Tejiendo significados: Laura Montoya y el entramado simbólico en la frontera caribeña de Colombia, 1917-1930

Objective: To analyze the symbolic efficacy of Catholic language in shaping the Caribbean geographic frontier in the area of the department of Antioquia within the Colombian State, a process in which Laura Montoya and her religious congregation “María Inmaculada y Santa Catalina de Sena” took part between 1917 and 1930. Methodology: This is a social history study. Laura Montoya’s discourses were examined on the basis of “linguistic equations” that account for the symbolic efficacy of Catholic language and for the symbolic power of the alliance between the State, the Catholic Church, and Antioquian society in the domination of national frontiers. Within this process of national incorporation, the participation of Laura Montoya through her religious pedagogy was crucial. Results: The incorporation of forest territories into the national order depended on women’s participation. Indigenous women were evangelized and became responsible for disseminating a new moral order that facilitated the selective presence of the State and the Catholic Church. Conclusions:Laura Montoya’s Catholic and evangelizing mission brought into the national order a geographic area that had been regarded as a national frontier.