Overview

This book presents an early modern Jesuit attitude towards Hindu and Ethiopian strains of asceticism. The Jesuits’ descriptions of both the yogis and the Ethiopian renunciates were marked by ambivalence. While critical of these ascetics, the missionaries also pointed out admirable facets of their comportment. In both the Society of Jesus’ positive and negative impressions, there are glaring ethnocentric views that shift the spotlight onto the other’s flaws. Like many historical cases, these perceptions evolved into a sort of inverted mirror image of the self that revealed differences between the European Catholic and the native renunciate.

Full Product Details

9789004538559

Table of Contents

Reviews

Author Information

Leonardo Cohen, Ph.D. (2007, University of Haifa) is Professor at the Department of Middle East at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. He has published articles on the history of the Jesuit mission in Ethiopia, and the book The Missionary Strategies of the Jesuits of Ethiopia (1555–1632) (Harrassowitz Verlag, 2009).

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available