This dissertation explores how Christian faith affected the hope and resistance of an oppressed people in their response to violence orchestrated against them. It undertakes this task through stories collected from the people of East Timor, a half-island nation located in South-East Asia that was brutally ruled by Indonesia from 1975 to 1999. The nature of Christian faith is a vexed question for the modern world particularly when this faith has grown in countries like East Timor where suffering, violence and oppression were inflicted on the people. This lack of understanding of the nature and development of Christian faith is evident in academic studies of East Timor. Moreover, the difficult nature of this question is compounded by the fact that the violence and oppression, such as that inflicted on the East Timorese, is often orchestrated by the nation-state, which itself is a creation of the modern West. Faith in these circumstances of violence is often explained away as a circumstantial reaction after which the people will return to the path of reason. Yet, this attitude is problematic in the way it juxtaposes reason and faith. It ultimately exposes an unsound anthropological understanding of the human person as well as a view of reason that is narrow and insufficient as it sees reason as unable to cope with the circumstances of violence. This dissertation argues for an understanding of faith and violence through an analysis of the experiences of the East Timorese. This analysis is undertaken from an anthropological and theological understanding of the human person, primarily based on the insights of René Girard which provide clarity in understanding the relationship between human being, reason and faith. This dissertation argues that Christian faith helped the East Timorese people confront the existential and anthropological challenges posed by violence, and so, enabled them to overcome the illusions and false transcendence of violence, which Girard (1977, 31) says “…is the heart and secret soul of the sacred”. The dissertation shows that Christian faith helped form purpose, hope and non-violent resistance to state-sanctioned violence in East Timor through the anthropological, existential and imaginative resources fostered in relationship with Christ. The dissertation proposes an explanation of the experiences of the East Timorese recounted in this dissertation that posits that relationship with and faith in Christ, as the self-giving and victimised “Other”, had a discernible and plausible effect on the East Timorese particularly in the circumstances of violence. This faith commitment seemed to change and free persons and cultural structures in East Timor from the violent transcendence imposed by the dictatorial state that presents itself as “sacred”. This freedom emerged as the oppressed and victimised East Timorese, through their experience of the violent depths of human relations, were directed toward the pacific transcendence located around the victim, Christ, the substance of which is Christ’s self-giving love originating from and shared with the Father through the Spirit. East Timorese people were directed and responded to Christ in faith as they encountered the self-giving mimesis of the Trinity sacramentally and through the martyrs. This faith formed a new ontological way, or direction, which fostered resistance to the sacred violence of the state and their supporters. Through the enactment of their faith in this new and pacific way of being in self-giving mimesis, the Christian community in East Timor sought to resist and transform the state into a more benign and responsive entity by exposing and removing its ability to arbitrarily and indiscriminately victimise and oppress. This ecclesiological stance sought to expose the truth in the midst of the lies of sacred violence through a pacific way of being that was learnt from communion with the risen Christ as self-giving victim.

This dissertation explores how Christian faith affected the hope and resistance of an oppressed people in their response to violence orchestrated against them. It undertakes this task through stories collected from the people of East Timor, a half-island nation located in South-East Asia that was brutally ruled by Indonesia from 1975 to 1999. The nature of Christian faith is a vexed question for the modern world particularly when this faith has grown in countries like East Timor where suffering, violence and oppression were inflicted on the people. This lack of understanding of the nature and development of Christian faith is evident in academic studies of East Timor. Moreover, the difficult nature of this question is compounded by the fact that the violence and oppression, such as that inflicted on the East Timorese, is often orchestrated by the nation-state, which itself is a creation of the modern West. Faith in these circumstances of violence is often explained away as a circumstantial reaction after which the people will return to the path of reason. Yet, this attitude is problematic in the way it juxtaposes reason and faith. It ultimately exposes an unsound anthropological understanding of the human person as well as a view of reason that is narrow and insufficient as it sees reason as unable to cope with the circumstances of violence. This dissertation argues for an understanding of faith and violence through an analysis of the experiences of the East Timorese. This analysis is undertaken from an anthropological and theological understanding of the human person, primarily based on the insights of René Girard which provide clarity in understanding the relationship between human being, reason and faith. This dissertation argues that Christian faith helped the East Timorese people confront the existential and anthropological challenges posed by violence, and so, enabled them to overcome the illusions and false transcendence of violence, which Girard (1977, 31) says “…is the heart and secret soul of the sacred”. The dissertation shows that Christian faith helped form purpose, hope and non-violent resistance to state-sanctioned violence in East Timor through the anthropological, existential and imaginative resources fostered in relationship with Christ. The dissertation proposes an explanation of the experiences of the East Timorese recounted in this dissertation that posits that relationship with and faith in Christ, as the self-giving and victimised “Other”, had a discernible and plausible effect on the East Timorese particularly in the circumstances of violence. This faith commitment seemed to change and free persons and cultural structures in East Timor from the violent transcendence imposed by the dictatorial state that presents itself as “sacred”. This freedom emerged as the oppressed and victimised East Timorese, through their experience of the violent depths of human relations, were directed toward the pacific transcendence located around the victim, Christ, the substance of which is Christ’s self-giving love originating from and shared with the Father through the Spirit. East Timorese people were directed and responded to Christ in faith as they encountered the self-giving mimesis of the Trinity sacramentally and through the martyrs. This faith formed a new ontological way, or direction, which fostered resistance to the sacred violence of the state and their supporters. Through the enactment of their faith in this new and pacific way of being in self-giving mimesis, the Christian community in East Timor sought to resist and transform the state into a more benign and responsive entity by exposing and removing its ability to arbitrarily and indiscriminately victimise and oppress. This ecclesiological stance sought to expose the truth in the midst of the lies of sacred violence through a pacific way of being that was learnt from communion with the risen Christ as self-giving victim.

This dissertation explores how Christian faith affected the hope and resistance of an oppressed people in their response to violence orchestrated against them. It undertakes this task through stories collected from the people of East Timor, a half-island nation located in South-East Asia that was brutally ruled by Indonesia from 1975 to 1999. The nature of Christian faith is a vexed question for the modern world particularly when this faith has grown in countries like East Timor where suffering, violence and oppression were inflicted on the people. This lack of understanding of the nature and development of Christian faith is evident in academic studies of East Timor. Moreover, the difficult nature of this question is compounded by the fact that the violence and oppression, such as that inflicted on the East Timorese, is often orchestrated by the nation-state, which itself is a creation of the modern West. Faith in these circumstances of violence is often explained away as a circumstantial reaction after which the people will return to the path of reason. Yet, this attitude is problematic in the way it juxtaposes reason and faith. It ultimately exposes an unsound anthropological understanding of the human person as well as a view of reason that is narrow and insufficient as it sees reason as unable to cope with the circumstances of violence. This dissertation argues for an understanding of faith and violence through an analysis of the experiences of the East Timorese. This analysis is undertaken from an anthropological and theological understanding of the human person, primarily based on the insights of René Girard which provide clarity in understanding the relationship between human being, reason and faith. This dissertation argues that Christian faith helped the East Timorese people confront the existential and anthropological challenges posed by violence, and so, enabled them to overcome the illusions and false transcendence of violence, which Girard (1977, 31) says “…is the heart and secret soul of the sacred”. The dissertation shows that Christian faith helped form purpose, hope and non-violent resistance to state-sanctioned violence in East Timor through the anthropological, existential and imaginative resources fostered in relationship with Christ. The dissertation proposes an explanation of the experiences of the East Timorese recounted in this dissertation that posits that relationship with and faith in Christ, as the self-giving and victimised “Other”, had a discernible and plausible effect on the East Timorese particularly in the circumstances of violence. This faith commitment seemed to change and free persons and cultural structures in East Timor from the violent transcendence imposed by the dictatorial state that presents itself as “sacred”. This freedom emerged as the oppressed and victimised East Timorese, through their experience of the violent depths of human relations, were directed toward the pacific transcendence located around the victim, Christ, the substance of which is Christ’s self-giving love originating from and shared with the Father through the Spirit. East Timorese people were directed and responded to Christ in faith as they encountered the self-giving mimesis of the Trinity sacramentally and through the martyrs. This faith formed a new ontological way, or direction, which fostered resistance to the sacred violence of the state and their supporters. Through the enactment of their faith in this new and pacific way of being in self-giving mimesis, the Christian community in East Timor sought to resist and transform the state into a more benign and responsive entity by exposing and removing its ability to arbitrarily and indiscriminately victimise and oppress. This ecclesiological stance sought to expose the truth in the midst of the lies of sacred violence through a pacific way of being that was learnt from communion with the risen Christ as self-giving victim.

Research Doctorate - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / This study considers the situation of a group of East Timorese exiles living in Melbourne, Australia, who left East Timor or were born in exile from the time of the 1975 civil war up to the end of the Indonesian occupation of the territory in 1999. During the Indonesian occupation of East Timor, diasporic groups played a central role in the campaign for self-determination. Throughout the occupation, East Timorese in Australia maintained a strong sense of long-distance nationalism, which drove, directly or indirectly, communal cultural and social activities. The fight to free East Timor was at the core of the exiles’ collective imagination, defining them as a largely homeland focused community. However, in the aftermath of independence, many have struggled to find their place and role in relation to the independent nation. Personal experiences upon return, perceptions of political, cultural, economic and social development (or lack thereof), and political unrest and communal violence have led to renewed questioning of identity and belonging. The thesis explores this new questioning of identity and belonging and, through ethnographic field research with East Timorese living in Melbourne, it explores how the exiles experience and respond to the social and political changes in their country of origin. The research for the thesis was conducted during a period of conflict and national upheaval in East Timor, and the dissertation pays particular attention to how violence and unrest at home manifest in the exiles’ lives and affect their experience of self, community and nation. The thesis explores how past socialisation and practice within social fields that are characterised by an emphasis on communalism, morality and reciprocity form part of present agency. It considers how potential contradictions between past imaginaries and lived realities can lead to intensely felt emotions, which may further advance the process of negotiation and transformation of identity and boundaries of belonging. Through an analysis of linked conceptualisations of self, emotions and national narratives, the thesis seeks to shed light on the exiles’ engagement with and relationship to independent East Timor. It aims to inform contemporary understandings of the processes of change that occur within diasporic communities at times of radical political change in the exiles’ home countries.

Thesis (M. Soc Sc.) -- University of Newcastle, 2005. / School of Social Sciences. Includes bibliographical references. Also available online.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Victoria University (Melbourne, Vic.), 2007. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Western Australia, 2006.

Doct. Th.--Cambridge (Mass.)--Harvard university, 1988.

SOARES, Silvério dos Santos. Timor-Leste: representações dos estudantes Timorenses, no Brasil, sobre o Estado do Timor-Leste. 2009. 133f. Dissertação (Mestrado em Sociologia) – Universidade Federal do Ceará, Departamento de Ciências Sociais, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Sociologia, Fortaleza-CE, 2009. / Submitted by Maria Josineide Góis (josineide@ufc.br) on 2011-10-27T16:20:19Z No. of bitstreams: 1 2009_Dis_SSSoares.pdf: 9435189 bytes, checksum: 86d679d1793a83821b1f8abd31dbb9f3 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Maria Josineide Góis(josineide@ufc.br) on 2011-10-27T16:20:50Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 2009_Dis_SSSoares.pdf: 9435189 bytes, checksum: 86d679d1793a83821b1f8abd31dbb9f3 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2011-10-27T16:20:50Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 2009_Dis_SSSoares.pdf: 9435189 bytes, checksum: 86d679d1793a83821b1f8abd31dbb9f3 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009 / The cultural identities in post-conflict countries where a constant layer of a process among all ethnic groups within the country to reaffirm its position in the formation of the nation. The identities of an ethnic group in the post-conflict always buy some proportions increasing through nuances in contemporary fields such as subject in the multiple representations of post-conflict. This dissertation is to address these propellers proactive in ethnic groups that represent the identities of ethnic groups in East Timor after independence in twenty of May two thousand and two. To cut this research, the subjects who were involved in this interview are the entities Timorese living in Brazil for the training process of the study in two Federal Universities in Brazil: Universidade Federal do Ceará (UFC) and Universidade Federal de Goiânia (UFG). In this sense, the goal is to draw a parallel between the Timorese authorities, of different ethnic groups that exist in the country that make the events of ethnic conflict in the country involving several entities of the ethnic groups after independence. / Nos países multiétnicos, de pós-conflito, que viveram processos de libertação da dominação estrangeira, as identidades culturais, invariavelmente, têm mergulhado num processo em que todos os grupos étnicos dentro do próprio país lutam para reafirmar a sua posição no processo de formação do Estado Nação. A afirmação das identidades de grupos étnicos, nos países de pós-conflito, adquirem proporções cada vez maiores em âmbitos contemporâneos e apresentam nuances semelhantes nas múltiplas representações como sujeitos de pós-conflito. Esta dissertação tem como centro dinamizador perceber como participantes de diferentes grupos étnicos constroem representações sobre a formação do Estado-nação, no Timor-Leste, após a independência ocorrida em 20 de maio de 2002. Como recorte empírico, os sujeitos que foram envolvidos nesta pesquisa são estudantes timorenses que residem atualmente no Brasil com o intuito de aqui realizarem a sua formação de pós-graduação em universidades brasileiras; mais especificamente, estudantes de duas Universidades Federais no Brasil: Universidade Federal do Ceará (UFC) e a Universidade Federal de Goiânia (UFG). O objetivo central é traçar um paralelo entre as representações sobre as identidades étnicas e sobre a construção de identidades timorenses no processo de construção do Estado-nação, realizadas por sujeitos pertencentes a diferentes grupos étnicos que existem no país; grupos esses que participam ativamente em acontecimentos conflituosos no período pós-independência. A metodologia utilizada foi a de narrativas de vida que compõem o material empírico analisado na dissertação.

Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Educação Científica e Tecnológica, Florianópolis, 2014. / Made available in DSpace on 2015-02-05T20:57:24Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 328481.pdf: 2470909 bytes, checksum: 8e1cd79b0bcedbb01aa4de67cb5fd578 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014 / Esta dissertação apresenta um panorama sócio-histórico amplo das quatro fases que constituem o sistema educativo de Timor-Leste. A metodologia usada é feita por uma extensa análise da realidade educacional, a partir de documentos normativos e do levantamento de dados realizado com os professores timorenses que participaram na formação do Bacharelato de Emergência e, também, foi elaborado um perfil dos professores envolvidos na pesquisa para ter uma visão geral desses sujeitos enquanto seres sócio-históricos que fazem parte de uma determinada comunidade; o conhecimento é construído nas relações sociais e a realidade local é determinante de temas geradores. Com isso, a dialogicidade, é o veículo para a construção coletiva e processo de conscientização dos sujeitos envolvidos. A reflexão decorrente desse estudo, visa construir um conhecimento que possa ser generalizado para outras realidades aproximadas. Essas que apontam a necessidade de historicizar o ensino de ciências na formação de professores para que se consiga deslocar o ensino de sua posição tradicional, em que têm um fim em si mesmo, mas que seja um processo de significação em que se busque estabelecer as pontes necessárias entre o discurso da ciência escolar e o contexto social mais amplo. Nessa pesquisa procurei investigar no âmbito do Projeto de Formação de Professores do Pré-Secundário e Secundário Geral (PROCAPES), os sentidos construídos pelos professores timorenses, utilizo como referencial teórico-metodológico a análise de Discurso de linha Francesa (AD), a partir da problematização de temas desenvolvidos para uma proposta didático-pedagógica elaborada com os professores em formação baseada na educação dialógica e problematizadora concebida por Paulo Freire para o ensino de ciências, num enfoque CTS, envolvendo conhecimentos que valorizem a cultura e a identidade timorense.<br> / This dissertation presents a broad socio-historical overview of the four phases that constitute the educational system in Timor-Leste. The methodology used is carried out by an extensive analysis of the educational reality from normative documents and data collection performed with the Timorese teachers who participated in the formation of Bachelor of Emergency and, also a profile of teachers involved in research was prepared, for an overview of these subjects as a social-historical beings that are part of a particular community; knowledge is constructed in social relations and the local reality is a determiner by themes generativy. Thus, the dialogicity, is the vehicle for the collective construction and awareness process of the subjects involved. The reflection resulting from this study aims to building a knowledge that can be generalized to other approximate realities. Those which point to the need for historicizing science education in teacher training for one to move the school from its traditional position, in which it has an end in itself, but it is a process of signification in which it is searched to establish necessary bridges between the discourse of school science and the broader social context. In this research I sought to investigate under the Project Teacher Training Pre-Secondary and Secondary General (PROCAPES), the meanings constructed by the timorese teachers, used as a theoretical and methodological framework for the line of French Discourse Analysis (DA), from the questioning of themes developed for a didactic-pedagogic proposal developed with teachers based on dialogical education and problematization conceived by Paulo Freire for teaching science in a STS approach involving knowledge that values the culture and identity Timorense.