| FA-52068-05 | Research Programs: Fellowships for University Teachers | Daniel Reff | Jesuit Narratives of Otherness and the Jesuit-Orchestrated Tour of Europe by Japanese Samurai (1584-1585) | 4/1/2005 - 3/31/2006 | $40,000.00 | Daniel | | Reff | | | | Ohio State University | Columbus | OH | 43210-1349 | USA | 2004 | Anthropology | Fellowships for University Teachers | Research Programs | 40000 | 0 | 40000 | 0 |
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. |