Loading...
Description
Recurrent private acts of violence within dense and homogenous communities, or diasporas, illustrate a tension between powerful gossip transmission and imperfect translation of such power into efficient social control.
This presentation explores the manifestation of private violence in the daily life of the Western Sephardic Diaspora in the early seventeenth century, examining inquisitorial sources from Portugal and notarial records from the Netherlands. These sources indicate that as much as group members expected mutual responsibility, trustworthiness and compliance with social norms from their fellow group members. Yet when they felt disappointed, they expressed their resentment aggressively. Aggression took shape of offenses and beating with hands, sticks and various other objects, including cold steel. The body of sources suggests that the Western Sephardic Diaspora involved a significantly fervid environment.
Start Date
19-8-2013 1:30 PM
End Date
19-8-2013 2:30 PM
Included in
La Mala Sangre: daily violence within the Western Sephardic Diaspora
Recurrent private acts of violence within dense and homogenous communities, or diasporas, illustrate a tension between powerful gossip transmission and imperfect translation of such power into efficient social control.
This presentation explores the manifestation of private violence in the daily life of the Western Sephardic Diaspora in the early seventeenth century, examining inquisitorial sources from Portugal and notarial records from the Netherlands. These sources indicate that as much as group members expected mutual responsibility, trustworthiness and compliance with social norms from their fellow group members. Yet when they felt disappointed, they expressed their resentment aggressively. Aggression took shape of offenses and beating with hands, sticks and various other objects, including cold steel. The body of sources suggests that the Western Sephardic Diaspora involved a significantly fervid environment.
