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The aim of this thesis is to examine the portrayal of the South Pacific missionary in children's literature published between 1800 and 1935. It examines how hagiographic literature was used to suggest to young readers that the missionary was both an emissary of Western civilisation and the incarnation of Gospel values. It seeks to document the nexus between contemporary anthropologica1 thought, colonialism and religious beliefs which underpinned the views and values presented to the child reader.The thesis examines the years 1800 to 1935 as this period was characterised by intense public interest in the exploration of the region and gave rise to the greatest volume of publications for children featuring the South Pacific missionary. The thesis analyses biographies published for children of the more famous missionaries, including John Williams, James Chalmers, John Paton and Coleridge Patteson. Attention is also given to the missionary in fictional literature and adventure stories, in particular the popular writings of R. M. Ballantyne (most notably The Coral Island). Comparisons arc made with the depiction of the missionary in children's literature using other locations, specifically Africa and China. The thesis also examines how women were portrayed, the connections between trade and missionary activity and the cultural bias evident in the portrayal of indigenous people and their societies. The thesis concludes that the portrayal of the South Pacific missionary between 1800 - 1935 was designed to enhance the status of the missionary by depicting them as being superior to secular heroes such as Captain Cook. By drawing on the imagery of the medieval knight and through the trope of 'Muscular Christianity' the missionary was depicted as having the courage of the explorer, the wisdom of a leader, the nature of a gentleman and the faith of a martyr. The indigenous people were infantilized and the trope of cannibalism was utilised to dehumanise them. Western style housing, clothing, literacy, work ethics and technology were advocated as indicators of the superiority of Europeans, while their adoption by indigenous converts separated them from the 'heathen' of their race. This 'superiority' of Western culture was attributed to the influence of Christianity and the Bible in particular, The missionary was shown as not only redeeming the indigenous people from sin through the revelation of the Gospel, but also as being their friend and protector who gave them the benefits of European living. In particular the 'medicine man' or spiritual leader of the indigenous reIigion was demonised and his influence and position assumed by the missionary who often formed a political alliance with the social leader, or Chief. The presence of the missionary was often further legitimised through the enthusiastic testimony of converts and indigenous teachers' pleading for more missionaries to come to the region. Other Europeans, such as traders and beachcombers, were denigrated as exploiting the islanders and their actions were often condemned as being worse than the 'savages. ' The publications sourced and studied were all Protestant in origin, suggesting a lack of children's Catholic material on missionary endeavour in the region. Similar to the traders, the Catholics were also denounced as interfering with and complicating the task of conversion and redemption. The role of the European female as wife of the missionary was minimised and they were usually relegated to the minor role of passive assistant to the ever-adventurous male. The publications were a vehicle for inculcating the religious and social beliefs of a triumphant Western society and for encouraging children to support the missions. either through their own vocation or through the giving and collecting of money. While they ostensibly promoted Christianity and the activities of Missionary Societies by paying homage to the faith and valour of the missionary, undoubtedly they also justified to the young reader the European cultural dominance and colonialism of the era.

This study examines the impact of British Christian missionaries in the north of India between 1800 and 1857. The study focuses on the cross cultural encounter between the Christian Missionaries and the Muslim inhabitants of three Indian cities: Agra, Delhi and Peshawar. Alongside this, the role of the missionaries in creating anti ¿ British sentiment in Agra and Delhi, is examined. Crucially, an assessment is made as to what extent Christian missionary involvement in these three cities influenced people to revolt against the British in 1857. / University of Bradford

This dissertation is an ethnohistorical account of the advent of Christianity, how it was taught and practiced, on the upper Fraser-Skeena watershed and adjacent North Pacific littoral between the years 1741 and 1873. The region was a focal point of sustained international colonial and commercial attention, and missionaries of various European Christianities played an important role in the introduction of Christianity in the vast socio-geographical space. However, they were not the only teachers and practitioners. Lay Christianities, that is, Christianity as practiced by the various workers in the maritime and continental fur trades, and later by Russian, Spanish, British, Canadian and American colonists were perspicuous features of the social field. While the presence of lay Christianities is often underdetermined in the North American historical and ethnographic records, I argue it figured significantly into the quality of social relations between newcomers and peoples Indigenous to the region. Indigenous peoples were initially interested in Christian form and content. Later those interests were augmented by Indigenous prophets interested in indigenizing Christianity; a task which entailed ensuring that Christianity originated locally. When the Hudson’s Bay Company emerged as the chief commercial operator in the region at the close of the first quarter of the nineteenth century, Indigenous Christianity was mobilized as a religion of resistance against the Company’s incursion into local social spaces and in the ensuing struggle with both the Company and Christian missionaries.

This dissertation is an ethnohistorical account of the advent of Christianity, how it was taught and practiced, on the upper Fraser-Skeena watershed and adjacent North Pacific littoral between the years 1741 and 1873. The region was a focal point of sustained international colonial and commercial attention, and missionaries of various European Christianities played an important role in the introduction of Christianity in the vast socio-geographical space. However, they were not the only teachers and practitioners. Lay Christianities, that is, Christianity as practiced by the various workers in the maritime and continental fur trades, and later by Russian, Spanish, British, Canadian and American colonists were perspicuous features of the social field. While the presence of lay Christianities is often underdetermined in the North American historical and ethnographic records, I argue it figured significantly into the quality of social relations between newcomers and peoples Indigenous to the region. Indigenous peoples were initially interested in Christian form and content. Later those interests were augmented by Indigenous prophets interested in indigenizing Christianity; a task which entailed ensuring that Christianity originated locally. When the Hudson’s Bay Company emerged as the chief commercial operator in the region at the close of the first quarter of the nineteenth century, Indigenous Christianity was mobilized as a religion of resistance against the Company’s incursion into local social spaces and in the ensuing struggle with both the Company and Christian missionaries.

This paper explores Chinua Achebe's novel Things Fall Apart (1958) within the context of postcolonial theory, focusing on the clash between traditional Igbo culture and the forces of European imperialism. Achebe's work serves as a response to Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness (1899) and challenges the stereotypical portrayal of Africans. This thesis delves into the impact of missionaries and Christianity on Igbo society, analyzing the mechanisms through which they established influence and sparked conflicts with traditional beliefs. Employing a postcolonial framework, the study scrutinizes power dynamics, colonial strategies, and the consequences of cultural clashes. The study’s findings critically assess European colonialism by highlighting how missionaries utilized Christianity for colonization, revealing conflicts between African and European cultures and prompting reflection on the repercussions of cultural interactions in pre- and postcolonial Africa. The research reveals the multifaceted impact of missionaries and Christianity on Igbo society, employing tactics such as education-driven conversion, economic dependence, cultural stigmatization, exploitation of social divisions, and legal/political influence. These strategies were designed to subvert traditional beliefs, reshape cultural values, and establish Christianity as a dominant force, resulting in significant cultural conflicts within the Igbo community.

This study explores the teaching practices of recently returned Latter-day Saint (LDS) missionaries who voluntarily taught the English language on their full-time missions' serving for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints throughout various parts of the world. The analyses performed in this research offer an insider's perspective by looking at a large selection of qualitative data gathered directly from these missionaries to provide evidential insight into what those practices are, including the most effective and the most ineffective teaching practices as principally perceived by the missionaries themselves. Thus far, there has been no research reported or data gathered on this topic on the same global scale, and to the same academic level. However, such a study is extremely necessary and beneficial towards refining the focus of the missionary taught English language classes, as well as the quality of teaching that the missionaries provide as they strive to serve and benefit the communities around them.

Ce travail s'attache à mettre en lumière les liens inévitables entre une architecture exprimant un message universel et les terroirs culturels au milieu desquels elle s'édifie. Prenant le cas jugé exemplaire de la mission catholique à Taiwan, du milieu du XIXe siècle à nos jours, l'analyse des archives missionnaires, ainsi que l'étude de quelques monuments emblématiques, montrent les modalités de l'adaptation chrétienne à un contexte multiculturel insulaire en mutation rapide. La résistance et la malléabilité propres de l'art architectural permettent une étude originale et détaillée de ce va-et-vient constant entre la perception évolutive par les missionnaires du terroir formosan, et la réception, elle-même évolutive, du message chrétien par cette société particulière. En plusieurs étapes, cette recherche plonge au cœur de l'œuvre des Missions Etrangères de Paris dans le diocèse de Hualien, durant les années cinquante et soixante, ancrant les idées directrices de cette thèse dans la réalité d'un terrain suffisamment circonscrit pour en donner une image exhaustive. Le but poursuivi est de montrer comment un bâtiment dédié au culte peut être un objet pertinent, pour la compréhension des rapports entre les cultures et des dynamiques de la mondialisation actuelle. / This study aims at bringing to light the links that are bound to exist between an architecture expressing a universal message and the cultural landscapes where the architecture is built. With the exemplary case of the Catholic mission in Taiwan, from the mid nineteenth century to today, the analysis of the missionary archives, combined with research on several emblematic buildings, will show the modality of the Christian adaptation to this multicultural background of an island undergoing rapid change. The resilience and the malleability specific to the architectural art provide for an original and detailed study of this constant toing and froing between the evolutive perception by the missionaries of the Formosan landscape, and the reception, itself evolutive, by this particular society of the Christian message. Gradually, this thesis immerses itself in the heart of the work of the Paris Foreign Mission Society, in the diocese of Hualien, during the nineteen fifties and sixties, grounding the major concepts in the reality of a field limited enough to make it possible to provide an exhaustive image. The aim is to prove how a place of worship can be relevant for a better understanding of cultural exchanges and the momentum of the current globalization process.

The thesis addresses the monuments of Great Moravian church architecture and is based on the material accumulated during the past century. It analyzes the influence of different architectural styles, the hypotheses by different scholars and the existing contradictions between them. The thesis covers a selection of church buildings many of which possess a special spiritual value. Special attention is paid to the hypothesis of the construction date and architectural sources of Ste. Catherine church in Tamovice. Of special interest are the interviews and consultations with leading Czech and German researchers, historians and archeologists carried out while working on the thesis.