Projekt „Global Bible“ (GloBil)
© The Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser
Projekt „Global Bible“ (GloBil)
© National Livary of New Zealand

The Global Bible project (GloBil) aims to critically investigate British and German contributions to the creation of a global bible, that is the attempt to translate Christian scripture into all the languages of the world. By early in the twentieth century, some portion of the bible had been translated into approximately 1,000 languages, including many with no previous written language. As a result of decades of arduous labour, much of what is known about global majority languages relies on the work of Indigenous translators and missionary linguists from the colonial era. Yet much of this critical knowledge remains obscured in religious archives. GloBil will unlock the archives of German and British bible societies, uncovering the history of the global bible movement and its discovery of global languages.

To provide focus and direction, GloBil will explore bible translation in three geographically diverse regions, namely the Arctic, Oceania and Australia, and West Africa. These regions are significant because they illustrate the different frontiers into which British and German colonisers were moving and the range of encounters with unique and distinctive languages and peoples. GloBil seeks to delineate the global bible movement in these three regions, uncovering the contribution of Indigenous translators and evangelists, and the significant contribution of British and German bible societies.

GloBil is a collaborative project between Professor Hilary Carey (Bristol) and PD Dr. Felicity Jensz (Münster). Professor Hilary Carey at the University of Bristol is the Principle Investigator (PI) of the British Team. She is supported by an administrative manager (Mei Mei Cheung) and a Postdoctoral Research Associate (N.N).

PD Dr. Felicity Jensz is the PI of the German team, which includes a Research Software Engineer (N.N), a Postdoctoral Research Associate (Michael Wandusim) and two Student Research Assistants: Mr Louis Knölker and Mr. Sven Heidenreich

This project is funded by the fourth round of the UK-German funding initiative in the humanities. In the UK, the project is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) as part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).

Arts and Humanities Research Council
© Arts and Humanities Research Council
© DFG