Keywords
Jesuits
Japan
História de Japam
rhetoric
missionary
intertextuality
Luís Fróis
Jesuítas
Japón
História de Japam
retórica
misionero
intertextualidad
How to Cite
Abstract
This paper considers Portuguese Jesuit Luís Fróis (1532-1597) and his magnum opus the 5 volumes História de Japam, the first of the histories of the Jesuit mission in the archipelago by authors who took part in the evangelization of this country. Through close reading of this text and comparing it to fellow missionaries’ letters as well as Fróis own previous letters, the História is analysed. Following the advice of the pioneer of the mission, Francis Xavier (1506-52), anything unedifying was omitted from the missives and the missionaries’ letters from Japan continued to focus on the success of the mission, avoiding to mention the negative issues. In doing so the image of the mission was glossy which led to mission leaders such as Visitor Alessandro Valignano (1539-1606) and Superior of Japan, Francisco Cabral (c.1533-1609), to complain that the Jesuit’s letters contain errors and gave misleading information.
I contend that Fróis not only attempted to rectify previous ‘errors’ made by earlier Jesuit epistolary accounts, and argue that his real intentions go beyond attempting to diminish over-enthusiastic reports and presenting a more accurate and complete picture of the Japanese mission. Fróis wrote with a clear agenda, sometimes deliberately altering information, and creating a narrative that suggested a more coherent and sequent enterprise than existed in reality.
References
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