<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>The ethnographic shows of the end of the 19<sup>th</sup> century responded to an increased hunger for the exotic, especially among the bourgeois classes in Europe and North America, and to the establishment of both physical and cultural anthropology as scientific disciplines with a need for study material. At the same time they served as a manifestation of European superiority in the time of the last phase of colonialist thrust to other continents. “Scientific colonialism” reached also to regions without actual colonial or imperial ambitions, as the story of Labrador Inuit who visited Prague during their tour of Europe in November 1880 will prove. The reactions of local intellectuals and the general public to the performances of the “savages” will be examined in the context of the Czech and German nationalist competition and the atmosphere of colonial complicity. Thanks to the testimony of a member of the group, Abraham Ulrikab, supplemented by newspaper articles and other sources, it is possible to explore the miscommunication arising from the fact that the Inuit were members of the Moravian Church, professing allegiance to old Protestant tradition in the Czech Lands and cultivating a fragmented knowledge of Czech history and culture.</p></abstract>

The ethnographic shows of the end of the 19th century responded to an increased hunger for the exotic, especially among the bourgeois classes in Europe and North America, and to the establishment of both physical and cultural anthropology as scientific disciplines with a need for study material. At the same time they served as a manifestation of European superiority in the time of the last phase of colonialist thrust to other continents. “Scientific colonialism” reached also to regions without actual colonial or imperial ambitions, as the story of Labrador Inuit who visited Prague during their tour of Europe in November 1880 will prove. The reactions of local intellectuals and the general public to the performances of the “savages” will be examined in the context of the Czech and German nationalist competition and the atmosphere of colonial complicity. Thanks to the testimony of a member of the group, Abraham Ulrikab, supplemented by newspaper articles and other sources, it is possible to explore the miscommunication arising from the fact that the Inuit were members of the Moravian Church, professing allegiance to old Protestant tradition in the Czech Lands and cultivating a fragmented knowledge of Czech history and culture.

Alone in the Country of the Catholics: Labrador Inuit in Prague (1880)

Ethnologia Actualis

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

{"article-title":"Alone in the Country of the Catholics: Labrador Inuit in Prague (1880)"}

The ethnographic shows of the end of the 19th century responded to an increased hunger for the exotic, especially among the bourgeois classes in Europe and...

Alone in the Country of the Catholics: Labrador Inuit in Prague (1880)

Publié en ligne: 05 oct. 2021

Pages: 20 - 45

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/eas-2021-0010

Mots clés
ethnographic shows, history of anthropology, Labrador Inuit, Abraham Ulrikab, Moravian Church, Czech Lands, 19th century

© 2021 Markéta Křížová, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Alone in the Country of the Catholics: Labrador Inuit in Prague (1880)

Publié en ligne: 05 oct. 2021

Pages: 20 - 45

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/eas-2021-0010

Mots clésethnographic shows, history of anthropology, Labrador Inuit, Abraham Ulrikab, Moravian Church, Czech Lands, 19th century

© 2021 Markéta Křížová, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Mots clés
ethnographic shows, history of anthropology, Labrador Inuit, Abraham Ulrikab, Moravian Church, Czech Lands, 19th century