The Jesuit Modus Procedendi in heroic drama

A critical study of the Chaocungus Tragoedia

Bibliographic Data

ID5006570
AuthorsTongyu Zhang (0009-0005-9003-9076, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, corresponding author), Yuan Tan (0009-0006-0411-3047, Huazhong University of Science and Technology)
Year2025
Volume56
Issue2
Pages1-19
Publication date2025-09-30
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueReligion (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0048-721X • E-ISSN: 1096-1151
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/0048721x.2025.2563518
OpenAlexW4414668331
LanguageEN
References cited4

This article presents a comprehensive and critical examination of five extant Jesuit Periochae related to the tragedy known as the Chaocungus Tragoedia, preserved in various state and municipal libraries across Germany, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. By situating these dramatic productions within the broader sociopolitical frameworks of early modern Jesuit activities, cross-cultural engagement, theological instruction, and public catechesis, the study examines the strategies of religious nativization and contextualization embedded within the dramatic structure. The analysis reveals that these ‘pagan hero tragedies’ were consistently employed as pedagogical and promotional tools, serving as practical embodiments of the Jesuit modus procedendi. Moreover, while they now serve as invaluable archival resources for reevaluating the operational mechanisms of Jesuit practical theology and pedagogy, their original and arguably more crucial function was to generated a dynamic, context-responsive, and historically contingent discursive space in which politico-theological narratives could interact with the evolving sociocultural agendas of the time

Criticism · Early Modern Women Writers · Reformation and Early Modern Christianity

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