The Baptism of an Indian Juggler : Event and Narrative in the Swedish Press, 1827–1852
Carlesson Magalhães, Jens and Jansson, Fredrik LU
(2023)
In Journal of Religious History
47(2).
p.318-339
- Abstract
- In 1827, an Indian juggler named Mooty Madua Samme converted to Christianity in Stockholm, Sweden. This historical event got much attention in the press at the time – as did his succeeding marriage to a Swedish woman named Erica – and was celebrated as a victory for the Evangelical Lutheran faith. Later, in the 1840s, a narrative depicting the event spread via a travelogue by Xavier Marmier, which was translated and mediated through the Swedish press, and reacted to by Samme's priest; in the 1850s, Samme's name surfaced again – now in context of the contemporary freedom of religion debates in Sweden. In this article, we explore Samme's baptism (and interrelatedly, his marriage) by looking at newspaper mediations of the event and the... (More)
- In 1827, an Indian juggler named Mooty Madua Samme converted to Christianity in Stockholm, Sweden. This historical event got much attention in the press at the time – as did his succeeding marriage to a Swedish woman named Erica – and was celebrated as a victory for the Evangelical Lutheran faith. Later, in the 1840s, a narrative depicting the event spread via a travelogue by Xavier Marmier, which was translated and mediated through the Swedish press, and reacted to by Samme's priest; in the 1850s, Samme's name surfaced again – now in context of the contemporary freedom of religion debates in Sweden. In this article, we explore Samme's baptism (and interrelatedly, his marriage) by looking at newspaper mediations of the event and the related narratives. Seen from a microhistorical perspective, we show how Samme's conversion and religious otherness was utilised in contemporary religious and political discussions, and we argue that the event and narratives surrounding the baptism can augment our understanding of the Swedish nineteenth century religio-cultural landscape in which he was situated. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/db6a8669-02c5-44a3-b55a-61344d72e97b
- author
- Carlesson Magalhães, Jens
and Jansson, Fredrik
LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2023-02-20
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Conversion, Newspapers, Freedom of Religion, Baptism, travel narrative, Orientalism, hinduism
- in
- Journal of Religious History
- volume
- 47
- issue
- 2
- pages
- 22 pages
- publisher
- Wiley-Blackwell
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85148337585
- ISSN
- 0022-4227
- DOI
- 10.1111/1467-9809.12942
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- db6a8669-02c5-44a3-b55a-61344d72e97b
- date added to LUP
- 2023-02-21 09:17:29
- date last changed
- 2023-10-26 14:51:00
@article{db6a8669-02c5-44a3-b55a-61344d72e97b,
abstract = {{In 1827, an Indian juggler named Mooty Madua Samme converted to Christianity in Stockholm, Sweden. This historical event got much attention in the press at the time – as did his succeeding marriage to a Swedish woman named Erica – and was celebrated as a victory for the Evangelical Lutheran faith. Later, in the 1840s, a narrative depicting the event spread via a travelogue by Xavier Marmier, which was translated and mediated through the Swedish press, and reacted to by Samme's priest; in the 1850s, Samme's name surfaced again – now in context of the contemporary freedom of religion debates in Sweden. In this article, we explore Samme's baptism (and interrelatedly, his marriage) by looking at newspaper mediations of the event and the related narratives. Seen from a microhistorical perspective, we show how Samme's conversion and religious otherness was utilised in contemporary religious and political discussions, and we argue that the event and narratives surrounding the baptism can augment our understanding of the Swedish nineteenth century religio-cultural landscape in which he was situated.}},
author = {{Carlesson Magalhães, Jens and Jansson, Fredrik}},
issn = {{0022-4227}},
keywords = {{Conversion; Newspapers; Freedom of Religion; Baptism; travel narrative; Orientalism; hinduism}},
language = {{eng}},
month = {{02}},
number = {{2}},
pages = {{318--339}},
publisher = {{Wiley-Blackwell}},
series = {{Journal of Religious History}},
title = {{The Baptism of an Indian Juggler : Event and Narrative in the Swedish Press, 1827–1852}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1467-9809.12942}},
doi = {{10.1111/1467-9809.12942}},
volume = {{47}},
year = {{2023}},
}