Introduction to Nordic Cultures

Introduction to Nordic Cultures is an innovative, interdisciplinary introduction to Nordic history, cultures and societies from medieval times to today. The textbook spans the whole Nordic region, covering historical periods from the Viking Age to modern society, and engages with a range of subjects: from runic inscriptions on iron rings and stone monuments, via eighteenth-century scientists, Ibsen's dramas and turn-of-the-century travel, to twentieth-century health films and the welfare state, nature ideology, Greenlandic literature, Nordic Noir, migration, 'new' Scandinavians, and stereotypes of the Nordic. The chapters provide fundamental knowledge and insights into the history and structures of Nordic societies, while constructing critical analyses around specific case studies that help build an informed picture of how societies grow and of the interplay between history, politics, culture, geography and people. Introduction to Nordic Cultures is a tool for understanding issues related to the Nordic region as a whole, offering the reader engaging and stimulating ways of discovering a variety of cultural expressions, historical developments and local preoccupations. The textbook is a valuable resource for undergraduate students of Scandinavian and Nordic studies, as well as students of European history, culture, literature and linguistics.

Print version record.

Cover -- Half Title -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Contents -- List of figures -- Author's biography -- Acknowledgements -- Editorial Introduction to Nordic Cultures -- Part I: Identities -- 1. Viking-Age Scandinavia: Identities, Communities and Kingdoms -- 2. The North: Territory and Narrated Nature -- 3. Narrating Nations: Iceland and Finland in Texts -- 4. Modern Experiences -- 5. The Nordic Welfare Model -- Part II: Texts -- 6. The Trial of Bróka-Auðr: Invisible Bureaucracy in an Icelandic Saga -- 7. Nora: The Life and Afterlife of Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House -- 8. Nordic Noir

9. North Atlantic Drift: Contemporary Greenlandic and Sami Literatures -- 10. New Scandinavians, New Narratives -- Part III: Images -- 11. Nordic Nature: From Romantic Nationalism to the Anthropocene -- 12. Emigration and Scandinavian Identity -- 13. Film and the Welfare State: Three Informational Films about Healthcare -- 14. Stereotypes in and of Scandinavia -- Index

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