Legacies of David Cranz's 'Historie von Grönland' (1765)

This book brings together interdisciplinary scholars from history, theology, folklore, ethnology and meteorology to examine how David Cranz's Historie von Grönland (1765) resonated in various disciplines, periods and countries. Collectively the contributors demonstrate the reach of the book beyond its initial purpose as a record of missionary work, and into secular and political fields beyond Greenland and Germany. The chapters also reveal how the book contributed to broader discussions and conceptualizations of Greenland as part of the Atlantic world. The interdisciplinary scope of the volume allows for a layered reading of Cranz's book that demonstrates how different meanings could be drawn from the book in different contexts and how the book resonated throughout time and space. It also makes the broader argument that the construction of the Artic in the eighteenth century broadened our understanding of the Atlantic.

Autorentext
Felicity Jensz is a Researcher in the Cluster of Excellence (2060) 'Religion and Politics' at the University of Münster, Germany.
Christina Petterson is a Researcher at the School of Politics and International Relations, Australian National University.

Inhalt

1.Introduction: More than the sum of its parts: David Cranz's Historie von GrönlandFelicity Jensz and Christina Petterson
Part I: Religious context and reception2.Moravians in Greenland: Barren Shores and Fruitful Missions- Christina Petterson 3.David Cranz' History of Greenland and Physico-Theology- Kathrine Kjærgaard
Part II: English-language Reception and Print Culture 4.a collection of absurdities: Reception of two English versions of Cranz's book in Britain, 1767 & 1820- Felicity Jensz5.Unbecoming Heretics: Knowledge, Missionary Stories, and the Legacy of David Cranz in North America- Jared Burkholder
Part III: Scientific Importance and Influence6.Circulation of Arctic Knowledge among German Protestants in the 18th century The example of David Cranz´s Historie von Grönland- Joanna Kodzik7.Early Meteorological Observations in Greenland: The Contributions of David Cranz, Christian Gottlieb Kratzenstein and Christopher Brasen- Gaston Demarée and Astrid Elisabeth Ogilvie8.Greenland in Hungary: Inuit Culture and the Emergence of the Science of Anthropology in Late Eighteenth Early Nineteenth Century Hungary- Ildikó SzKristof9.The Soul of the Arctic. David Cranz's account of the religion or superstitions of the Greenlanders and its impact on 19th Century descriptions of religion in Greenland- Åmund Norum Resløkken
Part IV: Cranz and the Medium of Missions10.The United Brethren and Johann Gerhard KönigCranz's Historie von Grönland as an avenue to the natural history of India- Thomas Ruhland11.Cranz's Greenland as a Steeping Stone to Labrador: Tracing the Profile of the Inuit- Thea Olsthoorn
Part V: The Post-colonial Cranz 12. Cranz Revisited: Greenland in Greenland- Claire McLiskey13. Appendix: David Cranz's Lebenslauf- Paul Peucker