13. bis 16. Februar 2023, Goethe-Universität Frankfurt

Focusing on the literary, cultural, and theological translation processes inherent to the evangelizing strategies of Christians, the conference highlights the role of missionary encounters in intercultural exchange. It explores the varied responses of those whom Christians attempted to missionize, in order to expose more nuanced dynamics of such interfaith interactions.

Missionizing is widely perceived as a form of oppressive power relations: one side is active and hegemonic, while the other is either passive and submissive or entirely oppositional. Recent scholars of religion have begun to expose a more nuanced dynamic, revealing the impact of space and polycentricity on missionary Christianities and highlighting the role of missionary encounters in intercultural exchange, including, among other things, how missionizing affected knowledge transfer. The varied responses of the religious other in this relationship, beyond conversion, have yet to receive sufficient scholarly attention. Our workshop pursues this burgeoning line of inquiry, focusing on the literary, cultural, and theological translation processes inherent to the evangelizing strategies of Christian missionaries and taking into account the agency of those whom Christians attempted to missionize. The aim of the conference is to investigate the manifold ramifications of these translational encounters, from agreement and conversion to conflict and rejection, changing strategies on both sides, religious syncretism, and cultural productivity.

Veranstalter

Rebekka Voß (Frankfurt), Birgit Emich (Frankfurt), Antje Flüchter (Bielefeld)

DFG: SPP 2130 „Early Modern Translation Cultures“ and Research Group „Polycentricity and Plurality of Premodern Christianities“