The "wounds" of a colonial past - A study on the represented history and identification of Greenlanders and Danes
Author
Konggaard, Christian Føste
Term
4. term
Education
Publication year
2021
Submitted on
2021-08-09
Pages
64
Abstract
Da den lutherske mission ledet af den norske præst Hans Egede kom til Grønland i 1721, lagde den grundtonen for århundreders dansk kolonisering. Senere tiltag—G-50-politikken, Hjemmestyret i 1979 og Selvstyreloven i 2009—svækkede den koloniale relation og åbnede for mere grønlandsk selvstændighed. Alligevel præger forestillinger og billeder fra kolonitiden stadig, hvordan grønlændere og danskere ser på hinanden i dag. Dette studie bruger socialpsykologi til at undersøge, hvordan sådanne fælles forestillinger (sociale repræsentationer) og gruppetilhørsforhold (social identitet) bliver skabt sammen og former forholdet mellem Grønland og Danmark. Med afsæt i Serge Moscovicis teori om sociale repræsentationer, Henri Tajfels arbejde om social identitet og Frederic Bartletts metodiske tilgang analyserede vi svar fra 24 deltagere indsamlet i en tidligere pilotundersøgelse via et online spørgeskema delt internt i den grønlandske organisation GUX Sisimiut. Vi fandt, at 62,5% af deltagerne beskrev den dansk-grønlandske historie først og fremmest som kolonisering og dens følger. Samtidig så det ud til, at den enkeltes synspunkter og identitet blev formet på deres egen måde af forventninger til fremtidige relationer mellem grupperne og af personlige behov. Vi diskuterer også, hvordan nutidig grønlandsk identitet ofte udtrykkes gennem traditionelle kulturelle praksisser, hvilket fastholder kolonitiden som et referencepunkt. Studiet argumenterer for, at det ofte konfliktprægede internationale forhold mellem Grønland og Danmark kan ændres, hvis de fælles forestillinger ændrer sig—en proces, der ser ud til at være i fremgang blandt grønlandske unge. Vi anbefaler, at fremtidig forskning bruger metoder som fokusgruppeinterviews for at se, hvordan folk sammen forhandler, forandrer eller afviser eksisterende repræsentationer, hvilket kan udvide indsigterne ud over dette studies begrænsede ramme.
When the Lutheran mission led by Norwegian priest Hans Egede arrived in Greenland in 1721, it set the tone for centuries of Danish colonization. Later reforms—the G-50 policy, Home Rule in 1979, and the 2009 Self-Government Act—began to dismantle the colonial relationship and opened paths toward greater Greenlandic independence. Even so, ideas and images formed during the colonial era still influence how Greenlanders and Danes see each other today. This study uses social psychology to examine how shared ideas (social representations) and group memberships (social identity) are built together and shape the relationship between Greenland and Denmark. Drawing on Serge Moscovici’s Theory of Social Representations, Henri Tajfel’s work on Social Identity, and Frederic Bartlett’s methodological approach, we analyzed responses from 24 participants gathered in an earlier pilot study via an online questionnaire shared within the Greenlandic organization GUX Sisimiut. We found that 62.5% of participants described the history between Denmark and Greenland primarily in terms of colonization and its consequences. At the same time, each person’s views and sense of identity appeared to be shaped in their own way by their hopes for future relations between the groups and by personal needs. We also discuss how present-day Greenlandic identity is often expressed through traditional cultural practices, which keeps the colonial period in view as a point of reference. The study argues that the often conflictual international relationship between Greenland and Denmark can change if these shared representations change—a process that appears to be gaining momentum among Greenlandic youth. We recommend that future research use methods such as focus group interviews to see how people collectively negotiate, transform, or reject existing representations, which could broaden insights beyond this study’s limited framework.
[This abstract was generated with the help of AI]
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