mat workshop 2024

FIRST INTERNATIONAL “MAT CONFERENCE 2024”

"Mapping and Translating Spaces, Cultures, and Languages. Experiences Connected to Empires and Missions (1500-1700)"
Rome, CNR ISEM - Sapienza Università di Roma, 10–12 July 2024

This conference was launched through an international call for papers disseminated across major Humanities research networks, with the aim of positioning the MaT project within a broader global scholarly framework. The meeting explored processes of linguistic, cultural, and spatial translation in early modern missions connected to the Portuguese Empire. The panels addressed themes such as language learning by missionaries, the linguistic and translation strategies of the Society of Jesus, and the role of cartography as a tool of cultural mediation. Particular attention was devoted to the translation of religious texts, to phenomena of linguistic contact—such as línguas gerais, pidgins, and creoles—and to linguistic dynamics in African and Asian contexts. The conference also examined the role of material culture and the circulation of knowledge in the construction of spaces of global interaction linking Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Atlantic world.

For the first time, a dedicated session brought together representatives of the main missionary archives in Rome, fostering direct dialogue and initiating new avenues of collaboration.

The event:

• gathered 44 scholars from 12 different countries;

• engaged both senior and junior researchers;

• functioned as an early strategic platform for international visibility;

• situated the project within wider debates on cultural translation, spatial practices, and imperial and missionary networks.

• The Book of Abstracts, registered on Zenodo (https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.12571707) and available in open access via the project portal, ensured immediate digital dissemination and long-term accessibility:
  
  

Editorial Outputs

A significant dissemination outcome consists of the following forthcoming journal issues and edited volumes:

Status Quaestionis. Language, Text, Culture,  32 (2027.1) – E-ISSN 2239-1983 (open access, ANVUR A-Level scientific journal, Area 10);

Sulla Via del Catai, Rivista scientifica semestrale del Centro Studi Martino Martini, 36 (2027.1) – ISSN 1970-344-9 (ANVUR A-Level scientific journal, Area 10)