Writing Tamil Catholicism : literature, persuasion and devotion in the eighteenth century

Author(s)

• Trento, Margherita

Bibliographic Information

Writing Tamil Catholicism : literature, persuasion and devotion in the eighteenth century

by Margherita Trento

（Philological Encounters Monographs, v. 3）

Brill, c2022

• : hbk

Note

Includes bibliographical references (p. [309]-350) and index

Description and Table of Contents

Description

In Writing Tamil Catholicism: Literature, Persuasion and Devotion in the Eighteenth Century, Margherita Trento explores the process by which the Jesuit missionary Costanzo Giuseppe Beschi (1680-1747), in collaboration with a group of local lay elites identified by their profession as catechists, chose Tamil poetry as the social and political language of Catholicism in eighteenth-century South India. Trento analyzes a corpus of Tamil grammars and poems, chiefly Beschi's Tempavani, alongside archival documents to show how, by presenting themselves as poets and intellectuals, Catholic elites gained a persuasive voice as well as entrance into the learned society of the Tamil country and its networks of patronage. This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No 840879.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments List of Figures Abbreviations Notes to Translation and Transliteration Introduction: Catholic Literary Practices in Eighteenth-Century South India 1 Genealogies of Tamil Catholicism 2 Microstoria and the Global in the Local 3 The Beginnings of Catholic Literature in Tamil 4 The Making of an Archive 5 Chapter Outline and Threads across the Chapters Part 1 Spiritual Institutions 1 Spiritual Exercises for Tamil Saints 1 Being a Catechist: Preaching and Literature 2 Being a Catechist: Caste and Profession 3 Bringing the Spiritual Exercises to the Mission 4 Spiritual Retreats between Italy and India 5 Missionary Strategies and Tamil Locations 2 Tamil Manuals for Catholic Selves 1 Creating a Catholic Self: The Nanamuyarci 2 Disciplining the Catholic Self: The Vetiyarolukkam 3 The Dangers of a Self in Transition 4 The Catholic Self and Its Other: The Vetavilakkam 5 Conclusions: Catholic Selves, Dangers and Discipline Part 2 Rhetorical Education 3 Catholic Poetics and Politics of Space 1 Jesuit Humanism and Devotion 2 Kaveri Delta Politics 3 A Mirror for a Tamil Christian King 4 The Elakkuricci School of Rhetoric 5 Elakkuricci as a Christian Matam 4 A Tamil Grammar of Persuasion 1 A Textbook of (Christian) Tamil: The Tonnulvilakkam 2 Amplificatio as Porul 3 The Grammar of Society 4 Ignorant Enemies 5 Conclusions: Tamil Poetry and the Grammar of Persuasion Part 3 Catholic Poetry in a Tamil World 5 Writing for Eighteenth-Century Catechists 1 Christian Epic and Tamil Perunkappiyam 2 Worldly Publics, Divine Patrons 3 Angelic Time and the Relocation of Devotion 4 Tamil Demons and Christian Wonder 5 Staged Conversions 6 Reading as an Eighteenth-Century Catechist 1 Paper and Palm-Leaf Trails 2 Catechist Dynasties 3 Saiva Neighbors and Rivals 4 Towards the Colonial Archive 5 Conclusions: Catholic Lay Identities in the Longue duree Conclusions Bibliography Index

by "Nielsen BookData"

Details

• NCID: BC13277774
• ISBN:
  • 9789004511613
• LCCN: 2021061934
• Country Code: ne
• Title Language Code: eng
• Text Language Code: eng
• Place of Publication: Leiden
• Pages/Volumes: xiii, 355 p.
• Size: 24 cm
• Classification:
  • LCC : PL4758.2
  • DC23 : 894.81113093823
• Subject Headings:
  • LCSH : Beschi, Costantino Giuseppe, 1680-1747
  • LCSH : Catholic Church -- In literature
  • LCSH : Christian poetry, Tamil -- History and criticism
  • LCSH : Tamil poetry -- 18th century -- History and criticism
  • LCSH : Tamil poetry -- Catholic authors
  • LCSH : Religion and literature
  • LCSH : Beschi, Costantino Giuseppe, 1680-1747 -- Criticism and interpretation
  • LCSH : Beschi, Costantino Giuseppe, 1680-1747 Tēmpāvaṇi
• Parent Bibliography ID:
  • BD00501635