"AU ROYAUME DES BÊTES SAUVAGES": A RELAÇÃO ENTRE JESUÍTAS E AMERÍNDIOS À LUZ DAS REPRESENTAÇÕES DEMONOLÓGICAS E DAS PRÁTICAS CULTURAIS NA NOVA FRANÇA (1611 - 1673)
Demonology; Society of Jesus; New France; Native Americans; Cultural History.
The present study aims to investigate the relationships forged between Jesuit priests and Native American peoples in seventeenth-century New France, considering the demonological discourse of Christian missionaries as a crucial aspect for understanding these interactions in their entirety. Relying on the theoretical assumptions of Cultural History, more specifically the notion of “Representations and Practices,” we seek to understand demonology as a form of “heterology” capable of producing representations of Indigenous peoples and their cultures. Through an analysis of the literary works contained in the Relations des Jésuites, we will examine which Indigenous cultural elements were subjected to the diabolical scrutiny that permeated the Christian imagination. Moreover, we will explore the missionary actions undertaken by the Jesuits to mitigate what they perceived as demonic influences within Indigenous cultures, particularly those developed in the context of the imposition of the so-called “Reductions,” where Catholic sacraments and a variety of evangelizing practices were employed among the Native populations.