Filiation as a Crossroads in Bahia

This is a short essay arguing for a new comparative definition to the central analytic concept of filiation. Not only is the word used with different meanings in French and English, but it also bears in its use complex ideological implications that need to be unearthed. By using the example of a sermon heard in Bahia (NE Brazil) given by a woman who had no father, the paper proposes a view on filiation that depends on the notions of participation and personal ontogeny.