| Course title | Early Modern Evangelization Mission in China |
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| Course code | KRS/MISIE |
| Organizational form of instruction | Lecture + Seminar |
| Level of course | Master |
| Year of study | not specified |
| Semester | Winter and summer |
| Number of ECTS credits | 4 |
| Language of instruction | Czech |
| Status of course | Compulsory-optional |
| Form of instruction | Face-to-face |
| Work placements | This is not an internship |
| Recommended optional programme components | None |
| Lecturer(s) |
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| Course content |
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The course will cover the following thematic areas: 1. Introduction: the phenomenon of missions in general, including their historical and thematic framing; definition of key concepts; the relationship between secular and ecclesiastical power; the Treaty of Tordesillas and the division of the world, including Spanish and Portuguese royal patronage; the broader historical context (the discovery of the New World and the conquest, and the evangelisation process in Latin America); colonisation and missions in the New World (Latin America). 2. The "Middle Kingdom" and the phenomenon of Christian missions: historical context (China under the Ming and Qing dynasties); the chronological framework of the evangelisation process and the history of Catholic Christianity in China; early penetration into China through Portuguese and Spanish initiatives; the beginnings of missionary activity; phases of the evangelisation process, including its successes, failures, and obstacles; Franciscan missions; the Jesuits; other orders (Dominicans, Augustinians, the Paris Foreign Missions Society); Catholic missions at the turn of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. 3. The justification of evangelisation and colonisation: theological and historical foundations of missions and evangelising efforts; symbolic dimensions of the colonising and evangelising process; the defence of the conquest in the New World; colonisation and the defence of the indigenous peoples of the Americas; theological justifications of the conquest (natural lawjus naturaleand the School of Salamanca); the justification of war against non-Christians; the pursuit of the salvation of non-believers; the concept of the "spiritual conquest"; Propaganda Fide. 4. The phenomenon of the "encounter with otherness" as a theoretical and methodological model: multiple perspectives (historical, philosophical, literary, anthropological, sociological, psychological); intercultural dialogue and cultural exchange as possible models; reflection on cultural transfer, including processes of active receptioncreative transformation, adaptation, and also misunderstanding (e.g. adaptation, domestication, decontextualisation, and recontextualisation); transcultural translation; inculturation. 5. The search for the Other: reality, image, and representation. Discursive and visual constructions of "America"; the topos of Paradise and its transformations (the ideal city, the lost paradise, the dream of order); the American utopia; iconography and visual representation; imagology; Theodor de Bry. Chinaits image and representation in the late sixteenth and seventeenth centuries: discursive constructions shaped by myth, fantasy, reality, as well as desire, truth, and propaganda; the Hispanic and Portuguese perspectives (the "Hispanic paradigm") and the Jesuit perspective (the "Jesuit paradigm"); key texts (travel accounts, missionary reports, correspondencelitterae annuae); Gaspar da Cruz, Juan González de Mendoza, Daniello Bartoli, Athanasius Kircher; iconography and visual representation. The visual image of China: curiositas, exoticism, cabinets of curiosities, and chinoiserie; the reception of Chinese thought and philosophy in Europe and the beginnings of sinology; missionaries and the emergence of cultural anthropology. 6. The search for method: evangelisation strategies in Latin America and in Asia; the JesuitsAlessandro Valignano and Matteo Ricciand the key principles of accommodation and its later development; interpretation of these phenomena through the lens of the encounter with otherness. 7. Case study: Jesuit correspondencewhat do documents written by missionaries themselves reveal about early modern evangelisation?
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| Learning activities and teaching methods |
Monologic Lecture(Interpretation, Training), Dialogic Lecture (Discussion, Dialog, Brainstorming), Methods of Written Work, Group work
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| Learning outcomes |
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This interdisciplinary elective course aims to introduce students to the history and key issues surrounding the spread of Christianity in China and Latin America during the early modern period (approximately up to the end of the seventeenth century). It therefore extends beyond a narrow focus on the history of missions to explore their broader cultural, social, and religious contexts, together with their principal theological foundations. The topic will be approached through the perspective of the "encounter with the Other," in order to examine the nature of the evangelisation process within specific civilisational and spiritual settings, as well as the consequences of the encounter between two cultures that differ profoundly in many respects
This interdisciplinary elective course aims to introduce students to the history and key issues surrounding the spread of Christianity in China and Latin America during the early modern period (approximately up to the end of the seventeenth century). It therefore extends beyond a narrow focus on the history of missions to explore their broader cultural, social, and religious contexts, together with their principal theological foundations. The topic will be approached through the perspective of the "encounter with the Other," in order to examine the nature of the evangelisation process within specific civilisational and spiritual settings, as well as the consequences of the encounter between two cultures that differ profoundly in many respects. |
| Prerequisites |
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None.
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| Assessment methods and criteria |
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Seminar Work
Seminar paper. Oral presentation in class. |
| Recommended literature |
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| Study plans that include the course |
| Faculty | Study plan (Version) | Category of Branch/Specialization | Recommended semester | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Faculty: Faculty of Arts | Study plan (Version): Asian Studies (2019) | Category: Philological sciences | - | Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: - |
| Faculty: Faculty of Arts | Study plan (Version): Chinese Studies (2019) | Category: Philological sciences | - | Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: - |
| Faculty: Faculty of Arts | Study plan (Version): Asian Studies, Specialization Japanese Language and Culture (2019) | Category: Philological sciences | - | Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: - |
| Faculty: Faculty of Arts | Study plan (Version): Asian Studies, Specialization Vietnamese Language and Culture (2019) | Category: Philological sciences | - | Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: - |
| Faculty: Faculty of Arts | Study plan (Version): Chinese Studies (2023) | Category: Philological sciences | - | Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: - |
| Faculty: Faculty of Arts | Study plan (Version): Chinese Studies (2019) | Category: Philological sciences | - | Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: - |
| Faculty: Faculty of Arts | Study plan (Version): Chinese Studies (2023) | Category: Philological sciences | - | Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: - |
| Faculty: Faculty of Arts | Study plan (Version): Chinese Studies (2023) | Category: Philological sciences | - | Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: - |
| Faculty: Faculty of Arts | Study plan (Version): Asian Studies, Specialization Indonesian Language and Culture (2019) | Category: Philological sciences | - | Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: - |
| Faculty: Faculty of Arts | Study plan (Version): Spanish Philology (2019) | Category: Philological sciences | - | Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: - |
| Faculty: Faculty of Arts | Study plan (Version): Asian Studies, Specialization Chinese Language and Culture (2019) | Category: Philological sciences | - | Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: - |
| Faculty: Faculty of Arts | Study plan (Version): Chinese Studies (2019) | Category: Philological sciences | - | Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: - |
| Faculty: Faculty of Arts | Study plan (Version): Spanish Language with focus on Latin America (2019) | Category: Philological sciences | - | Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: - |
| Faculty: Faculty of Arts | Study plan (Version): Asian Studies, Specialization Korean Language and Culture (2019) | Category: Philological sciences | - | Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: - |
| Faculty: Faculty of Arts | Study plan (Version): Chinese Studies (2023) | Category: Philological sciences | - | Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: - |
| Faculty: Faculty of Arts | Study plan (Version): Chinese Studies (2019) | Category: Philological sciences | - | Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: - |