDiscourse The frequencies of co-occurrence arepresented in Table1 as percentages by time period. Threethemesincreased fromtime A to timeC: POOR,OPPRESSION, and CONVERSION.LOVE increasedfrom time A to time B, but decreased fromtime B to time C. Two themesremained constant: SIN roughly and LIBERATION. The other five themes decreased throughthe courseof Romero's ministry. As the discourse becamemoreusefulto its new changed,certainmeanings social function, others less so. The changesin proportions reflect this. The of one themerelativeto anothercan be takenas evidence changein frequency of a discursive Three interesting are foundin the displacement. displacements these are shown in 2. Table data;

94

OFRELIGION SOCIOLOGY TABLE1 of the ElevenThemesin the Discourse Frequencies (proportions)

Theme Poor Oppression Salvation Sin Liberation Hope Church Justice Conversion Love Faith Total

TimeA 0.0541 0.0687 0.1579 0.0980 0.0526 0.1141 0.1827 0.0731 0.0205 0.0643 0.1140 684

TimeB 0.0311 0.0747 0.1793 0.1009 0.0511 0.1034 0.1332 0.0523 0.0448 0.1046 0.1245 803

TimeC 0.1210 0.0876 0.1210 0.0945 0.0634 0.0910 0.1532 0.0288 0.0876 0.0507 0.1014 868

occurred with otherthemesaboutthreetimesas At time A, SALVATION At time C, the ratiowas 2:1. Further often as LIBERATION. analysisshows that duringLent and Easter1980, the last partof time C, the ratiowas 4:3. almostas Romerowastalkingaboutliberation the end of his ministry, Toward often as salvation.The importanceof the formerconcept in the discourse but in the 1980 The latterconceptwasstill important, increased dramatically. rather thanalone. timeframe, alongwith liberation
TABLE2 in the Discourse ThreeImportant Displacements Ratio to Salvation Liberation to Sin Oppression Poorto Church TimeA 0.3331 0.7010 0.2961 TimeB 0.2850 0.7403 0.2335 TimeC 0.5240 0.9270 0.7898

relative to SIN. The two were increased Table2 showsthat OPPRESSION is indicated almostequallypresentat time C. The mostdramatic displacement as often at less a third was than POOR CHURCH. present by the ratioPOOR: time A, but at timeC the ratiowas3 to 4. Here,the laterdiscourse emphasized in its of the themePOOR.As with the previous the significance displacement, both almost used themes discourse the critical function, equally. Four themes were explored in greaterdetail: POOR, HOPE, SIN and structure for POORat timesA, B LIBERATION. Table3 showsthe discursive

IN ELSALVADOR 95 RADICALIZATION OFRELIGIOUS DISCOURSE

and C. Conceptslike oppression, wouldappearto have justiceand liberation than sin, salvationand love. At time A, greaterutility in a criticaldiscourse wereamongthe five closestthemesto POOR. HOPESALVATION andLOVE At time B, SIN and SALVATIONwere closer than the median,but so too OPPRESSION and JUSTICE. At time C, only SALVATION wascloserthan the median among those more traditional themes. OPPRESSIONand LIBERATION movedcloserto POOR.
TABLE3 Discursive Structure forPoor TimeA distance rank 3.1649 2.6070 3.8342 2.2529 2.4116 1.9149 2.6829 3.0788 3.2213 4.0178 7 4 9 2 3 1 5 6 8 10 TimeB distance rank 3.5579 3.6347 3.4151 2.8452 3.5084 3.4445 3.5231 2.9248 2.7808 3.4641 9 10 4 2 7 5 8 3 1 6 TimeC distance rank 2.3714 2.3705 2.1176 1.8347 3.8381 0.8704 1.7935 1.4534 3.8513 2.0862 8 7 6 4 9 1 3 2 10 5

Poorand Faith Hope Sin Salvation Love Church Conversion Oppression Justice Liberation

Median 2.8809 2.1019 3.4543 Note:Tableindicates Euclidian distances andranks withintimeperiod.

The discursivestructure of HOPE is shown in Table 4. HOPE, unlike POOR, exhibiteda consistencyacrosstime. SALVATIONand LOVEwere both amongthe five closestthemesat time A. SIN hadjoinedthem at time B. SIN and SALVATION in the closerhalfat time C. Only one radical remained theme wasabovethe mediancloseness at any point,shiftingfromJUSTICE to OPPRESSION to LIBERATION.
TABLE4 Discursive Structure forHope TimeA distance rank 1.5790 2.0355 1.3424 1.7912 3 6 1 5 TimeB distance rank 1.2828 1.5537 1.2138 0.9176 4 5 2 1 TimeC distance rank 0.9426 1.7341 1.9640 2.6760 1 4 5 8

Hopeand Faith Sin Salvation Love

96 SOCIOLOGY OFRELIGION
TABLE4 (Continued)

Hopeand Church Conversion Poor Oppression Justice Liberation

TimeA distance rank 1.6493 4.0649 2.6070 2.1399 1.3699 2.7714 4 10 8 7 2 9

TimeB distance rank 1.8409 3.2114 3.6347 1.2795 2.7859 1.8096 7 9 10 3 8 6

TimeC distance rank 1.5950 2.6233 2.3705 2.8012 2.7179 1.3338 3 7 6 10 9 2

Median 1.6817 1.9134 2.1673 Note:Tableindicates Euclidian distances andranks withintimeperiod.

for SIN. The picturehere is very Table 5 shows the discursivestructure There are signs that the relationship betweenSIN, complexand interesting. SALVATION and At LOVE was the same HOPE, time, it appears tightening. that the distancebetweenSIN and JUSTICEand LIBERATION increased. fromtime A to These trendssuggestthat SIN wasbecomingmoretraditional time C. Yet,thereis evidencethat SIN wasbeingusedin a moreradical wayat timeC. SIN disengaged andattached to OPPRESSION. fromLIBERATION
TABLE5 forSin Discursive Structure TimeA distance rank 1.4837 2.0355 1.6016 2.9569 1.9695 3.8907 3.8342 2.3253 0.7485 1.2233 3 6 4 8 5 10 9 7 1 2 TimeB distance rank 2.7634 1.5537 1.3713 2.1536 1.5778 1.9123 3.4151 1.6069 3.2219 3.1001 7 2 1 6 3 5 10 4 9 8 TimeC distance rank 2.3916 1.7341 1.5763 2.0638 1.8017 1.3388 2.1176 1.4328 3.3886 2.9664 8 4 3 6 5 1 7 2 10 9

Sin and Faith Hope Salvation Love Church Conversion Poor Oppression Justice Liberation

1.9328 2.0330 2.0025 Median andranks Euclidian distances withintimeperiod. Note:Tableindicates

of LIBERATION, shownin Table6, is similarly The structure complex.As moved furtherfrom SIN. Concomitantly,it moved was said, LIBERATION

RADICALIZATION OFRELIGIOUS DISCOURSE IN ELSALVADOR 97

towardPOOR.This shift is exactlythe theologicalreversal mostprominent in liberationism. The theological is deliverance not from subject seeking personal fromstructural violence.The distances in table6 alone,but rather transgression do not unambiguously confirmthis, however.BothOPPRESSION and JUSTICEmovedfurther fromLIBERATION. BothFAITHandHOPEmovedcloser.
TABLE6 Discursive forLiberation Structure TimeA distance rank 2.4640 2.7714 1.2233 2.0831 3.8324 2.2055 3.6174 4.0178 1.9560 1.8020 6 7 1 4 9 5 8 10 3 2 TimeB distance rank 2.2519 1.5537 3.1001 2.4031 1.7398 3.2696 4.6237 3.4641 1.9229 3.3646 4 1 6 5 2 7 10 9 3 8 TimeC distance rank 1.4057 1.3338 2.9664 2.1420 3.8467 1.4437 3.1827 2.0862 3.2282 3.3586 2 1 6 5 10 3 7 4 8 9

Liberation and Faith Hope Sin Salvation Love Church Conversion Poor Oppression Justice

Median 2.3348 2.7516 2.5542 Note:Tableindicates Euclidian distances andranks withintimeperiod.

Table 7 summarizes some of the interestingshifts in the discourse.(The distancesin Tables36 are not metricacrosssolutions;in orderto compare acrosstimeperiods, the distances have been standardized.). The firsttwo entries markthe connectionbetweenCHURCHand POORand LIBERATION. Both themes movedcloserto CHURCHat time C. Considered with the entryfor whichshowsa shortening distancebetweenpoints,the LIBERATION-POOR, threethemeswereconverging at timeC. The CHURCH-POOR-LIBERATION connectionbecamea useful discursive articulated entity.This thematictriangle a central concern in the communityduring time C. It was importantfor LIBERATION to be linkedwith POOR, to the historical transtherebyreferring formationfor which the people were striving,and with CHURCH,so as to concretizethe liberationstrugglewithin the practiceof the church, whose concernforhumanity, as such,couldnot be disputed.. Both POORandSIN connectedwith OPPRESSION, as indicated in Table 7. SIN alsomovedtoward POOR.Again,at time C, POOR-SIN-OPPRESSION wasan important thematicgroup.The connectionbetweenSIN and OPPRESSION wasan important what the LatinAmericanBishopshad one, suggesting called "structural violence"at Medellin.Again, this couplet'sline to POOR

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OFRELIGION SOCIOLOGY

it wasthe poorin El Salvador who werebeing conveyeda historicalreference: oppressed.

TABLE7

in Rhetorical Changes Strategies

Ratio Poorto Church to Church Liberation to Poor Liberation Poorto Oppression Sin to Oppression Sin to Poor Liberation to Hope Liberation to Sin TimeA 0.6561 0.8492 1.5469 1.0549 1.0536 1.7374 1.0670 0.4710 TimeB 1.0407 1.1698 1.2394 0.8837 0.7086 1.5060 0.6475 1.1092 TimeC 0.3854 0.5775 0.8347 0.6435 0.6884 1.0175 0.5336 1.1868

distance between the twothemes divided Note:Ratiosareexpressed asthe distance bythe average forthe firstof the pair.

The meaning of the theme LIBERATION appearedto be changing. with linked up with HOPEat the sametime as it disengaged LIBERATION SIN. This, of course,is consonantwith a radicaluse of the theme.The comstate.Theyhopedfora the repressive against munity,at this time, wasstruggling from Liberation liberation. material sin, particularly personaltranstemporal, was in whichthe community than the socialstruggle waslessimportant gression, was The a remained sin Personal struggle meaningful concept. people's engaged. a religiousone, but one that expandedthe scope of traditional piety. In the the environment and repressive the oppressive context of El Salvador, pressed to the fore. of experience material component at timesA, dimension the meancodesforeach ideological Table8 displays In all B, andC forthe fourthemesin partII of the analysis. general, movefrom that the negativeend of the dimensionto the positiveend. This demonstrates was As A time C. to from time in its the discourse ideological strategy changed cona for of is orientation greater utility said,an abstract/metaphysicalpassive is moreusefulfor the orientation A concrete/materialactive servativestrategy. church of the popular At time C the discourse of discourse. criticalfunctioning resistance. andencourage to justify is operating popular trendsareevidencedin Table8. First,SIN movedleast Severalinteresting a at time C. Apparently, into the positive side of the ideologicaldimensions function.SIN of the themewasof limitedvalueto its critical radical articulation dimension. The usual movedfurthestinto positivespaceon the passive-active one: positive action connection betweenhumanagencyand sin is a familiar sin is takento be whollyhuman. whereas tendsto indicateGod'sgrace,

RADICALIZATION OFRELIGIOUS DISCOURSE IN ELSALVADOR 99

of the transformation of LIBERATION indicates Next, an examination that the themeunderwent the mostmarked on the abstract-concrete transformation dimension. The discourse in on the experiences zeroed of the Salvadoran clearly dimension showsthat the discourse came by time C. The metaphysical-material to recognizethe worldly component of the Salvadoransexperience. But, LIBERATION movedleastfaralongthe passive-active dimension. Articulation of the humanagencyof liberation is perhaps washedout in the codingby the of the notionof Godas author of the struggle. persistence
TABLE8 MeanCodeson Ideological Dimensions Theme Dimension
+

TimeA
(18)

TimeB
(28)

TimeC
(28)

Hope

ABS-CON MET-MAT PAS-ACT

- +

0.000 -0.036 -0.179

(19)

0.357 0.607 0.179

(12)

0.285 0.500 0.464

(34)

Poor

ABS-CON MET-MAT PAS-ACT

- +

-0.368 -0.237 -0.263

(9)

0.125 0.333 0.042

(35)

0.632 0.456 0.221

(28)

Sin

ABS-CON MET-MAT PAS-ACT

- +

-0.056 -0.389 -0.278

(13)

-0.157 0.043 -0.243

(18)

0.125 0.088 0.161

(21)

ABS-CON 0.028 -0.346 MET-MAT -0.038 0.139 PAS-ACT -0.269 -0.056 Note:The valuesin parentheses the number of unitscoded. represent

Liberation

0.548 0.262 0.024

Of all the themes,HOPEmovedfarthestinto the positivespacealongthe dimension. In theological passive-active terms,hope is an activitythat humans can engagein thatdoesn't,at the sametime, implyan independence fromGod; it indeed, conveysjust the opposite.Also interestingis the fact that HOPE movedwell into the positivespacealongthe metaphysical-material dimension. This certainly reflects the inclusion of a politicized a for new hope:hope government,hopeforfundamental change,hopeforan end to the violence,etc. Table 8 also lists the transformation of the theme POOR. This theme exhibitsthe mostdramatic shift fromconservative to criticalstrategy. On the abstract-concrete it moved from -0.368 to dimension, discur0.632, the largest sive movement. POORbecamemostconcreteof all the themesat time C. It is also close to HOPEin termsof its materiality at time C. Along with HOPE, POORseemsto havebeenmostuseful to the discourse in its newfunction.

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DISCUSSION In termsof its ideologicaloperation,the discourse of the popular church changedas a function of its changingpolitical context. The meaningof the changes demonstratedby quantitative analysis must be seen against the of the politicalstruggle andemerging movement. background popular The largest betweentime B and time changein the politicalcontextoccurs C. The discoursemirrors this shift. As Tables 1, 2, 7 and 8 show, there is a in the discourse marked radicalization betweenthe two latestpoints.The political situation was changingquickly in the aftermath of the coup, and the discourse is transformed accordingly. There is anotherreasonto expectthat the discourse wouldbe mostradical at time C. The context for time C includesthe entiretyof Romero's ministry. The significance in late 1979 and 1980 is partly of eventsoccurring dependent homiliesspeakto the whole of upon the events in 1977 and 1978. Romero's recentSalvadoran history.Indeed,the influenceof eventsfromthe early1970s, in the firstthreemonthsof or even before,is likelyto be foundin the discourse 1980. Anothertrenddeserves mention.At the onset of Romero's state ministry, in Salvaterror wasdirectedat the institutional church.This is unprecedented doranhistory.FromFebruary to August1977,two priests werekilled,15 exiled, two imprisoned two tortured, andfourthreatened. The churchwouldbe among the victimsof repression of course, Romero's butthis early throughout ministry, most intense. the time of the monthsthat was 1979 and for the period By coup, werebeing killed militantsand campesinos followed,hundredsof organizers, morethan the churchitself,werethe organizations, everymonth.The popular violence. of state target in the discourse. As Table1 shows,the proportion This shifthas a correlate to CHURCHfallsfrom0.1827 at timeA, to 0.1332at time B, and of references the proportion of references to POORincreases, 0.1532 at time C. Meanwhile, alterafrom0.0541at time A to 0.1210at timeC. Table2 showsthisdiscursive whichmakesthe displacement tion in the formof a ratio(POOR:CHURCH), morepronounced, from.2961 at time A to 0.7898 at time C. The scopeof the as the formof stateterror discourse broadens generalizes. The specific trends shownin Tables1, 2, 7, and8 can all be seenas effectsof of the state was in the globalchangesin the politicalcontext.The legitimacy of the elections and 1977.Popular in aftermath of fraudulent 1972 the question whose form of mass take to the came resistance radical, organizations, popular praxisconsisted largelyof illegal modesof protest,such as occupationsand wasestablished after1977,thoughseveral No nationaldialogue strikes. attempts have the been. were made,howeversuperficial Following coup in they may in those controlof the security as was seen October1979, resistance, such, by to brutal as a threat,andsubject repression. apparatus

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Amidstthesedevelopments, the popular church,whichhad been in formation for nearlya decade,adopted a set of practices that put its commitment to into concrete what Romero would call the de forms, "pastoral solidarity the discourse of the As a resultof this new set of practices, acompafiamiento." churchbecamemoreradical, the desirefora societybasedon justice, reflecting in the idiom of denunciation. religious expressed prophetic becamepartof the popular Romero churchafterhis own experience became intertwined and with the This was inexorably majority. poor oppressed probably the resultof a numberof events, includingthe murder of RutilioGrandeand Romero's increased interaction with the poor.Thus, his ministry reflectedthe of the popular orientation church- indeed,he had becomeits center.As the political space constricted,only religiousdiscourseremainedavailablefor and only that discourse resistance, popular protected by institutional authority couldcontinuein a verypublicway.Romero's insured that this wasin ministry factthe case. discourse on the basisof this allegiance; in the ideological Religious changed this discourse had become a of the resistance. The discourse struggle, weapon becamemoreconcrete,material and active. As a partof a revolutionary social the discourse cameto reflectthe livedexperience of the Salvadorans movement, in such a wayas to challengethe ideological of the officialdiscourse, strategies such as legitimation,unification,standardization, and reification. The Salvadoranchurch,until the development of liberationism, had participated in the maintenance of an orthodoxdiscourse. Romero's it was the During ministry, centerof the heterodox discourse. As such, this prophetic discourse sanctioned and at the sametime, mademoreradicalopposition resistance, possiblein the faceof extreme repression. The religious discourse becamemoreconcretein orderto establish publicly the truthfulness of suffering. As longas the peoplesawthemselves onlyreflected in an orthodoxnarrative, whereonly abstract, universal identitiesexist, resistancewouldbe impossible. reflect the experiences Bymaking religious knowledge of the people,and not the reverse, the discourse created to motivate arguments and propel resistance. Rhetorical strategies that connected the themes CHURCH,POOR,and LIBERATION, and POOR,SIN and OPPRESSION, forexample, in the interests of the masses. operated The discourse also becamemore materialin orientation.This is not surlived in a condition of abjectpoverty.If the prising,given that the majority were to resist the theirdeprivation, people systemthat perpetuated they had to the importance of the experienceof being poor. Similarly,the acknowledge also had to be articulatedin the discourse. agony producedby repression discourse must call attention to suffering in orderto permit Religious opposition to it. The propheticidiom is a rhetoricalstrategybasedon this very point. becauseit permits Prophetic religionis alwaysa heterodoxdiscourse precisely thosewho suffer to cryout fromthe silenceof the orthodox narrative.

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The discourse becamemoreactiveas well. The goalof the socialmovement was a new society.They werefightinga much morepowerful opponent.The discourse characterized the peopleas the agentof socialchange.This prophetic both motivatedparticipation and reflectedthe hope of the movement.The nature of this kind of empowermentis complicated. On the one hand, LIBERATION took on the meaningof revolution, but, on the other,God was as the ultimateguarantor described of justice.The religious discourse mirrored the hope for a new social orderand a belief that it would not be achieved withouta moresweeping to God. Thus, changein the individual's relationship LIBERATION wasset in a broader context. salvation Ideological analysis, organized alongthe lines suggested by Thompsonand are usedto createand showsthe mannerin which social meanings Foucault, of domination, as well as the rhetorical usedto resist defendrelations strategies those relations.The state cannot function without an orthodoxdiscourse. is an indicator of opposition and alsothe conditionof its existence. Heterodoxy In the case of El Salvador in the late 70s and early80s, religious discourse was As longas the prophetic discourse the keysite for ideological flourished, dispute. of the government wasthrowninto seriousdoubt.The present the legitimacy werelinked has shownsomeof the particular waysthatsocialmeanings analysis The resultsare a to the dramaticpolitical strugglethe countryexperienced. the the of accompanying accounting ideological developments empirical partial
descent into civil war.

The discourseof the popularchurch, as embodiedby the homilies of of the as it becamea moreimportant Romero,changed component Archbishop in the presentanalysis radical movement.Some of these changesare described in terms of their rhetoricalfunction. In general, as the religiousdiscourse and active, becamemoreconcrete,material becamemoreradical,its arguments which aimedat of the orthodoxdiscourse, in orderto challengethe strategies the existing relationsof domination.Changesin themessuch as reproducing these werenot merelytheological; SIN, CHURCH,POORandLIBERATION The the central to were ideologicalprocessesof power struggle. meanings with associated the new undermined are and reification unification meanings by theseideas. The present results do more than describe the particularhistory of of the prophetic the sociological Salvadoran meaning ideology. Theyhelp clarify andactive,prophetic that areconcrete,material tradition. arguments By making discourse of power.In this way,prophetic refutesthe rhetorics discourse upsets whose the termsof domination,and is alwaysopposedby politicalauthorities are authorities the socialorder.Because it is to perpetuate religious responsibility takesplaceat discourse in alliancewith secular elites,prophetic normally usually as well. of the religious the margins sphere betweenknowledgeand power,as found in of the relationship Discussion andBourdieu, Foucault amongothers,hasprovenveryusefulforthe Thompson,

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studiesof religiousdissociologicalstudy of religiousmovements.Empirical such as the are in to document course, the present study, needed,however, order variouswaysthat the struggle betweenorthodoxand heterodoxmeanings has
motivated and guided particularhistorical social movements. In this sense, the theoretical insights have been confirmed by the labor of content analysis of actual propheticdiscourses. The Salvadorancase is especially interesting because a propheticdiscourse was sponsoredby the official church, as a result of the courage of Archbishop Romero. The transition of Salvadoran religious discourse from prophetic and marginal to revolutionary and central is quite remarkable.The results of this analysis illustratesome of the particularrhetorical alterationsthis development entailed. Futureresearchwill determinewhether other propheticdiscourses have madesimilartransformations.

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P. 1986. The Religious Rootsof Rebellion: in Central Christians American Revolutions. Berryman, NY:Orbis Books. Maryknoll, P. 1977.Outline Press. Bourdieu, of a Theory of Practice. Cambridge: Cambridge University A Life. NY:OrbisBooks. Brockman, J. 1989.Romero: Maryknoll, A. Romero: Madrid: Ediciones Paulinas. Delgado, J. 1986.Oscar Biograffa. War: andRevolution in ElSalvador. London: Verso. Dunkerley, J. 1982.TheLong Dictatorship Multivariate DataAnalysis. New York: Everitt, B., andG. Dunn. 1992.Applied Oxford University Press. M. 1972.TheArchaeology New York: Pantheon Foucault, Books. of Knowledge. I. 1982. El liderazgo de Monsefior Romero(un analysispsico-social).Estudios Martin-Bar6, Centroamericanos 36(389):151-172. . 1985. OscarRomero: Voice of the Downtrodden. In Voiceof theVoiceless, by Oscar 1-21. Maryknoll, NY:Orbis Books. Romero, T. S. 1982.Revolution in El Salvador. Boulder CO:Westview Press. Montgomery, andPopular Pastoral Prendes, Practices in El Salvador, J. C. 1989.PoliticalRadicalization 19691985.In TheProgressive Church in Latin editedbyS. Mainwaring andA. Wilde,103America, 148.NotreDame,IN:University of NotreDamePress. O. A. 1989. Mons.OscarA. Romero: Su Pensamiento. Romero, San Salvador: Publicaciones Pastorales delArzobispado. View of OscarRomero.In Voiceof the Voiceless, Sobrino,J. 1985. A Theologian's by Oscar 22-51. Maryknoll, NY:Orbis Books. Romero, .1990. Archbishop Romero: Memories andReflections. NY:Orbis Books. Maryknoll, B. 1997. andModem Culture. Thompson, CA:Stanford J. Ideology Press. Stanford, University