Jesuit Narratives of Otherness and the Jesuit-Orchestrated Tour of Europe by Japanese Samurai (1584-1585)

FAIN: FA-52068-05

Daniel Reff
Ohio State University (Columbus, OH 43210-1349)

In 1584 the highest-ranking Jesuit superior in the orient, Alessandro Valignano, directed a long-time missionary, Luis Frois, to draft a systematic comparison of Japanese and European cultures. Valignano intended Frois’ comparative treatise or TRATADO as additional reading for Catholic elites whose curiosity was aroused by their audiences with a Jesuit-led delegation of Japanese converts who "toured" Europe in 1584-85. The applicant will write a book that 1) details the form and content of both Frois’ TRATADO and the "tour" of Japanese converts, and 2) clarifies the various contingencies (e.g. historical, theological, literary, institutional/political) that governed Jesuit constructions of and performances of Japanese identity.

Associated Products

The First European Description of Japan, 1585 (Book)
Title: The First European Description of Japan, 1585
Author: Daniel T. Reff
Author: Richard K. Danford
Author: Robin D. Gill
Editor: Reff
Editor: Danford
Editor: Gill
Abstract: Critical English language edition of Striking Contrasts in the Customs of Europe and Japan, by Luis Frois, S.J. (1585). Translated from the Portuguese original and edited and annotated by R.K Danford, R.D. Gill, and D.T. Reff. With Critical Introduction by Daniel T. Reff
Year: 2014
Publisher: Routledge
Type: Scholarly Edition
ISBN: ISBN-10: 04157
Translator: Reff
Translator: Danford
Translator: Gill
Copy sent to NEH?: Yes

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