Protestant "Indian Mission" Work in Guatemala from a Woman Missionary's Perspective: Dora Burgess (1887-1962)
Dora Belle McLaughlin Burgess was an American Presbyterian missionary, devoted to the mission to the Quiché tribe in Guatemala from 1913 to 1962. During her service, she translated the New Testament from Greek into the Quiché language. She also published a hymnal in Quiché and an ethnographic writin...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
[2020]
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| In: |
Studies in world christianity
Year: 2020, Volume: 26, Issue: 1, Pages: 21-41 |
| IxTheo Classification: | CD Christianity and Culture KAJ Church history 1914-; recent history KBR Latin America KDD Protestant Church RJ Mission; missiology |
| Further subjects: | B
Quiché (K'iche)
B Guatemala B Protestant Indian missions B conversion of missionaries B Christianity B Dora Burgess B Bible Translation B US woman missionary |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (Verlag) Volltext (doi) |
| Summary: | Dora Belle McLaughlin Burgess was an American Presbyterian missionary, devoted to the mission to the Quiché tribe in Guatemala from 1913 to 1962. During her service, she translated the New Testament from Greek into the Quiché language. She also published a hymnal in Quiché and an ethnographic writing on Quiché culture. This paper attempts to shed light on the life of Dora Burgess, whose work was unknown, and to trace the formation of her identity as a missionary and her mission approach to the native inhabitants. In doing so, the paper argues that her interaction with the native tribes in the mission field shaped her identity as a missionary and her understanding of mission in ways in which the indigenous people's agency and subjectivity were recognised and respected. In the earlier period of her service in Guatemala, Dora Burgess conceived of mission work as a rescue project to transform the native tribes into Christians who would denounce their "superstitious" traditions; however, her later focus in mission work, especially in her bible translation project, lay in acknowledging the native traditions and cultures and giving the indigenous tribe opportunities to be Christians in their own ways. |
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| ISSN: | 1750-0230 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Studies in world christianity
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.3366/swc.2020.0280 |