Jewish Conversion to Christianity in the Middle Ages Between Metaphor and Reality

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F00216208%3A11210%2F17%3A10371424" target="_blank" >RIV/00216208:11210/17:10371424 - isvavai.cz</a>

Result on the web

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DOI - Digital Object Identifier

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Result language

čeština

Original language name

Židovská konverze ke křesťanství ve středověku mezi metaforou a realitou

Original language description

The article discusses recent historiographical approaches to the question of Jewish conversion to Christianity in Europe in the Middle Ages. It outlines the grand narratives that have dominated the study of Jewish conversion in the 20th century: the dominance of martyrdom and forced conversions in Ashkenaz, contrasted with the role of rationalism and acculturation at the root of the inclination of Sephardic Jews towards conversion. It presents recent scholarly contributions towards the deconstruction of these narratives and discusses new directions of research into Jewish conversion, interpreting it as a metaphor for various theological concerns in Christian narratives, especially those found in anti-Jewish polemical literature. Finally, using the recent biography of Profayt Duran as a case in point, the article argues for the significance of studying religious conversion/apostasy beyond the confines of social dynamics or interreligious polemics between Jews and Christians. According to this view, the phenomenon of conversion and its representations in literature may also serve as a locus where cultural creativity, religious accommodation, identity formation and the marking of boundaries can all be studied fruitfully in the medieval context.

Czech name

Židovská konverze ke křesťanství ve středověku mezi metaforou a realitou

Czech description

The article discusses recent historiographical approaches to the question of Jewish conversion to Christianity in Europe in the Middle Ages. It outlines the grand narratives that have dominated the study of Jewish conversion in the 20th century: the dominance of martyrdom and forced conversions in Ashkenaz, contrasted with the role of rationalism and acculturation at the root of the inclination of Sephardic Jews towards conversion. It presents recent scholarly contributions towards the deconstruction of these narratives and discusses new directions of research into Jewish conversion, interpreting it as a metaphor for various theological concerns in Christian narratives, especially those found in anti-Jewish polemical literature. Finally, using the recent biography of Profayt Duran as a case in point, the article argues for the significance of studying religious conversion/apostasy beyond the confines of social dynamics or interreligious polemics between Jews and Christians. According to this view, the phenomenon of conversion and its representations in literature may also serve as a locus where cultural creativity, religious accommodation, identity formation and the marking of boundaries can all be studied fruitfully in the medieval context.

Type

J_ost - Miscellaneous article in a specialist periodical

CEP classification

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OECD FORD branch

60304 - Religious studies

Project

<a href="/en/project/GA15-09766S" target="_blank" >GA15-09766S: The Reflection of Interreligious Relations in Medieval Aragon in the Works of Solomon ibn Adret and Profiat Duran</a><br>

Continuities

P - Projekt vyzkumu a vyvoje financovany z verejnych zdroju (s odkazem do CEP)

Publication year

2017

Confidentiality

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Name of the periodical

Religio. Revue pro religionistiku

ISSN

2336-4475

e-ISSN

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Volume of the periodical

2017

Issue of the periodical within the volume

2

Country of publishing house

CZ - CZECH REPUBLIC

Number of pages

16

Pages from-to

189-204

UT code for WoS article

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EID of the result in the Scopus database

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