Sami studies

Sami Studies (formerly also Lappology ) is the science that deals with Sápmi and the Sami . The focus is on questions of the humanities and social sciences , including Sami ethnology , history , literature and linguistics .

Sami studies in the curriculum

Sami is a group of closely related languages and societies that are as diverse as North Germanic or Baltic Finnish . The traditional Sámi settlement area , Sápmi, forms a transnational region that overlaps not only with the four nation states Finland , Norway , Sweden and Russia , but also with other regions such as the north , the Barents region and the Arctic .

According to this, Sami studies have similar potential as other philologies or regional sciences . Outside of Scandinavia , however, there is no university where Sami studies are anchored in the curriculum as a separate subject . Nevertheless, research and teaching in Sami studies takes place at various Finno-Ugric , Scandinavian and other institutes, in Germany, for example, at the Scandinavian Seminar in Freiburg , at the Northern Europe Institute in Berlin and at the Scandinavian / Fennic Studies in Cologne . At the University of Texas at Austin , courses in Sami studies are held at the Germanic Institute.

In Scandinavia, Sami studies can be studied at the Universities of Helsinki , Oulu , Tromsø , and Umeå and, above all, at the Sami University of Applied Sciences in Kautokeino. A department is planned to be set up at the State University of the Arctic in Murmansk .

Subject history

For a long time, Sami studies were carried out under the name "Lappology", primarily as a non-independent subject within Finno-Ugric Studies. Well-known researchers at German universities are Wolfgang Schlachter ( Munich , later Göttingen ) and Hans-Hermann Bartens (Göttingen). Eberhard Winkler (Göttingen) and Rogier Blokland (formerly Munich) also worked on Sami in Germany.

A "Sami rebirth" began around the middle of the last century, the main goal of which is to achieve recognition of the Sami as an indigenous minority group in Northern Europe under international law . This process has parallels in the nation-building of other societies and led, among other things, to the establishment of ethnic - national Sami research. From an internal perspective, this is intended to bring to light and impart fundamental knowledge about the Saami societies, to produce new applied research methods and, last but not least, to indirectly promote self-determination within Sápmis.

Consequently, various research questions related to the problem of minorities are central to today's Sami studies. But the long-studied areas of Sami ethnology, history, literature and linguistics are also being intensively developed. In connection with the reorientation of the subject from the inside, there is also a critical examination of the history of research and the research ethics shaped by the external perspective of previous research .

Science forums

The most important scientific forums for Sami studies are the independent Sami research institutes CeSam (Tromsø) and SESAM (Umeå), the Sami Institute Giellagas of the University of Oulu and, last but not least, the Sami University of Applied Science in Kautokeino . These research institutions initiate and coordinate training and research in the subject, provide scholarships for Sami researchers and organize workshops and conferences.

The subject's own publication forums are the magazine Sámi dieđalaš áigečála , which publishes articles written exclusively in Sami languages ​​under open access conditions , and the series Dieđut for monographs and compilations on relevant topics.

The Samica series has been published in Germany since 2014 .

See also

• Seeds
• Sami linguistics in Finland
• Sami linguistics in Norway
• Sami linguistics in Russia
• Sami linguistics in Sweden

literature

• Risto Pulkkinen, Lappology, in: The Saami: a cultural encyclopaedia , Helsinki, 2005, pp. 189–191 (see also the edited version Research History of the Lappology ).
• Michael Rießler, [review by] Peter Sköld (red.): Människor i Norr. Samisk forskning på nya vägar . Umeå: Vaartoe - Center for Saami Research (= Miscellaneous publications; 11), 553 p., In: “ NORDEUROPAforum , magazine for politics, economy and culture”, 1/2009, pp. 140–143. Electronic resource .
• Irja Seurujärvi-Kari, Saami Studies, in: The Saami: a cultural encyclopaedia , Helsinki, 2005, pp. 356–357 (see also the edited version of Saami Studies ).

Web links

• Centrum för Samisk forskning (CeSam), Umeå
• Giellagas, Oulu
• Freiburg working group for Saami studies
• Sámi allaskuvla, Kautokeino
• Senter for samiske studier (SESAM), Tromsø
• The Encyclopaedia of Saami Culture, Helsinki

Individual evidence

1. ↑ cf. the website of the Freiburg working group for Saami research
2. ↑ cf. the Sami Culture portal (in English)
3. ↑ cf. Sami Studies at Helsinki University (in English)
4. ↑ cf. Sami studies at the University of Oulu ( Memento of the original from August 19, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (in English) 
5. ↑ cf. Sami studies at Tromsø University (in Norwegian)
6. ↑ cf. Sami studies at Umeå University (in Swedish)
7. ↑ http://samas.no/
8. ↑ cf. Sami Laboratory at the Institute for Intercultural Communication (in Russian)
9. ↑ cf. the website of the magazine (in Northern Saami)
10. ↑ cf. The website of the series of publications ( Memento of the original from June 4, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (in Northern Saami) 
11. ↑ cf. the press release "Provocative greetings from Lapland"