220040 Catholicism as a global phenomenon? Confessionalization, counter reformation, evangelization (K) (SoSe 2019)

The course challenges the master narrative of a homogenous, ethnocentric Catholicism and it offers a counter-representation as a constantly changing transcultural phenomenon. Indeed the goal of the course is to understand Catholicism trough an overside perspective: we will trace the main dynamics of Early Modern Catholicism focusing on the peripheries of missionary contexts, the boundaries and the ‘contact zone’ of transcultural identity. Starting with cross-section of the global flows, the cultural encounters, the rise of imperialism and nationalisms, during Early Modern Age, we will connect these historical factors with Catholic phenomena: the Tridentine Catholicism, the Catholic reform, Confessionalization and Evangelization. We will investigate the political hierarchical structure of the 16-17th century Catholic Church and its elaborated system of ruling the “Global Catholicism”: missions, religious orders and congregations. In a map of ‘connected history’ we will follow the routes of the missionaries around the globe tracing a texture of connection, interconnection and disconnection. What was the shape of Catholicism in the peripheries of the missionary context? Focusing on a case study of Jesuit mission in South India we will explore the practice of accommodation to the local context, the cultural negotiation and translation, the adoption of local languages and transcultural missionary life. Finally we will uncover the role played by the peripheries in leading the renewal to the center, in writing the Catholic Church history and shaping a multifaceted Catholicism.