Vous consultezLa terre d’origine dans les diasporas des XVI^e-XVIII^e siècles

“Attached to stones as to a local religion...” : The land of origin in early-modern diasporas (16^th-18^th centuries)
The attachment to the country of origin is well analyzed for contemporary diasporas to demonstrate their transnational dimension and to describe their relationship with the nation-state. For the sixteenth to the eighteenth century, however, the historiography has emphasized the relationship between communities, overlooking this important issue. Putting aside mono-denominational perspectives, this article offers a new approach to early-modern diasporas by confronting four groups : the Sephardim, the British Catholics, the Huguenots and the Moriscos. The cultural imprint of the homeland was a core structure of diasporas. The locus of both martyrdom and the trigger-event of dispersion, the homeland appeared as the front line of resistance, legitimizing the existence of the “rear”, i.e. the Diaspora. Often mythologized and mobilized in messianic visions, this crucial territory was inseparable from the notion of return.