Skip to Main Content

The Unconverted Self: Jews, Indians, and the Identity of Christian Europe

Online ISBN:
9780226069142
Print ISBN:
9780226069197
Publisher:
University of Chicago Press
Book

The Unconverted Self: Jews, Indians, and the Identity of Christian Europe

Published online:
21 March 2013
Published in print:
15 December 2009
Online ISBN:
9780226069142
Print ISBN:
9780226069197
Publisher:
University of Chicago Press

Abstract

Europe's formative encounter with its “others” is still widely assumed to have come with its discovery of the peoples of the New World. But, as the book argues, long before 1492 Christian Europe imagined itself in distinction to the Jewish difference within. The presence and image of Jews in Europe afforded the Christian majority a foil against which it could refine and maintain its own identity. In fundamental ways this experience, along with the ongoing contest between Christianity and Islam, shaped the rhetoric, attitudes, and policies of Christian colonizers in the New World. This book proposes that questions of difference inside Christian Europe not only are inseparable from the painful legacy of colonialism, but also reveal Christian domination to be a fragile construct. It compares the Christian efforts aimed toward European Jews and toward indigenous peoples of the New World, bringing into focus the intersection of colonial expansion with the Inquisition and adding significant nuance to the entire question of the colonial encounter. Revealing the crucial tension between the Jews as “others within,” and the Indians as “others without,” this book is a major reassessment of early modern European identity.

Contents
Close
This Feature Is Available To Subscribers Only

Sign In or Create an Account

Close

This PDF is available to Subscribers Only

View Article Abstract & Purchase Options

For full access to this pdf, sign in to an existing account, or purchase an annual subscription.

Close