Description: Through a series of case studies, this book chronicles the rise and the decline of Catholic Orientalism which was produced in and disseminated by global networks of the early modern Portuguese empire in South Asia. From Portuguese officials to Goan Brahman clerics and literati, from botanists and physicians of Jewish origin to Italian Jesuits and their Tamil catechists, they were all engaged in creating an ever more cosmopolitan world of early modern South Asia. They did that by way of collecting information and knowledge, and by reflecting on their own "mixed" identities, on the world of South Asia and their place in it.
Review Quotes: "There is no doubt that Catholic Orientalism is a well-researched volume that deserves specialist attention from historians of South Asia, Portuguese Empire, church history (including Jesuit history), and missiologists, among others" -- Brent Howitt Otto SJ, Univeristy of California, Berkeley, AHSI
"Containing a treasure trove of information, much of it from obscure and hard to access sources, this book is likely to prove an invaluable work of reference for many years to come." -- Anthony Disney, Journal of Jesuit Studies"Containing a treasure trove of information, much of it from obscure and hard to access sources, this book is likely to prove an invaluable work of reference for many years to come."--Journal of Jesuit Studies"Catholic Orientalism is a book of great learning and depth that deserves wide readership. Historians of the Spanish monarchy, both Europeanists and colonialists, will surely profit from it, for the parallels with the Philippines, Peru, Mexico, and Spain are striking and need elucidation"--H-Net Reviews