Johann Gottlieb Christaller: The Architect of Ghanaian Twi Literature
Christianity’s expansion through missionary work in Ghana in the nineteenth century had its own tough times. Gustav Arthur Jehle (1874–1957) “stated that by the year 1878, which was the fiftieth anniversary celebration of the Basel mission work on the Gold Coast, 39 of 126 missionaries and seventeen (17) wives had died. Jehle continued that majority of the missionaries had also returned to Europe in broken health, yet “God measures life by love and the corn of wheat having fallen into the ground and died had brought forth much fruit”” (Asamoah-Prah, 67).
One fruitful missionary, in particular to mention, was Johann Gottlieb Christaller (19 November 1827–16 December 1895). Christaller was among the missionaries to Ghana who suffered illness and loss of a wife (Christiane Emilie Ziegler, 37 years), yet, never gave up on missionary activity. He was a German missionary, philologist and translator sent to Ghana (then Gold Coast) by the Basel Mission of Switzerland in 1853. It is on record that Ghana became the first and most successful missionary field in Africa by the Basel Mission after their first operation in the Middle East, specifically in Iran, had failed.
Upon arrival in Ghana, Christaller used his philological talents as the modus operandi to reach the hearts of the Ghanaian Akan indigenes. Akan Twi writing scholarship owns its origin to Christaller. Prior to his advent, the Twi language was only spoken, never written*. Twi writing scholarship largely owns its origin to him. He transformed the oral traditions into literary scholarship. His mastery in the Akan dialects gave him an upper arm to expand on the Twi grammar and dictionaries. Other commentators suggest he did that to give preeminence to the Ghanaian language as a counter culture to the European Enlightenment that gave superiority to Western civilization. His most successful work was the translation of the Bible to the Akan Twi languages.
“Christaller together with David Asante and two other indigenous people began translating the Gospels and Acts in Akuapem-Twi (published in 1859). However, ill health forced Christaller to move back to Switzerland, but with the presence of Asante in Switzerland, Christaller was able to continue his translation work until the Gospels and Acts saw the light of day. This translation work was done from the original Hebrew and Greek texts…
“Both Christaller and Asante returned to the Gold Coast in 1862 and continued the translation of some portions of the Bible: The Epistles of Paul to the Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 and 2 Thessalonians. In 1863, according to the British and Foreign Bible Societies (BFBS), Christaller and his team translated 1 Timothy, Philemon and Hebrews whiles Mader and his team also translated 1 and 2 Peter, James and Jude.53 In 1864, Christaller and his indigenous coworkers made a revision of the New Testament and published in that same year…Using the original language of the Old Testament, they translated the Psalms and Proverbs in 1866.
“In 1868, Christaller suffered a personal loss when his wife Emilie died. He left Gold Coast and never returned. However, he continued to work on the revision of the New Testament and other translations of the Old Testament till the Full Akuapem-Twi Bible was published in 1871.56 A further revision of the New Testament was done in 1897 and a revised edition of the full Akuapem-Twi Bible came out in 1900” (Worae, 19, 20).
Christaller died on 6th December 1895 in Stuttgart, Germany. According to Wikipedia, his last words were, “My work is coming to an end and my Sabbath is coming. The marked hands and legs [of Christ] have done all of that for me.” As far as the history of Christianity in Ghana is concerned, Christaller remains one of the most influential missionaries, not only in the spread of the Gospel, but his contribution to Akan literature and scholarship.
It gladdened my heart to have visited the Basel Mission 21 in Basel, Switzerland to get a hold of the first complete edition of the Akan Twi Bible published by Christaller in 1871 (Photos attached). Today, more than about 15 million Ghanaians can read in the Akan language. The sound of his inspiring work echoes in hundreds of churches and class rooms, through hymns, Bibles, novels, arts and media, etc. The next time you read or write anything in the Twi language, remember Onyankopɔn somafoɔ Johann Gottlieb Christaller.
The following are selected works of Christaller on the Akan language and religion (Wikipedia):
Christaller, J. G. (1875) “A Grammar of the Asante and Fante Language Called Tschi (Chwee, Twi) Based on the Akuapem Dicalect, With Reference to Other (Akan and Fante) Dialects” — “Twi mmebusem mpensa-ahansia mmoaano”, Basel.
Christaller, J. G., Asante, David, Opoku, Theophilus (1871) “Anyamesem anase Kyerew Kronkron Apam-dedaw ne Apam-foforo nsem wo Twi kasa mu” (“The Holy Bible translated from the original tongues into the Twi language”), Basel.
Christaller, J. G., Locher, C. W., Zimmermann, J. (1874) “A Dictionary, English, Tshi (Asante), Akra; Tshi (Chwee) Comprising as Dialects: Akan and Fante; Accra connected with Adangme; Gold Coast, West Africa,” Basel.
Christaller, J. G., (1879) “A collection of 3,600 Tshi Proverbs in Use Among the Africans of the Gold Coast as Speaking the Asante and Fante Language, Collected, together with their Variations, and Alphabetically Arranged,” Basel.
Christaller, J. G., (1881) “A Dictionary of the Asante and Fante Language Called Tschi (Chwee, Twi) With a Grammatical Introduction and appendices on the Geography of the Gold Coast and Other Subjects,” Basel, 2nd rev. ed., edited by J. Schweizer in 1893, published as “A Dictionary of the Asante and Fante Languages Called Tshi (Twi),” Basel.
* I make a note here to recognize Andreas Riis and his nephew H. N. Riis who had earlier began publishing Twi grammar in German and English in 1853 and 1854. Christaller became prominent because Twi publication began with him.
REFERENCES
Asamoah-Prah, K. Rexford. “The Contribution of Ramseyer to the Development of Presbyterian Church of Ghana in Asante.” A thesis submitted to the Department of Religious studies, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of Master of Philosophy, August 2011.
Wikipedia contributors. “Johann Gottlieb Christaller.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 30 Oct. 2018. Web. 2 Nov. 2018.
Worae, Yaw. “Some Translation and Exegetical Problems in the New Testament of the Asante-Twi Bible (2012).” A Thesis Submitted to the School of Graduate Studies, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, in Partial fulfilment of the requirement for the award of Master of Philosophy (MPhil.) degree in Religious studies, November 2016.