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The Jesuit Missions of Paraguay and a Cultural History of Utopia (1568–1789) explores the religious foundations of the Jesuit missions in Paraguay, and the discussion of the missionary experience in the public opinion of early modern Europe, from Montaigne to Diderot. This book presents a wealth of documentation to highlight three key aspects of this debate: the relationship between civilisation and religion, between religion and political imagination, and between utopia and history. Girolamo Imbruglia's analysis of the Jesuits' own narrative reveals that the idea and the practice of mission have been one of the essential features of the European identity, and of the shaping modern political thought.
Price: $192.00
Pages: 324
Publisher: Brill
Imprint: Brill
Series: Studies in Christian Mission
Publication Date:
01 September 2017
ISBN: 9789004350595
Format: Hardcover
"This is an excellent and well-read piece of thinking, and an interesting approach to the longue durée of belief and practice." Sarah Barber, in: Journal of Ecclesiastical History Volume 70 (2019).
"The invaluable contribution of Imbruglia’s monograph is obvious: While the numerous tracts, reports and pamphlets about the Jesuit missions in Paraguay were used until recently only as arsenals for isolated pro-Jesuit or anti-Jesuit arguments, Imbruglia has instead analysed them as part of a dialogue which reaches far beyond mission history, deep inside the history of the underlying ideas that informed it. Paraguay has once more moved closer to Europe." - Fabian Fechner, Fernuniversität, Hagen, in: Archivum Historicum Societatis Iesu Volume LXXXVII.174, 2018-II, pp. 517-518.
"The concept of utopia belongs to a very long tradition, and the Christian and civic humanist—not only Platonic but also Ciceronian—contexts would have benefited from a more in-depth exploration. This of course does not deny the impressive contribution of this book in correcting the tendency in the historiography to ignore the broader horizons of European political thought; it is a valuable addition for anyone interested in the history of the Jesuit missions and ideal-society tropes." - Catherine Ballériaux, Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg, in: Renaissance Quarterly Volume LXXII.1, pp. 317-318.
"The invaluable contribution of Imbruglia’s monograph is obvious: While the numerous tracts, reports and pamphlets about the Jesuit missions in Paraguay were used until recently only as arsenals for isolated pro-Jesuit or anti-Jesuit arguments, Imbruglia has instead analysed them as part of a dialogue which reaches far beyond mission history, deep inside the history of the underlying ideas that informed it. Paraguay has once more moved closer to Europe." - Fabian Fechner, Fernuniversität, Hagen, in: Archivum Historicum Societatis Iesu Volume LXXXVII.174, 2018-II, pp. 517-518.
"The concept of utopia belongs to a very long tradition, and the Christian and civic humanist—not only Platonic but also Ciceronian—contexts would have benefited from a more in-depth exploration. This of course does not deny the impressive contribution of this book in correcting the tendency in the historiography to ignore the broader horizons of European political thought; it is a valuable addition for anyone interested in the history of the Jesuit missions and ideal-society tropes." - Catherine Ballériaux, Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg, in: Renaissance Quarterly Volume LXXII.1, pp. 317-318.
Girolamo Imbruglia, is professor of Modern History at the University of Naples “l’Orientale”. He has published monographs, and many articles on history of historiography, the European culture of the Enlightenment and the history of the Society of Jesus.