To Rid the Italian Soul of One Dark Blot: Recognising Race in White Christian Religion

This article describes white Christian missionary uses of racial imagery for assimilating early twentieth-century immigrants into U.S. society. In early twentieth-century America, white Methodist missionaries sought to convert Italian immigrants from so-called “pagans” to “one hundred percent Americ...

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Détails bibliographiques
Auteur principal: Evans, David F. (Auteur)
Type de support: Électronique Article
Langue:Anglais
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Publié: Wiley-Blackwell [2015]
Dans: Journal of religious history
Année: 2015, Volume: 39, Numéro: 3, Pages: 370-385
Accès en ligne: Volltext (Verlag)
Volltext (doi)
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Résumé:This article describes white Christian missionary uses of racial imagery for assimilating early twentieth-century immigrants into U.S. society. In early twentieth-century America, white Methodist missionaries sought to convert Italian immigrants from so-called “pagans” to “one hundred percent Americans” by distancing them from racial darkness. In their attempt to convert the objects of their evangelism, Methodists syncretised secular marketing and metaphorical images and trained their audiences in a racial conversion narrative. In spite of their effort to combat the racial limitations of perceived Italian darkness, missionaries' use of darkness and light metaphors in conversion narratives reinscribed a racial Manichean dualism in their missionary practices and publications.
ISSN:1467-9809
Contient:Enthalten in: Journal of religious history
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1111/1467-9809.12161