Theodor Koch-Grünberg - Böcker

Theodor Koch-Grünberg (1872-1924) was a noted German ethnologist and explorer whose work on the indigenous peoples of Brazil and Venezuela is still consulted by anthropologists, ethnologists and linguists. His most important publication was this five-volume account of his 1911-1913 expedition from the sandstone mountains bordering Brazil, Venezuela and Guyana through uncharted territory westwards to the Orinoco. Volume 1 is a description of the journey, based on the diaries in which Koch-Grünberg recorded his immediate impressions. This entertaining informal travelogue covers a huge variety of topics including insect life, illness, gambling, theft, food supply and hunting, myths and shamanic rituals, as well as the practical difficulties of covering the terrain. Koch-Grünberg vividly describes the individuals he meets, and his reactions to his experiences, ranging from fury and frustration to amusement, admiration, and gratitude. The book has over fifty illustrations, mostly the author's own photographs.

Theodor Koch-Grünberg (1872-1924) was a noted German ethnologist and explorer whose work on the indigenous peoples of Brazil and Venezuela is still consulted today. His most important publication was this five-volume account of his expedition of 1911-1913 from the sandstone mountains bordering Brazil, Venezuela and Guyana through uncharted territory westwards to the Orinoco. Volume 2 contains the myths and legends Koch-Grünberg recorded among the Pemon Indians, who were speakers of Taulipáng (Taurepan) and Arekuná (Arecuna). These two important Cariban languages are closely related, and are still spoken by several thousand people in the Roroima mountains. Koch-Grünberg's consultants were Möseuípu, a young Arecuna shaman, and Mayuluaípu the son of a famous Taurepan story-teller. Mayuluaípu was fluent in Portuguese and provided the author with explanations of the stories, of which 50 are recorded in German versions and eleven in the original language with German glosses.

Theodor Koch-Grünberg (1872-1924) was a noted German ethnologist and explorer whose work on the indigenous peoples of Brazil and Venezuela is still referred to by anthropologists, ethnologists and linguists today. His most important publication was this five-volume account of his expedition of 1911-1913 from the sandstone mountains bordering Brazil, Venezuela and Guyana through uncharted territory westwards to the Orinoco. Volume 3 describes the material and spiritual culture of a number of tribes, focusing mainly on the Taulipáng (Taurepan) but also covering the Shirianá, Waika, Yekuaná and Guinaú. Topics covered include family life, health, clothing, hunting and fishing, crafts, warfare, belief in spirits, magic and ritual. The book contains an appendix on music, with descriptions of instruments, consideration of musical form and style, and transcriptions of melodies and songs taken from audio recordings. It is illustrated by numerous photographs and sketches.

Theodor Koch-Grünberg (1872-1924) was a noted German ethnologist and explorer whose work on the indigenous peoples of Brazil and Venezuela is still consulted by anthropologists, ethnologists and linguists. His most important book is this five-volume account of his expedition of 1911-1913 from the sandstone mountains bordering Brazil, Venezuela and Guyana through uncharted territory westwards to the Orinoco. Volume 4 contains the linguistic data collected on the expedition, including a grammatical description of Taulipáng (Taurepan) with word lists and texts. Eighteen further languages and dialects, seven of them previously unknown, are also represented, mostly by word lists with phonetic transcriptions using the 'Anthropos' system. Three languages were already facing extinction, four were language isolates, and several had previously been described only briefly. This truly ground-breaking work provided a linguistic overview of the greater part of a large geographical area, and a foundation for much future research.

Theodor Koch-Grünberg (1872-1924) was a noted German ethnologist and explorer whose work on the indigenous peoples of Brazil and Venezuela is still consulted by anthropologists, ethnologists and linguists today. His most important publication was this five-volume account of his expedition of 1911-1913 from the sandstone mountains bordering Brazil, Venezuela and Guyana through uncharted territory westwards to the Orinoco. Volume 5 contains 185 photographs of individuals and groups selected from around 350 taken by the author. His intention was to provide data on the physical characteristics of the tribes he encountered before the distinctions between them became blurred or vanished. Exact measurements and precise ages are not provided, but the author explains how individuals are related, gives their indigenous and 'Christian' names and social status, and provides a 'pen-portrait' for people he came to know personally. A short introduction provides contextualising information about geography and population.

Die Hianákoto-Umáua, first published in 1908, is Theodor Koch-Grünberg's illustrated account of the expedition he made together with other scientists to Northern Brazil in the years 1903-1905. The German researcher, a pioneer in the field of South American ethnology, describes his encounters with the indigenous people who lived in the region of the Japurá River and the Rio Negro. The Omagua tribe had lived there before the Spanish conquest of South America in the sixteenth century. Koch-Grünberg explains that although the words Omagua and Umáua are alike, the sixteenth-century Omagua tribe was culturally and linguistically quite distinct from the Umáua tribe he himself met. The main focus of the book is a systematic record of the vocabulary of the Umáua tribe based upon the author's own observations. He lists words relating to a variety of topics including body parts, medicine and religion.

This two-volume work by Theodor Koch-Grünberg (1872-1924), director of the Ethnographical Museum in Berlin, tells the story of his major expedition to North-West Brazil and describes the indigenous tribes and the local geography. In contrast to Koch-Grünberg's many monographs and essays on the same subject (listed in his Foreword), this book is directed at a lay readership. Koch-Grünberg states his aim of correcting a false impression of the indigenous peoples drawn from 'novels about Indians read during one's youth' and the accounts of his explorations are permeated by a deeply-held respect for the humanity he encounters. Although its primary interest to scholars lies in its anthropological and ethnographical content, the text is full of botanical, geographical and linguistic detail, interspersed with photographs taken by the author. Volume 1, published in 1909, covers the author's travels from Pará to São Felippe.