White sorcerers on African soil: Missionary Imagery in African and European novels
By now evangelisation in Africa in the 19th and first half of the 20th century is no longer regarded as a unilateral enterprise but as a process whose trend was decisively influenced by the mutual perception of Africans and Europeans. The conduct of missionaries, whether Protestant or Catholic, remains a popular theme in historical novels by both African and European authors.These works partly concur with existing images but have also helped to shape and stabilise these. While there are studies of specific authors and language areas, they are all very much aesthetically or ideologically oriented. So far there has been no comprehensive, modern study of the literary depiction of the introduction of the Christian religion on African soil. The study will focus on the portrayed relation between colonialism and missionary work, as well as the confrontation between African and Christian religious conceptions and practices in African and European literature.
dr. J.E.A. Ackermans, Radboud University Nijmegen (RU)
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