'Harvest of souls' : tropes of transformation and domination in the Jesuit relations
An analysis of the discourse in the Jesuit Relations indicates that the Jesuits' representation of Huron and Montagnais Indians is informed by a colonial ideology. The Jesuits' attempt to identify Indians according to permanent customs and manners is compared to conventional ethnographic d...
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McGill University
1991
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ftcanadathes:oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.60617 2023-05-15T17:13:11+02:00 'Harvest of souls' : tropes of transformation and domination in the Jesuit relations Blackburn, Carole Master of Arts (Department of Anthropology.) 1991 application/pdf http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=60617 en eng McGill University alephsysno: 001258321 proquestno: AAIMM72232 Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=60617 All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. Huron Indians -- Missions Montagnais Indians -- Missions Jesuits -- Missions -- Québec (Province) Electronic Thesis or Dissertation 1991 ftcanadathes 2014-02-16T01:07:16Z An analysis of the discourse in the Jesuit Relations indicates that the Jesuits' representation of Huron and Montagnais Indians is informed by a colonial ideology. The Jesuits' attempt to identify Indians according to permanent customs and manners is compared to conventional ethnographic description and is shown to result in a reductive, essentializing discourse. In their elaboration of the category of 'savagery' Jesuits metaphorically equated Indians with wild animals. They then stressed the need for reclaiming the Indians' humanity through conversion to Christianity. The Jesuits' figuration of the spiritual realm as a territory to be subdued and conquered is discussed, and the language of conversion is revealed as a language of control and conquest. It is finally argued that Jesuit representations of Indians functioned as an instrument of colonial domination. The analysis points to the need for decolonization of textual and historical spaces dominated by Eurocolonial discourses. Thesis montagnais Theses Canada/Thèses Canada (Library and Archives Canada) |
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Open Polar |
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Theses Canada/Thèses Canada (Library and Archives Canada) |
op_collection_id |
ftcanadathes |
language |
English |
topic |
Huron Indians -- Missions Montagnais Indians -- Missions Jesuits -- Missions -- Québec (Province) |
spellingShingle |
Huron Indians -- Missions Montagnais Indians -- Missions Jesuits -- Missions -- Québec (Province) Blackburn, Carole 'Harvest of souls' : tropes of transformation and domination in the Jesuit relations |
topic_facet |
Huron Indians -- Missions Montagnais Indians -- Missions Jesuits -- Missions -- Québec (Province) |
description |
An analysis of the discourse in the Jesuit Relations indicates that the Jesuits' representation of Huron and Montagnais Indians is informed by a colonial ideology. The Jesuits' attempt to identify Indians according to permanent customs and manners is compared to conventional ethnographic description and is shown to result in a reductive, essentializing discourse. In their elaboration of the category of 'savagery' Jesuits metaphorically equated Indians with wild animals. They then stressed the need for reclaiming the Indians' humanity through conversion to Christianity. The Jesuits' figuration of the spiritual realm as a territory to be subdued and conquered is discussed, and the language of conversion is revealed as a language of control and conquest. It is finally argued that Jesuit representations of Indians functioned as an instrument of colonial domination. The analysis points to the need for decolonization of textual and historical spaces dominated by Eurocolonial discourses. |
format |
Thesis |
author |
Blackburn, Carole |
author_facet |
Blackburn, Carole |
author_sort |
Blackburn, Carole |
title |
'Harvest of souls' : tropes of transformation and domination in the Jesuit relations |
title_short |
'Harvest of souls' : tropes of transformation and domination in the Jesuit relations |
title_full |
'Harvest of souls' : tropes of transformation and domination in the Jesuit relations |
title_fullStr |
'Harvest of souls' : tropes of transformation and domination in the Jesuit relations |
title_full_unstemmed |
'Harvest of souls' : tropes of transformation and domination in the Jesuit relations |
title_sort |
'harvest of souls' : tropes of transformation and domination in the jesuit relations |
publisher |
McGill University |
publishDate |
1991 |
url |
http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=60617 |
op_coverage |
Master of Arts (Department of Anthropology.) |
genre |
montagnais |
genre_facet |
montagnais |
op_relation |
alephsysno: 001258321 proquestno: AAIMM72232 Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=60617 |
op_rights |
All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
_version_ |
1766070111704186880 |