Mediterranean Diasporas. Settlements of Religious Minorities in Exile
(16th - 18th centuries)
Call for papers
Deadlines:
- Proposals with a 250 words ABSTRACT until 2nd Abril 2023.
- Article submissions 31st July 2023.
Language: English or French
Journal: Diasporas. Circulations, migrations, history (June 2024)
info: bruno.pomara@uv.es
The voluntary exile and forced diaspora of hundreds of thousands of people
belonging to different ethnic-religious groups (Moriscos, Sephardim,
Marranos, Greeks, Albanians, to name but a few) as a result of civil and
inquisitorial persecutions, as well as religious wars, characterize the
landscape of this area and this era with unprecedented dimensions in
comparison with its past. As Yosef Kaplan stated, the religious refugee is
a global mass phenomenon of the Early Modern Age and one of its formative
factors in European culture.
While it is true that many individuals from persecuted ethnic groups do
not practice religion, or do it with a low profile, it is unavoidable
that, due to their origin, they are pulled into the diasporic maelstrom of
their own group. As Nicholas Terpstra has masterfully explained, this
happens because the purification of society, an idea and practice typical
of early modernity, implies the eradication of impure elements considered
potentially hostile due to their ancestral diversity. Bound by the memory
of persecution and attachment to their homeland, real or dreamed, these
groups often maintain an exclusive endogamous circulation of information,
and even goods, which allow for a certain socio-cultural integrity of the
community. To survive and assert themselves, however, these communities
were obliged to keep complex relations with both the authorities and the
local populations.
If, on the one side, there is a government that expels or a majority
society that forces people to leave, on the other side, there are rulers
who organize hastily improvised hospitality and other who do plan it.
Ironically, while diaspora implies dispersion, in colonization projects
the authorities aim to hold or rebuild a certain group unity in order to
shape and consolidate the settlement.
These large-scale group movements have given rise to new social
geographies. It is indeed significant that in normal times government
authorities often tolerate or encourage certain rhetoric against
foreigners and religious minorities. However, when it is time for
welcoming them for economic and political benefits, silence falls. Not all
these settlements, whether individual or group, forced, spontaneous or
organized, were consolidated over time, though many were.
Through this proposal, we pretend to draw two thematic issues on:
- a colonization project, spontaneous or planned, not
necessarily successful, but a testing ground of social coexistence between
denizens of different origins which offers opportunities for the
visibility of migrants, despite religious divergences.
- the mechanisms of negotiation between refugees and local
authorities that favor settlements in urban or rural settings.
The case studies that we are looking for will tie different religious
ethnic groups (Christians, Jews, and Muslims, at least), geographic spaces
(with the idea of a broad Mediterranean), and centuries (16th-18th).
Scholars who want to submit a proposal may send an e-mail with
an abstract of 250 words max. to bruno.pomara@uv.es until next 2nd Abril
2023. The issue will be published on the on-line open access peer-reviewed
journal Diasporas. Circulations, migrations, history, n. 43, June 2024-1
(https://journals.openedition.org/diasporas/). Article submissions are
scheduled by 31st July 2023. They can be delivered in English or French.
Please, note that non-native speakers’ papers must be translated or edited
by a professional mother tongue speaker at the author’s expenses.
Nombre del remitente Bruno Pomara
Email: bruno.pomara@uv.es
Bruno Pomara
Professor in Early Modern History, PhD
Facultat de Geografia i Història
Departament d'Història Moderna i Contemporània
Universitat de València
Avda. Blasco Ibañez, 23
46010 València
https://uv.academia.edu/BrunoPomaraSaverino
Call for papers Mediterranean Diasporas. Settlements of Religious Minorities in Exile (16th - 18th centuries)
Deadlines:
- Proposals with a 250 words ABSTRACT until 2nd Abril 2023.
- Article submissions 31st July 2023.
Language: English or French
Journal: Diasporas. Circulations, migrations, history (June 2024)
info: bruno.pomara@uv.es
The voluntary exile and forced diaspora of hundreds of thousands of people belonging to different ethnic-religious groups (Moriscos, Sephardim, Marranos, Greeks, Albanians,
to name but a few) as a result of civil and inquisitorial persecutions, as well as religious wars, characterize the landscape of this area and this era with unprecedented dimensions in comparison with its past. As Yosef Kaplan stated, the religious refugee
is a global mass phenomenon of the Early Modern Age and one of its formative factors in European culture.
While it is true that many individuals from persecuted ethnic groups do not practice religion, or do it with a low profile, it is unavoidable that, due to their origin,
they are pulled into the diasporic maelstrom of their own group. As Nicholas Terpstra has masterfully explained, this happens because the purification of society, an idea and practice typical of early modernity, implies the eradication of impure elements considered
potentially hostile due to their ancestral diversity. Bound by the memory of persecution and attachment to their homeland, real or dreamed, these groups often maintain an exclusive endogamous circulation of information, and even goods, which allow for a certain
socio-cultural integrity of the community. To survive and assert themselves, however, these communities were obliged to keep complex relations with both the authorities and the local populations.
If, on the one side, there is a government that expels or a majority society that forces people to leave, on the other side, there are rulers who organize hastily improvised
hospitality and other who do plan it. Ironically, while diaspora implies dispersion, in colonization projects the authorities aim to hold or rebuild a certain group unity in order to shape and consolidate the settlement.
These large-scale group movements have given rise to new social geographies. It is indeed significant that in normal times government authorities often tolerate or encourage
certain rhetoric against foreigners and religious minorities. However, when it is time for welcoming them for economic and political benefits, silence falls. Not all these settlements, whether individual or group, forced, spontaneous or organized, were consolidated
over time, though many were.
Through this proposal, we pretend to draw two thematic issues on:
- a colonization project, spontaneous or planned, not necessarily successful, but a testing ground of social coexistence between denizens of different origins
which offers opportunities for the visibility of migrants, despite religious divergences.
- the mechanisms of negotiation between refugees and local authorities that favor settlements in urban or rural settings.
The case studies that we are looking for will tie different religious ethnic groups (Christians, Jews, and Muslims, at least), geographic spaces (with the idea of a broad
Mediterranean), and centuries (16th-18th).
Scholars who want to submit a proposal may send an e-mail with an abstract of 250 words max. to bruno.pomara@uv.es until next 2nd Abril 2023. The issue will
be published on the on-line open access peer-reviewed journal Diasporas. Circulations, migrations, history, n. 43, June 2024-1 (https://journals.openedition.org/diasporas/). Article submissions are scheduled by 31st July 2023. They can be delivered in English
or French. Please, note that non-native speakers? papers must be translated or edited by a professional mother tongue speaker at the author?s expenses.
Nombre del remitente Bruno Pomara
Email: bruno.pomara@uv.es
Bruno Pomara
Professor in Early Modern History, PhD
Facultat de Geografia i Història
Departament d'Història Moderna i Contemporània
Universitat de València
Avda. Blasco Ibañez, 23
46010 València
https://uv.academia.edu/BrunoPomaraSaverino