Agents of transculturation

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Since antiquity, and increasingly during the early modern period, communication between different cultural groups has relied on translators, diplomats, traders, and specialists knowledgeable in both cultures. Successful interactions depended on individuals who had often been exposed to both cultures in their childhood or through captivities. Various border crossers acted as missionaries, traders, political refugees, beachcombers, pirates, anthropologists, zoo performers, runaway slaves, and itinerant doctors. Due to their precarious circumstances, the written records of these figures are often sparse. Some lives must be reconstructed through critical readings of documents left by others, often adversaries, while others provide autobiographical texts that enrich our understanding of their roles as cultural mediators. Covering historical periods from the early modern era to the present and regions such as the Mediterranean, Africa, the Americas, Hawaii, New Zealand, and northern Europe, scholars from diverse disciplines—including history, religious studies, literary studies, and ethnology—explore the complexities of in-betweenness and the significant impact of "agents of transculturation" in cultural, social, and political encounters.