Exploring the genealogy of "rural religion" between the cult of "nature" and subaltern religion. A history of religion perspective.

This chapter examines the genealogy of "rural religion", exploring its intersections with constructs of "nature" and subalternity. It critiques the historical use of "nature" and "religion" as tools for othering, rooted in European colonialism and modernity. Missionary accounts, particularly those of Jesuit José de Acosta, framed indigenous and rural populations within binary oppositions-idolatry versus true religion, savage versus civilised. This discourse justified colonial conquest and influenced European views of rural populations, portraying them as internal "savages" requiring evangelisation. The Jesuit missions, particularly in southern Italy, reinforced perceptions of rural areas as a sort of internal India, reflecting colonial dynamics within Europe. Influenced by Antonio Gramsci's theory of internal colonialism, Ernesto de Martino redefined rural religion as part of subaltern cultural resistance, emphasising its socio-political dimensions. This approach rejected essentialist ...