•  
  •  
 

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Keywords

Augustin Krämer, original diaries, Samoan language

College

Humanities

Department

German and Russian

Abstract

Virtually every significant study of Samoan culture and language published since 1900 relies on Augustin Krämer’s seminal work die Samoa Inseln. It is unusual for a scholarly ethnography to become so completely accepted and loved by an indigenous people, but die Samoa Inseln is second only to the Bible in its esteem by the Samoan people. Although the original Stuttgart printing was limited, copies of die Samoa Inseln were acquired by his Samoan contemporaries and were lovingly handed down from generation to generation. Today, any copy that is advertised for sale in Samoa is almost instantly purchased. The value of this scholarly work to the Samoan people is largely based on the extensive Samoan language texts which appear side by side with their German translations. No other European before or since Krämer had such an ear for the nuanced chiefly rhetoric and common language of Samoa. Extensive transcriptions of kava speeches, proverbs, genealogies, funeral customs, and the structure of ancient Samoan polities, legends, and performances fill the pages of die Samoa Inseln. Samoans marvel that any foreigner could so completely understand and record Samoan culture. However, the means by which Kraemer attained such linguistic and cultural proficiency have never been made clear.

Download

Share

COinS