Colonialism and Missionary Linguistics (Koloniale Und Postkoloniale Linguistik / Colonial and Postco)

A lot of what we know about “exotic languages” is owed to the linguistic activities of missionaries. They had the languages put into writing, described their grammar and lexicon, and worked towards a standardization, which often came with Eurocentric manipulation. Colonial missionary work as intellectual (religious) conquest formed part of the Europeans' political colonial rule, although it sometimes went against the specific objectives of the official administration. In most cases, it did not help to stop (or even reinforced) the displacement and discrimination of those languages, despite oftentimes providing their very first (sometimes remarkable, sometimes incorrect) descriptions. This volume presents exemplary studies on Catholic and Protestant missionary linguistics, in the framework of the respective colonial situation and policies under Spanish, German, or British rule. The contributions cover colonial contexts in Latin America, Africa, and Asia across the centuries. They demonstrate how missionaries dealing with linguistic analyses and descriptions cooperated with colonial institutions and how their linguistic knowledge contributed to European domination. Missionaries played a central role in establishing colonialism (intellectual conquest) inasmuch as they described the "exotic languages" they encountered as an instrument of their missionary work. The language standardization they worked towards often came with Eurocentric manipulation. This volume provides detailed insight into the interrelationship of colonialism, mission, language, and linguistics. The Series: Koloniale Und Postkoloniale Linguistik - Colonial and Postcolonial Linguistics The series provides a platform for Colonial and Postcolonial Linguistics. This new linguistic sub-discipline is inspired by the framework of Missionary Linguistics and the recent discussion on language, linguistics and colonialism. KPL/CPL intends to make accessible and comment on texts which are concerned with languages of the former European possessions in overseas and were written during the European colonial era. The focus is on hitherto unpublished manuscripts and texts which nowadays are hard to find. Moreover, the series investigates in what ways the cultural and political discourse of the (post- )colonial times is reflected in the contemporary linguistic contributions dedicated to the languages of the colonized peoples Ein Groteil des Wissens ber "exotische" Sprachen verdanken wir den linguistischen Aktivitten der Missionare. Ihr Beitrag belief sich v.a. auf die Verschriftlichung, die Beschreibung der Grammatik und Lexik sowie auf die Standardisierung, was in manchen Fllen mit einer eurozentristischen Manipulation der beschriebenen Sprachen einherging. Insgesamt war die koloniale Missionierung als geistige (religise) Eroberung Teil der politischen Kolonialherrschaft, auch wenn sie manchmal im Widerstreit zur Kolonialverwaltung stand. Die Verdrngung und Diskriminierung der Sprachen hat sie jedenfalls, trotz der meistens ersten, z.T. bewundernswerten, z.T. fehlerhaften Beschreibungen selten aufhalten knnen, bisweilen sogar daran mitgewirkt. Der Band bietet exemplarische Studien ber katholische und protestantische Missionarslinguistik unter den Bedingungen der jeweils geltenden Kolonialpolitik unter spanischer, deutscher und britischer Verwaltung in Hispanoamerika, Afrika und Asien in verschiedenen Jahrhunderten. Sie zeigen, wie sprachbeschreibend ttige Missionare mit den Kolonialverwaltungen kooperierten und mit ihrem Wissen zur Herrschaft beitrugen.