Christian, Jews, Muslims, and Heretics: Identity and Religious Difference

One of my supervisors asked me yesterday what it was, at a personal level, that drove me to my research. What pricked my curiosity and what questions I sought to answer. I've never really thought too hard about this - I knew I liked history, I enjoy the historical method, I'm patient enough to deal with boring archival work, and as for the subject I chose to study (Christian-Jewish relations in the middle ages), circumstances led me to it. I started my undergradute degree with a desire to work on the British monarchy, but eventually found myself enmeshed in the study of genocide, Holocaust, and medieval heresy. I also found myself enjoying discussions with my undergrad supervisor on issues of popular religion and reminiscing about the forms of popular piety and religious identity I encountered growing up in Brazil. Looking back at all the work I've done, it seems that a common thread relates to issues of religious/cultural identity and instances in which these generate conflict. Having grown up in Brazil, where religious differences are never perceived as threats and where most catholics take a very syncretic approach to their own religion, religious and cultural conflicts seem alien to me. I simply cannot understand how can otherwise normal people turn against their neighbours. Numerous scholars have of course come up with all kinds of socialogical, psychological, economic, and theological reasons for inter-faith conflict. But I still don't understand and maybe that's what I'm trying to find out when I set out to Barcelona next spring...