Asta Mønsted in Interview about Greenlandic Oral History
Following the publication of her first book, Re-activating Indigenous Knowledge from Oral History: Landscape and Intangible Cultural Heritage in Greenland, Privacy scholar Asta Mønsted was recently interviewed by Naja Hendriksen for Tulugaq Publishing's online platform Window to Greenland.
Asta’s book combines architectural findings on historic Greenlandic winter houses with knowledge of oral stories and myths to better understand how the house was embedded in the Greenlandic landscape, and how nature, architecture and bodies interacted in everyday life. In the interview, Asta explains how stories and myths were instrumental in teaching children what natural forces to look out for, or to determine whether a house would be a good winter dwelling or not. Doing research on oral history poses many challenges, though, as Asta explains how colonial accounts of Inuit tales often simplify the material, ignoring dimensions such as regional variations and dialects. In spite of these challenges, though, Asta has through her research gained valuable insights that not only contribute to knowledge of historical life in Greenland, but also provide perspectives on modern architectural and cultural practices in Greenland and beyond.
The project Window to Greenland is an integrated element in Tulugaq Publishing’s work to promote Greenlandic language and culture. You can watch the full interview here.
Asta has also published blog posts on her research, which you can find here and here.