‘Removing the Youth from their Pernicious Environment’: Child Separation Practices in South Dutch New Guinea, 1902-1921

This article examines practices of child separation in South Dutch New Guinea during the first two decades of colonial administration and missionary presence, spanning the years 1902-1920. By examining the ways in which the Dutch Catholic missionary priests and brothers of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (Missionnaires du Sacré Coeur – MSC) sought to ‘civilise’ the Marind-anim and reconfigure Marind society, I argue that this ‘civilising’ project concentrated on the management, control and transformation of bodies and bodily practices – especially those of children. This project... Mehr ...

Verfasser: Maaike Derksen
Dokumenttyp: Artikel
Erscheinungsdatum: 2020
Reihe/Periodikum: BMGN: Low Countries Historical Review, Vol 135, Iss 3-4 (2020)
Verlag/Hrsg.: openjournals.nl
Schlagwörter: History of Low Countries - Benelux Countries / DH1-925
Sprache: Englisch
Niederländisch
Permalink: https://search.fid-benelux.de/Record/base-28985503
Datenquelle: BASE; Originalkatalog
Powered By: BASE
Link(s) : https://doaj.org/article/281e4fba6fdb4aa0b525941e6c826150

This article examines practices of child separation in South Dutch New Guinea during the first two decades of colonial administration and missionary presence, spanning the years 1902-1920. By examining the ways in which the Dutch Catholic missionary priests and brothers of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (Missionnaires du Sacré Coeur – MSC) sought to ‘civilise’ the Marind-anim and reconfigure Marind society, I argue that this ‘civilising’ project concentrated on the management, control and transformation of bodies and bodily practices – especially those of children. This project only appeared to be feasible in what I define as ‘spaces of transformation’, constituted by the mission’s boarding schools and new model villages, in which missionaries could establish some degree of authority. Designed specifically to separate Marind youth and socialise them in a manner distinct from that undergone by their parents, these institutions enhanced missionary efforts to transform Marind society by interrupting the transmission of knowledge and practice from one generation to the next. Dit artikel onderzoekt praktijken die erop gericht waren kinderen uit hun oorspronkelijke milieu te verwijderen in het zuidelijke deel van Nederlands Nieuw-Guinea tijdens de eerste twee decennia van het koloniaal bestuur en de katholieke missie van 1902-1920. De analyse van de manieren waarop Nederlandse katholieke missionarissen en broeders van de Missionaires du Sacré Coeur (MSC) de Marind-anim en hun samenleving wilden hervormen toont aan dat dit ‘beschavingsproject’ zich concentreerde op het controleren en transformeren van lichamen en lichamelijke praktijken, met name op die van kinderen. Dergelijke ‘beschavingspraktijken’ werden alleen uitvoerbaar geacht in die ruimtes waar de Nederlandse priesters en broeders een zekere mate van gezag konden uitoefenen. Kostscholen en modeldorpen, die in dit artikel als ‘spaces of transformation’ worden gedefinieerd, werden speciaal opgezet om Marind kinderen en jongvolwassenen tijdelijk ...