Deadline extension for articles for the dossier "Voices, Echoes, and Silences in Colonial American History: Jesuit Missions as a Methodological Pretext for Investigation (17th-18th Centuries)"

Call for papers: Voices, Echoes, and Silences in Colonial American History: Jesuit Missions as a Methodological Pretext for Investigation (17th-18th Centuries)

 Deadline for submissions (full articles): 17/09/2023

The reductions implemented by the Jesuits in America during the 17th and 18th centuries can be considered a kaleidoscope that allows for the exploration of a wide range of topics, including issues that extend beyond the indigenous world. Effectively, through the study of religious “missions”, we can shed light on various aspects of colonial society, of which the missions were only a part. In fact, the narratives composed by the Jesuits, or by those who wrote about them, provide insights into the entire colonial society, with some praising their pedagogical and apostolic work, while others criticize their actions.

Based on this premise, we can agree that the events described in the extensive body of documents generated in (and from) the reductions are diverse. These events are distinguished in these sources, depending on their significance for each sector of colonial society, and how they were connected to or affected by the Jesuit missions, whether direct or indirect.

Considering one or several of these events - such as the capture of people, territorial and resource disputes, the circulation of goods and objects, or others - from perspectives that contrast with each other and are typical of the argumentative logic proposed by archival documentation, proves useful for advancing the studies and approaches undertaken in Colonial American History, with its connections to Modern History. By adopting this analytical stance, it becomes possible to reconstruct a dialogue that presents the sometimes discordant voices of the same actor, who presents himself differently before different mechanisms of colonial power. For instance, we can examine how certain indigenous groups, who considered themselves allies on one frontier, functioned as enemies on another, even altering their position in relation to the same apparatus of domination. This aspect can also be explored in relation to the categories used to identify different sectors of colonial society.

We invite authors whose works align with the proposed theme to contribute to this dossier, in order to expand reflections on Colonial American History by starting from the Jesuit missions and their associated corpus of documents. These contributions will help contemporaneously update our understanding of this field of study.