The Power of the Dispersed: Early Modern Global Travelers beyond Integration

Early modern travelers often did not form part of classic ‘diaspora’ communities: they frequently never really settled, perhaps remaining abroad for some time in one place, then traveling further; not ‘blown by the wind,’ but by changing and complex conditions that often turned out to make them unwelcome anywhere. The dispersed developed strategies of survival by keeping their distance from old and new temporary ‘homes,’ as well as by using information from and manipulating foreign representations of their former countries.

This volume assembles case studies from the Mediterranean context, the Americas and Japan. They explore what kind of ‘power(s)’ and agency dispersed people had, counterintuitively, through the connections they maintained with their former homes, and through those they established abroad.

Contributors: Eduardo Angione, Iordan Avramov, Marloes Cornelissen, David Do Paco, Jose Luis Egio, Maria-Tsampika Lampitsi, Paula Manstetten, Simon Mills, David Nelson, Adolfo Polo y La Borda, Ana M. Rodriguez-Rodriguez, Cesare Santus, Stefano Saracino, and Cornel Zwierlein.