Om grønlendernes immaterielle sjel: Overtro som kulturoversettelse og vitenskapskritikk på 1700-tallet

Sammendrag

This article presents a close reading of the concept of the soul as shown in the Greenland Missionary Poul Egede’s 1741 book Continuation af Relationerne Betreffende den Grønlandske Missions Tilstand Og Beskaffenhed and how the concept is utilized in contemporary ethnographic works on the greenlanders and their ‘superstition’ and ‘religion’. The article argues that Poul Egede’s translation of key kalaallisut words and their utilization as showing superstitious practices can be understood considering the natural philosophical debates of its time, where the notions of ‘spirit’ and ‘soul’ were concepts of paramount concern. Further, the article presents an argument that ‘superstitio’ – as it was understood in the 16th century – draws on these debates, which in turn informed Poul Egede’s translations and the subsequent image of an Inuit conception of the soul.