We continued our stroll and perused the little boutiques around the area. A number of my football fan tour mates, including one of my amigas, were on a mission to find an authentic Lionel Andres Messi jersey for a good price. Since I know absolutely nothing about football (soccer, for us North Americans), a sport that is quite a big deal in this part of the world, I just wandered around the souvenir stores and novelty shops.
One item that caught my attention was the figurine of a man in traditional Catalan garb squatting with his trousers down and his bottom bare…okay, to be exact, he’s actually pooping (as the figurine includes an exaggeratedly huge brown mound beneath his tush...and pardon my language, if you please).
Intrigued, I asked our Tour Director what this signifies. He told me that this figurine is called the El Caganer, which literally means, “The Crapper” or "The Pooper." It traditionally appears in pessebres or Nativity scenes in Catalonia and its neighbouring areas. Yes, you heard me right…the Nativity scene…as in the one depicting the birth of Christ in December. Unlike the typical manger scenes that we see around the world, the ones made in Catalonia encompass the entire village...and features a special guest, so it seems.
The pessebre is often a pastoral diorama with a Catalan masia (farmhouse) as the central setting of the Holy Family with the Child Jesus in the manger. It includes the outlying rural scenes depicting people in their day-to-day lives – shepherds herding their flocks, women washing clothes in the river, weavers spinning cloth, farmers tending their fields, and…men defecating in a corner, of all things (well, one can always argue that this is one of our day-to-day activities, too)!
Apparently, this is perfectly normal. In fact, it has become a tradition for Catalan children to look for the El Caganer in the manger scene...something similar to a 3D “Where’s Waldo” game, which in this case, could be called, "Where's Uncle Crapper?"
I wondered what the reasoning is behind this unusual brand of humour. Seeing the confusion in my eyes, our Tour Director shrugged his shoulders and said, “Don’t worry about it. No one knows the origin of this tradition,” but he agrees with the popular theory that this signifies “man fertilizing the earth,” a portent of good harvest to come. In fact, some believe that if one does not include a caganer in his household Nativity scene, he will have a bad harvest year with bad crops. Others say it represents “acceptance of outsiders or of things that are beyond the conventional.” Or to relate it with the Nativity, they say it symbolizes Christ's humanity - that in order to redeem the world, He had to become human like us. One of my tour mates, who was listening to our conversation, remarked, "Wow, that's philosophically deep!" And another said, "But you don't want to be in deep sh*t, literally speaking!" (Once again, please pardon my language.)
This quirky tradition has since evolved into a social, or even a political statement. Nowadays, it is common to see modern caganers representing celebrities, politicians, and other authority figures, including religious leaders and European royalty, as a way of levelling their might down and to a certain extent, poking fun of them.
A local described them as, "egalitarian and pleasantly subversive figures," and explained that since the depiction shows an act that all of us do, no matter how powerful one may be, it emphasizes equality at the most basic level. Then he waved his hand and said, "It's just for laughs. Don't take it seriously." He also said that others might find the practice offensive, irreverent, or even sacrilegious, but on the contrary, these high-profile individuals feel honoured to have their very own caganer characters. "Trust me," he assured us, "this certifies that they have attained a certain level of prominence to be granted this unique recognition." I am not so sure about that. But if I were a celebrity, I would just shrug my shoulders and relish the "fame." Hahaha!
This toilet humour seems to have stretched even into the fictional world, too. I saw characters from Star Wars, Sponge Bob, Marvel Comics, Disney, and popular video games in the same comical pose. I wonder if one day, they'd make personalized ones for ordinary people upon request. That would be an interesting souvenir to take home indeed...and perhaps, a perfect decoration for our bathrooms. Imagine a family (your own) of caganers lined up on your toilet tank! Hilarious!
I must say, I may need more time in Barcelona to truly understand this unique expression of Catalan humour.
Photo Credits:
atlasobscura.com, mythcrafts.com, barcelonaexperience.com, agora.xtec.cat, Canaan (Wikimedia), serranoguerra.wordpress.com, amusingplanet.com, dailyartmagazine.com
Comments