CAPAS RESEARCH PROJECT - Michael Schulz The Latin-American Apocalypse of the Radically Other
The eschatological-apocalyptic orchestration of the discovery, conquista, and colonization of the Americas creates a striking ambivalence. The apocalyptic motifs were used to justify both peaceful mission as well as the use of violence and served as a threatening backdrop both as a way to force indigenous peoples to convert and as a way to curb the inhumanity of the Spanish in their treatment of said indigenous population. My research project focuses on this ambivalence and the particular functions of eschatological and apocalyptic motifs, with the help of which the revelation of the radically other will be interpreted in its revolutionary effect on one’s own world. This research develops a diatopic hermeneutic that is aimed at the apokálypsis of radical otherness and at fostering understanding between diverse cultural topoi.