Jan van Baal

Van Baal during a press conference, Schiphol, 7 July 1957

Jan van Baal (born November 25, 1909 in Scheveningen , † August 9, 1992 in Doorn ) was a Dutch ethnologist and governor of Dutch New Guinea (1953-1958). His research interests were thematically guided by religion .

Van Baal studied Indology at the Rijksuniversiteit Leiden . He made this academic training primarily for future service in the colonial administration in the Dutch East Indies .

In 1934 he received his doctorate on the phenomenon of headhunting ( koppensnellen ) with the Marind-anim , a Papuan people on the south coast of New Guinea . Shortly after his doctorate , van Baal was stationed as an administrative officer in Merauke in Dutch New Guinea. During the war years he was interned by the Japanese.

In 1951 he set up the Bureau voor Inlandse Zaken in Jayapura (then Hollandia ) in Dutch New Guinea . He was its director for a year. The office conducted ethnographic and demographic research.

As governor of Dutch New Guinea from 1953 to 1958, he promoted ethnographic research. After his return to the Netherlands in 1959, van Baal worked as director of the anthropology department at the Royal Tropical Institute in Amsterdam . Then he was Professor of Anthropology at the Universities of Amsterdam and Utrecht .

The tasks that he set himself as a cultural anthropologist are still relevant.

Dema

His main scientific work is the study of the mythical prehistoric beings of the Dema deities , a description and analysis of the Marind-anim culture in southern New Guinea (1966), in which he summarized the material he had gathered over the years. It complements the Marind anim monograph by the Swiss ethnologist Paul Wirz, which he uses as the main source of information .

bibliography

• Godsdienst en samenleving in Nederlandsch-Zuid-Nieuw-Guinea . Amsterdam: NV Noord-Hollandsche Uitgevers Maatschappij, 1934.
• Over because of en drijfveren der religion; een service psychology study . Amsterdam: NV Noord-Hollandsche Uitgevers Maatschappij, 1947.
• Dema; Description and Analysis of Marind-Anim Culture (South New Guinea) . With the collaboration of J. Verschueren [1] . The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1966.
• Canteens in verandering; ontstaan ​​en groei van een nieuwe cultuur in ontwikkelingslanden . Amsterdam: Arbeiderspers, 1967.
• Symbols for Communication; An Introduction to the Anthropological Study of Religion . Assen: Van Gorcum, 1971.
• De boodschap of the three illusies; overdenkingen over religion, art en spel . Assen: Van Gorcum, 1972.
• De agressie der Gelijken; ons cultureel mash: één right, één averecht . Assen: Van Gorcum, 1974.
• Reciprocity and the Position of Women; Anthropological Papers . Assen: Van Gorcum, 1975.
• Man's Quest for Partnership; The Anthropological Foundations of Ethics and Religion . Assen: Van Gorcum, 1981.
• Jan Verschueren's Description of Yéi-nan Culture (Extracted from the Posthumous Papers). Verhandelingen van het Koninklijk Instituut voor Taal-, Land en Volkenkunde 99.The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1982.
• The dialects of sex in Marind-anim culture. In: Gilbert H. Herdt (ed.): Ritualized homosexuality in Melanesia. Berkeley, Los Angeles, London 1984
• Boodschap uit de stilte; mystery as openbaring . Baarn: Ten Have, 1991.
• Publish ontglipt. Deel I: Tot 1947: Indian bestuursambtenaar in vrede en oorlog; Ontglipt verleden deel 2: Leven in verandering, 1947–1958 . Franeker: Wever, 1986-1989.

literature

• Van Beek, WEA & Scherer, JH (Eds.): Explorations in the Anthropology of Religion; Essays in Honor of Jan Van Baal. The Hague Verhandelingen 1975 (contains a bibliography of his publications up to 1975)