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“Breath of the North”: A Literary Portrait of Jean Malaurie

Shared Voices 2020 Breath Of The North

By Jan Borm, Full Professor, University of Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines

In times of doubt and instability, it is wise to listen to the reassuring voice of those who can look back on a long life of extraordinary experience. Professor Jean Malaurie’s voice is definitely one of those.

Born in Germany in 1922, Malaurie is a trained geomorphologist; author of the 1955 classic account The Last Kings of Thule, the most widely distributed book about Greenland in the world; founder of Terre Humaine, the prestigious French book series which includes one of the most influential texts in social sciences of the second half of the 20th century, Tristes Tropiques by Claude Lévi-Strauss; co-founder of the State Polar Academy in Saint-Petersburg (now part of Russian State Hydrometeorological University); UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for the Arctic; and recipient of the gold Nersornaat, the Greenland Medal for Meritorious Service awarded by the Greenlandic parliament.

In the preface to The Last Kings of Thule, Malaurie looks back on the decisive impact the Inughuit of Thule in North-West Greenland had on him when he was staying with them in 1950-51: “I owe much to these exemplary men, who obliged me to discover in depth my own identity. They reminded me that a man’s life should be a constant challenge that enables him to become what he truly is. They were my second – and more important – university, and I shall be indebted to them all my life.” Among Jean Malaurie’s many achievements, his insistence on considering Inuit knowledge and wisdom on par with other schools of thought is certainly one of the foremost and a lesson to be meditated by all of us. This premise is also reflected by the choices he has made as an editor for the over one hundred life stories and narratives published in Terre Humaine, aligning well-known scholars with indigenous authors such as Don Talayesva or Davi Kopenawa as well as men and women from all walks of life.

Jean Malaurie’s history of the “discovery” and exploration of North-West Greenland, Ultima Thule, is a model of reflexive ethno-history, and his gripping account of his own 31 expeditions to the Arctic, the four-part Hummocks, is fascinating reading from both a scientific and literary point of view. And he continues to publish: the monumental second volume of his collected writings Arctica (about his expedition to Chukotka in 1990) came out last year, with two more volumes to follow in 2020 and 2021.

But let us listen to him again. His powerful 2013 call of Strasbourg “Le souffle du Nord” (Breath of the North) has been published in his recent collection Oser, résister (To Dare, To Resist). As a take-away message, here is one of his most urgent appeals to human reason: “Cultural diversity is a scientific reality which we must protect as much as possible, just like biodiversity. Otherwise, all of us in those megacities that keep on growing will become a people of ants, manipulated by words and images.”

We need to return, time and time again, to those exceptional voices. As Prince Albert II of Monaco observes in his homage to be published in a special volume of the prestigious French review Les Cahiers de l’Herne, “Jean Malaurie is a model, a reference for those, like myself, engaging themselves in favour of our planet and the poles, and who always know how to find a precious example in all that he does.”

Table of Contents

  1. Letter from the President

    By Lars Kullerud

  2. Editorial

    By Outi Snellman

  3. Letter from Monaco

    By HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco

  4. Climate Action – A Need for Policy

    By Pekka Haavisto

  5. Russia’s Ten Priorities in the Arctic

    By Alexander V. Krutikov

  6. Learning from the Crisis: Issues in Strengthening Online Learning for the Future

    By Diane Hirshberg and Paul Wasko

  7. Step Up and Take Climate Leadership

    By Eirik Sivertsen

  8. Multidisciplinary Research as Climate Action

    By Annika Granebeck and Nina Kirchner

  9. It Takes a Village: University of New Hampshire Students Spur Climate Change Research to Action

    By Colleen Flaherty, Rebecca Irelan and Cameron Wake

  10. Exploring Arctic Policy from an Inuit Perspective

    By Nadine C. Fabbi, Michelle Koutnik, Ellen Ahlness and Elizabeth Wessells

  11. Stories from the Ice: A History of Arctic Climate and Environmental Change Told in Ice Cores

    By Karl Kreutz, Cameron Wake, Erich Osterberg and Alison Criscitiello

  12. Student story: Anna-Katri Kulmala

  13. UArctic Annual Report 2019

  14. Building Relationships with Land: Bushkids Initiative

    By Chloe Dragon Smith

  15. Understanding Climate Change Through Storytelling, Culture, and Art

    By Aaluk Edwardson, Maleah Wenzel, Sabena Allen, Shelbi Fitzpatrick and Melody Brown Burkins

  16. Many a Little Makes a Mickle: Coastal Studies Students and Staff Take Action Against Marine Litter

    By Catherine Chambers and Astrid Fehling

  17. Our Plastic Ocean, Our Clean Ocean: Art as a Catalyst to Build Understanding

    By Herminia Din

  18. Worlds in Motion – The National Museums of World Culture, Sustainability and the Future

    By Sofie Öberg Magnusson and Martin Schultz

  19. Voluntourism in the Faroe Islands: A Sustainable Nordic Tourism Model

    By Jonathan Wood

  20. Northern Nursing Students Raising Awareness and Spreading Knowledge on Climate Actions

    By Kathie Pender, Donald Leidl and Bente Norbye

  21. Smart Societies and Arctic Sustainability: Opportunities and Challenges

    By Nadezda Nazarova, Evgenii Aleksandrov and Anatoli Bourmistrov

  22. Shortening the Time from Observing to Decision-making in the Arctic

    By Olivia Lee and Finn Danielsen

  23. Climate Change – Key Challenge of Arctic Herders’ Livelihoods and Cultures

    By Alena Gerasimova, Svetlana Avelova, Mikhail Pogodaev, Anatoly Zhozhikov, Anders Oskal and Svein D. Mathiesen

  24. Alumni Testimonials from the Model Arctic Council

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