Ny bok om hur ett språk dör ut
5 June 2019
Hallå där Don Kulick, professor vid institutionen för kulturantropologi och etnologi vid Uppsala universitet.
antropologi och etnologi. Foto: Orlando Boström
I slutet av maj publicerade Time Magazine sin lista över sommarens mest läsvärda böcker. Med på årets lista, som en av två svenska författare, finns din nya bok ”A Death in the Rainforest” som kommer ut den 18 juni. Vad handlar den om?
– Den berättar i första hand om hur ett språk dör ut i ett avlägset samhälle i regnskogen på Papua Nya Guinea, och om hur människorna i det samhället ser på oss i västvärlden och försöker förstå sin plats i den värld som vi dragit dem in i. Men boken handlar också om mina trettio års erfarenheter av att arbeta som forskare i det samhället – om vad som hände när jag dök upp första gången, om hur och varför byborna lät mig stanna och bli en del av deras liv, och om varför jag till slut var tvungen att ge upp mina relationer med dem.
Hur har tiden du tillbringat på Papua Nya Guinea bidragit till din forskning?
– Jag kom till Papua Nya Guinea för första gången 1985, som doktorand i socialantropologi. Mina erfarenheter i byn utgjorde grunden för min förståelse för hur man på ett ansvarsfullt sätt kan bedriva forskning om medmänniskor. Byborna lärde mig mycket om sin kultur. Men de lärde mig också mycket om mig själv – om vad jag var kapabel att göra, och vad jag inte klarade av alls.
Vad tror du att boken kan bidra med?
– En huvudpoäng är att vi i västvärlden har ett moraliskt ansvar att förstå hur de senaste århundraden av kolonialisering och konvertering till kristendom har påverkat ursprungsbefolkningar. Detta är naturligtvis inte lätt att ta in, men jag tror att om man fokuserar på det lilla, det vill säga om man lär känna vissa människor och förstå det sammanhang där de lever sina liv, så kommer man en bra bit på vägen. Vad man sedan gör med den kunskapen är upp till läsaren. Men jag tror inte att någon som läser boken kommer att lämnas oberörd.
Varför ska man läsa boken?
– Jag hoppas att läsaren kommer att tycka att den är underhållande och tankeväckande. Dessutom får man lära sig en hel del om Papua Nya Guinea, och om hur och varför ett språk som har talats i hundratals, eller kanske tusentals år, nu försvinner. Det är som att läsa en rysare!
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