Travel and Ethnology in the Renaissance: South India through European Eyes, 1250–1625

ISBN-13: 9780521770552 / Angielski / Twarda / 2001 / 470 str.

Joan-Pau Rubiés (London School of Economics and Political Sc

Opis

This book is a major contribution to the study of the encounter between Europeans and non-Europeans in the early modern period and to a neglected aspect of the cultural transformation of Europe throughout the Renaissance. Focusing on European travelers in India and their analysis of Hindu society, politics and religion, it also offers a detailed and systematic study of the variety of travel narratives describing South India from the thirteenth to the seventeenth centuries. In addition, the book proposes a novel approach to the study of European attitudes toward non-Europeans.

Recenzje

'… deep and thought-provoking …' E-Journal of Portuguese History

Spis treści

Preface; 1. The search for India: the empire of Vijayanagara through European eyes; 2. Marco Polo's India and the Latin Christian tradition; 3. Establishing lay science: the merchant and the humanist; 4. The Portuguese and Vijayanagara: politics, religion and classification; 5. The practice of ethnography: Indian customs and castes; 6. The social and political order: Vijayanagara decoded; 7. The historical dimension: from native traditions to European orientalism; 8. The missionary discovery of South Indian religion: opening the doors of idolatry; 9. From humanism to scepticism: the independent traveller in the seventeenth century; 10. Conclusion: before orientalism; Appendix; Bibliography.