Pathological Escapists, Passing and the Perpetual Ice: Old and New Trends in Danish-Greenlandic Migration Literature (original) (raw)

Images of the Arctic: visualising Greenland as an indigenous people and a modern nation

Visual Studies, 2017

This article examines the photo project and exhibition, Isi-Øje-Eye (2014), using nation building and state formation theories to cast light on the national elements of the project. It addresses the question of how visual images (photographs) are employed to unite Greenland across vast geographical distances and distinct ethnic, linguistic and socioeconomic differencesin an effort to build a nation and construct a national community. In engaging with this issue, the article offers a critical perspective on the concepts of national borders and boundaries in an era of climate change. Drawing on the ecological aesthetics of nature presented by Gernot Böhme (1937-), the article uses his (re)conceptualisation of the relationship between human and nature to discuss issues relating to national borders and boundaries as they pertain to Greenland.

Travelling the East Greenlandic sea- and landscape: Encounters, places and stories

Mobilities, 2015

Travel forms a significant part of the lives of many East Greenlandic Iivit involving pleasure aspects and work necessities. The journeys include manifold encounters among humans, animals and environmental features, and according to some Iivit, also with specific non-human beings inhabiting the wider area. During certain moments, when the routes of human and non-human beings and features intersect, meaningful places are created that are remembered and passed on by means of stories. This article shows the close intertwining between moving for pleasure and moving for work and the importance of places in Iivit lifeworlds pointing to the continuous influence of people’s semi-nomadic past.

Arctic Discourses And Climate Change In Greenland

2012

Welcome from the Under Secretary of Science, SmithSonian inStitUtion Welcome to Washington, to the U.S. National Mall, to the Smithsonian Institution and to the 18th Inuit Studies Conference-the first ever to be convened in the Lower '48! We have planned an exciting and diverse program under the theme: "Learning From the Top of the World." As you are aware, this meeting is being held at a time when the world is undergoing profound changes in climate, biodiversity, and life systems, and these shifts are having major impacts on the world's political, economic, social, and cultural life. These changing conditions and their interrelationships are the grist that will be considered from an Arctic perspective by a host of specialists over the course of four days from 24-28 October. Central to the program will be daily plenary sessions featuring leading researchers and Inuit leaders, a conference banquet, and a closing panel reviewing findings and road-maps for the future. In addition to scholarly symposia, lectures, and presentations, ISC-18 attendees will experience Arctic exhibitions; tour collection, conservation, and education facilities; take part in a film festival and performing arts programs; and consult with government agencies, foundations, and NGOs. Interactive media will bring many conference activities directly to northern communities. The Arctic Studies Center has engaged a wide sector of Smithsonian institutions and staff in ISC-18. On behalf of the entire Smithsonian family and our conference partners we invite you to be part of the Smithsonian's core mission: "the increase and diffusion of knowledge"-and in this case, I mean Arctic and Inuit knowledge! Welcome from the director of the national mUSeUm of the american indian Dear ISC Conference-goers, It is my great pleasure to welcome the Inuit Studies Conference to the National Museum of the American Indian. Inuit feature strongly in our collections, exhibitions, and public programs, and the opportunity to co-host people and their creations this prestigious conference with so many Inuit participants has been warmly embraced by our staff. In addition to attending the opening festivities and scholarly sessions in our museum, please take some time to visit the special exhibition, "Arctic Voyages / Ancient Memories: the Sculpture of Abraham Anghik Ruben," which we have mounted to coincide with your conference. Not only is the exhibition a spectacular demonstration of the creativity of modern Inuit artists; it highlights new discoveries about Inuit connections with other peoples and cultures, topics which will be explored in depth during your meetings here. Welcome all! And remind your friends to explore the NMAI on their next trip to Washington, D.C. Welcome from chair, department of anthropology It is a great pleasure to welcome you to the 18th biennial Inuit Studies Conference and to the Smithsonian Institution. For over three decades the Inuit Studies Conference has served as an important international forum for engaged and meaningful dialogue between northern communities and scholars. This year's conference program and its theme, "Inuit/Arctic Connections: Learning from the Top of the World" promises to continue this longstanding tradition. I wish you all a very successful and productive conference. Welcome from the director, anthropology collectionS & archiveS program Greetings Colleagues, On behalf of my staff and colleagues in the Anthropology Collections and Archives Program (CAP) at the Smithsonian's Museum Support Center, it is my pleasure to welcome you to the 18th Inuit Studies Conference. We look forward to providing you access to one of the richest and most varied collections of northern anthropological materials assembled anywhere in the world. As many of you know, some of the Smithsonian's oldest and most systematic ethnological and archaeological collections are the product of research in Alaska, Canada and Greenland. This includes important mid-to late-nineteenth century artifact collections made by Edward Nelson, Roderick MacFarlane, and Lucien Turner, among many others. These collections are joined by an array of rich cultural, linguistic, photograph, film, and artwork materials held in the National Anthropological Archives and the Human Studies Film Archives. There researchers can access language materials by ethnographers such as Frederica de Laguna, photographs by Henry Collins and Edward S. Curtis, watercolors of Inuit life scenes by Henry Wood Elliott, and historic moving Inuit life by William van Valin (1919) and Father Bernard Hubbard (1938-42). I trust we will learn from each other as you engage our collections during the conference period or in future research visits.

Sowa (2004): The articulation of the Greenlandic culture in a globalised world

in: Therrien, Michele: Arctic societies and research: Dynamics and shifting perspectives. Proceedings of the First International Ph.D. School for Studies of Arctic Societies Seminar (IPSSAS), Nuuk May-June 2002, Nuuk: Publikationsfond for Ilisimatusarfik, S. 37-47, 2004

There was always the notion of 'exoticness' when talking about the Greenlandic culture or identity. The shift this paper likes to suggest is to reject all attempts of defining culture and collective identity as obligatory standards of a postcolonial society. Through processes of globalisation there are increasingly more contacts between cultures and the perception of the concept of culture is changing. We do not understand local people and their situation through fixing their practices as part of their culture or their single identity. In my opinion people in Greenland are aware of belonging to more than one culture and possessing more than one identity. On the contrary the articulation of culture through Greenlanders themselves reflects not a given fact but a marginal position in the global world system.