Arctic Discourses

Arktis som litterært prosjekt

by Johan Schimanski

Co-authored with Cathrine Theodorsen and Henning Howlid Wærp

Johan Schimanski, Cathrine Theodorsen, and Henning Howlid Wærp, “Arktis som litterært prosjekt”.  Reiser og... more Johan Schimanski, Cathrine Theodorsen, and Henning Howlid Wærp, “Arktis som litterært prosjekt”.  Reiser og ekspedisjoner i det litterære Arktis, eds. Johan Schimanski, Cathrine Theodorsen and Henning Howlid Wærp. Trondheim: Tapir Akademisk, 2011. 9-28.

Oppdagelsesreise blir til litteratur: Skrivestrategier i mottakelsen av den østerriksk-ungarske nordpolsekspedisjonen (1872-1874)

by Johan Schimanski

Co-authored with Ulrike Spring.

Johan Schimanski and Ulrike Spring, “Oppdagelsesreise blir til litteratur: Skrivestrategier i mottakelsen av den... more Johan Schimanski and Ulrike Spring, “Oppdagelsesreise blir til litteratur: Skrivestrategier i mottakelsen av den østerriksk-ungarske nordpolsekspedisjonen (1872-1874)”.  Reiser og ekspedisjoner i det litterære Arktis, eds. Johan Schimanski, Cathrine Theodorsen and Henning Howlid Wærp. Trondheim: Tapir Akademisk, 2011. 57-90.

Russia and the Arctic: the "Last Dash North"

by Keir Giles

Keir Giles and Dr Mark A Smith
September 2007

* The belief that the North Pole region could contain large quantities of oil and gas is one of the major forces... more * The belief that the North Pole region could contain large quantities of oil and gas is one of the major forces driving Russian policy. The North Pole expedition of July-August 2007 laid the ground for submitting a claim to the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf that the Lomonosov Ridge belongs to Russia.

* Russia’s claims will be challenged by Canada, the USA and Denmark. The Arctic region is likely to become a region of geopolitical competition later in the 21st century as the ice cap melts.

* There is a widespread view in Russia that its claim to Arctic territory is not speculative, but rightful compensation for territorial losses in Europe.

* Any foreign interest in the area, government, commercial or environmental, is seen as hostile intent.

* Armed action by NATO to contest Russia’s Arctic claims is discussed as a serious possibility.

* Reports of the death of the Russian North are greatly exaggerated, as they take no account of commercial rebirth based on the oil industry.

* Russia has a well-developed commercial and transport infrastructure to take advantage of opportunities offered by the retreating icecap, in contrast to other littoral states.

* Naval re-armament and increased military activity mean the same applies to capacity for military action.

Collection and analysis of traditional ecological knowledge about a population of Arctic tundra caribou

by Mike Ferguson

Ferguson and Messier. 1997. Collection and analysis of traditional ecological knowledge about a population of Arctic tundra caribou. Arctic 50: 17-28.

Keywords: Inuit knowledge, Inuit qaujimajatuqangit, methodology, wildlife population fluctuations and ecology, caribou, Rangifer tarandus, Baffin Island, Nunavut, savoir inuit, méthodologie, fluctuations dans la population et écologie de la faune sauvage, île de Baffin

Aboriginal peoples want their ecological knowledge used in the management of wildlife populations. To accomplish this,... more Aboriginal peoples want their ecological knowledge used in the management of wildlife populations. To accomplish this, management agencies will need regional summaries of aboriginal knowledge about long-term changes in the distribution and abundance of wildlife populations and ecological factors that influence those changes. Between 1983 and 1994, we developed a method for collecting Inuit knowledge about historical changes in a caribou (Rangifer tarandus) population on southern Baffin Island from c. 1900 to 1994. Advice from Inuit allowed us to collect and interpret their oral knowledge in culturally appropriate ways. Local Hunters and Trappers Associations (HTAs) and other Inuit identified potential informants to maximize the spatial and temporal scope of the study. In the final interview protocol, each informant (i) established his biographical map and time line, (ii) described changes in caribou distribution and density during his life, and (iii) discussed ecological factors that may have caused changes in caribou populations. Personal and parental observations of caribou distribution and abundance were reliable and precise. Inuit who had hunted caribou during periods of scarcity provided more extensive information than those hunters who had hunted mainly ringed seals (Phoca hispida); nevertheless, seal hunters provided information about coastal areas where caribou densities were insufficient for the needs of caribou hunters. The wording of our questions influenced the reliability of informants’ answers; leading questions were especially problematic. We used only information that we considered reliable after analyzing the wording of both questions and answers from translated transcripts. This analysis may have excluded some reliable information because informants tended to understate certainty in their recollections. We tried to retain the accuracy and precision inherent in Inuit oral traditions; comparisons of information from several informants and comparisons with published and archival historical reports indicate that we retained these qualities of Inuit knowledge.

Les peuples autochtones veulent voir leurs connaissances sur l’environnement utilisées dans la gestion de la faune sauvage. Pour ce faire, il va falloir que les organismes chargés de la gestion possèdent des résumés à l’échelle régionale du savoir autochtone sur les changements à long terme dans la distribution et l’abondance des populations fauniques et des facteurs écologiques influençant ces changements. Entre 1983 et 1994, on a mis au point une méthode de collecte du savoir inuit sur les changements survenus d’environ 1900 à 1994, changements qui ont affecté une population de caribous (Rangifer tarandus) dans la partie méridionale de l’île de Baffin. Des conseils donnés par les Inuit nous ont permis de recueillir et d’interpréter leur savoir oral selon des modalités pertinentes au plan culturel. Les Associations des chasseurs et des trappeurs (ACT) locales et d’autres Inuit ont indiqué des répondants potentiels, de façon à maximiser l’envergure spatiale et temporelle de l’étude. Lors du dernier protocole d’interview, chaque répondant a 1) établi sa carte biographique et sa ligne de temps, 2) décrit les changements dans la distribution et la densité du caribou au cours de sa vie, 3) discuté des facteurs écologiques qui auraient pu causer des changements dans les populations de caribous. Les observations sur la distribution et l’abondance du caribou émises par les répondants eux-mêmes ou leurs parents étaient à la fois fiables et précises. Les Inuit qui avaient chassé le caribou en des temps de pénurie offraient plus d’information que les chasseurs qui avaient surtout chassé le phoque annelé (Phoca hispida); les chasseurs de phoque n’en donnaient pas moins des renseignements sur des régions côtières où la densité du caribou ne pouvait satisfaire les besoins des chasseurs de cet animal. La formulation de nos questions a influencé la fiabilité des réponses des personnes interrogées; les questions suggestives en particulier posaient des problèmes. Après avoir analysé la formulation des questions ainsi que des réponses, à partir d’une traduction des transcriptions, on a seulement retenu l’information jugée fiable. Cette analyse peut avoir exclu des renseignements fiables car les répondants avaient tendance à sous-estimer l’exactitude de leurs souvenirs. On a essayé de préserver l’exactitude et la précision inhérentes à la tradition orale inuit; des comparaisons d’informations venant de plusieurs répondants ainsi que des comparaisons avec des rapports publiés ou archivés indiquent que ces qualités du savoir inuit ont ont été préservées dans l’étude.

Cooperation, Conflict, and Canadian Identity in the Interpretation of the Arctic Region

by Nick J. Sciullo

8.1 Crossroads 93 (2008)

Arctic Discourses: An Introduction

by Johan Schimanski

Anka Ryall, Johan Schimanski, and Henning Howlid Wærp. “Arctic Discourses: An Introduction”, Arctic Discourses. Eds. Anka Ryall, Johan Schimanski and Henning Wærp. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars, 2010. ix-xxii.

A Black Rectangle Labelled “Polar Night”: Imagining the Arctic after the Austro-Hungarian Expedition of 1872-1874

by Johan Schimanski

Johan Schimanski and Ulrike Spring. “A Black Rectangle Labelled “Polar Night”: Imagining the Arctic after the Austro-Hungarian Expedition of 1872-1874”,  Arctic Discourses. Eds. Anka Ryall, Johan Schimanski and Henning Howlid Wærp. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars, 2010. 19-42.

Polarwissenschaft und Kolonialismus in Österreich-Ungarn: Zur Rezeption der österreichisch-ungarischen Polarexpedition (1872-1874)

by Johan Schimanski

Johan Schimanski and Ulrike Spring. “Polarwissenschaft und Kolonialismus in Österreich-Ungarn: Zur Rezeption der österreichisch-ungarischen Polarexpedition (1872-1874)”, Wiener Zeitschrift zur Geschichte der Neuzeit 9.2 (2009): 53-71.

As the Austro-Hungarian Polar Expedition returned to Europe in September 1874, it set off a wide-ranging media... more As the Austro-Hungarian Polar Expedition returned to Europe in September 1874, it set off a wide-ranging media reception in which science had a central role to play as signifier which could be inscribed with many different ideological meanings. The competition to reach the “farthest north“ and the question of whether the expedition’s main discovery, Franz Josef Land, had any economic or territorial value, competed with and inflected upon the scientific value of the expedition. As the concept of science as a common good became nuanced into concepts of science as both a measure of modernity and as a means to enlightenment, the Viennese press connected the scientific worth of the expedition with fantasies of a colonial presence outside Austro-Hungary and a logic of internal imperial development. Increasingly, the expedition and the partly emptied signifier “science” were used as projection screens for the internal political and social conflicts and potentials of the double monarchy. This article contributes to an ongoing discussion on postcolonial approaches to Austro-Hungary and a new recontextualization of history of polar exploration within the frame of European and other discourse histories. It also addresses the statuses of science, popular science and geography in the 1870s, against a background of bourgeois ascendancy and its conservative opponents.

Austro-Hungarian and Other Mountains in Polar Discourse

by Johan Schimanski

Johan Schimanski and Ulrike Spring. “Austro-Hungarian and Other Mountains in Arctic Discourse”, Trans 15.10 (2003).