Northbound

About the book

Stereotypes of the North are not only recent constructions of the Nordic welfare state, the Nordic model of gender equality, or even the Danish ‘flexicurity’ system. During the 16th and 17th centuries stereotypes developed slowly from the antique tradition of Imagio Borealis to a general European conception of a dark and barbaric North.

In this regard the 18th century represents a turning point, which is the focus of this anthology. During the 18th century travelling increased at a fast rate in Europe. Wealthy young men left home for their ‘grand educational tour’ towards the South, first and foremost to Italy, particularly Rome. In addition, there was considerable growth in the number of travellers from the South towards the North, and as the 18th-century traveller was a man of the pen, we thus can encounter a number of travelogues written about real or imagined experiences and constructions of the North.

In the present volume, eighteen researchers in Nordic literature and culture present their analyses of the foregoing literature.

This book is a contribution to International Scandinavian Studies and is aimed at undergraduate and postgraduate students inside and outside the North.

Press reviews

Reinhold Wulff NORDEUROPAforum 1/2008

"Positiv hervorzuheben ist in dieser Anthologie, dass einzelne Autorinnen und Autoren durchaus versuchen, auf die Diskussionene in anderen Beiträgen einzugehen. Hier entsteht also das Bild einer zielgerichten Debatte, einzelne Artikel stehen nicht zusammenhanglos nebeneinander. [...] Insgesamt bemühen sich die beitragenden, ihr jeweiliges Thema als Ausdruck kosmopolitischer Diskussion in der Neuzeit aufzufassen."

Hagen Schulz-Forberg Kontur

"The setting of the scene is promising and well-executed: here is a volume that deals not only with the national romanticism of the nineteenth century; rather, here is a volume that goes beyond that, or, before that, namely to the eighteenth century in order to show the origins of a Northern discourse that would lead to a construction of a Scandinavian 'Norden' only later. And it is inspiring to learn about the takeover of nineteenth century nationalism and its attachment to landscape and supposedly authentic culture we know so well from historical analysis and from the museums of national art, which are full of pathos, battles, landscapes, and heroes... Northbound can be recommended for students and researchers interested in aspects of discourses and constructions of Northern identity. Discussions of language, cities, landscapes, individuals, peoples, intellectuals, gender stereotypes and their placing in to a shifting semantic field of a geographically flexible and heterogeneous North illuminate a complicated field of study. For this, Northbound is a new source... Northbound clearly contributes to a still emerging field of historical research".