Scandinavian-Canadian Studies/Études Scandinaves au Canada
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Guardian of Memory: Halldór Laxness, Saga Editor
Get PDFABSTRACT: During the 1940s the Icelandic novelist Halldór Laxness embarked on a project
to oversee the publication of five medieval sagas. The project emerged as a response
to certain editorial practices common to the time and, like many of Halldór’s endeavours,
invited no small measure of controversy. In fact, Halldór’s publication venture resulted
in a legal battle with the Icelandic government, from which he ultimately emerged
victorious. An examination of his editorial project and its background demonstrates
much about Halldór’s own understanding of the medieval sagas and the wider significance
of the saga heritage in the context of modern Icelandic society and culture. Moreover,
this project was also intimately connected to Halldór’s own artistic pursuits at the
time and in the years that followed, and thus provides important insight into the
writer he was and the writer he was yet to become.RÉSUMÉ: Au cours des années 1940, le romancier islandais Halldór Laxness s’est lancé
dans un projet qui visait à superviser la publication de cinq sagas médiévales. Le
projet survenait en réponse à certaines pratiques éditoriales communes à l’époque
et, à l’instar de nombreuses entreprises de Halldór, suscita une controverse qui ne
fut pas des moindres. De fait, la publication de Halldór entraîna une bataille juridique
contre le gouvernement islandais, dont il sorti finalement victorieux. L’examen de
son projet éditorial et de son contexte en dit beaucoup sur la propre compréhension
de Halldór à l’égard des sagas médiévales et sur la portée plus large du patrimoine
de la saga dans le contexte de la société et de la culture islandaises modernes. De
plus, ce projet était intimement lié aux activités artistiques de Halldór à l’époque
et pendant les années qui suivirent, et fournit ainsi un aperçu important de l’écrivain
qu’il était et de celui qu’il était encore à devenir
“The lore of skalds, warrior ideals, and tales of ancient kings”: A Bibliography on Gerpla
Get PDFABSTRACT: This bibliography takes its title from a passage in Gerpla, which occurs when the protagonist, Skald Þormóður, arrives in Norway after nearly
freezing to death in Greenland. Bereft of wealth, health, and companions, Þormóður
still proudly praises the literary traditions of Iceland, in defiance of the skeptical
locals. Considering Gerpla’s editions, translations, reviews, and scholarship allows for an overview of the
sizable impact of Halldór’s “little book.”RÉSUMÉ: Cette bibliographie tire son titre d’un passage de Gerpla, lors duquel le protagoniste, le scalde Þormóður, arrive en Norvège après avoir failli
mourir de froid au Groenland. Privé de richesse, de santé et de compagnons, Þormóður
continue à louer fièrement les traditions littéraires de l’Islande, au mépris des
habitants sceptiques. Considérer les éditions, traductions, critiques et études de
Gerpla permet d’avoir un aperçu de l’impact considérable du « petit livre » de Halldór
Missing Links: Politics and the Misrecognition of the Sweden Democrats
Get PDFABSTRACT: This article critiques prevailing approaches to the study of the Sweden
Democrats political party. It argues that political agendas motivate academic and
journalistic commentators to adopt a limited definition of the party in their analyses.
More specifically, the article examines a recurring question in studies of the party,
namely, to what extent it can be linked to openly race ideological and other right-wing
extremist forces in Swedish society. It shows that while ideological connections between
the party and other radical nationalists are weak, sociocultural connections are strong.
Concluding that these connections are overlooked by scholars because they are less
politically incriminating, the article calls for a paradigm shift in the study of
the Sweden Democrats, one that addresses the party as the dynamic movement it is
Migrant Churches as Integration Vectors in Danish Society
Get PDFABSTRACT: In highly secular, largely ethnically homogeneous modern Denmark, migrant
churches—defined as independent Christian religious congregations with services conducted
in a language other than Danish—facilitate social engagement, networking, and cultural
fusion for newcomers to Denmark through the affirmation of multiculturalism and religious
diversity, thereby challenging the equation of integration with sameness that is common
in Scandinavia. Based on oral histories collected between 2015 and 2017 from a dozen
African Christian women in Copenhagen and Aarhus who are active members of three different
migrant churches, this article analyzes first-hand immigrant experiences with migrant
churches as vectors of integration and identity formation for newcomers to Denmark
Race, Ethnicity, and Gang Violence: Exploring Multicultural Tensions in Contemporary Danish Cinema
Get PDFABSTRACT: One of the most striking genre conventions to emerge in Danish cinema in
recent years is the gangster motif. Replete with gritty social realism, urban decay,
and tribal warfare between different ethnic groups, these films reflect a growing
discontent in the Danish welfare state, particularly regarding multiculturalism and
inclusion. This article follows these trends from the mid-1990s, focusing specifically
on the themes of ethnic division in four films: Nicolas Winding Refn’s Pusher (1996), Michael Noer’s Nordvest (2013) [Northwest], Omar Shargawi’s Gå med fred, Jamil (2008) [Go With Peace, Jamil], and Michael Noer and Tobias Lindholm’s R (2010) [R: Hit First, Hit Hardest]. The article explores racial division in these films by examining how they reflect
or subvert cultural and political approaches towards diversity in Denmark over the
last two decades
Language Shift and Changes in Community Structure: A Case Study of Oulu, Wisconsin
Get PDFABSTRACT: Immigrant communities are particularly prone to language shift, a process
where people stop speaking one language in favour of another, because speakers of
minority languages often adopt the majority language over time. This article investigates
language shift in the context of economic change at the turn of the 20th century in
the Finnish-American community of Oulu, Wisconsin, and situates its history within
the broader context of Finnish emigration. Through an analysis of quantitative data
from the 1910 and 1920 Census in conjunction with qualitative evidence from local
histories, this article shows how this community maintained their language through
bilingual practices that helped to shape their identity as they experienced societal
shifts that contributed to the gradual increase in English usage by the 1950s
The Figure of the “Climate Refugee” in Inger Elisabeth Hansen’s Å resirkulere lengselen: avrenning foregår (2015)
Get PDFABSTRACT: This article addresses the Norwegian response to global climate change and
increased human migration through an analysis of the figure of the “climate refugee” in Inger Elisabeth Hansen’s 2015 poetry collection, Å resirkulere lengselen, avrenning foregår. In addition to situating the work in the context of the so-called “refugee crisis,” the author also discusses the origins of the term “climate refugee” and the conceptual and ethical problems surrounding such a designation. The article
examines notions of aesthetics and poetics in the text, arguing that Hansen draws
attention to the ubiquity of risk in the history of cultural exchange between humans.
Rather than a poetics that attempts to manage mobile bodies or eliminate risk, the
author argues that Hansen advocates for a poetics of relation that takes its inspiration
from dynamic forms in nature
“Writing Beyond the Ending” and Diasporic Narrativity in Loveleen Rihel Brennaʼs Min annerledeshet, min styrke
Get PDFABSTRACT: This article analyzes Loveleen Rihel Brenna’s memoir, Min annerledeshet, min styrke (2012) [My Otherness, My Strength]. It focuses on Brenna’s use of literary appropriation techniques, the memoirist’s
use of intertextuality, and the role of the Bildungsroman genre in her memoir. The article begins by contextualizing Brenna’s diasporic location.
Then, using concepts inspired from Rachel Blau DuPlessis’s book Writing Beyond the Ending (1985) in conjunction with intertextual references from Brenna’s memoir, the article offers
a close reading of Min annerledeshet, min styrke to explore the complexity of Brenna’s use of the conventional and unconventional
patterns of the female Bildungsroman genre in order to understand how her use of the genre engages with the question of
women and multiculturalism in Norway