Building God’s Kingdom Studies in Christian Mission General Editor Heleen L. Murre-van den Berg, Leiden University Editorial Board Peggy Brock, Edith Cowan University James Grayson, University of Sheffield David Maxwell, Keele University Mark R. Spindler, Leiden University VOLUME 42 The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/scm Building God’s Kingdom Norwegian Missionaries in Highland Madagascar 1866–1903 By Karina Hestad Skeie LEIDEN • BOSTON 2013 Cover illustration: The Lutheran congregation and missionary Hans W. D. Smith outside Loharano church, 1900. Used with permission from the Mission Archives, School of Mission and Theology, Stavanger, Norway. (Collection: IMP-NMS-A13-506) Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Skeie, Karina Hestad. Building God’s kingdom : Norwegian missionaries in highland Madagascar, 1866–1903 / by Karina Hestad Skeie. p. cm. -- (Studies in Christian mission, ISSN 0924-9389 ; v. 42) Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index. ISBN 978-90-04-24082-7 (hardback : alk. paper) 1. Missions, Norwegian--Madagascar--History-- 19th century. 2. Madagascar--Church history--19th century. I. Title. BV3625.M2S63 2013 266’.0234810691--dc23 2012041323 This publication has been typeset in the multilingual “Brill” typeface. With over 5,100 characters covering Latin, IPA, Greek, and Cyrillic, this typeface is especially suitable for use in the humanities. For more information, please see www.brill.com/brill-typeface. ISSN 0924-9389 ISBN 978-90-04-24082-7 (hardback) ISBN 978-90-04-24212-8 (e-book) Copyright 2013 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands. Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Global Oriental, Hotei Publishing, IDC Publishers and Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by Koninklijke Brill NV provided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910, Danvers, MA 01923, USA. Fees are subject to change. This book is printed on acid-free paper. For my parents CONTENTS Acknowledgements ................................................................................................. xiii List of Illustrations .................................................................................................. xvii List of Abbreviations ................................................................................................xxi 1. Introduction ............................................................................................................1 Buildings, Bodies and Missionary Work ..........................................................3 History and Theoretical Presuppositions ........................................................5 Mission and Missionaries ....................................................................................7 Previous Research on Christianity and Mission in Nineteenth-Century Madagascar ............................................................8 Sources ................................................................................................................... 10 Sources to the Malagasy side ........................................................................... 14 Chapter Outline ................................................................................................... 15 A Brief Note on Language ................................................................................. 16 2. Nineteenth Century Norway and the Mission ............................................ 17 Introduction ......................................................................................................... 17 Transformation and Modernisation .............................................................. 17 Haugianism........................................................................................................... 19 Nationalism and Quest for Independence ................................................... 21 The Lutheran State Church of Norway ......................................................... 22 The Protestant Mission Movement in Norway and the NMS ................. 23 Internal and External Mission Associations ................................................ 25 Why the NMS Chose Madagascar................................................................... 26 Women and Mission .......................................................................................... 28 The Social Background of the Missionary Personnel ................................ 30 Female Missionaries and their Educational Background ........................ 31 Male Missionaries and their Educational Background ............................ 32 NMS-LMS Contact .............................................................................................. 34 Schreuder’s Contacts .......................................................................................... 35 3. Nineteenth-Century Madagascar and the Norwegian Mission .............. 37 Introduction ......................................................................................................... 37 Language ............................................................................................................... 37 The Kingdom of Madagascar ........................................................................... 38 viii contents Social Categories ................................................................................................. 39 Political Structures.............................................................................................. 40 The Custom of the Ancestors .......................................................................... 43 Hasina .................................................................................................................... 43 Macrocosm and Microcosm – the Universe and the House ................... 46 Hierarchy ............................................................................................................... 47 Leadership ............................................................................................................ 48 Religious Specialists ........................................................................................... 49 Rituals of Blessing ............................................................................................... 50 Christianity and Christian Missions .............................................................. 51 European Christian Missions in Madagascar .............................................. 58 NMS’s Arrival in Madagascar ........................................................................... 59 Overview of the Norwegian Mission in Madagascar ................................. 63 Missionary Personnel ......................................................................................... 68 Stability .................................................................................................................. 71 4. The Mission Station: Building a Home ......................................................... 75 Introduction ......................................................................................................... 75 ‘To Bring the Light of Bliss to Those Who Sit in Darkness’ ...................... 77 Building the Mission Station ........................................................................... 78 The House Interior ............................................................................................. 85 Bodies and Boundaries ...................................................................................... 89 Relationships Between Houses ....................................................................... 95 Outsiders Inside and Outside .......................................................................... 98 Inside and Out ...................................................................................................102 Outside the Mission Station ...........................................................................105 5. The Church Building: Building a Lutheran Church .................................107 Introduction .......................................................................................................107 The Politics of Place .........................................................................................107 Negotiating Place ..............................................................................................109 Building and Maintaining Relations ............................................................111 Hasina – Non-Negotiable Customs ..............................................................113 ‘The Worship’ and Fanompoana Churches ................................................114 A Challenging Relationship ...........................................................................116 Building Churches ............................................................................................117 The Church Building ........................................................................................119 The Spatial Logics of Station Districts ........................................................121