Profane Writings as Vehicles of Faith: A Study of the Evangelization of the South Seas

Pilgrim’s Progress (1684), that his “ Pilgrims Book [ had] travel’d Sea and Land,” he – perhaps unknowingly – stressed the very nature of the medium through which his original text had been circulating in Great Britain and abroad since 1678. Whether he was aware if it or not, the circulation of his pilgrim story had also been accompanied, or perhaps helped, by, the cuts and engravings that had been commissioned to supplement the text from 1679 onward. This article assesses the role played by illustrations (and behind them by Bunyan’s publishers, illustrators and booksellers) in the early circulation and reception of the soon-to-be world-famous allegory of the Christian life. It examines the birth of a best-seller in light of its nascent “ iconographic tradition” and claims that the images inspired by Bunyan’s text have not only travelled with that text but have also helped it reach other continents and cultures.En mars 1797, débarquent, à Tahiti, des missionnaires de la London Missionary Society. Comment expliquer l’arrivée sur cette île, lointaine et encore largement mystérieuse du Pacifique, de ces Anglais ? La connaissance nouvelle de ces espaces, situés à près de 20 000 kilomètres de l’Angleterre, et des hommes qui les peuplent, est un déclencheur de ces mouvements d’évangélisation anglaise vers le Pacifique. Connaissance possible grâce aux progrès de la navigation du XVIIIe siècle. Mais, au-delà de ces premiers facteurs techniques, et indissociablement, l’écrit est aussi à la source de ces voyages missionnaires. Le propos est de voir comment, à travers la diffusion de différentes formes d’écriture – récits, carnets de voyage, dictionnaire… , l’idée de mission au lointain a trouvé un écho favorable et engagé un courant d’évangélisation qui transforma considérablement les îles océaniennes dès le XIXe siècle.Borello Céline. Profane Writings as Vehicles of Faith: A Study of the Evangelization of the South Seas. In: XVII-XVIII. Revue de la société d'études anglo-américaines des XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles. Diffusion de l’écrit dans le monde anglophone. Spreading the Written Word in the English-Speaking World. 2010. pp. 105-121