Description
Book SynopsisWinner of the 2022 Nordic History Book Award Despite its failure as a political mobilizer, Scandinavism as a cultural movement would have a great impact on national consciousness-raising in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden by stressing common ethnolinguistic, mythological and historical roots. This cultural vision is traced in 'the Long 19th Century’, specifically in its interactions and overlaps with the various nationally specific manifestations of cultural nationalism. Through an in-depth analysis of an extensive corpus of cultural products – ranging from novels and poetry to public commemorations, painting and street name signs – this book demonstrates that cultural Scandinavism was successful in forging a common pan-Scandinavian identity that supplemented and strengthened national-identity formation in the three nationalities it aimed to unify. See inside the book.
Table of ContentsContents Acknowledgements List of Figures, Graphs and Tables Introduction Part 1: Imagining Scandinavia Introduction 1 The Mythology Debates I The Copenhagen Question of 1800 2 The Mythology Debates II Discord at the Geatish Society 3 The Mythology Debates III Finnur Magnússon vs. the Baden Brothers Part 2: Cultivating Scandinavia Introduction 4 Sociability: Creating a Scandinavian Public Sphere 5 Language: (No) Translations, Spelling Reform, and Education 6 Textual Culture: Creating a Collective Historical Identity for Scandinavia 7 Visual Culture: Perennial Brotherhood and Visual Silences 8 Performative Culture and Commemorations: Scandinavia Embodied? Part 3: Challenging Scandinavia Introduction 9 Articulating Norwegian Identity with and against Scandinavia 10 Norwegian History for the Norwegians! Reclaiming Norse Antiquity and the 400-Year Night 11 Appropriating Tordenskjold On the Flexibility of Sites of Memory Part 4: Ambient Scandinavia Introduction 12 Still Latent? Scandinavian History in Literature High and Low 13 History in the Streets Scandinavia at Street Level? 14 A Valkyrie in the Park City Planning, Tourism Marketing, and Old Norse Sculpture By Way of Conclusion References Index
