Chains of virtue: Seventeenth-century saints in Spanish colonial Lima

dc.contributor.advisorStroup, John M.
dc.creatorWood, Alice Landru
dc.date.accessioned2009-06-04T08:15:54Z
dc.date.available2009-06-04T08:15:54Z
dc.date.issued1997
dc.description.abstractSeventeenth-century Lives of colonial saints in Peru reflect the Spanish colony's growing independence and changing missionary strategies. Lives of saints Luis Bertran, Francis Solano, Toribio Alfonso de Mogrovejo, Juan Macias, Rose of Lima, Martin de Porras and the unrecognized Nicolas de Ayllon reveal the symbolic resolution of alterity as a dominant theme. Concern with alterity appears most prominently in discourses about language and bodies. Hagiography provided Creole communities with religious narratives of self-legitimization and self-definition. This questions a general scholarly assumption that saints of the Early Modern period are the creations of the ecclesiastical powers in Rome. Likewise, the assertion that hagiography is written in order to provide exemplars of virtue for ordinary people is qualified by my study. The Lives mirror two phases of colonial development: the first phase described Spanish evangelization and confrontation with native populations. Saints were strongly identified with Europe and their Lives reflected the cultural struggle with external others and the need to justify Christian missions. Hagiographers focused on the power or language and gave little attention to the physical world of bodies. The second phase was marked by an increasing sense of Creole identity. Hagiographers shifted the focus from words and language--now treated as suspect--to the body itself. Lives of these saints showcased mortifications of the body in order to dissociate the saints from inferiorities associated with their race or gender.
dc.format.extent233 p.en_US
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdf
dc.identifier.callnoTHESIS RELI. 1997 WOOD
dc.identifier.citationWood, Alice Landru. "Chains of virtue: Seventeenth-century saints in Spanish colonial Lima." (1997) Diss., Rice University. <a href="https://hdl.handle.net/1911/19230">https://hdl.handle.net/1911/19230</a>.
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1911/19230
dc.language.isoeng
dc.rightsCopyright is held by the author, unless otherwise indicated. Permission to reuse, publish, or reproduce the work beyond the bounds of fair use or other exemptions to copyright law must be obtained from the copyright holder.
dc.subjectReligious history
dc.subjectChurch history
dc.subjectLatin American history
dc.titleChains of virtue: Seventeenth-century saints in Spanish colonial Lima
dc.typeThesis
dc.type.materialText
thesis.degree.departmentReligious Studies
thesis.degree.disciplineHumanities
thesis.degree.grantorRice University
thesis.degree.levelDoctoral
thesis.degree.nameDoctor of Philosophy
Files
Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Loading...
Thumbnail Image
Name:
9727625.PDF
Size:
9.68 MB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format