Blubber for Bibles: translating colonialism in Inuit missions, c. 1750–1850

IF 16.4 1区化学 Q1 CHEMISTRY, MULTIDISCIPLINARY

Accounts of Chemical Research Pub Date : 2024-09-12 DOI:10.1017/s0032247424000093

Hilary Mary Carey

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Abstract

Between 1750 and 1850, at least twenty versions of the Greenlandic Bible were published through the efforts of Greenlandic catechists, Danish Lutherans, German Moravians, the Danish Bible Society and the British and Foreign Bible Society (BFBS). This article assesses the role of Greenlandic and other Inuit translators as they were engaged in the colonial project of devising a complete version of the scriptures in their own language. Using the relatively untapped correspondence of the BFBS, it considers how and why the status of Inuit translators changed over the course of the missionary translation project. In one response to the reception of new Bibles, Inuit people offered gifts of blubber to the BFBS to support translations for other mission communities. To understand the meaning of this exchange, this essay brings together the methodologies and perspectives of missionary linguistics. It uncovers the unique role played by Greenlandic and other Inuit translators and catechists, foregrounding their contribution to a successful national project, the creation of a national language for independent Greenland and the emergence of literate Christian communities. By reading along and against the grain of colonial archives, it seeks to recover something of the names and motivation of Inuit scripture translators.

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鲸脂圣经：因纽特传教士的殖民主义翻译，约 1750-1850 年

1750 年至 1850 年间，在格陵兰慕道者、丹麦路德教会、德国摩拉维亚教会、丹麦圣经公会和英国及外国圣经公会（BFBS）的努力下，至少出版了 20 个版本的格陵兰圣经。本文评估了格陵兰和其他因纽特人译者在用自己的语言设计完整版圣经这一殖民项目中所扮演的角色。文章利用相对尚未开发的《圣经与布道书》的对应关系，探讨了因纽特人译者的地位在传教士翻译项目过程中发生变化的方式和原因。因纽特人在收到新《圣经》后的一个反应是，他们向英国圣经与传教士联合会赠送鲸脂，以支持其他传教团体的翻译工作。为了理解这种交换的意义，本文汇集了传教士语言学的方法和观点。文章揭示了格陵兰及其他因纽特人翻译和慕道者所扮演的独特角色，强调了他们对一个成功的国家项目、独立格陵兰的国家语言的创造以及有文化的基督教社区的出现所做出的贡献。通过顺着和逆着殖民档案的纹理进行阅读，该书试图恢复因纽特人经文翻译者的姓名和动机。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Accounts of Chemical Research 化学-化学综合

CiteScore

31.40

自引率

1.10%

发文量

312

审稿时长

2 months

期刊介绍： Accounts of Chemical Research presents short, concise and critical articles offering easy-to-read overviews of basic research and applications in all areas of chemistry and biochemistry. These short reviews focus on research from the author’s own laboratory and are designed to teach the reader about a research project. In addition, Accounts of Chemical Research publishes commentaries that give an informed opinion on a current research problem. Special Issues online are devoted to a single topic of unusual activity and significance. Accounts of Chemical Research replaces the traditional article abstract with an article "Conspectus." These entries synopsize the research affording the reader a closer look at the content and significance of an article. Through this provision of a more detailed description of the article contents, the Conspectus enhances the article's discoverability by search engines and the exposure for the research.