Section 2 of 16

Preface

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    Preface Telugu Christian communities told and retold their stories in order to treasure their heritage, to respond to present challenges, and to imagine (and create) a future. Since most of them hailed from a Dalit background, they transmitted their history through oral stories. However, we do have written sources for writing a history of Telugu Christians. Western missionaries wrote several denominational mission histories about their work and presence in Andhra. These are either missionary reports or autobiographical or biographical sketches. While acknowledging the wealth of data available in oral sources—stories, songs, and sermons—I offer this list of written texts for those interested in researching and documenting the history of Christianity in Andhra Pradesh. Included in this volume is a brief bibliographical analysis of the literature that highlights how the writing of history of Christianity was practiced in the past, and that offers some suggestions on how to use these sources. The printed and written documents listed in this work provide a window into the history of Telugu Christians and their relationships with non-Christian neighbors. It is limited to the printed or written material—including books/monographs, missionary reports, souvenirs, journal articles, and theses and dissertations—that can be of significant value for writing a history of Telugu Christians. At the same time, it ignores Bible translations, commentaries, theological treatises, catechisms, and church constitutions, which might provide data for the intellectual history of the community. Most of the writings in this collection originate from Western writers. The entries are classified into six major sections: Books/Monographs in English and in Telugu (479+58), Missionary Reports (91), Souvenirs (33), Journal Articles (50), Theses or Dissertations (40), and Manuscripts (8). Although this work focuses only on the literature in English and Telugu, other useful and scattered data exist in German and French, expanding the window into histories of Catholic communities and orders that constitute major portions of Telugu Christianity. The first section of the bibliography lists published books, monographs, booklets, and pamphlets. The name of the author is included if possible, even if it is not on the title page, in order to help the reader identify the author and his or her background. In the case of an essay or chapter within a book, I name the editor and identify the author of the work in the annotation. Authors I was unable to identify are listed as “unknown.” Besides the title and publication information, I offer a brief annotation for all the books. Each annotation introduces the book, assesses its relevance to our subject matter, and if possible identifies how the author is related to our story. I date a book with the clues available in the book when the title page omits such publication data. I also supply the WorldCat Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) Accession Number or the location if the book is available in India. When there is more than one edition or print of a book, I list the edition or print that is widely available. While citing the missionary reports and yearbooks, I supply as much information as possible, including accession numbers. I cite theses and dissertations submitted at graduate level. This compilation would not have been possible except with the kindness of librarians in India and a generous grant from the American Theological Libraries Association enabling me to travel to different libraries in India.

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