Global Bible: British and German Bible Societies Translating Colonialism, 1800-1914

• Applicant: Privatdozentin Dr. Felicity Jensz
• Subject Area: Modern and Contemporary History
• Term: since 2022
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 508233363

The Global Bible project (GloBil) will critically investigate British and German contributions to the creation of a global bible, that is the attempt to translate Christian scripture into all the languages of the world. By early in the twentieth century, some portion of the bible had been translated into approximately 1000 languages, including many with no previous written form. As a result of decades of arduous labour, much of what is known about global majority languages relies on the work of Indigenous translators and missionary linguists from the colonial era. Yet much of this critical knowledge remains obscured in religious archives. GloBil will unlock the archives of German and British bible societies, uncovering the history of the global bible movement and its discovery of global languages. To provide focus and direction, GloBil will explore bible translation in three geographically diverse regions, namely the Arctic, Oceania and Australia, and West Africa. These regions are significant as they illustrate the different frontiers into which British and German colonisers were moving and the range of encounters with unique and distinctive languages and peoples. Through examining these regions, GloBil will uncover the contribution of Indigenous translators and evangelists, and the significance of British and German bible societies contributions. Bible societies were key to the dissemination of British and German soft power, both at home and abroad, however, their significance and global importance has, until now, received little recognition. In the UK, the British and Foreign Bible Society (BFBS) was a cultural power house which funded the dissemination, publication and distribution of bibles to the peoples of the world. At every point, it was supported by German societies, with funds, linguistic expertise and missionaries and personnel who shared a common evangelical and pietistic world view. GloBil will uncover the significance of Anglo-German collaboration to funding, publishing and disseminating global bible knowledge. The project is committed to foregrounding the repatriation of colonial knowledge of Indigenous languages and does this through engaging both global majority and European-based scholars and artists who will collaborate in tackling the research questions. By creating a wide range of outputs in different media, it will engage and reach beyond the academic community. These outputs include: 1. The GloBil database, which will include the map of the Global Bible movement, 2. the GloBil conference, with contributions from Africa, Oceania, the UK and Germany including artists and academics and 3. the GloBil exhibition, which will be hosted by the Bible Museum Münster, who will produce a catalogue as a partner contribution to the project. The exhibition will provide a forum for post-colonial reflection by communities served by the bibles exhibited, demonstrating the reception and afterlives of bible translations from the colonial era.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: United Kingdom
• Partner Organisation: Arts and Humanities Research Council
• Cooperation Partner: Professorin Dr. Hilary Carey