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HUM-Fagkomiteen for humaniora

Norwegian Missionaries. Practice and Representation in the Formation of "Self" and "Other"

Awarded: NOK 4.0 mill.

The aim of this project is to explore cultural and social transformations following the encounter between Norwegian protestant missions and the local communities where they worked. Much research done in the field of colonialism and post-colonialism mainly focus on the consequences of the European presence for the indigenous societies. In contrast, this project aims to broaden the perspective by taking into account the way the encounter between missionaries and local people also had a deep impact on the No rwegian society. As such, the project situates itself theoretically in line with recent developments in the field of colonial and postcolonial studies arguing for the need to pay more attention to the way the construction of the European ?Other? also was vital to the construction of the European ?Self?. These processes need to be treated as highly interrelated processes. New social categories and cultural boundaries were constructed with implications for the formation of the nation, the national welfare a nd the modern state society, as well as for the relations to ethnic minorities and immigrants, and the further development of international relations in a post-colonial world (Cooper & Stoler 1997, Stoler 2002). The European expansion was never an abstra ct process but involved active agents with an immense culture-defining capacity (Stoler 2002). This project will focus on the active role taken by the Norwegian missionaries in this process, through bringing together a series of different but interrelated case studies. Aiming to explore the formation of social categories and cultural boundaries and their implications in a larger context, the individual projects will centre on what we consider to be the most important issues, namely: race, gender and sexua lity in the making of identity and difference, discourses and practices of medicine (health, hygiene, disease) and social work, practice and representation of religion and beliefs.

Funding scheme:

HUM-Fagkomiteen for humaniora

Thematic Areas and Topics

No thematic area or topic related to the project