The journey of missionary discourse: from religious polemic to intellectual curiosity

In the context of European expansion during the 16th century, the evangelization of peoples labeled as pagans occupied a central role. The missionaries did not take long to realize that the evangelization of these populations could only advance if carried out in a negotiated manner. With this in mind, the missionaries, especially the Jesuits, devoted themselves to studying the languages and customs of the peoples they sought to evangelize. Using the example of the Jesuit experience in Japan, I will discuss the way the missionary reports about the "religion" of pagan populations, as the authors called it, propelled an unprecedented intellectual curiosity in Europe.