東・東南アジア港町における異文化交流と「外交」活動

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By examining concrete episodes of diplomatic performances in early modern maritime Asia, my study aims to uncover hybrid elements of language, diplomatic correspondence, treaty making-practices, ceremonial and participating intermediaries, which have been constantly overlooked in previous scholarship. Pragmatism, ad-hoc strategies and purposeful geopolitics characterized hybrid negotiating practices and proto-global diplomacy of Tokugawa Japan, the Spanish Empire and representatives of South East Asian realms during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Against the background of narratives of failure and misunderstanding it has become overly due to revise conventional views by emphasizing comparison and connections in early modern diplomatic cultures. In order to do so I have analyzed multi-lingual sources and collected data for an actor-based approach. My findings help to will shift the focus away from the dichotomy of asymmetrical and equal diplomatic exchange to hybridization processes. Introducing different scenarios include (1) the Spanish experience with the Sino-Japanese diplomatic context, (2) diplomatic exchange with expanding Southeast Asian empires such as Cambodia and Siam, and (3) smaller Muslim insular chiefdoms this project pursues to provide a balanced view on diverse diplomatic practices and actors in South East Asia.