Ethnologia Scandinavica Ethnologia Scandinavica This is the 50th volume of Ethnologia Scandinavica. In this issue we find articles on various empirical topics, such as heritage, medical science, nationalism and borders, understood and analysed through concepts such as rituals, emotions, materiality, and of course everyday life and practices. The breadth and depth of ethnology and folkloristics is particularly visible in the reviews section, which is as rich and interesting as always.

2020 Ethnologia Scandinavica A JOURNAL FOR NORDIC ETHNOLOGY Printed in Sweden Textgruppen i Uppsala AB 2020 ISSN 0348-9698 VOLUME 50 • 2020 Ethnologia Scandinavica A JOURNAL FOR NORDIC ETHNOLOGY ISSN 0348-9698

Published by THE ROYAL GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS ACADEMY FOR SWEDISH FOLK CULTURE Instructions for submission of manu- Balle-Pedersen, Margaretha 1981: The Holy scripts to Ethnologia Scandinavica Danes. Ethnologia Scandinavica 11. Editorial office: Division of Ethnology, Department of Arts and Cultural Sciences Frykman, Jonas 1988: Dansbaneeländet. Ungdo- Lund University, Box 192, SE-221 00 Lund, Sweden. Articles should be sent by e-mail. Manuscripts men, populärkulturen och opinionen. Stock- should preferably be in English, although German www.kgaa.nu/tidskrifter.php holm: Natur och Kultur. may be accepted; language will be reviewed and Löfgren, Orvar 1992: Landskapet. In Den nordiske Editor: Lars-Eric Jönsson, Lund edited by the journal. Articles will undergo peer verden I, ed. Kirsten Hastrup. København: E-mail: [email protected] review. We reserve the right to revise and cut the Gyldendal. texts, and to ask authors to make revisions. Assistant editor: Margareta Tellenbach, Bjärred Articles should not be longer than about 20 Reviews of new dissertations and other books of E-mail: [email protected] pages of typewritten text with l.5 line spacing, broad general interest should be 4–5 A4 pages long Editorial board: Marie Riegels Melchior, Copenhagen, [email protected] approx. 50,000 characters. Please aim for with 1.5 line spacing, 8,000–10,000 characters. clear, concise language, remembering that you Birgitta Svensson, Stockholm, [email protected] A review should consist of a brief presentation are writing for a non-Scandinavian audience. of the content and method of the work, followed Pia Olsson, Helsinki, pia.olsson@helsinki.fi Quotations should not be too numerous nor too by a comparison with similar significant works, Tove Fjell, Bergen, [email protected] long. and ending with a personal evaluation. Valdimar Hafstein, Reykjavik, [email protected] Legends should be written on a separate Reviews of other ethnological and closely paper and clearly numbered. The illustrations related works should present the content and – photographs, drawings, and tables – should method and a personal appraisal. The length © 2020 The authors and The Royal Gustavus Adolphus Academy for be clearly numbered. Credits (archives, photog- should be 1-2 A4 pages with 1.5 line spacing, Swedish Folk Culture raphers, etc.) should be stated at the end of the approx. 5,000 characters. legend. Figures should be referred to by their Reviews written in English or German should number, not “the table below” or “the photograph Photo illustration from rural areas of Central Finland in 2020. be submitted by e-mail. above”. The placing of the figures in relation to When in doubt, check the format of previous Photo: Pilvi Hämeenaho. the text should be clearly marked. Figures should issues of Ethnologia Scandinavica. be submitted along with the manuscript. Notes should be avoided as far as possible. Ethnologia Scandinavica is printed with the support of the Nordic Publications The author will have an opportunity to proofread. References to authors or book titles should be Translations and proofs should be returned Committee for Humanist Periodicals. The journal publishes peer reviewed papers included in parentheses at the relevant point in to the editor as quickly as possible. The deadline in English and German based on all branches of material and social culture, and the text. Notes should only be used for clarifica- for manuscripts, at present l November, must be tion or discussion. in reviews, biographical notes and reports reflects ethnological contributions and observed. The list of References should include field and Authors of articles receive two copies of the activities in the Scandinavian countries. One volume of Ethnologia Scandinavica archive material as well as books referred to in journal. comprises approx 250 pages, published in one issue yearly. Subscription price for the text. Literature references should be presented as follows: volume 2020 is SEK 350:–. Postage is included. Orders should be sent to www.eddy.se Contents

Papers sealiserte relasjoner mellom liv og litteratur. En studie av Hamsunsenteret, Bjerkebæk – Sigrid 3 Editorial. By Lars-Eric Jönsson Undsets hjem og Hauge-senteret. Rev. by Lars 5 Crystallized Belief. Objects of Tradition in Folk- Kaijser life Research in the Inter-War Years. By Åmund 244 Becoming Good Danish Soldiers – Beate Norum Resløkken Sløk-Andersen, The Becoming of Good Soldiers. 21 Eilert Sundt on Food and Nutrition. Stories from An Ethnographic Exploration of Gender and Mid-Nineteenth-Century Rural Norway. By Inger Other Obstacles in the Military Borderland Rev. Johanne Lyngø by Fredrik Nilsson 43 “We Could Smell That He’s Stasi…”. Power and 246 Doing Swedish Hiphop – Andrea Dankić, Att Justification Strategies of the Stasi in Music Life göra hiphop. En studie av musikpraktiker och so- in the GDR and in Swedish-German Music Con- ciala positioner. Rev. by Sven-Erik Klinkmann tacts. By Petra Garberding 249 World Heritage Sites in Northern Norway – Knut 67 Boys’ Memories in Adult Narratives. Positioning Fageraas, Verdensarv på Vega – mellom interna- and Qualia in the Retelling of Boyhood. By Jakob sjonale konvensjoner, nasjonal politikk og lokale Löfgren praksiser i et nordnorsk øysamfunn. Rev. by An- 81 “Is it Mandatory to Celebrate Birthdays?”. Birth- ders Gustavsson day Parties as a Ritual of Everyday Nationalism 250 Various Meanings of Gentrification – Sara Koh- in Norway. By Hilde Danielsen & Synnøve Ben- ne, Gentrifiseringens flertydighet. En kulturviten- dixsen skapelig studie av endringer i to byområder i Ber- 103 The Coffin, the Urn and the Ashes. Conceptions lin og Oslo. Rev. by Kerstin Gunnemark of Death. By Tove Ingebjørg Fjell 252 European Border Practices – Marlene Paulin 121 Sellable Stories. The Use of History in the Mar- Kristensen, Relocating Europe. Border Officials keting of Heritage Plants and Gardens. By Kata- and their Everyday Attempts to Stabilise Borders. rina Saltzman, Carina Sjöholm & Tina Wester- Rev. by Fredrik Nilsson lund 254 Cultural Events from a Dramaturgical Perspective 145 Waffles with Dulce de Leche. Swedishness and – Anne Meek, Kultursatsing og stedsutvikling. En Heritage Practices in Northeast Argentina. By dramaturgisk analyse av kultursatsinger i tre nors- Jenny Ingridsdotter ke kommuner. Rev. by Stein R. Mathisen 169 Low-Quality Border Control? A Cultural Analy- 256 A Worthy Old Age – Anders Møller, De værdige sis of Alternative Border Imaginaries among Po- gamle: Om alderdomskonfigurerende praksisser i lice Officers at Copenhagen Airport. By Marlene Danmark omkring år 1900. Rev. by Åsa Alftberg Paulin Kristensen 257 Contemporary Collecting – Elin Nystrand von 187 Miss Hare Struggles. How Examples of Species Unge, Samla samtid. Insamlingspraktiker och Threatened with Extinction Tell a Story of Cli- temporalitet på kulturhistoriska museer i Sverige. mate Change. By Marit Ruge Bjærke Rev. by Anne Eriksen 203 Sustainable Living in a Periphery. Interpreting 259 Cultural and Social Dimensions of a Clinical In- Ways of Rural Mobility in a Low-Carbon World. tervention – Marie Haulund Otto, Aldringsfør- By Pilvi Hämeenaho & Elisabeth Wollin søg. Kliniske interventioner, aldrende kroppe og 221 “Just a Bunch of Cells”. The Affordance of Neu- hverdagslivets domesticeringer. Rev. by Karin rons in Neuroscientific Reasoning. By Åsa Alft- Salomonsson berg, Kristofer Hansson, Markus Idvall 263 Tradition in Questionnaires – Åmund Norum Res- løkken, “Ein lut av det nære levande livet.” Tradi- sjon, tradisjonselementer og tradisjonsforskere. En studie av spørrelistserien Ord og sed 1933‒ Biographical Notes 1947. Rev. by Torunn Selberg 235 Kirsti Mathiesen Hjemdahl, Professor in Kristian- 264 Challenged Fishing of the Archipelago Sea – Kir- sand. By Jonas Frykman si Sonck-Rautio, The Fishers of the Archipelago 236 Lars Kaijser, Professor in Stockholm. By Cecilia Sea. Resilience, Sustainability, Knowledge and Fredriksson Agency. Rev. by Hannu I. Heikkinen 238 John Ødemark, Professor in Oslo. By Eivind 266 A Finnish Industrial Community – Maria Vanha- Engebretsen Similä, Yhtiöön, yhtiöön! Lapsiperheiden arki Forssan tehdasyhteisössä 1950‒1970-luvuilla. (English abstract: Everyday life of families among the textile industrial community.) Rev. by Reviews Jenni Rinne New Dissertations 268 The Culture of Bio-Objects – Andréa Wiszmeg, Cells in Culture, Cells in Suspense. Practices of 240 Presenting Writers and Their Work – Thea Cultural Production in Foetal Cell Research. Rev. Aarbakke, Forfattermuseumsfunksjonene. Mu- by Eddy Nehls

Ethnologia Scandinavica, Vol. 50, 2020 Book Reviews 294 Jørgen Moe and Folksong – Ørnulf Hodne, Jør- gen Moe og folkevisene. Rev. by Gunnar Tern- 271 A Game that Refuses to Die – Torbjörn Anders- hag son, Den döende bandyn? En säregen historia om 296 Giving Place to National Minorities – Att ge svensk natur, nationalism och nostalgi. Rev. by plats. Kulturarvssektorn och de nationella mi- Jari Kanerva noriteternas platser. Ingrid Martins Holmberg, 272 Image and Image-Making In and Out of History – Katarina Saltzman & Sarah Andersson. Rev. by Images in History / History in Images. Towards Sven-Erik Klinkmann an (AUDIO)VISUAL Historiography. Peter 298 The Dream of the Cabin – Marianne E. Lien & Aronsson, Andrej Slávik & Birgitta Svensson Simone Abram, Hytta. Rev. by Anders Gustavs- (eds.). Rev. by Sven-Erik Klinkmann son 276 Gender in the Museum – Kjønn på museum. Brita 299 Girls’ Races and Gender Equality – Karin S. Lin- Brenna & Marit Anne Hauan (eds.). Rev. by delöf & Annie Woube, I tjejers spår – för framtids Annika Bünz segrar. Om tjejlopp och villkor för tjejers motions- 278 Landscape Change and Power Analysis in a Mul- idrottande. Rev. by Daniel Svensson tidimensional Manor Culture – Palle O. Chris- 301 Materiality and Learning – Materialitet og tiansen, En egn bliver til. Magt og mennesker i et læring. Marie Martinussen & Kristian Larsen sjællandsk godsområde fra 1700-tallet til i dag. (eds.). Rev. by Karin Gustavsson Rev. by Birgitta Svensson 302 A Method Cookbook – Metodekogebogen: 130 282 Integrating Research and Teaching – Viden- analysemetoder fra humaniora og samfundsvi- skabelse på universitetet. Veje til integration af denskab. Mie Femø Nielsen & Svend Skriver forskning og undervisning. Tine Damsholt, (eds.). Rev. by Barbro Blehr Hanne Nexø Jensen & Camilla Østerberg Rump 304 Meanings and Practices of Consumer Culture – (eds.). Rev. by Hans-Jakob Ågotnes Konsumtionskultur. Innebörder och praktiker. En 284 Hospitality in the Öresund Region – Fika, Hygge vänbok till Helene Brembeck. Magdalena Peters- son McIntyre, Barbro Johansson & Niklas Sörum and Hospitality: The Cultural Complexity of Ser- (eds.). Rev. by Anna Sundelin vice Organisation in the Öresund Region. Chris- 306 Highly Educated Migrants in Sweden – Hög- ter Eldh & Fredrik Nilsson (eds.). Rev. by Hilary utbildade migranter i Sverige. Maja Povrzanovic Stanworth Frykman & Magnus Ölander (eds.). Rev. by 289 A Reissued Ethnological Classic – Jonas Fryk- Vibeke Andersson man & Orvar Löfgren, Den kultiverade männi- 308 Remembering the Deceased – Å minnes de døde. skan. Rev. by Marie Riegels Melchior Døden og de døde efter reformasjonen. Tarald 290 Knowledge Production and Tradition Archives – Rasmussen (ed.) Rev. by Ulrika Wolf-Knuts Visions and Traditions. Knowledge Production 309 Garden Cities in Denmark – Helle Ravn & Peter and Tradition Archives. Lauri Harvilahti, Audun Dragsbo, Havebyen. Havebyer i Danmark, Eng- Kjus, Clíona O’Carroll, Susanne Österlund- land og Tyskland før, nu – og i fremtiden? Rev. Pötzsch, Fredrik Skott & Rita Treija (eds.). Rev. by Carina Sjöholm by Camilla Asplund Ingemark 310 The Magic Mirror – Leif Runefelt, Den magiska 293 Borders and Border Crossings in Cultural Studies spegeln: Kvinnan och varan i pressens annoncer – Rajaamatta. Etnologisia keskusteluja [Crossing 1870‒1914. Rev. by Marie Riegels Melchior Borders. Ethnological Conversations]. Hannelee- 312 The Cultural Meaning of Ownership – Mitt och na Hieta, Aila Nieminen, Maija Mäki, Katriina ditt. Etnologiska perspektiv på ägandets kulturel- Siivonen & Timo J. Virtanen (eds.). Rev. by Tii- la betydelse. Karin Salomonsson (ed.). Rev. by na-Riitta Lappi Marie Riegels Melchior Editorial By Lars-Eric Jönsson

This journal is about to take the step into With Petra Garberding’s article we take the second half-century of its existence. a leap forward in time to the Cold War. But not yet. You are now reading the Garberding writes about the influence of 50th volume of Ethnologia Scandinavi- the Stasi on East German music as well as ca. In this issue we recognize both the musical relations between GDR and well-argued themes and new ways of ap- Sweden. The Cold War influenced society plying them. In one way, and perhaps the across the board. Garberding shows how most important way, breaking new surveillance and pressure were part of in- ground is dependent on the curiosity and ternational musical relations, how the Stasi ingenuity of the scholar and his or her found it important to be a part of musical way of doing ethnology and folkloristics. contexts. In the 50th issue we find several familiar The following article by Jakob Löfgren empirical topics such as heritage, medical deals with experiences of boyhood in Fin- science, nationalism and borders, under- land and Sweden. Through narratives in stood and analysed through concepts such questionnaires he shows how fun, break- as rituals, emotions, materiality and of ing rules, relating to materiality and ex- course everyday life and practices. This pressing freedom are central parts in nar- breadth and depth of our disciplines and ratives of experiencing boyhood. In gen- our investigations is, of course, particularly eral terms the narratives are related to visible in the reviews section, which is as people, things and other narratives. But rich and interesting as always. they are also to be seen as counternarra- This issue begins with Åmund Res- tives to more often occurring negative løkken’s article on how the folk culture of boyhood stereotypes. Norway was constructed in early folk life With Hilde Danielsen and Synnøve Ben- research. Starting with Wilhelm Mann- hardt’s notion of how myths were stabil- dixsen’s article we enter the contemporary ized in customs, Resløkken traces this idea and the symbolic values given to birthday in later questionnaires. He gives examples celebrations as part of ideas of collectivity from the notion of time and how traditional and community. Danielsen and Bendixsen cyclic time was understood as being close- show an example of an arena where every- ly connected to objects in nature. He shows day nationalism is expressed with a certain how the archival material produced by the energy. Children’s birthday parties appear early ethnologists was also marinated in as an energetic arena for discussions of contemporary cultural theory. norms and values, inclusion as well as ex- Inger Johanne Lyngø continues with her clusion, and ways of living together. article about the well-known Norwegian Tove Fjell continues with her investiga- sociologist Eilert Sundt (1817‒1875) and tion on funeral cultures and individualiza- his research on food in general and on tion, with a specific interest in closing rit- porridge in particular. Sundt was a fore- uals and the dead body. Fjell investigates runner of ethnology as we know it, and in phenomena such as ash scattering, coffin the so-called porridge feud Lyngø traces a burials and cremation, and how they relate history of different ways of understanding to more general societal changes. Fjell con- science and its methods. cludes that ash scattering seems to be an ex-

Ethnologia Scandinavica, Vol. 50, 2020 4 Lars-Eric Jönsson, Editorial

pression of the dead person’s identity, a on red-listed species, with the mountain manifestation of who he or she was. hare as an example. The hare is presented Katarina Saltzman, Carina Sjöholm and as female and Norwegian and is well repre- Tina Westerlund take us further into the sented in folklore and tales. Bjærke shows, way heritage and market meet in gardens among other things, how threats are framed and garden-related goods and services. as either stories of global climate change or They show that not only are gardens con- more local stories of hunting. Pilvi Hämee- tainers of traces from the past. They are naho and Elisabeth Wollin’s article con- also market places for branding, story- tinues the processing and understanding of telling and heritage. Jenny Ingridsdotter the conditions and consequences of climate continues with the heritage theme, focusing change when people try to meet the de- on Swedish heritage in the Argentinian city mands of sustainability. The authors deal of Oberá over the last 100 years. Ingrids- with the conflicts that arise when urbanized dotter shows how Swedish identity is lived, perspectives meet rural everyday life. imagined and practised in this community Åsa Alftberg, Kristofer Hansson and and how heritage practices have changed Markus Idvall conclude the article section over time, not necessarily becoming less with a study of neuroscientists’ descrip- “true”, but nonetheless changing. Mixes tions, interpretations and understandings of of experiences, emigration trajectories, the cells and neurons they are working on. classes and languages generate new ex- The authors show biomateriality in con- pressions, traditions, heritages, identities. stant flux and how the researchers deal with In Ingridsdotter’s case, Swedishness still this fact in terms the authenticity of cells. matters after more than 100 years. Can they be changed? And what happens if Marlene Paulin Kristensen takes us to an they are transformed or reprogrammed? environment that, from the perspective of This article also considers how we could the corona pandemic in the spring and sum- or, according to the authors, even should mer of 2020, seems deserted: the airport. study materiality, not least a materiality Kristensen writes about imaginaries of bor- that is mouldable, flowing and transforma- der control, as they were expressed at Co- tive. penhagen Airport after 2015. It was, per- As for next year, we are now preparing haps, the finale of the European Schengen the 50th anniversary of the journal. We will visions from the 1980s and post-national- celebrate with an issue including five spe- ism and regionalism. Kristensen shows cially invited authors from the Nordic how this border system was applied after countries. Their mission is to investigate the refugee migration in 2015 and how and characterize the last half-century’s de- practice was negotiated between expecta- velopments in our two disciplines, ethnolo- tions and what seemed practically possible. gy and folkloristics, through the content of In the next article Marit Ruge Bjærke in- Ethnologia Scandinavica. Hopefully we vestigates the threatening loss of biodiver- will all meet, readers, writers and editors, at sity and mass extinction of species. She in- the Nordic conference in Reykjavik in Au- vestigates cultural meanings and temporal- gust next year 2021 to discuss the findings ities in examples from newspaper articles and the upcoming 50 years. Crystallized Belief Objects of Tradition in Folklife Research in the Inter-War Years By Åmund Norum Resløkken

In 1934, the first number of the journal were established in the early 1900s. The Ord og sed (“Word and Custom”) was is- Institute for Comparative Research in Hu- sued to informants and the interested pub- man Culture (IFSK), established in 1922, lic in Norway. The journal consisted in its was of particular importance for Ord og entirety of questionnaires, collecting the sed. It became a central institution in the first 22 of what in the end would be over development of European theories on cul- 150 questionnaires collecting information tural development in this period (Kylling- on Norwegian folk customs and the words stad 2008). These efforts in comparative used to describe them (“ORD OG SED” cultural research necessitated a standard- 2018). The last issue of Ord og sed that ization, not only of the research theories, was issued as a journal was in 1947, col- but also of the research objects. Effective lecting all the questionnaires written in the comparison necessitated that the research last years of the war. The journal then objects had to be constructed in a way that turned into Norveg, which had a much made them comparable (Kverndokk 2011: larger focus on articles. Some question- 82–85). How this was done with regard to naires in the “Word and Custom” series research objects for “folk culture”, we can were still published here, the last one in see in the “Word and Custom” question- 1958. The Ord og sed journal is a central naires. In them we can see a focus on the publication for understanding Norwegian “objects” of tradition that was gaining research on folk culture in the inter-war popularity in the inter-war years. It repre- years. sented a new line of research in Nor- In this article I will explore what kind of wegian folkloristics, a focus leading to the research objects these questionnaires establishment of ethnology or “folklife sought to collect and how the concept of research” as an independent discipline in “tradition” was understood in relation to Norway. Folklife research was a way of them. By doing this, I hope to give a better describing a folkloristic research that understanding of how early ethnology studied the tradition of the people in holis- understood the relationship between ma- tic terms, as tradition as it occurred in the terial and immaterial elements of tradition everyday life of the people. If research ob- in their collection practices. As I will jects could be gathered with this context show, these collection practices formed a intact, they could later be read compara- reading of artefacts, words and actions as tively, so that broader patterns of history historical and cultural sources that all and culture became visible. Folklife re- hinged on a specific way of contextualiz- search in Norway had a close connection ing “belief”. Since these ideas were em- to, but also had marked differences from, bedded in the source material itself, they the folklife research of Sigurd Erixon and still play a part in our present day con- the circle around him in Sweden. The Nor- ceptualizing of material and immaterial wegian version had stronger historical as- cultural heritage and how beliefs are nego- pirations, seeking to make historical re- tiated in and with heritage. search objects. The most important man Many of the important institutions of behind this development was also the edi- Norwegian folklore and folklife collecting tor of Ord og sed, the philologist, and later

Ethnologia Scandinavica, Vol. 50, 2020 6 Åmund Norum Resløkken, Crystallized Belief

ethnologist, Nils Lid (1890‒1958). Other one large questionnaire, translated into prominent exponents of this method were many European languages, he managed Svale Solheim, Rigmor Frimannslund to collect large quantities of agricultural (Holmsen) and Kjell Bondevik, all of customs. Although questionnaires had them active in Ord og sed in their early been employed as a method of collection academic careers,1 and Solheim and Fri- prior to Mannhardt’s use, his pan-Euro- mannslund were both central to the later pean focus and the standardization of development of folklore and ethnology, questions necessary for organizing the respectively. In this article, however, I answers to this multilingual question- will focus on Nils Lid, who held the first naire was unique for its time. The survey professorship in folklife research at the resulted in Mannhardt’s two-volume University of Oslo, and who to a large de- work Wald- und Feldkulte (Mannhardt gree formed the premises for this early pe- 1963a, 1963b). In this work, he argued riod. that the origin of mythology could be The idea of “folk belief” was of the ut- found in agricultural customs designed to most importance for Lid’s and his col- ensure and extend fertility.2 He further leagues’ framing of folk culture and the argued that customs were more temporal- objects that were the sources for it. This ly stable than myths, so that in order to had important consequences for the kind look for the origin of religion, it was bet- of objects they wanted to collect. The re- ter to look for survivals in customs than search leading to the publishing of Ord og in myths (Lid 1931:15). This was also the sed was based on the premise that magical rationale for his questionnaire method. rituals were the origin of religious devel- Scandinavian folklore researchers who took opment. It was as sources for this premise these ideas as a methodological framework that the research objects constructed in have in the subsequent period been, some- most of the Ord og sed questionnaires what pejoratively, named “Mannhardtians” were of interest. But if more or less ordin- (Hylland 2013:375–380; Nordberg 2013: ary objects were to be able to say anything 308–338; Kjus 2013). It is important about the origin of religion, some work though, that the concerns of the Mann- had to be done. First, I want to show the hardtians were formed by one of the early theoretical premises for this work before I twentieth century’s most popular books show some examples from the question- on the origin of religion, James George naires themselves of how this work was Frazer’s The Golden Bough (Nordberg done. 2013:312). This book, first published in 1890 as a two-volume explication of the Crystallized Notions and Beliefs custom of the golden bough in Nemi, The early folklife researchers based their Italy, soon grew into a twelve-volume theories of cultural development on the work, compiling an array of examples theories of the German mythologist and from different cultures underscoring the librarian Wilhelm Mannhardt (1831‒ point that religion and folk belief origin- 1880). In the 1860s Mannhardt had started ated in magical fertility rites (Ackerman collecting folk customs in Europe. Using 1991:46–48). Frazer’s work became a rich Åmund Norum Resløkken, Crystallized Belief 7

sourcebook, but also of the utmost import- liefs. The ordinary was thus also, in this ance was his theory of magic (Frazer particular view, sacralized. It likened the 1925:11–20). It was this theory that crystallized objects to sacred artefacts. It served as a premise for Nils Lid and his re- thus has some merit when the American search into folk belief. folklorist Dorothy Noyes comments that In 1935, Nils Lid defined folk belief in tradition was for the romantics a secular- the following way: ization of the Catholic defence of tradition Folk belief is the inherited magical and mythical and that, following the romantics’ view, notions, as they are found in proper beliefs, and as the vehicle itself, “crystallized” tradition, they crystallize in folk customs and folk tales. The became sacred (Noyes 2009:236). This most constant of these elements are the customs, uneasy oscillation between the secular and which is the centre that the popular notions re- the profane that is found in the idea of folk volves around. In contrast, the ideas themselves tradition was important for the popularity change very easily. Hence, the explanations people now have for their beliefs as a rule are sec- of folk belief in the inter-war years. Folk ondary. They are mostly new inventions created to belief and folk poetry could tell about explain the tradition that has moved over time primitive spiritual life and the “destiny” of from its original soil (Lid 1935:1; my transla- these notions. In this, folklore, religious tion).3 history, archaeology and ethnography As we can see, what Lid focused on was could meet and have a common goal, as the magical and mythical beliefs that had Knut Liestøl put it in his inauguration “crystallized” in folk customs and folk- speech for the folklore programme at the tales and that the most constant of these Institute for Comparative Research in Hu- sources was the customs. In this definition man Culture (Stang et al. 1925:52–53). It we can see clear traces of Mannhardt, es- was in this programme that Lid developed pecially regarding the crystallized cus- his early view of the importance of cus- toms, and from Frazer concerning the toms as sources for religious develop- magical notions. The definition also sums ment. up the basis for the Mannhardtians’ focus on folk belief and how it related to folk Reading Textual Objects traditions as a whole. And, going to the In my reading of the Ord og sed series I heart of what the Ord og sed question- have sought to capture this way of think- naires aimed to produce, there was a focus ing about the folkloristic archive material on “crystallized” notions and beliefs, the as “crystallizations”, as objects more than idea that in folk tradition, in folk customs primarily texts, which of course they are, and folk tales, one could find “objects” or materially speaking. In devoting special “elements” pointing back to proper magi- attention to how the research objects pro- cal and mythical beliefs. Not only could duced by the Ord og sed questionnaires many elements of “folklife” be seen as were both, or alternately, understood as crystallized beliefs that originally were re- crystallizations and notions or beliefs, I ligious or magical, but it also created a no- bring to the fore the relationship between tion of “tradition” as a consistent whole, the material and the immaterial in these and that this whole was based on these be- collection practices. I will thus take Lid 8 Åmund Norum Resløkken, Crystallized Belief

quite literally when he speaks of crystal- certain stories the objects can be speaking lized notions and beliefs, because, as we of. She understands these storylines as shall see, I find it a fruitful metaphor for “worlds”, a metaphor extending further what is actually taking place in the ques- than “story” or “narrative”, in that she un- tionnaires and the practice of collecting derstands this as an ordering of material folklore that they were part of. and immaterial objects into “worlds” ac- To see these ideas in the questionnaires, cepted as real or objective (Tsing 2010). I need certain tools for a close reading of In the texts presented, “tradition” may be them. The first is the concept of “focaliza- understood as one such “world”. It organ- tion”, taken from the narratologist Mieke izes diverse objects as “objects of tradi- Bal. Bal uses the term to speak of the point tion” and thus infuses them with a given of view that can be found in narratives, the story, for example as objects pointing to “vision” chosen in descriptions of events primitive conceptions. (Bal 2009:145–146). The term is thus use- The last term I want to emphasize from ful for describing how the text “looks at” the outset is the idea of “scale” as used in certain facts, which is important for un- science and technology studies (cf. Latour derstanding how the objects of tradition 1993:32; Tsing 2015:37–42) to describe are understood in the questionnaires. In how research objects become able to ex- describing some of these focalizations I pand or contract the topic they are made to also want to foreground how the described speak of, without changing framework objects in the texts gains a status as a no- (Tsing 2015:37–42; Latour 1993:32). Folk tion or a belief and thus functions as an belief functioned as such a scale in the immaterial “thing”. inter-war years, which becomes clear when Another way of understanding the rela- Liestøl speaks of folk customs as pointing tionship between object and description is to primitive spiritual life. This contributed in the French philosopher of science Bru- greatly to how the “world” of tradition no Latour’s term “figuration”. Latour de- was understood, and which objects could fines it as “the flesh and features that make them [the actions] have some form or be part of it. shape, no matter how vague” (Latour 2005:53). Figuration thus concerns how The Physical Object as Tradition something in a textual description is given First, I want to show how physical objects form. Lid’s way of describing folkloric were understood as tradition in the Ord og sources as “crystallizations” is of course sed questionnaires. In the series, there was one such figuration, bearing with it the a large number of questionnaires that value and temporal stability of a crystal. sought to collect “tradition about” differ- This brings me to the third term I will ent objects. Many of these were “natural use in this text, the anthropologist Anna objects”: plants, birds, insects, and other Tsing’s term “worlding”. Tsing states that natural features, but also parts of build- figurations necessarily bring with them a ings, tools and equipment and other certain “context”, an ordering of, or rela- man-made artefacts (Resløkken 2018:62– tions between, different objects, that form 105). Åmund Norum Resløkken, Crystallized Belief 9

As an example, I will present what is country, names that must be explained in terms of also the first questionnaire in the series, the conceptions and customs connected to it. In Ord og sed No. 1: Banabeinet or “the kill- many places it was called the killing bone [ba- ing bone”. The “killing bone” is the upper- nabeinet], a name that must originate from the fact that, during slaughter, they used to strike the ani- most bone in the neck of animals and hu- mal unconscious with a knife stab in front of this mans, where the head is attached to the bone, and in this way “critically wounded” [bana] spine. This bone has the scientific name it (Lid 1934:7; my translation). “atlas”, a fact that is stated in the question- naire and that is of some significance in In this introductory text, we can see how the way this bone is figured in the text. I Lid places the object in the tradition will come back to that later. while still carefully maintaining its ob- The first figuration (Latour 2005:53) jectiveness and keeping it close to the that meets the reader of the questionnaire theories he had from Mannhardt and is the pictorial representation of the bone Frazer. In the first sentence, he opens by (see below). stating that the bone “had a lot to say in This picture gives three examples of the folk tradition”. By stating this he also the same bone, as the text says, from a begins to let the bone speak, and inside of cow, a calf and an ox. The picture gives something thought of as the tradition. We the reader a physical representation of the may also note that in this sentence we object. What immediately connects it to have not yet heard the name of the bone. “tradition” is the strange name that is also It is the bone itself that is focalized (Bal the name of the questionnaire, Bana- 2009:145–161). It is also here the scien- beinet. tific name (atlas) is used. The scientific The text consists of a two-page intro- name thus comes to the fore as the “real” duction and nine questions. The introduc- or objective name of the object. We thus tion opens by saying the following: have an object, the bone, that we can see The furthermost bone in the neck (atlas) in live- in the picture, that had a lot to say, and stock has had a lot to say in the folk tradition. It thus “spoke” in a place called “the folk has had different names in different parts of the tradition”.

Three versions of “Banabeinet”. Facsimile from Ord og sed 1 (Lid 1937:7). 10 Åmund Norum Resløkken, Crystallized Belief

In the next sentence, the text focuses on and thus translation of the conceptions can the name. It tells us that the bone has had be done by pointing to the object. The different names in different parts of the Latin word that for “us” is connected to country, but that all these names must be anatomy, the ordering of the different explained from the customs and concep- parts of the body, is for “them” connected tions connected to the bone. This connec- to customs and conceptions, beliefs and tion between the thing or action and the actions, that define both the name and the word formed a basis for the method in Ord thing “in tradition”. The translation pre- og sed, as the name implies. This shows an sented in these lines is thus between atlas affinity to the “Wörter und Sachen” re- and banabeinet, a translation not first and search, a method that sought to document foremost between names, but between the spread of cultural elements by follow- “our” ordering of nature and “their” order- ing the development of their names ing of cultural artefacts. (Bakken 1977; Levander 1936). The ques- Further in the introduction, the text tionnaire further gives us an authoritative again asks the reader to focus on the pic- name for the object, banabeinet, which ture: can be found “in many places”. As one can see from the picture, the bone has the We can thus speak of a three-part ob- shape of some sort of face. And there has been a ject that Lid presents in this text. First, conception that this bone, which is so important in the object itself, the bone in the picture that it controls the movement of the head, has been and the bone scientifically called atlas. It a “life-bone”, so that they thought that after death is this object that speaks in folk tradition. it could be the foundation of a ghost of the animal (Lid 1934:7; my translation). Secondly, it has a name that connects it to customs and conceptions and that differs Again, it is the conceptions that are in fo- in different parts of the country, but it can cus, but now it is a likeness in the physical be referred to by one name, banabeinet. bone that makes it a “life-bone”, a mater- Thirdly, this name can be used because ial representation and bodily location, for the connection between customs and the the life force. This comes on the one hand bone gives it meaning in and as tradition. from its physiological function and on the Because it is these actions that makes the other hand from its likeness to the face. object able to speak “in the tradition”, the The text has suddenly changed its focus. It authoritative name can also be main- is now the physical bone’s appearance in tained. The object itself does not differ the picture that is connected to concep- noticeably just because it has different tions and customs. And again, a transla- names. tion is present, both “us” and “them” can By establishing an object “in the folk agree that the bone looks like a face and tradition”, a translation between the mod- that it is important for the movement of ern and the traditional becomes possible. the head. We can both agree that it is a life The names from the two domains, what principle. Where we depart from each “we” call “atlas” and what “they” call “ba- other is when this principle becomes a nabeinet”, are highlighted as two equal foundation for a ghost. The difference be- but distinct conceptions of the same thing tween the tradition and the modern may Åmund Norum Resløkken, Crystallized Belief 11

thus be seen in the way tradition links like- read right from the beginning as signs by ness and belief. In tradition likeness and the informants. In Lid’s view of tradition, belief are intimately connected and lead to it is thus not the “culture” of the folk them- action. It is because conceptions and be- selves that is the primary focus; instead, it liefs are inevitably expressed in action that is what makes the folk act as they do. Ac- this object of nature is able to “speak” of tions point to this, and as signs they speak tradition. of conceptions and beliefs. Lid’s research This crystallization, or objectivization, tradition was thus one that established an of the objects of tradition also enabled Lid alternative voice for the objects of tradi- to make a profound move with traditions tion. In this way these objects could be- and how they connected to people and come interlocutors in a dialogue between “the people”. Later in the introduction, the modern and the traditional. Lid says: All these names are about ritual actions with the Cycles of Time and Belief as bone. It was common to cut this bone out and Chronology throw it to dogs or ravens. The explanation that The difference between the traditional and one could not eat the meat is secondary (Lid 1934: the modern was primarily a temporal divi- 7; my translation) sion. When Lid framed customs to be the In this quotation, and as we also saw in his most constant and thus the best crystal- definition of folk belief, Lid’s focus on lizations, he was operating with the com- customs and conceptions made it possible plicated temporality given to the objects for him to say that people’s own explana- of tradition. Actions, which is what cus- tions for their customs often were second- toms consist of, are by necessity ephem- ary. The original or actual explanations eral. But, for the dialogue between the for customs and conceptions were not modern and the traditional to have any what the people said they were. This idea value, the traditions had to be survivals had profound implications on the objects from a time prior to the here and now. So of tradition, for example the bone in ques- how could the focus be kept on the objects tion here. While the people might have ex- and their speech at the same time as the planations for their actions and things, this objects were established as survivals from is often not the primary and thus not the a different time? In the following I want to actual explanation for tradition. The pri- show how the atemporal signs of the ob- mary explanation can be found by reading jects of tradition could be read as temporal the signs from the object in the right way. events. As a consequence, what folk tradition It is interesting to note that most of the consists of in this figuration is not the tra- questionnaires that explicitly try to in- ditions of the people or the ideas of the vestigate the people’s conception of time people. What tradition consists of is what in the Ord og sed questionnaire series do the objects “themselves”, or as signs, so in a strict, Mannhardtian fashion. As speak of. As I have shown, in the introduc- an example, we can use another of Lid’s tory text to the questionnaire Lid estab- questionnaires, or rather three question- lished ways whereby the object could be naires that all deal with the chronology of 12 Åmund Norum Resløkken, Crystallized Belief

the people and that most likely were writ- ready in the title it is evident that it is these ten together. The first one, number 11, is signs, and how to read them, that are of in- called “The sun and the stars in chronol- terest. ogy” (Soli og stjernone i tidsrekningi) In the first part of this questionnaire, (Lid 1934:35–38). This rather long ques- “Markings from the sun”, the first five tionnaire is split into two parts, one deal- questions are about the markings them- ing with reading of time in the daytime selves. The first two of these ask for mark- and with the help of the sun, and the other ings in relation to the farm, while the next at night time and with the help of the three are about how markings are read in stars. But it is also emphasized that the the outfields and the wilderness. In the people used the stars to read the time in next four questions the focus changes, and the wintertime and the sun in the sum- it is now on customs for celebrating the re- mertime. This view is further elaborated turn of the sun. The first of these ques- in number 12 “Day and night” (Døgret) tions, number 8, asks about celebrations. (Lid 1934:39–40) and 13 “The year” The next question asks if it was common (Året) (ibid.:41–44). What is most strik- to give “butter to the sun” on this day. This ing in all these questionnaires is that Lid custom draws attention to an offering to focuses on a duality, between day and the sun. At the same time, it is asked night, summer and winter and the sun and whether it was a good sign that the sun the stars. “ate” this butter, thus focusing on the The short introduction to questionnaire omens read from the same sign. The last 11 reads: “In rural districts there is still a of these questions asks if there was a day lot of tradition about the old counting of one could see the sun dance. The question- time. Of great interest are the rules people naire gradually zooms in on the personifi- had for establishing time in the daytime or cations of the sun: first by focusing on the during the year, and the stars at night” signs, then on the celebrations in connec- (Lid 1934:35; my translation). Of interest tion with them, then on the active partici- here is the old way of counting time, relat- pation of the signifier, the sun, and lastly ing to the movements of the sun and the by the personification of the dancing and stars. It is also stated that some of this tra- eating sun. Question 13 asks about rules of dition still exists in the rural districts. This labour in relation to the sun, thus connect- is self-evident in that a lot of the signs dis- ing the personified and celebrated sun cussed in the questionnaire are about how with the yearly work cycle on the farms. the sun moves in relation to large features Question 14 asks about how special days such as mountains and farms. However, are found by using the movement of the this is not the main interest in these signs. sun. With a focus on the calendar of the The main interest is that they are readings people, we can see how labour activities of natural signs. and celebrations are put in relation to each Of the questionnaire’s two parts, the other by the use of the personified natural first is called “Markings from the sun” sign, and the close connection between (Solmerke), the second is called “Mark- observing, offering and taking omens. ings from the stars” (Stjernemerke). Al- In the second part of the questionnaire, Åmund Norum Resløkken, Crystallized Belief 13

“Markings from the stars”, it is mostly of as the “male” and “female” month, three signs that are in focus, the Pleiades formed an important basis in Lid’s theory (sjustjernen or the “seven stars” ), the Big of the fertility magic that seemed to serve Dipper (karlsvogna) and Orion (fiskane or as a basis for folk belief. Lid thought these fiskesveinane, “the fishes” or “the fisher- two names could be connected to the dual- men”). All these questions relate to two istic principle of the year, with one part quotations from Jacob Nicolai Wilse’s connected to growth, personified as gjø, Spydebergs beskrivelse (Description of connected to women, summer, the god- Spydeberg county) from 1779. In contrast dess Freya, the flax plant and linen. The to the first part, it asks about how the star other part, connected to the principle of signs are read in order to tell the time at harvest, was connected to men, torre, the night and in winter (questions 15 and 16), god Ull and wool (Lid 1928, 1933a). In but also about the conceptions related to Lid’s view, customs from these larger the names of the signs (questions 17 and primitive conceptions had been gathered 18) and also how they functioned as together in the period around Christmas, omens (questions 15‒18). and it was thus traces of these that could Questionnaire 11 establishes connec- be found in Christmas customs as well as tions that are further elaborated in ques- the conceptions related to the first two tionnaire 12, “Day and night” (Døgret) months of the year. It was this, for ex- and questionnaire 13 “The Year” (Året). ample, that made February the “women’s “Day and night” ask mostly about how the month” and was the basis for women be- day was ordered into periods of work. It ing able to propose marriage on 29 Febru- also asks about signs that could tell these ary (cf. questionnaire 122 (Lid 1943:29– periods other than signs from the stars or 32)). The women’s month coincides here the sun. Questionnaire 13, with its 29 with the first signs of spring and new life, questions, is far more extensive than both making for the inauguration of the growth number 11 and 12. half of the year. The corresponding half, The first four questions in number 13 the dying of the god, was from harvest ask about the calendar instrument the time, and the reason for all the harvest primstaff, which marks the days of the customs relating to the harvest of the year and has signs for all the masses dur- grain. It was these customs that had been ing the year. These masses are asked about the focus of Mannhardt’s research and the in question 5‒9, which also asks for personifications he named “die Korndä- rhymes and mnemonic rules connected to monen”. them. Question 10 is about the natural The last four questions of the question- markings of the shift between summer and naire ask about how dates were set in ac- winter, while 11‒14 ask about the agrarian cordance with extraordinary events like working year. Questions 15‒25, on the floods and war. A last question asks about other hand, all ask about conceptions and riddles and rhymes concerning time in beliefs connected to the first two lunar general. months after Christmas, called torre and We can see how people’s timekeeping gjø respectively. These two, conceived is always conceived of as a reading of nat- 14 Åmund Norum Resløkken, Crystallized Belief

ural signs. It is this that makes it interest- hand, it was the fact that the sign was ing as “tradition”. Mechanical timekeep- natural or unmediated that defined the ac- ing devices, even though they are old and tion as traditional. On the other hand, in part of peasant culture in the same time what way the signifier was “believed in” period, are not part of the chronological was a way of reading the deep historical practices of the people. The practice that is structure of culture. In other words, in this called “timekeeping” here is thus not so a timeline is visible, beginning with the much ordered as temporal development as worship of repeatable phenomena like the it is about what signs are read in order to sun, the stars or the cycle of growth and tell time. “The tradition” thus, as opposed harvest during the year, and ending in the to the modern, orders its actions in direct mechanical clock that in no way needs to relation to the natural cycles themselves, be believed in. without intermediary devices. The signs It is thus the events that the objects of that mark the events in traditional life are tradition were put in that made the objects thus by definition cyclical and cannot be into survivals. On the one hand by locking read in a linear, progressive fashion. them into a cycle of time that made them But still, there is a way that “we”, the timeless and thus able to survive over long moderns, can see progress in the people’s periods of time, and to be crystallized. On reading of time. The difference that shows the other hand, they were given a tem- temporal progress, or stages of cultural porality by utilizing the belief in the mark- development, lies in how this reading is ings of the cycles. With this in mind, the done in a rational fashion. For to what de- objects of tradition became both part of a gree the people believe in the natural signs different time structure and a different ra- is a way of reading cultural-historical tionality, but both, through the signifiers time, a way to read the timespan of the tra- established, were able to take part in the dition. The idea that primitives “personi- conversation between tradition and mo- fied” nature and that it was this that was dernity. In other words, a “worlding” for the basis for folk belief beings and also the objects was established (Tsing 2010). gods, played an important role for making The relationship between the objects was annual customs speak of folk belief and understood with reference to this other thus also making these actions part of a time and rationality. The worlding of the sacred domain. We saw, for example, how objects of tradition made them able to Lid associated the goddess Freya and the function differently as signs than would god Ull with both periods of time (torre other historical sources. This way of un- and gjø), materials such as flax and wool, derstanding time in “tradition” also con- and actions such as harvest and sowing. nected all the objects of tradition together We also saw, in questionnaire 11, how he and thus emphasized what they were forged connections between the reading of meant to explore as research objects. With signs, offering to the signifiers and omens this particular story of tradition became taken from them. In the people’s reading part of the objects themselves, making of time it was thus two components that them scalable as research objects with this made the tradition “speak”. On the one story intact, on account of their perceived Åmund Norum Resløkken, Crystallized Belief 15

direct connection to nature and the human heim 1935:55–78). Here past and present mind. were linked to traditional and modern, making the rather precise switch between A Descriptive Method as Staging of the two in the motorization of fishing Tradition boats. The same can be seen in the jurist The examples from the Ord og sed ques- Helge Refsum’s questionnaire on poverty, tionnaires I have given here show that poor people and aid to the poor (Lid 1943: they made it possible for the objects to be- 41–48), which places the gap between the come actors in a story of tradition. We two in the making of publicly financed saw, for example, how the bone was de- poor relief. It is in this place on the other scribed as speaking and the signifiers of side of the gap, in the unspecified and markings in time also were personified. In stable “before”, that the objects of tradi- these stories the actors are in focus as ac- tion were allowed to act. We can thus counts of reality and it was thus possible think of the idea of singular “tradition” as for researchers such as Lid to focus on a mise-en-scène, a staging for these ob- them as if tradition itself spoke. This made jects. Mieke Bal suggests the following on him able to portray his research as using a mise-en-scène as a concept: “descriptive” method (Lid 1928:7, 1933a: Let’s suppose, for a moment, that mise-en-scène is 7). This had profound consequences for this: the materialization of a text – word and score how tradition was seen in relation to other – in a form accessible for public, collective recep- historical and social research. The particu- tion; a mediation between a play and the multiple public, each individual in it; an artistic organiza- lar techniques that I have shown here tion of the space in which a play is set; an arrang- made, in sum, a set of research objects, the ing of a limited and delimited section of real time objects of tradition, that by being “crystal- and space. As a result of all this arranging, a dif- lized” made them usable in other fields of ferently delimited section of fictional time and research. With these objects, a particular space can accommodate the fictional activities of story of folk culture was projected into the actors, performing their roles to build a plot other fields of research. Modern concep- (Bal 2002:97). tions, instruments and institutions could The idea of a singular “tradition” as a be compared to this stable “tradition”, stable past and a reservoir of objects of complete with its own reason for acting in tradition made these “actors” able to per- the way it did and the place it acted in. form in a way that built a plot and made it This is for example what was the premise accessible for a public, collective recep- when the philologist Knut Nauthella and tion. It was this performance that Lid and the economist Klaus Sunnanå studied others “described” in their works, and it fisheries in a questionnaire that was added was this plot that was activated in the to the first issue of Ord og sed called “On questionnaires. In thinking of the ques- fisheries past and present” (Um fisket fyr tionnaires as a mise-en-scène of folk tradi- og no) (Nauthella & Sunnanå 1933) and tion it becomes easier to understand how questionnaire 35 “The fisheries in North- irrational elements were given a voice and ern Norway and Trøndelag” (Fiskeriet i how non-human actors like the sun or a Nord-Noreg og Trøndelag) (Lid & Sol- bone were made able to speak. But this 16 Åmund Norum Resløkken, Crystallized Belief

mise-en-scène also gave somewhere to customs that have their origin in these be- place, watch and describe all the irrational liefs, and how they were used in the old elements that were otherwise problematic heathen religion. In principle, however, in a plot-structure of progress. “Folk be- folklife research should have as its object lief”, which was the irrational element that of study “the old way of life, the people’s was “crystallized” in the objects of tradi- distinctive character in all its different tion, became an inherent feature of the ob- manifestations and conceptions, as an or- jects themselves. With this, folk belief be- ganic whole” (ibid.:151–152). Lid saw the came a particular way of rationalizing ir- reasons for studying and saving these cul- rational traits of culture. On the one hand tural traits as extending further than just it was done by making irrational traits part its scientific interest. He also emphasizes of folk belief and on the other by the use that this old culture has valuable contribu- of analogy, by reading irrational behav- tions to modern culture. Since “a lot of the iour and explanations as if they were crys- old culture-elements are condemned to tallizations of belief. The survivals that death” it is important to save as much as are found in this research are thus not only possible before it is too late, especially of objects that have the function of an histor- the oral tradition (ibid.). Lid goes on to ical source. They are also a link, some- show how collecting elements should be thing with an effect both in the past and in done. He emphasizes the process in two the present. We can thus problematize to distinct stages and corresponding to them what extent Lid and his colleagues also is the role of the carriers of tradition and understood the objects of tradition, which science respectively. made up the raw material of “the tradi- The first part of research had to be done tion”, as something that was constructed in as close collaboration as possible with in their present and with present-day ef- the carriers of tradition. In this process, fects. It is to this point I want to turn in the Lid maintains, science can become “a part last part of this article. of the close living life”, that is, take part in the organic whole of culture (ibid.). Lid Folklife Research – an Organic Whole shows here that he is aware of the influ- In the article “On folklife research” (“Um ence of “science” on “tradition” but that folkelivsgransking”) from 1933, Lid pre- both can be a part of an organic, and I sents his view of what this new holistic ap- should add modern, whole, where the vital proach to the study of folk culture should quality of tradition is maintained. The Ord look like, and what kind of study it should og sed questionnaires with their explana- consist of. tory introductions and leading questions Lid starts his article by pointing to the become more understandable in this view. fact that folklife research, or ethnology, is The “elements” they were trying to isolate the study of the “living popular tradition, were not only survivals of the old, but also taken in its widest sense” (Lid 1933b: modern products of a culture consisting of 151). He goes on to say that divisions have a popular and scientific view-point. Lid’s often been made in these studies, for ex- emphasis on “secondary explanations” ample between folk belief and the folk also becomes comprehensible in this Åmund Norum Resløkken, Crystallized Belief 17

view. We could think of science as adding sure conclusions, to find the primal expla- a history to the practices of the people in nations why the objects of tradition exist- Lid’s view. ed and what their real meaning was. As we have seen in the questionnaires, It was from this position, where the ele- Lid’s research also handed out distinct ments existing in the present time could be roles to play for the different parts of this compared with other historical sources, organic whole. In relation to the question- such as archaeological and text material, naires I have shown above, we can see that historical research could be done. The how the objects of tradition are made into national tradition elements could now be signs that are able to speak in this dichot- compared also to the collections of tradi- omous relation that, on the one hand, con- tion elements of other countries, and thus sists of the people, the past and the super- make statements about the international stitious, and on the other hand science, the diffusion and development of culture. In modern and the rational. The way the ob- this it was possible to reach back to a jects speak is by translating between these primitive stage of culture, where the ori- two positions. It is in this way the mise- gins of culture could be found. It was this en-scène of tradition becomes such an im- that was the main goal of Lid’s ethnology, portant premise, because without this but only after the collection, taking part in place to speak from, where “the people” as the first part of the method, was done. a singular actor can speak to the multiple audience that is the people, the practices The Co-construction of Folk Belief of the people would have no way of func- As we can see from this exposition of the tioning as signs, and science would have methods of early ethnology in Norway, it no object to add history to. is striking how the archival material is in- This way of making diverse practices, fused in the cultural theories of its time of things and words into objects of tradition collection. We must thus ask in what way that functioned as concise signs was the this material should now be seen and how foundation of the next stage of Lid’s folk- it can be used in order to give a meaning- life research. ful picture of “folk traditions”, a figure The second part was the comparison that, even though heavily criticized today and synthesis of the elements of tradition. because of the way it essentializes “the It was in this part that the developmental people”, still plays an important part in work of science could take place. In his ar- discourse on the people and peoples. Folk ticle Lid conceptualized this part as “the tradition, much in the way that Lid under- distinct versions of the same thing must be stood it, tacitly shapes the popular view of compared to one another, so that one can different forms of cultural heritage, both draw conclusions inductively. If one has institutionalized, that is, as part of mu- enough variants of the same thing, all seums and archives, and in general socie- sources of error will disappear by them- ty. Too often the understanding of these selves” (Lid 1933b:153, my translation). elements is stuck in between critique and The comparison of the different variants essentialism, between what is academic of the same thing made it possible to draw construction and what is “genuine” old 18 Åmund Norum Resløkken, Crystallized Belief

culture. In one sense, these discussions of have to be seen as having partly differing course are productive, making new stories histories. There is no longer a singular of the material in question. But still we of- “mise-en-scène” they can point back to, ten lose sight of the complex relationship but these objects, constructed as signs as that existed between construction and re- they are, can point back to interesting sto- construction, which its collectors were ries of the co-construction of “culture”. also acutely aware of. “Folk belief” must Among these co-constructions are the thus be seen as a co-construction made in crystallized beliefs and their ability to act negotiation between people talking from as cultural artefacts. the point of view of representing academic theories and the point of view of repre- Åmund Norum Resløkken PhD, post-doc senting the people. The premise of this Department of Culture Studies and Oriental Lan- co-construction was that cultural beliefs guages could crystallize and become artefacts, Postboks 1010 Blindern words and actions, and that this happened 0315 Oslo, Norway email: [email protected] in “the tradition”, a place divided from modern times and modern life. A parallel Notes to these premises can be found in the no- 1 Svale Solheim was first archivist of the Nor- tion of cultural heritage, a notion that to wegian Folklore Archives (NFS) from 1952 some extent has substituted “tradition” for to 1956 and professor of folklore at the Uni- “heritage” but by way of its presentist fo- versity of Oslo from 1956. Rigmor Frimanns- cus keeps the crystallized objects intact. lund was a conservator at Norwegian Ethno- logical Research (NEG) from its beginning in By focusing on how the past is construct- 1946 and from 1953 worked at IFSK on a ed in the present, the heritage discourse broad ethnological survey of farming commu- can get away from the overreaching cul- nities, which she also led from 1962 until its end in 1976. Kjell Bondevik had a master’s tural theories that, for example, tradition degree in folkloristics but the major part of his in the Mannhardtian sense necessitated. career was as a politician for the Christian But as we also can see in this case study, Democratic Party, including six years as the the presentism of cultural heritage hides Minister of Education and Church Affairs. 2 Mannhardt developed this theory in two earl- the strength with which these earlier prac- ier preliminary studies Die Korndämonen and tices of collection, through the objects Roggenwolf und Roggenhund (Mannhardt they have produced, co-produces cultural 1868, 1866). identities as crystallized beliefs. A co-pro- 3 A note on translations: All texts cited in this article were originally in New Norwegian duction that is not just between “the tradi- (nynorsk) and have been translated by the tional” and the “modern”, but a negotia- author. I have tried to keep close to the word- tion of different periods theories of culture ing in the original text, in order to show the sentences and metaphors used in the originals. and the objects these theories produce as For some nouns that are not possible to culture. I think the utilization of co-con- translate without losing their meaning in the structed objects still has the potential to text, I have given the original word in square produce interesting conversations with the brackets and used an approximate translation of its meaning in the text. In titles of question- past, but this calls for an understanding of naires and articles I have given the original the objects of tradition in which they all title in brackets. Åmund Norum Resløkken, Crystallized Belief 19

References Lid, Nils 1931: Wilhelm Mannhardt og hans sam- Ackerman, Robert 1991: The Myth and Ritual ling av norske folkeminne. NFL 24. Oslo: Norsk School. J. G. Frazer and the Cambridge Ritual- Folkeminnelag. ists. New York: Garland Publishing. Lid, Nils 1933a: Jolesveinar og grøderikdomsgu- Bakken, Reidar 1977: Ord og sakgranskinga i Et- dar. Skrifter utgitt av Det Norske Viden- nologi. Norveg. Folkelivsgransking 20:161– skaps-Akademi i Oslo, II. Hist-Filos.Klasse. 176. 1932 No. 5. Oslo: I kommisjon hos Jacob Dyb- Bal, Mieke 2002: Travelling Concepts in the Hu- wad. manities. A Rough Guide. Green College Lec- Lid, Nils 1933b: Um folkelivsgransking. In Hel- tures. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. sing til Olav Midttun på 50-årsdagen, pp. 151– Bal, Mieke 2009: Narratology. Introduction to the 164. Oslo: Noregs boklag. Theory of Narrative. Toronto: University of To- Lid, Nils (ed.) 1934: Ord og sed I. Organ for ronto Press. nemndi til gransking av norsk nemningsbruk. Frazer, James George 1925: Den gyllene grenen. Oslo: Noregs boklag i umbod. Studier i magi och religion. Stockholm: Bok- Lid, Nils (ed.) 1935: Nordisk kultur XIX: Folke- förlaget Natur och Kultur. tru. Oslo: H. Aschehoug & Co. Hylland, Ole Marius 2013: Tro og Skikk. In Etno- Lid, Nils (ed.) 1943: Ord og sed X. Oslo: Noregs logi og folkloristikk. En fagkritisk biografi om boklag i ombod. norsk kulturhistorie, ed. Bjarne Rogan & Anne Lid, Nils, & Svale Solheim (eds.) 1935: Ord og Eriksen, pp. 269–297. Oslo: Novus forlag. sed II. Organ for nemndi til gransking av norsk Kjus, Audun 2013: Nils Lid (1890‒1958). In Et- nemningsbruk. Oslo: Noregs boklag i umbod. nologi og folkloristikk. En fagkritisk biografi Mannhardt, Willhelm 1866: Roggenwolf und Rog- om norsk kulturhistorie, ed. Bjarne Rogan & genhund. Beitrag zur germanischen Sitten- Anne Eriksen, pp. 137‒157. Oslo: Novus for- kunde. Danzig: Verlag von Constantin Ziems- lag. sen. Kverndokk, Kyrre 2011: Han ligner litt på nissen Mannhardt, Willhelm 1868: Die Korndämonen. igrunn. Folkloristiske forestillinger om folke- Beitrag zur Germanischen Sittenkunde. Berlin: tro. In Or gamalt. Nye perspektiver på folke- Ferd. Dümmler’s Verlagsbuchhandlung. minner. Festskrift til Anna-Marie Wiersholm, Mannhardt, Willhelm 1963a: Wald- und Feld- som takk for 40 års arbeid for og med folke- kulte. Erster Band: Der Baumkultus der Germa- minnene, ed. Line Esborg, Kyrre Kverndokk & nen und ihrer Nachbarstämme. Mythologischen Leiv Sem, pp. 70–95. NFL 165. Norsk Folke- Untersuchungen. Unveränderter fotomechani- minnelag/Instituttet for sammenlignende kul- scher Nachdruck der 2. Auslage Berlin 1905. turforskning. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesell- Kyllingstad, Jon Røyne 2008: “Menneskeåndens universialitet.” Instituttet for sammenlignende schaft. kulturforskning 1917‒1940. Ideene, institusjo- Mannhardt, Willhelm 1963b: Wald- und Feld- nen og forskningen. Avhandling for graden kulte. Zweiter Band: Antike Wald- und Feld- ph.d. Oslo: Det humanistiske fakultet. Universi- kulte aus nordeuropäischer Überlieferung er- tetet i Oslo. läutert. Unveränderter fotomechanischer Nach- Latour, Bruno 1993: We Have Never Been Mod- druck der 2. Auslage Berlin 1905. Darmstadt: ern. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft. Press. Nauthella, Knut & Klaus Sunnanå 1933: Um fisket Latour, Bruno 2005: Reassembling the Social. An fyrr og no. Spyrjeliste. Vinderen. Introduction to Actor-Network-Theory. Ox- Nordberg, Andreas 2013: Fornnordisk religions- ford & New York: Oxford University Press. forskning mellan teori och empiri. Kulten av Levander, Lars 1936: Ord och sak. Studentför- anfäder, solen och vegetationsandar i idéhi- eningen Verdandis småskrifter 383. Stockholm: storisk belysning. Acta Academiae Regiae Albert Bonniers förlag. Gustavi Adolphi 126. Uppsala: Kungl. Gustav Lid, Nils 1928: Joleband og vegetasjonsguddom. Adolfs Akademien för Svensk Folkkultur. Skrifter utgitt av Det Norske Videnskaps-Aka- Noyes, Dorothy 2009: Tradition: Three Tradi- demi i Oslo II. Hist-Filos. Klasse 1928 No. 4. tions. Journal of Folklore Research 46(3): 233– Oslo: I kommisjon hos Jacob Dybwad. 268. 20 Åmund Norum Resløkken, Crystallized Belief

“ORD OG SED” 2018. http://urn.nb.no/URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_ https://www.hf.uio.no/ikos/tjenester/kunnskap/ 2006120701108. samlinger/norsk-folkeminnesamling/andre- Tsing, Anna Lowenhaupt 2010: Worlding the ressurser/ordogsedpr2018.pdf. Accessed 1 Matsutake Diaspora. Or, Can Actor-Network December 2018. Theory Experiment With Holism? In Experi- Resløkken, Åmund Norum 2018: “Ein lut av det ments in Holism. Theory and Practice in Con- nære levande livet”. Tradisjon, tradisjonsele- temporary Anthropology, ed. Ton Otto & Nils menter og tradisjonsforskere. En studie av spør- Bubant, pp. 47–66. Chichester: Wiley-Black- relisteserien Ord og sed 1934‒1947. Oslo: Det well. humanistiske fakultet, Universitetet i Oslo. Tsing, Anna Lowenhaupt 2015: The Mushroom at Stang, Fredrik, Alf Sommerfelt, Knut Liestøl & the End of the World. On the Possibility of Life Just Qvigstad 1925: Fire Innledningsforeles- in Capitalist Ruins. Princeton: Princeton Uni- ninger, holdt 4.‒8. September 1924. Oslo: versity Press. Aschehoug. Eilert Sundt on Food and Nutrition Stories from Mid-Nineteenth-Century Rural Norway By Inger Johanne Lyngø

In the spring of 1855 the Norwegian theo- eaten and drunk everything there was, we were as logian Eilert Sundt (1817–1875), known friendly as if we had known each other for a year 1 as the founding father of Norwegian soci- (ibid.). ology, visited a poor peasant family in a The situation illustrates Sundt’s ways of rural district north of Christiania (now Os- doing fieldwork. The way he addressed lo). Sundt was then a member of the Poor and talked to people he met on his re- Law Commission (Fattigkommisjonen av search journeys across the country while 1853) with the mission to prepare a new he was receiving ministry funding (from law on poor relief. Beforehand he knew the Church Department and the Depart- the family was very poor, even poorer ment of the Interior) from 1850 to 1869, than usual in the area, living with their six with a mission to study the living condi- children “on the boundary between indi- tions and customs of common people. vidual independence and dependence on Very often as exemplified in the excerpt, charity” (Sundt 1993 [1857]:154). Sundt the common people happened to be had, however, great sympathy for the fam- women and often with food as the starting ily. The children although barefoot and point for their conversation. half-naked, had “a contentment that shone The excerpt also shows how Sundt de- out of their faces”, the man was “a reliable scribes situations and conversations, invit- hard worker” and the woman had an “un- ing his readers to participate in his experi- usually fine, regular and beautiful face” ences and reflections. And since food very (ibid.:161). A year before, she had be- often was the starting point for his conver- come mentally disturbed. The reason for sations, he managed to communicate how this she later explained was that she knew food matters and acts as “a tremendous” she was pregnant – her eighth pregnancy – communicated power, to paraphrase Georg and she started to think of all the difficul- Simmel and his well-known phrase (1984 ties that lay ahead of her. Only then, is [1910]: 346).2 In this situation, the meal Sundt’s comment, were the couple in need was not the shared meal that Simmel uses of help from poor relief. to express community; rather it functioned In this humble cottage Sundt tells his as trust, confidence and recognition. readers that he had to “cheer up” himself. Although Sundt never published books On doing so, he asked the woman if she on food, in various ways food is a topic in had a reasonable dinner to serve him. In most of his books. Even his most famous his book On Morality (Om sedeligheds- book, his book on marriage (Om Gifte- tilstanden i Norge) published in 1857, he målet) internationally known for its theor- renders her reaction as follows. etical insight, still named Sundt’s Law, I will not easily forget the woman’s face when she starts with a food scene (Sundt 1963 looked at me questioningly, looked at me to see if [1855]:13).3 His writings on food, how- I was serious. But then she got into action: [Sundt ever, have not received much attention. explains how she prepared the meal with ingredi- The aim of this article is to highlight ents she had available]. Eventually the food was served and the woman seated herself at the spin- Sundt as food and meal researcher based ning wheel, but all the time she looked too see if I on careful studies and close readings of was really eating the food, and when I had almost passages from two of his most prominent

Ethnologia Scandinavica, Vol. 50, 2020 22 Inger Johanne Lyngø, Eilert Sundt on Food and Nutrition

works, with food stories as the fulcrum. cal gardens, forges, libraries, fields, ships The narrative aspect is not the point of de- and household hearths have become part parture, rather how his stories are linked to of the research subject (ibid.:142). An- ways of knowing. The ambition is to study other tendency is a turn to practices, the knowledge production in its past present circulation of knowledge and the ability to as seen within a culture-historical frame- include other actors than scientists in the work. The article asks what kind of food studies (ibid.:143). stories Sundt told and what these stories In this process historians of science tell us about time and place he was living have started to rethink its geography and in. The article also seeks to reflect on chronology. Most importantly, however, whether and how these stories still have historians of science are striving to over- relevance. come not only a but “the classical Euro- centric narrative” with a sharp division be- Formation of Knowledge and the New tween us and them (ibid.:141). In addition, Knowledge of Nutrition and what is important for this article, the In the essay “The History of Science and turn to the study of knowledge seeks “to the History of Knowledge”, Lorraine Das- erasing the vexing ([…] and often ideo- ton approaches her topic with a double vi- logical) boundary between pre-modern sion and asks: “If we no longer are his- and modern” (ibid.:141). In other words, torians of modern Western science […], the history of knowledge is social and cul- then what are we historians of?” Her an- tural history that is not limited to science, swer is, “we are historians of knowledge” but takes knowledge as phenomenon that (2017:142). touches on every aspect of life. It engages The turn to knowledge, in her view, has with practices and knowledge production an advantage in placing all knowledge at as “forms of knowledge”, such as the equal levels and erasing the sharp distinc- skills of craftsmen, hunters, farmers, shep- tion between what counts as knowledge herds, sailors and other practical experts, and what does not in a given time and a and also women and their cooking skills given place. Her double vision is an ability (ibid.:143). to reflect on how the history of science Cooking is about practices and about “haltingly and hesitatingly” has become a knowing. From the mid-nineteenth centu- history of knowledge, in her view, an ry the emerging knowledge of nutrition emerging field, but not yet a discipline. formed a new science based on works by This is also an advantage and makes the the German physiologist Baron Justus von History of Knowledge more flexible and Liebig (1803–1875). It has been pointed explorative (ibid.:132). out that his publications from the 1840s In her essay Daston gives an overview “shaped the science of nutrition in both of the historiography of her discipline. the scientific and popular culture of West- She describes how the History of Science ern nations” (Finlay 1995:49). New ex- has been extended, broadened and diversi- perts – later known as nutritionists – de- fied over the past decades. The sites of in- veloped a range of techniques that ap- quiry have also been expanded as botani- peared to allow objective, standardized Inger Johanne Lyngø, Eilert Sundt on Food and Nutrition 23

and universal ways of defining and meas- ality, with new reports in 1864 and 1866, uring the amount of food required for and finally his book On Cleanliness (Om work and productivity (Vernon 2007:83). Renligheds-stellet i Norge) in 1869. These At the same time, hunger changed status are all parts of a never-ending ethnologi- as a social problem that could be meas- cal treasure trove.5 Moreover, he pub- ured and defined. This gave rise to organ- lished a series of articles in newspapers izations that sought to conquer hunger and and in the periodical The Friend of the poverty (ibid.:17). Sundt’s practices as re- People (Folkevennen), issued from 1852 searcher and writer can be seen in this to 1900, where Sundt was the editor-in- context. chief from 1854 to 1864. His publications have been such a huge An Ethnological Treasure Trove inspiration not only through the knowl- In the historiography of Norwegian eth- edge he produced, but also through his nology, Sundt is the classic; a cornerstone ways of producing knowledge: and a forerunner of our discipline. To fol- He was a master in making people speak, whether low the historian Anne Lise Seip: “While it was a tramp in the gaol who did not want to talk, demographers, historians and sociologists a peasant of few words, a cross shuttle boy, a shy have been concerned with one aspect of peasant lassie; in his presence and with his lovely his immense authorship, Norwegian eth- small talk, which nurtured trust, none of them nologists have been inspired by countless could resist opening up and tell their stories as if he was a confidant. Which he was, or proved to be aspects of his contributions” (Seip 1983: (Lunde 1917:44, my translation). 15). This can be considered as a compli- ment on behalf of our discipline from one He created his source material through ob- of the few scholars who has studied Sundt servations, conversations, interviews, systematically within a social historical questionnaires with the use of middlemen framework.4 such as elementary school teachers and Between 1850 and 1869, while Sundt clergymen, not to forget his participatory was supported by grants from the Nor- observations, which he supplemented wegian government, he published an im- with additional information. He collected pressive number of books and records. stories, wrote letters and notes. This re- These are books on minority groups (Fan- sulted in a large amount of source material tefolket ) published in 1850, with new re- stored in the National Library of Norway.6 ports in 1858, 1863 and 1865, one book on It is as a statistician, however, that marriage and one on mortality in 1855 and Sundt has attracted most attention among three books – on the urban poor, on a min- sociologists and historians, even outside ing community and on temperance condi- Norway. He was innovative in his statisti- tions. In 1859 and from 1861 to 1864 he cal thinking and ahead of his time, he published reports on living conditions managed “to combine a qualitative study among fishermen at sea, on building prac- of traditions and norms with a study of tices in rural areas in 1862, on the cottage regularities based on large amount of em- industry in 1867, not to forget his book on pirical information at a time when these children born out of wedlock in On Mor- two approaches still seemed separate else- 24 Inger Johanne Lyngø, Eilert Sundt on Food and Nutrition

where in Europe” (Lie 2001:21). Al- knowledge. But was this really the case? though Sundt as a statistician is unthink- Was Sundt in opposition to science? Wat if able without Sundt as a folklife research- the feud is seen in the light of knowledge er, Norwegian ethnologists, with few ex- production in times when the science of nu- ceptions, have been less interested in trition was in its formative phase, as a new Sundt as a statistician. Our main concerns knowledge, a knowledge in the making? In have been how he gave life to numbers addition, there is another level in their and tables. We have also been less inter- story. While the feud had disastrous conse- ested in his personal life, his diffuse per- quences for Sundt, which I will return to, it sonality, his political thinking (as a true was nevertheless he who emerged victori- supporter of Scandinavianism, he attend- ous. Posterity showed that Sundt was right ed the Nordic student meeting several and Asbjørnsen wrong. This is how Rid- times), his struggle against authorities dervold and Ropeid’s story goes. Not only concerning the new medical discipline of has their article become the standard refer- hygiene, especially the prominent leprosy ence to the feud, it has also become a doctors on the west coast of the country.7 master narrative and, alas, one of the few However, there is one exception; the stories about Sundt and food. dispute about the peasant women’s cook- The feud is also a topic of this this ing practices between the collector of fairy article. To avoid it would, literally speak- tales and legends, Peter Christen Asbjørn- ing, be “to walk around the porridge” (å sen (1812–1885), and Sundt in the 1860s. gå rundt grøten) as the saying “to beat The dispute was already in their time about the bush” goes in Norwegian. The labelled “the porridge feud” (grødkam- feud is important for many reasons. It rep- pen ), as shown in the satirical magazine resented a turning point to Sundt personal- Vikingen in 1865 (fig. 1). The article ly and professional; it initiated a process “Popular Diet in Norway and Natural Sci- that led to 1869 when he was no longer ence during the 19th Century: The Por- provided with grants from the Norwegian ridge Feud 1864‒66” by Astri Riddervold Government. It also changed his research, and Andreas Ropeid, published in Ethno- his writing style and the audience to which logia Scandinavica in 1984, has become a he addressed his research. Rather than po- standard reference to the controversy. It is larizing Asbjørnsen and Sundt, this article cited and retold in scholarly literature, as will propose an alternative story. By doing well as Norwegian schoolbooks and popu- so I will examine Sundt’s writings on food lar texts as a controversy between science before, after and of course, while he was and tradition in nineteenth-century Norway in the middle of the battle. (see for example Raa 2013; Lien 2018). In the first section I will give an account Riddervold and Ropeid’s otherwise of the feud as seen in the light of the new readable article draws a somewhat polar- knowledge of nutrition. How did Sundt re- ized picture of the two men, to the benefit late to this knowledge? Then, I will dig of Sundt. While he represented tradition, deeper into his writings from his visit to women and common people, Asbjørnsen the community north of Oslo, which the was on the side of science and expert introduction has already given a taste of. Inger Johanne Lyngø, Eilert Sundt on Food and Nutrition 25

This drawing has become a classical icon of the feud printed in the satirical Viking in 1865 after the meeting of the Society for the Promotion of Popular Enlightenment. While Asbjørnsen (Mr. Clemens) reaches out his hands towards Sundt, is Sundt gesticulating at him with a turu, tvore, trøre among the many local names for this important kitchen utensil. A turu is a kind of whips made from tops of young trees excellent for making barley porridge. Photo: National Library of Norway. 26 Inger Johanne Lyngø, Eilert Sundt on Food and Nutrition

In this section the sociality of food and atic difference in the taste of rich and poor eating is in the foreground. people” (ibid.). The next section consists of methodical This is in many ways an introduction to considerations as expressed in On Cleanli- the sociology of taste. It seems that Sundt ness. Published after the great feud, the was aware of the differences between the book contains a great many references to taste of necessity and that of liberty or lux- the controversy. In addition, Sundt pro- ury. He also saw how food acts as an agent vides examples of the form his food study of social distinctions and cultural trans- programme might have taken. In this sec- formations. While poor people “of neces- tion the materiality of food and eating is in sity have to think of enough food for their the foreground. Finally, I will return to the hunger and their next meal”, people from starting point of the article, his visit to the the circles to which he belonged could humble cottage. How did their conversa- think of good food as they did not need to tion proceed and how does Sundt render nourish their body for the purpose of hard their talk? Throughout the article I hope to work and did not have to occupy their demonstrate how Sundt’s writings on food minds day and night with the struggle for still have relevance, not only as food food. He admitted that the “struggle for studies, but as culture studies in general. bread and butter” was difficult to sympa- thize with (ibid.). This exemplifies the Material and Method ambivalence in his research, and as the The article is based on close studies and a culture historian Ole Marius Hylland has careful reading of a passage from Sundt’s pointed out, it is characteristic of his fieldwork in the rural community north of writing style (Hylland 2002). However, Oslo, as described in On Morality, and Sundt’s ambivalence constituted his chapters on food in On Cleanliness.8 In my sources for the understanding of people’s reading, I have been surprised by his mun- living conditions, and very often formed dane approaches, his thick descriptions and the point of departure for his research eye for details, his subjectivity and re- questions. flexivity, not forgetting the way in which He has “a special gift”, is how one of he followed connections, often in unusual, his contemporaries characterized Sundt’s surprising and unpredictable turns. research, emphasizing his ability “to de- After his visit to the rural district north rive new and interesting things out of of Oslo, he admitted that “precisely on the everyday trivialities” (cited in Ropeid matter of food” he had truly found it pain- 1972:80). This gift has been articulated as ful to sympathize with the poor. “It often a holistic view, that Sundt describes how seems that food and only food occupies everything is connected to everything, as their minds from beginning to end, and it the saying goes. However, rather than has been difficult for me to come to grips viewing his research holistically, I am in- with this” (Sundt 1993 [1857]:163). He spired by Donna Haraway and her alterna- acknowledged the differences in how tive to this well-known phrase. Following minds focus on food and believed it was her, it is more fruitful – even urgent in our “possible to show a distinct and system- transformative time – to explore how Inger Johanne Lyngø, Eilert Sundt on Food and Nutrition 27

things are connected. “Nothing is connect- much as 80 per cent of the national food ed to everything; everything is connected consumption derived from cereals includ- to something”, is her alternative way of ing potatoes (Gjerdaker 2004:248), al- seeing connections (Haraway 2016:31). A though, as Sundt observed in 1855, pota- “something” which again as she adds in a toes had not yet become common in the footnote, is connected to something “else- district north of Oslo. where” (ibid.:273). I will argue and hope- The problem, according to Asbjørnsen, fully demonstrate, that Sundt was a master was not the porridge per se, but the way in in following connections to something which it was cooked. The custom of add- and to an unpredictable elsewhere. This ing some meal to the porridge after it had makes his writing and the stories he tells been taken off the fire represented in his so fascinating, surprising and relevant. view, a heavy socio-economic loss to the individual families and to the country at The Great Norwegian Porridge Feud, large since the nutrients were not digested 1864‒66 properly. He even calculated that half a On a research visit to Germany in 1856‒58 million “speciedaler” (the currency at the Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, who was time) were lost due to this particular cook- trained as a natural scientist, was intro- ing practice, and he blamed the peasant duced to Liebig’s theories of nutrition. In women for the misdeed (Asbjørnsen 1864, under the pseudonym Clemens Boni- 1864:30).9 facius, Asbjørnsen published a book on The very same year Sundt published a food entitled Sensible Cookery (Fornuftigt series of articles in The Friend of the madstel). The book contains a rich body of People entitled “Woman’s position” recipes from the Norwegian rural and ur- (Kvindens stilling). In the fourth para- ban kitchen, as well as from international graph published in the winter of 1864, he cuisine. About a third of the book provides refers to words he had heard from guidelines for household management. Ac- “learned men” a statement about the peas- cording to the Norwegian food historian ant women’s cooking practices (Sundt Henry Notaker, Sensible Cookery is “the 1864:639). Sundt strongly disagreed and first Norwegian cookery book that treated wanted, as he wrote, “to nip such words in the science of nutrition in a serious way” the bud” (standse slige ord i farten) mean- (2001:42). Nevertheless, it has turned out ing, “to stop something before it has an to be famous for the assertion about the opportunity to be established”.10 How- Norwegian peasant women’s cooking ever, Sundt did not succeed in stopping practices. They did not even know how to the words; indeed, rather the opposite was cook porridge, the most common dish, true. His words caused a “furore grautom- properly (Asbjørnsen 1864:30). mannorum”, as it was characterized in the Porridge, cooked in water and consist- newspaper Morgenbladet in 1864 (cited ing of barley meal or a mixture of barley here by Sundt 1975 [1869]:400). This and oats, was the staple food of the poor gave rise to one of “the funniest popular man’s diet, especially in the grain districts discussions about social sciences recorded of eastern and central Norway. In 1850 as anywhere” (Allwood 1957:83). The whole 28 Inger Johanne Lyngø, Eilert Sundt on Food and Nutrition

country was soon “drawn into the fury of medical authorities at the time, known as a the fray” (ibid.:85). This is somewhat ex- dedicated supporter of miasma theory – aggerated, although the controversy re- made it absolutely clear that he had not par- ceived attention. In February 1865, it was ticipated in the controversy, neither in discussed at the general meeting of the So- speeches nor in written words. He had not ciety for the Promotion of Popular En- even read newspapers on the subject. He lightenment (Selskabet til Folkeopplys- announced his purpose as strictly scientific ningens Fremme). The member, who had (Faye 1867:52). The aim was to give the acknowledged Sundt’s special gift, added state of knowledge from current research that in this case his gift had taken “a on the function of food. The question was strange turn towards paradoxes” (cited in whether a diet based on cereals was capable Ropeid 1972:80). of giving the labour force sufficient nutri- The text that followed the caricature de- ents. picted in Vikingen (fig. 1) was not in favour Referring to the most recent literature, of Sundt. He was portrayed as a quarreller with support from findings from his own without the ability to listen to his opponents, experiments, he concluded as follows: noisily and angrily raising his hands to- “To add some of the meal to the porridge wards Mr. Clemens’ hat (Kalotten) blaming after it has been taken off the fire is both him for bad upbringing and lack of chivalry economical and sensible” (ibid.:51). His towards peasant women. He was also criti- own experiments demonstrated that the cized and ridiculed for making science out meal did not go undigested through the of nonsense. The message was clear: How body. Rather the opposite was the true: A could an editor of the journal of the society “somewhat thicker porridge” was even behave like this? (Vikingen 1865:34). The more “sensible”, especially for those car- critic obviously won support since Sundt rying out heavy physical work (ibid.:83). had to step down from his position as the He called for further discussions on the editor-in-chief of the society’s periodical, topic, especially from the mathematical The Friend of the People, in 1866. science section of the Society. On 25 May 1866, four members of the A Meeting of the Scientific Associ- Society responded. Professor Halvor ation of Christiania Heyerdahl Rasch and Lauritz Esmark On 6 April 1866, the professor of medicine supported Faye, while the professor of at the University of Christiania, Frans Faye physiology Christian Boeck, at that time (1806–1890), gave a lecture on the benefit vice-president of the Society, was critical. of “our starchy diet” (Undersøgelser an- First, he decried Faye for giving a lecture gaande Brug og Nytte af vore stivelseshol- on such a controversial topic, and then he dige Næring) at a meeting of the Scientific expressed his disappointment over the fact Association of Christiania (Videnskab-Sel- that “a member” of the Society had de- skabet i Christiania). Riddervold and Rop- fended a cooking practice that in his view eid cite this lecture as support for Sundt in was unfortunate (Videnskab-selskabet i opposition to Asbjørnsen (1984:49). In Christiania 1867:178). Sundt explained fact, Faye – among the country’s leading the reason for his involvement. He also Inger Johanne Lyngø, Eilert Sundt on Food and Nutrition 29

encouraged the “author” (Asbjørnsen, priest in the rural district of Eidsvoll in whom he never mentioned by name) to 1870, where he lived until his death at the withdraw his claims (ibid.). age of 58, in 1875 (fig. 2). Alongside other controversial utter- Rather than looking at the feud as a con- ances, especially aimed at “learned men”, troversy between science and tradition, I among them the famous leprosy doctor will argue that from Sundt’s perspective it Daniel Cornelius Danielssen (1815‒1894), was a discussion about methodology. His this became the turning point for Sundt scientific project was to include every and his family. Not only did he have to little detail about everyday practices in his face criticism from his own, as a member scientific inquiry. This endeavour did not of the two societies, his research was give him any authority in the scientific criticized in newspapers and magazines community, as the satirical text and draw- and even from the speaker’s chair in the ing in Vikingen 1865 shows. Norwegian Parliament. It was alleged that his research had little practical value, “a “The Philosophy of Food” storm in a teacup”, and was even useless When Faye published his lecture in the (Seip 1993:230). From 1869 the govern- autumn of 1867, he referred to the article ment no longer funded him. Reluctantly, “The Philosophy of Food” published in he ended his career serving as a parish The Medical Times and Gazette in 1866.

Family portrait of Sundt with his wife Nicoline Conradine Hansen and their five sons in their garden in Christiania/Oslo. The Picture is probably taken around 1863, just a year before the out- break of the porridge feud. Photo: Oslo Museum/Byhistorisk samling. 30 Inger Johanne Lyngø, Eilert Sundt on Food and Nutrition

The article by an unknown writer opens as heavily moderated, even by himself (ibid.: follows. 60). The overriding question was what In 1842 Liebig, in his “Organic Chemistry”, kind of food, how much and at what cost broached the idea that all articles of food were was necessary to be a healthy and produc- capable of arrangement in two great groups, the tive member of society. Since different one devoted to the reparation of the tissues, the bodies had different needs, depending on other to the production of animal heat. […] Up to their age, gender and productivity, ab- the present date this distinction has been looked stract principles for the function of food upon as perfectly established, and as such is quoted in all our physiological text-books, even of had to be followed by empirical studies of the most recent date. Many of our readers will the dietary regimes and physical demands therefore, we doubt not, be somewhat astonished of various segments of the population when we say that such a grouping can no longer be (Vernon 2007:84). A crucial issue was upheld – in short, that our ideas as to the various whether cereals could feed the workforce purposes fulfilled by different articles of diet must and enable muscle power. undergo a complete revolution (ibid.:449). Since Western nations needed working As is clear from the excerpt, Liebig div- hands and working bodies in both fields ided food into two great categories; ni- and factories, the energy question relating trogenous and non-nitrogenous food. Al- to nutrition received the most attention. though he recognized the importance of a The unknown writer of “The Philosophy balanced diet between the two, he placed of Food” refers to the steam engine as a the nitrogenous food (above all meat) at “simile” for the human body, and as the the head of the list, as the most nutritious steam engine is made of “iron and brass, and valuable foodstuff; “the only sub- the body is likewise composite; but with- stance capable of giving rise to force” out the motive power in the shape of fuel, (ibid.:450). Meat even had political and it is motionless. Likewise with the body cultural significance, regarded as the ideal and food” (Medical Times and Gazette strength-building nutrient. In the historian 1866:450). Mark Finlay’s words, “meat-eaters domi- As the quotation states, food was con- nate world politics, meat is essential not sidered as fuel for the machine (or work- only to human health and muscle force, ing bodies). Food generated power and but even as a matter of public policy, es- energy (heath and muscle strength) for the sential for all human progress” (1993:49). individual body and for building society at This was of course problematic and had a large. The unknown author refers to Frick national economic impact in countries and Wislicenius and their research at the such as Norway, where cereals were the University of Zürich. The physiologist staple food. Adolf Frick (1829–1902) and the chemist The new knowledge of nutrition rapidly Johannes Wislicenius (1835–1902) based established itself as a science, but it was their research on the British physician Ed- knowledge in the making. The nomencla- ward Smith (1819–1877). According to ture was in flux, vitamins were not yet the British biochemist and nutritionist Sir known and the function of food was not Jack Drummond’s (1891–1952) compre- clear. In the 1860s Liebig’s theories were hensive work The Englishman’s Food: Inger Johanne Lyngø, Eilert Sundt on Food and Nutrition 31

Five Centuries of English Diet, published that they are not aware of the quotation in 1939, “Smith was deeply interested in marks, that Sundt in fact is quoting a sci- the practical aspect of dietetics, particular- entific text regarding the latest knowledge ly in the amount of food that was needed on the science of nutrition. by different types of individuals” (Drum- Neither Sundt nor the unknown writer mond 1994:353). In 1863, he conducted drew a polarized picture of science and empirical studies of the diets of convicts. everyday experience. Science is good they Unfortunately, his “observations attracted claimed, but must be connected to the little attention at a time when few would practices of everyday life. Science and ex- listen to anyone other than Liebig” (ibid.). perience were different kinds of knowl- It was not until 1889 that a convincing edge, but equally important. It seems that experiment conducted by the two Zürich Sundt’s objective was to establish every- scientists demonstrated that Smith had day practices as a science not in opposi- been right and Liebig wrong. Their work tion to the upcoming field of the natural led to the modern view, which is that “the science of nutrition but as two ways of muscle is a machine” (ibid.). As Faye’s knowing. text documents, this was a topic of discus- In their narrative Riddervold and Ro- sion at the Scientific Association of Chris- peid do something much more problemat- tiania in 1866 due to the furore initiated by ic; they preserve, to use a concept from Sundt. food practices, the ideological boundary between a pre-modern and the modern Sundt and the New Knowledge of world, where the pre-modern, in their Nutrition view, is more real, truthful and genuine. In a newspaper article in 1866 Sundt men- According to Daston, this is a “vexing tions the scientific journal Medical Times boundary” (2017:142) in this case in fa- and Gazette, summarizes its contents and vour of the indefinable pre-modern past. quotes the conclusion: The turn to the history of knowledge rep- Finally, we must again affirm that science is good, resents an effort to dismantle such bound- none can appreciate it more than we do, but when aries. I will argue that Sundt was neither science contradicts the accumulated experience of an antagonist nor an anti-scientist, but ages, then, we say, cedant arma togæ [let military rather gave a double vision to science. In power give way to civil power] – experience is for times when medical authorities still put us, let science go its own way (The Medical Times their trust in miasma theory, it is surpris- and Gazette 1866:45). ing that Sundt seems to be well informed Riddervold and Ropeid assert this as of some living agents, a “peculiarly and Sundt scepticism towards science. In their terrible dangerous chemical process”, that view, Sundt even clearly expressed disbe- can occur in cheese and fungi (Sundt lief in the conclusion of a young science 1975[1869]:375). This is in many ways an when he claimed that when science is at announcement of bacteriology in its early variance with the accumulated experience stage. Sundt’s statistical thinking was also of generations, “then experience is better influenced by natural science (Lie 2001: than science” (1984:59). The problem is 14). He aimed to find laws that governed 32 Inger Johanne Lyngø, Eilert Sundt on Food and Nutrition

the living conditions of the poor, and thus, the master’s table (folkehusholdning) was on a scientific basis he sought to under- an institution in rural Norway, especially stand the problem of poverty and how it in eastern part of the country with the could be solved (Fulsås 2003:14). Even crofter institution (husmannsvesenet) as his historical writing was influenced by the social profile of the community.11 natural science, and Darwin’s theory of The Norwegian crofter institution can evolution is prominent in his book on be classified in two main categories: land- building practices in rural areas published labouring crofters and crofters leasing a in 1862 (Bäckström 2012). small piece of farmland from a farmer. A young lady in service at the vicarage The former were most numerous in the in the winter of 1874 wrote in her diary more prosperous arable farming districts that the priest took a great interest in nat- in the eastern part of the country, the latter ural science. He taught her about the new- in the fishery communities along the west est knowledge on the physiology of food, coast. In fact, these crofters were crafts- explained “that a man doing heavy physi- men, fishermen or freighters at sea, while cal labour can live on porridge and po- land-labouring crofters lived in small tatoes, whilst a sedentary person must tenant cottages on the outskirts of their have more delicious victuals or food” owner’s land, with the potential to feed a (cited in Stenseth 2000:20). This is in line cow and a couple of sheep and to till a tiny with the modified theory of nutrition in plot. Land-labouring crofters had to pro- the 1860s, but already in 1855, on his visit vide labour service to their master’s farm to the rural community north of Oslo, he during specific periods of the year. Many was aware of the new knowledge and the had to show up at the farm whenever the connections between food and working owner called for assistance. To various bodies. degrees, these crofters were dependent on their masters’ goodwill. Food Stories from Rural Norway, 1855 The family in the humble cottage was a In most of the places Sundt visited in the crofter family in this sense, but as Sundt spring of 1855, he encountered a lot of noticed, poorer than was usual in the dis- dissatisfaction with regard to food. He trict, “under a master who was of good- noticed that workers did not eat at their will, but had little ability to help his work- masters’ table, he observed that farm own- ing people advance” (Sundt 1993 [1857]: ers and their sons withdrew from partici- 160). On an evening walk with the man af- pating in heavy physical work, and he was ter he had returned from his master’s convinced that when owners did not par- fields (remember that this was in the ticipate in work, they could not know what spring in a very labour-intensive period of kind of food or how much “a day’s work the year), Sundt started asking about his demands of a good fellow” (ibid.:168‒ rights and duties as a crofter. It seems that 170). Sundt, who had experienced their monot- In arable areas such as the district north onous diet, was eager to find out whether of Oslo, farm owners were responsible for the crofter’s master allowed him to take providing food to their workers. Eating at home portions of meat so that, as Sundt Inger Johanne Lyngø, Eilert Sundt on Food and Nutrition 33

addresses his readers, “his wife and chil- century. At the time Sundt visited the dren would know what meat tasted like” community north of Oslo, however, he ob- (Sundt 1993 [1857]:162). The only food served how the custom was being chal- he could take home, he answered, was a lenged. “tiny bit of the evening bread called kake”. This is not really a cake, Sundt informs his The Lost Atmosphere of Hygge readers, but only a very plain oven-baked One of the many characteristics of rye bread, but then at least he said, almost mid-nineteenth-century Norwegian farm- to cheer up himself or perhaps his readers, ing was the very long working day due to his wife and children “got a taste of rye” labour-intensive implements such as the (ibid.). wooden plough and the wooden fail. An In arable districts food was classified old crofter told Sundt that in his youth he according to two main categories based on had to be at his owner’s fields as early as locally produced ingredients. Milk and two o’clock in the morning. A middle- meat were called suvl, cereals named gron aged farmer remembered that in his youth (Sundt 1993 [1987]:164). The combina- work started at three o’clock in winter tion between the two depended on natural with threshing by flail in the hayloft. In or- resources, climate conditions, agricultural der to get the work done, they all had to practices, knowledge and technology, but cooperate. He recalled that fathers, sons, most importantly, social differences and crofters and day labourers worked to- hierarchies. The portion of suvl mirrored gether. Before work started, they rested in the social order of the society and was dif- the hay and in order to keep themselves ferentiated according to status and posi- warm in the dark winter cold, they banged tion of the household, with owners’ and their feet against the wall while porridge their sons at the top. While crofters and was served (Sundt 1993[1857]:167). The servant people could serve themselves man remembered this as a shared moment freely with gron, the suvl was carefully of brotherhood. Sundt called it a situation apportioned by the mistress of the house. of “hygge” (ibid.:164).13 This situation of Suvl was even considered crofters’ and “hygge” changed with the introduction of servants’ personal belongings, and if they the threshing machine. Crofters and hired wanted they could take portions home. hands still had to start work early, but now An article on the meal system in rural they had to take care of the horses before areas at the eastern part of the country by threshing started. Owners were still re- the Norwegian ethnologist Ragnar Peder- sponsible for providing their workers with sen describes this as a “skifte ut system” food, but on many farms the meal was no (Pedersen 1997). Sundt called it “den ud- longer communal. skiftede mad” and “skiftede portioner” Sundt observed that food practices had (Sundt 1976 [1857]:156).12 Taking home improved during the last generation, par- portions of meat was an economic transac- ticularly as regards working hours and tion in rural Norway as a part of a food breaks. He also noticed that the qual- pre-modern economy, but according to ity of food was better, but summarizes: Pedersen, it lasted well into the twentieth “When I put these and several small mat- 34 Inger Johanne Lyngø, Eilert Sundt on Food and Nutrition

ters together I arrive at the following con- raises Sundt as never before in his full re- clusion” (Sundt 1993[1857]:169). The markable distinctiveness” (Lunde 1917: conclusion he draws is that the improve- 101). In his own words, the book was his ment among workers was nowhere near as “most elaborate body of work based on all good as among the owners. New working his previous studies” (Sundt 1975 [1869]: conditions due to new technology had al- 14). It was planned as a work on un-clean- tered the social profile of the rural com- liness, turned out to be a study on cleanli- munity. The shared moments of “hygge” ness. This reflects a turning point for had not been replaced. On the contrary, Sundt personally and intellectually. The Sundt noticed a gap (“kløft”) between the book includes a rich body of descriptions classes, reflected in a “dual dining table” of cleanliness in cottages and cowsheds all and “dual food system” (ibid.). over the country. Sundt describes in detail Sundt experienced how new technolo- the use of handkerchiefs, floor rugs and gy altered the social profile of the commu- soap, to mention only few of his topics.14 nity with new eating habits and working He follows connections between practices hours. Since fathers and their sons in- and artefacts, connects everyday activities creasingly withdrew from heavy physical and trivialities to myth, magic and folk be- work, his advice was that they could not lief. The statistician Sundt is more or less rely on science alone. “The running of a absent in the text; rather his readers meet farm requires not only understanding the him as a folklife and folklore researcher. application of chemistry to fields and the He observed that the standard of clean- like, but also having the gift of dealing liness as regards food and eating habits with the working people and gaining their changed when locally produced house- trust and loyalty” (ibid.:163). hold utensils made of wood and used for storing, cooking and eating were replaced The Poet and the Researcher, 1864‒69 by utensils made of tin, zinc, stone and On Cleanliness was published only three factory-made glassware (Sundt 1975: weeks after Sundt stopped receiving fund- 374). Moving from wood to zinc repre- ing from the government. In the preface, sented an industrial changeover. To value he shared his disappointment with not be- cleanliness in homes and cottages he in- ing able to fulfil his research. However, he sists on differentiating between “practical expressed his gratitude for the funding and good care” and “properhed” (from the dedicated, perhaps as a provocation, the French propreté, meaning cleanliness, book to the Norwegian Parliament (Stor- neatness, tidiness, fairness). From a con- ting ). The subtitle, An Account of Industry temporary perspective, the latter obvious- and Progress in the Countryside (Til ly belongs to a bourgeois culture with its Oplysning om Flid og Fremskridt i Lan- sharp distinction between back and front det ) indicates, as Stueland points out, that stage, with cooking as a hidden practice in it now was time for doctors and learned the kitchen behind the scene. Sundt rec- men to be enlightened (2019:86). ommended attaching value to the peasant The book contains “the sum of all his women’s cooking practices according to experiences from his folk-life studies, and the materiality of their conditions, as Inger Johanne Lyngø, Eilert Sundt on Food and Nutrition 35

many (even the majority) did not have a To understand the rationality of people’s separate kitchen hidden from the rest of ways of living it is important, according the dwelling. The room with the open fire to Sundt, to be aware of this distinction or brick oven was simply the place in and turn one’s attention to practices. He which they lived, cooked, ate and slept. claimed that these practices had to be in-

Drawings from his book on building practices in rural area showing the open fire kitchen with the porridge pot hanging from the ceiling and kitchen utensils made of wood on the wall. The illustration was printed in the magazine Folkebladet in 1862 and was together with other drawings from peasant cottages, reprinted when his book on building practices was re-issued in 1900. Photo: National Library of Norway. 36 Inger Johanne Lyngø, Eilert Sundt on Food and Nutrition

vestigated in two ways; “carefully de- occurred in cheese, due to an as yet “un- scribed” (beskrive med nøiagtighed) and known origin” (Sundt 1975 [1869]:375). “studied with completeness” (studert med He does not mention living organisms or fuldstændighed). While the first refers to microbes. This knowledge emerged a dec- his ethnographic methodology, the latter ade later when bacteriology rapidly estab- is a reference to his statistical analyses, lished itself as a new disease theory each unthinkable without the other. When (Drummond 1994 [1939]:321; Gradmann it comes to food, due to the lack of fund- 2009:6; Nielsen 2008:334). However, al- ing, he was only able to provide “some ex- ready in the 1860s, scientists, among them amples” as “signs” of his purposes (ibid.: Louis Pasteur (1822–1895), had studied 363). fermentation in yeast and fungi, and His examples are nevertheless door- proved that this had the terrible potential ways to food practices and everyday life danger of poisoning food and water. It in mid-nineteenth-century rural society. seems that Sundt was well informed in the Among his examples there are descrip- state-of-the-art knowledge. “At this very tions of how hands and fingers were used moment”, he declared in a footnote, many for gutting, cleaning and eating. He ex- scientists are concerned about “these plained how the regular bread (the flat- things” and every year new discoveries bread) functioned as a plate and made the are being made. He was convinced that use of a fork unnecessary. In the spring, these discoveries would have a great im- when the stock of flatbread often was pact on domestic housekeeping in the fu- empty, due to a storage economy (forråds- ture (Sundt 1975 [1869]:375). husholdning) and food shortage in spring Sundt’s methodological reflections can (vårknipa), only then was a wooden plate be seen as a critique of Asbjørnsen and his used. Throughout the chapter Sundt in- supporters regarding the peasant women’s vites his readers to follow him in his meth- irrational cooking practices. In his article odological considerations. He argues that in Morgenbladet, published while he was cleanliness in food and table manners in the heart of the battle, he formulates his must not be assessed in terms of its critique as follows. strangeness or judged by the final product, There is a difference. The poet sees it as a mirage, insisting on the importance of following amazingly delightful, so light, so light, shifting ac- food practices “through all stages of the cording to each day’s wishes. The view, in con- process”, from field to fork, farm to plate. trast, which is the researcher’s sense, is firmly at- He identifies different steps in the food tached to its foundation (Sundt [1865] 1975: 15 value chain and provides guidelines on 381). how to evaluate each of these steps. Stueland interpreted this utterance as a cri- In husbandry it is important to value tique of one of “The Four Greats” among how animals are taken care of in cowsheds Norwegian writers, Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson and slaughterhouses. When it comes to (1832–1910). Between 1857 and 1868 preservation and food storage, Sundt re- Bjørnson published several peasant tales fers to “a peculiarly chemical process” he (bondefortellinger). As we know, Sundt had heard of, acting just like “poison” that had to face criticism from many angles Inger Johanne Lyngø, Eilert Sundt on Food and Nutrition 37

and for many reasons, even for his writing “And then there is the food!” I continued, “Can style: “He hears he writes so vividly that it you explain to me equally well how you get is poetry” (Stueland 2019:99). According enough for all the mouths you have to feed?” to Stueland, Sundt did not accept being But here the woman burst into tears (Sundt 1993 [1857]:161). called a poet; he was not writing peasant tales. His stories were about real life, Sundt, known as a master at making about the actual facts (de faktiske kjenns- people speak, had to steel himself. He re- gjerninger). peated his question and she continued to Although Sundt made a sharp distinc- talk. When her husband (“the reliable hard tion between the poet and the researcher, worker”) goes to work in their master’s he delivered his critique in a poetic lan- field at four o’clock in the morning, she guage. Stueland himself a poet, called his gets up too. Hopefully, she adds, the chil- book on Sundt “en sakpoesi” (a non-fic- dren will not wake, “since they want much tion poetry). The Swedish-American lin- more food when they are up so early” guist Martin Allwood, also a poet, points (Sundt 1993 [1857]:162). With these few out that neither researchers nor poets have commonplace words Sundt manages to described the crude reality of nineteenth- convey the true face of poverty that only century real life as Sundt did. His captivat- food shortage can express. It is a heart- ing stories are heart-rending and thought- rending story he tells. He admits that it provoking, his engaging writing style is so was strange for him to be in this house, “vivid and forceful […] that abbreviated “here, precisely here I had to tell myself: I resumes can at best be but a poor substi- understand only little of the secret of pov- tute for the original” (Allwood 1957:10). erty” (ibid.:160). It is easy to be touched by Sundt’s prose. Sundt confessed: On Morality was dif- According to Stueland, even when Sundt ficult to complete. According to Lunde, it is explaining his statistical thinking, gives “horrible stories” and “horrible fig- known as Sundt’s Law, it is poetry. ures and facts”, and is incomparably the darkest picture ever painted by Sundt A Heart-Breaking Story (1917:57). He started his research in 1851, As mentioned in the introduction, Sundt but it was not until 1857 that the first edi- had great sympathy for the family he tion was published. In the meantime, he visited in the spring of 1855 and wanted to “drowned his sorrows in numbers and cal- learn more about their daily routines. Af- culations”, and published books on mor- ter he had eaten the food and a trust be- tality and on marriage, both known for tween Sundt and the woman had been their statistics. gained, he started asking: On Morality is also known for its statis- “Now listen, good woman,” thus I started the con- tics. In addition, it contains a rich body of versation […] descriptions from his fieldwork in the “First, how can you, with only this, clothe your community north of Oslo he visited in the husband and children?” “Oh, that would be strange to explain,” she spring of 1855. In addition to food, he answered and laughed, but it was exactly that writes about clothing and festive customs, strange explanation I wanted to hear and received. above all dancing (rumour has it that 38 Inger Johanne Lyngø, Eilert Sundt on Food and Nutrition

Sundt loved to dance). He apologizes for overriding question has been to show how giving space to these topics in an other- his descriptions and reflections on food wise sad book, but admits it was refresh- are connected to ways of knowing. ing to his “spirit to look away from the I have argued that Sundt was not in op- dark side of people’s lives and for a mo- position to the emerging mid-nineteenth- ment to fix attention on other pictures” century field of a new science, rather the (Sundt 1993 [1857]:170). The pictures he contrary. He was well informed, and had draws and the stories he tells are not at all even read a leading scientific journal on refreshing, rather the contrary: they are the latest news from a young science. In heart-breaking stories of true facts. some way he also anticipated the disease The culture historian Anne Eriksen has theory of bacteriology. In this article I investigated how Sundt in this book “pro- have given an alternative understanding of duces pathos, conveys morality” in order the controversy, asserting that the feud to persuade the readers to valuate his in- was not about science versus tradition as terpretations (2018:25). His stories (or the master narrative goes, but about meth- “examples” as they are termed in her ana- odology. Sundt saw how small things mat- lytical tool) are not introductory anecdotes ter, valuing all kinds of knowledge equal- to statistics but rather function as forms of ly. knowledge, equal to hard statistical facts. He follows connections both open and His qualitative studies gave him an oppor- hidden, between food, nature and people. tunity to observe the conditions of domes- He tells heart-rending stories about food tic life from many angles, and he admits shortage, hunger and poverty, he con- even before he wrote his book On Clean- fronts authorities, gives lessons on how liness : “Particularly” here he said to him- to evaluate everyday practices, urges self, “precisely” here (the community masters and mistresses to take care of north of Oslo) he noticed a discontent, their workers, and tell workers that they even irritation, regarding food from both must not tolerate anything and every- workers and owners. He acknowledged thing from their owners. He describes the that he seemed to “realize how food is sig- lost atmosphere of hygge, and offers nificant for more than the body itself” glimpses of the joy of, for example, being (ibid.:380). served hot porridge on a cold winter’s day. It is quite clear that Sundt was aware Ways of Knowing of what food means and does; politically, To conclude, what kinds of food stories socially, culturally and emotionally. His did Sundt tell and how are his stories con- bodily and sensory presence in his texts nected to the formation of knowledge in makes his stories much more captivating his time and from the many places he trav- and heart- rending. Sundt, like few of his elled while he was receiving funding? contemporaries, gives insight into the These have been the key issues to ex- many realities of the nineteenth-century plore in this article. By investigating his rural Norway. writings on food during, before and after Unfortunately, Sundt was not given the the great Norwegian porridge feud, the opportunity to fulfil his research project Inger Johanne Lyngø, Eilert Sundt on Food and Nutrition 39

with a book on food, planned as the third tinction of taste. In his studies, Sundt even book in a trilogy on domestic life (cottage saw how the materiality of food interacts industry, cleanliness and food). Even as actor and agent. The Norwegian soci- though a separate book on food never ma- ologist Willy Pedersen goes even further. terialized, the chapters on food in On In addition to Sundt being on par with his Cleanliness provide examples of what his contemporaries and with what today are book on food might have been like. Here considered classics in the social sciences he tells stories of small things – the plate, and humanities (Adam Smith, Karl Marx, the knife and the tablecloth – treating to name a few), he even anticipated think- them as significant. ers such as Michel Foucault and Norbert If he had been able to complete a book Elias, no less (Pedersen 2019). Among re- on food, he would probably have pursued searchers who worked with Sundt it is the connections from the small to the big generally agreed that had he published in things, from the origin of food to where it English or one of the other languages he is eaten, prepared, shared and talked mastered, adept as he was, he himself about, and thus he would probably have would have been counted among the clas- explored the path of the food from tables sics, not just in Norway, but also inter- to the cowsheds, soil and fjords. He would nationally (Seip 1996; Lie 2001; Lien 2019). probably have insisted that all the connec- In her book Staying with the Trouble tions, hidden and open, in this chain are Donna Haraway insists on the importance equally important. of being “truly present” in the time and He referred to “the circle to which he places in which we are living (2016:1). belongs”, those who did not need to strug- This article has also been an attempt to gle for bread and butter, even if this was show how Sundt was present in his time precisely what he had been forced to do as and in the places he visited. As today, he a provider for a wife and five children, was also living in transformative times. while having no regular income. He ad- As a scientist and researcher he was not mitted that when it comes to food, he only an eyewitness to this, he experienced found it difficult to sympathize with the people’s living conditions in changing poor. But it is precisely the door to the times with his body and mind; he lived household of the poor he opened. with the people he studied, ate at their The nineteenth-century theologian table, slept in their houses, questioned Sundt is acknowledged, as has been them about everything. No details were pointed out, as the founding father of Nor- too small to matter to him. This makes his wegian sociology and as a great inspira- research an endless ethnological treasure tion to Norwegian ethnologists. He antici- trove. pated sociologists such as Georg Simmel (1885–1914) on the socializing power of Inger Johanne Lyngø food, Erving Goffman (1922‒1982) on the Dr. art. Svoldergt. 3 D division between front and back stage, and N-271 Oslo Pierre Bourdieu (1930‒2002) on the dis- email: [email protected] 40 Inger Johanne Lyngø, Eilert Sundt on Food and Nutrition

Notes in his book Eilert Sundt-tilstanden (2019: 1 Om Sædeligheds-Tilstanden i Norge (On Il- 83‒178). legitimacy in Norway: A Study on Moral 8 These are: a passage on food in chapter 8, Standards and Moral Behaviour) was trans- “Family Life and Morality in Upper and lated and edited for an English-speaking pub- Lower Romerike” in On Morality, and chap- lic in 1993 by the Norwegian-American Odin ter 9 “Renligheden ved madstel” (On cleanli- W. Andersen, entitled Sexual Customs in ness during the preparation of food) in On Rural Norway: A Nineteenth-Century Study. Cleanliness (Renligheds-stellet i Norge: Til With few exceptions I use his translation. opplysning om Flid og Fremskridt i Landet). However, I use the title On Morality which is Christoffersen includes his articles “I anled- the most frequently used English title. ning af den paatænkte husholdningsskole i Romsdalen” (On the occasion of the intended 2 After Simmel’s “tremendous socializing school on domestic science in Romsdalen) power”, from the essay “Soziologi der Mahl- published in the newspaper Morgenbladet on zeit”, published in the newspaper Berliner 30 June and 2 July 1866 as chapter 10 in On Tageblatt, 19 October 1910, translated into Cleanliness (Sundt 1975:395‒411). Accord- English in 1984 by Michael Symons. ing to Christoffersen, these articles were 3 According to Nylende and Stoltenberg meant to be chapters in his book (ibid.:vii). (2019), the name Sundt’s Law was coined by Unfortunately, this book, considered by the Swedish statistician Axel Gustav Sund- many to be his main work, has not been trans- bärg in 1894. lated into English, I am responsible for the 4 Although Sundt counts as the founding father English translation with the help of John An- of Norwegian sociology and was honoured thony and Erica Jewell. when the new building for the new Faculty of 9 “Men ser man til, hvorledes Grøden i almin- Social Sciences (established 1963) was com- delighed lages, saa gaar det på flere Kanter af pleted at the university campus at Blindern Landet saaledes til, at en hel Del af Melet rø- (University of Oslo) in 1967. Every year res i Gryden, uden at den er blivet riktig gjen- prominent scholars in social sciences from all nomkogt og kommer til at svelle: Maden bli- over the world give an Eilert Sundt Lecture at ver saaledes ikke alene raa og usmagelig, men Eilert Sundt’s House, but with few exceptions den største Del af melet gaar ufordøyet og the reception of Sundt has not been over- unyttet ud gennem Menneskets fordøyings whelming among Norwegian social scientists. veie” (Asbjørnsen 1864:30). This became very clear on many occasions Live Vedeler Nilsen at the National Library during the bicentennial seminars in 2018. of Norway has calculated that it would corre- Among Norwegian ethnologists (and culture spond to approximately NOK 32 million in historians) it is different. The breadth of our today’s currency (Nilsen 2019). interests was revealed at the Eilert Sundt read- 10 Sundt repeated the words in On Cleanliness: ing seminar in 2018. “Jeg sagde imod og skrev et stykke i Folke- https://www.academia.edu/40482096/Eilert_ vennen, hvor jeg, som jeg udtrykte mig, Sundt_200_år_jubileumsseminarserie_Eilert_ ønskede at standse slige ord i farten” (Sundt Sundt_200_years_anniversary_seminar_ 1975[1869]:363). series_. (9 May 2020). Thanks to Kristina 11 Andersen (1993) translates husmann as “cot- Skåden and Bjørn-Sverre Hol Haugen for ter”, which is not the correct understanding of their initiative in returning to the original. the Norwegian institution. The formal English 5 From 1974‒78 Gyldendal Norsk Forlag pub- word is crofter, which will be used in this arti- lished Eilert Sundt: Verker i utvalg (Selected cle. Works) in eleven volumes, edited and facili- 12 Andersen did not notice this as part of a pre- tated by the intellectual historian Halfdan modern economy, and has no English word Olaus Christofferensen. for the institution. 6 https://www.nb.no/hanske/navne funn2.php 13 “den tapte hygge som lå deri, at husbondsfol- (3 November 2018). ket i fordumstid gikk til samme bord, og ellers 7 This is one of Stueland’s themes in the chap- levede mere på samme fod med dem” (Sundt ter “Eilert Sundt og den medisinske geografi” 1976[1857]:162). Inger Johanne Lyngø, Eilert Sundt on Food and Nutrition 41

14 For further readings see Melgaard 2000; Gjerdåker, Brynjulv 2004: Continuity and Mo- Grimstad Klepp 2006. dernity. In Norwegian Agricultural History, ed. 15 “Det er forskjel. Dikteren ser som et luftsyn, Reidar Almås, pp. 236‒285. Trondheim: Tapir vidunderlig deiligt, så let, så let, skiftende Academic Press. gjerne for hver dags ønske. Det syn derimod, Gradmann, Christoph 2009: Laboratory Disease. som står for forskerens sands, er grundmuret Robert Koch’s Medical Bacteriology. Balti- og tømret” (Sundt 1975[1869]:381). more: The Johns Hopkins University Press. Haraway, Donna 2016: Staying with the Trouble. References Making Kin in Chthulucene. London: Duke Allwood, Martin 1957: Eilert Sundt. A Pioneer in University Press. Sociology and Social Anthropology. Oslo: Hylland, Ole Marius 2002: Vennskap og ambiva- Nordli. lens. Folkeopplysnings folk og elite. Tidsskrift Asbjørnsen, Peter Christen 1993 (1864): Fornuf- for kulturforskning 1(1), pp. 23‒40. tigt Madstel. En tidsmæssig Koge- og Hushold- Jönsson, Håkan 2019: Tales from Kitchen Draw- ningsbog. Oslo: Bjørn Ringstrøms antikvariat. ers. The Microphysics of Modernity in Swedish Atwood, Gaines 1982: On Marriage in Norway. Kitchens. Ethnologia Scandinavica 49, pp. 5‒ Eilert Sundt. American Ethnologist 9(9). 21. Bäckström, Mattias 2012: Hjärtats härdar. Folk- Klepp, Ingun Grimstad 2006: Skittentøyets kul- liv, folkmuseer och minnesmärken i Skandina- turhistorie – hvorfor kvinner vasker klær. Oslo: vien, 1808–1907. Möklinta: Gidlunds Förlag. Novus Forlag. Brodersen, Arvid 1993: Eilert Sundt. In Sexual Lie, Einar 2001: Statistical Thinking in Norway in Customs in Rural Norway. A Nineteenth-Centu- the Nineteenth Century. Scandinavian Econom- ry Study, by Eilert Sundt, pp. 273–280. Ames: ic History Review 49(1), pp. 5‒22. Iowa State University Press. Lien, Marianne Elisabeth 2018: Hva kan vi lære Christophersen, Halfdan Olaus 1979 (1962): av Eilert Sundt? Tidsskrift for samfunnsforsk- Eilert Sundt. En Dikter i kjennsgjerning. Oslo: ning 59(1), pp. 80‒88. Gyldendal. Lunde, Hjørdis 1917: Eilert Sundt som folkelærer. Daston, Lorraine 2017: The History of Science Kristiania: Småskrifter fra Det litteraturhisto- and the History of Knowledge. Know: A Jour- riske seminar 16. nal of the Formation of Knowledge 1, pp. Medical Time and Gazette 1866: The Philosophy 131‒154. of Food. 27 October, pp. 449‒451. Drummond, Jack & Anne Wilbraham 1994 https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id= (1939): The Englishman’s Food. Five Centuries mdp.39015020216332;view=1up;seq=457; of English Diet. London: Pimlico. size=125 (16 October 2018). Eriksen, Anne 2018: Eksemplarisk usedelighet. Melgaard, Anne 2000: – til siste trevel. En rede- Eilert Sundts bruk av eksempler i Om sædelig- gjørelse for broken av filleryer i Agder på heds-tilstanden (1857). Tidsskrift for kultur- 1800-tallet med utgangspunkt i Eilert Sundts forskning 17(1), pp. 25‒38. Om Renligheds-Stellet i Norge og Anna Faye, Frans 1867: Undersøgelser angaande Brug og Nytte af vore stivelsesholdige Næring. For- Grostøls Samlinger. Hovedoppgave i etnologi. handlinger i Videnskabs-Selskabet i Christia- Universitetet i Oslo. nia, pp. 51‒90. Christiania. Nielsen, May-Brith Ohman 2008: Mennesker, https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/ makt og mikrober. Epidemibekjempelse og hy- 148853#page/3/mode/1up (16 October 2018). giene på Sørlandet 1830–1880. Oslo: Fagbok- Finlay, Mark 1993: Early Marketing of the Theory forlaget. of Nutrition. The Science and Culture of Nilsen, Live Vedeler 2019: Historier fra Liebig’s Extract of Meat. In The Science and samlingen. Den store grautstriden. National Culture of Nutrition 1840‒1940, ed. Harmke Library of Norway. https://www.nb.no/artikler/ Kamminga & Andrew Cunningham, pp. 48‒74. den-store-grautstriden/ 20 November 2019. Amsterdam: Edition Ropodi. Notaker, Henry 1993: Asbjørnsen og maten. In Fulsås, Narve 2003: Havet, døden og vêret. Kul- Fornuftigt Madstel. En tidsmæssig Koge- og turell modernisering i Kyst-Noreg 1850‒1950. Husholdningsbog by Peter Christen Asbjørn- Oslo: Samlaget. sen. Oslo: Bjørn Ringstrøms antikvariat. 42 Inger Johanne Lyngø, Eilert Sundt on Food and Nutrition

Notaker, Henry 2001: Fra kalvedans til bankebiff. Seip, Anne Lise 1996: Eilert Sundt. A Founding Norske kokbøker til 1951. Historie og biblio- Father of the Social Sciences in Norway. Scan- grafi. Norwegian Cookbooks until 1951. His- dinavian Journal of History 11(3), 229‒242. tory and Bibliography. Oslo: Nasjonalbibliote- Simmel, Georg 1984 (1910): The Sociology of the kets bibliografier. Meal. Food and Foodways 5(4), pp. 333‒351. Nylende, Magne & Camilla Stoltenberg 2019: Ei- Stenseth, Bodil 2000: Eilert Sundt og det Norge lert Sundt – vår første epidemiolog. Tidsskrift. han fant. Oslo: Gyldendal Norsk Forlag. Den Norske legeforening 123(23–24), pp. Stueland, Espen 2019: Eilert Sundt-tilstanden. 1918‒1923. Sakpoesi. Oslo: Forlaget Oktober. Pedersen, Ragnar 1997: Måltidsordning på Hed- Sundbärg, Axel Gustav 1894: Eilert Sundt. Före- marksgardene 1850‒1910. Dugnad 23(1), pp. drag. Stockholm. 27‒56. Sundt, Eilert 1864: Kvindens stilling, stykke IV, Pedersen, Willy 2018: Eilert Sundt. Hard refser, Folkevennen, pp. 637‒639. øm forsoner. Tidsskrift for samfunnsforskning Sundt, Eilert 1865: Om det kvinnelige stel. Folke- 59(1), pp. 73‒79. vennen, pp. 81‒88. Raa, Jan 2013: Kunnskap om tradisjonelt kost- Sundt, Eilert 1963 (1855): Om giftemålet i Norge. hold. Korrektiv til naturvitenskapelig er- Oslo: Universitetsforlaget. næringsforskning. Tidsskrift for kulturforsk- Sundt, Eilert 1975 (1869): Renligheds-stellet i ning 12(3–4), pp. 7‒26. Norge. Til opplysning om Flid og Fremskridt i Riddervold, Astri & Andreas Ropeid 1984: Popu- Landet. Oslo: Gyldendal Norsk forlag. lar Diet in Norway and Natural Science during Sundt, Eilert 1976 (1857): Om Sædeligheds-Til- the 19th Century: The Porridge Feud 1864‒66. standen i Norge. Oslo: Gyldendal Norsk forlag. Ethnologia Scandinavica, pp. 48‒65. Sundt, Eilert 1993 (1857): Sexual Customs in Ru- Ropeid, Andreas 1972: Fornuftigt madstel. By og ral Norway. A Nineteenth-Century Study. bygd. Norsk Folkemuseums årbok 1971–72, pp. Ames: Iowa State University Press. 77‒112. Vernon, James 2007: Hunger. A Modern History. Seip, Anne Lise 1983: Eilert Sundt. Fire studier. Cambridge: The Belknap Press of Harvard Uni- Oslo: Universitetsforlaget. versity. Seip, Anne Lise, 1994: Sosialhjelpstaten blir til. Vikingen 1865: Eilert Sundt – Grødlavning og his- Norsk sosialpolitikk 1740–1920. Oslo: Gylden- torieskrivning, pp. 36. dal Norsk Forlag. “We Could Smell That He’s Stasi…” Power and Justification Strategies of the Stasi in Music Life in the GDR and in Swedish-German Music Contacts By Petra Garberding

Justification of the political-operational necessity accepted and challenged and what conse- of recruiting quences it could have for those affected. The political-operational necessity of the [candi- Central concepts of this article are date’s] advertising lies in the concrete political- operational situation within the group of people power and “orders of justification” (Recht- responsible for the musical life of the GDR. […] fertigungsordnungen). This discourse It is of particular importance that the candidate has model was elaborated by the Frankfurt extensive connections in the area of operations, School of Critical Theory and has been which can be used for the acquisition of informa- developed further by the research associa- tion about the aims and intentions of the leading tion “Normative Orders” (Forst & Gün- personalities of musical life in Sweden, the Fed- ther 2010).2 eral Republic of Germany and Austria; this is im- portant for the MfS, because it opens opportuni- By linking the concepts of power and ties for compiling information from other ranges orders of justification, one seeks to make of the economic and social life of these states clear how power functions as a system of through the circle of acquaintances of the candi- legitimization of social rules, norms and date’s extensive contacts with leading representa- institutions (Forst & Günther 2010:2). 1 tives of the monopoly capital. […] This concept of power has in common This quotation is an example of the moti- with Michel Foucault’s concept of power vation for the choice of the musicologist that it is understood as a social phenom- Gerd Schönfelder (1936–2000) as an un- enon that can be both oppressive and pro- official employee (inoffizieller Mitarbei- ductive, as well as the idea of power as ter, IM) of the Stasi (Ministry for State something discursively constructed that Security of the GDR, MfS or Stasi). operates in cognitive space (Forst 2015: Schönfelder, who had an extensive net- 74). Forst and Günther, however, are of work in musicians’ circles in Sweden, the opinion that Foucault’s concept of West Germany and Austria, and who was power is nevertheless too much about pre- also a respected musicologist during the senting power as negatively connoted ‒ as GDR era, seemed to the Stasi staff to be a a power that tends to limit and constrain suitable person to “enlighten” the GDR subjects ‒ rather than illustrating the free- authorities about the conditions in musi- dom of subjects to reject or accept the jus- cal, social and economic life in these tifications for the exercise of power by states, to use Stasi terminology. I will re- others (Forst 2015:74; Forst & Günther turn to Schönfelder later in this article. 2010:3). Therefore their theoretical model The aim of this article is to give an in- strongly emphasizes power as “the ability sight into the influence of the Stasi on mu- to bind others by reasons (justifications)” sical life in the GDR and on musical rela- (Forst 2015:98). It is also about analysing tions between the GDR and Sweden. How the discursive space “in which claims of did the Stasi exercise power, how was this justification can be raised, contested, and power justified and what can the exercise defended, that is, a discursive space in of power tell us about ideas regarding mu- which the participants can carry out their sic and politics? On the basis of some con- struggles for normative orders as a dispute crete examples I want to show how the over justifying reasons” (Forst & Günther Stasi’s exercise of power was vindicated, 2010:3). Forst and Günther’s model is

Ethnologia Scandinavica, Vol. 50, 2020 44 Petra Garberding, “We Could Smell That He’s Stasi…”

well suited for this study to reveal strate- changeable order or “the space of justifi- gies for the justification of power and to cations is ideologically sealed” (Forst show how the Stasi succeeded ‒ or failed 2015:97). Here there is often illegitimate ‒ in combining music and politics in its coercion. own sense. 3. When specific forms of exercising It is also about analysing the discursive power are part of social or political rela- space “in which claims of justification can tions, which conforms to a special order in be raised, contested, and defended, that is, a society, Forst speaks of domination a discursive space in which the partici- (Herrschaft). Here, too, there is often il- pants can carry out their struggles for nor- legitimate coercion. mative orders as a dispute over justifying 4. Violence is another asymmetrical reasons” (Forst & Günther 2010:3). form of power where physical coercion Forst distinguishes four forms of exists. Here the person exercising power power: 1. “Noumenal power”: Power as is in principle powerless, strictly speak- “the capacity of person A to influence per- ing, since the ruled have not accepted the son B so that he or she thinks or acts in a justifications of power and the person way that goes back to A’s influence, exercising power is now resorting to phys- which must be intentional in nature, other- ical methods of coercion. According to wise one would speak only of effect and Forst, “Power is the ability to bound not of power” (Forst 2015:97). The point others by reasons; it is a core phenomenon here is to use justification narratives to of normativity” (Forst 2015:98). As we convince person B to accept the power of will see, all these forms of power existed A as legitimate. When person B accepts in the GDR. the justification strategies of A as mean- The material for this article comes from ingful, Forst speaks of “noumenal power”. Swedish and German archives, including It is important that noumenal power de- the archives of the Federal Commissioner scribes the power relations between equal for the Records of the State Security Ser- persons and is based on free will. Person B vice of the former German Democratic can reject the justification strategies of Republic (der Bundesbeauftragte für die person A without suffering disadvantages; Unterlagen des Staatssicherheitsdienstes this form of power is exercised between der ehemaligen Deutschen Demokra- “free actors” (Forst 2015:60). The aim tischen Republik, MfS or Stasi), and the here, however, is also to make “invisible archives of the Royal Academy of Music exercise of power” visible (Forst 2015: in Stockholm (Kungliga Musikaliska 59). Akademien, KMA). The author also con- 2. By coercion or subjugation (Beherr- ducted 13 interviews with contemporary schung) Forst means asymmetrical condi- witnesses. In this article, two of these in- tions that generate a justification space formants, who were themselves affected that is based on certain “not well-founded by the Stasi or who got to know IM of the legitimizations”: Person B does not accept Stasi, have their say. The contemporary the reasons of person A. Person A maybe witnesses quoted by name in this article speaks here of a “God-intentioned” or un- were able to read and comment on the Petra Garberding, “We Could Smell That He’s Stasi…” 45

quotations from the interviews before Stasi as “Shield and Sword of the publication. The article is part of the re- Party” search project “Between East and West: During the GDR era (1949–1989), the Ideology, Aesthetics and Politics in the Stasi described itself as the “shield and Music Relations between Sweden and the sword of the party” (Heidemeyer 2015: GDR 1949–1989”, which runs until 2020 10).3 and is carried out by the author together The task of the Stasi was to secure the with the historian Henrik Rosengren and SED’s monopoly of power in the state and the musicologist Ursula Geisler; it is fi- to expose and ward off attempts to influ- nanced by the Baltic Sea Foundation at the ence and penetrate presumed enemies in Södertörn University in Sweden. good time. In addition, the Stasi operated The article is a contribution to research so-called “counterintelligence”, placing on music as a cultural, social and political its own spies in strategically important phenomenon. It is about studying music places, who in turn reported to the Stasi. In and musical creation in the field of tension addition, telephones and apartments were between societal norms and values, as bugged and postal traffic within the GDR well as social and economic conditions. and between the GDR and abroad were The focus is usually not on music per se, controlled (Münkel 2015; Polzin 2015). but rather on the social conditions for mu- For Sweden, the GDR was an important trading sicians, music critics, composers, musi- partner and political and cultural contact. As Birgitta Almgren, professor cologists and others (see, among others, emerita of German Studies, points out, Dankić 2019; Fredriksson 2018; Arvids- GDR authorities regarded Sweden as an son 2014; Arvidsson 2008). alliance-free state, which was described as This article is also a contribution to a “focus country” (Schwerpunktsland) research on music and music politics in and interpreted as an important gateway to the GDR. There are already a number of Western Europe (Almgren 2011:41; 2009: studies on various musical actors and 15). The GDR regime’s plan was to create areas in the GDR, but so far little research a positive opinion of the GDR in Western on international contacts in music and on Europe through friendly links and trade the methods of power of the Stasi on agreements between the GDR and Swe- music life in the GDR (Garberding 2020; den. Almgren has shown how there were Garberding, Geisler & Rosengren 2019; different views of the GDR in Sweden: Bernhard 2018; Kelly 2019; 2014; Bret- there were those who judged the GDR schneider 2018; Rosengren 2018; Noeske positively and interpreted it as a model for & Tischer (eds.), 2010; Klingberg 2000). modern socialist politics, for instance in The existing studies are mainly written culture and education, but there were also from musicological perspectives; this art- those who were critical of the GDR and icle would like to examine the topic of the decried it for lacking freedom of speech Stasi’s power methods in music life and in and travel (Almgren 2009). Swedish-German contacts from an ethno- My research in the Stasi archives in logical perspective. Berlin also shows that the Stasi was con- 46 Petra Garberding, “We Could Smell That He’s Stasi…”

stantly trying to expand its influence in The Stasi recruited its IMs by first hav- Sweden and how it was trying to gain in- ing them monitored by other IMs in order sight into Swedish cultural life. This also to determine whether they were suitable applies to Swedish musical life. for IM activities. Here the political atti- tude of the candidate was examined, his/ Choosing the “Right” People her relationship to the GDR, to socialism The introductory quotation to this article and to the SED. But the candidate’s life- illustrates how important it was for the style was also important, his/her work, Stasi to select the “right” people for its family situation, the networks, contacts work. A crucial source of information for with the West and engagement in trade the Stasi were the so-called “unofficial unions, associations and in their neigh- employees” (GI, geheimer Informator bourhood (Florath 2015:40–47). If a can- [the term until 1968] and IM (inoffizieller didate was not positive about working for Mitarbeiter [the designation as of 1968, the Stasi, the Stasi could put the candidate BStU 2015:36, 43]). Their task was to under pressure (Jahn 2014; Almgren 2011). gather information about people, opin- If a candidate had contacts in the West, ions, events and so on in order to help the the employees of the Stasi investigated to Stasi protect the GDR against alleged what extent these could be used to the ad- enemies (Gieseke 2011:112–116). vantage of the Stasi. My studies in Stasi’s By attempting to gain knowledge about archives have shown that in the field of the political views of individuals as early music, the Stasi tried to recruit IMs who as possible, the Stasi wanted to prevent were considered particularly professional new rebellions, demonstrations and any and respectable by their colleagues, who opposition activity that could call the had a successful career and played an im- power of the SED into question (Florath portant role in their field. Experts in their 2015:40‒41). As the German historian field were particularly popular, but they Bernd Florath aptly describes it, the IM should not be too specialized (Garberding organization of the Stasi illustrates the 2020; Garberding, Geisler & Rosengren state’s fear of its own fellow citizens (Flo- 2019). rath 2015:41). German research shows Once the Stasi had found a suitable can- how extensive and comprehensive the didate, Stasi’s employees tried to recruit monitoring apparatus of the Stasi was, this person as an IM. For the IM, working considerably more so than in the other with the Stasi could mean many advan- Eastern European countries (Gieseke tages, such as facilitating their further ca- 2011; Münkel ed. 2015). For example, reer and greater freedom to travel. IMs shortly before the collapse of the GDR, also received financial compensation for 91,000 people were employed by the Sta- their work, but usually not large sums. If si, and they received information from someone had committed him- or herself as twice as many IMs. The IMs came from an IM, it was usually impossible to end the all groups in society and from all age cooperation without getting into difficul- groups. About half of the IMs were also ties (Florath 2015:50). This is corroborat- members of the SED (Florath 2015:40). ed not only by numerous eyewitness ac- Petra Garberding, “We Could Smell That He’s Stasi…” 47

counts and previous research, but also by According to files in the Stasi archive, numerous television films about life in the Brockhaus had already been prepared to GDR, such as Weissensee, Germany 1983, provide the Stasi with information in No- and Das Leben der Anderen. vember 1957. It was the Stasi’s practice to first let possible candidates for coopera- “K. Bergman” and “John”: “Enlight- tion pass a kind of test in order to convince ener” in Musicology the Stasi of their suitability. Brockhaus If the selected candidate had agreed to co- had to visit and report about a music ar- operate, he/she normally had to sign a rangement in West Berlin for his “re- “declaration of commitment” in which he hearsal”. In the summer of 1957 he gave promised to keep his cooperation with the his report to a Stasi employee in a café in Stasi secret under all circumstances. In her East Berlin. His report convinced the Stasi dissertation on the Stasi at the University of his suitability, as he not only fulfilled of Jena, the historian Katharina Lenski has the assignment, but even more thoroughly clearly shown how important the silence than expected wrote about a group of stu- about any cooperation with the Stasi was; dents whom he suspected of working with she also speaks here of “circles of silence” an opposition group, the Young Commu- or a “silent community” (Lenski 2015:521). nity (Junge Gemeinde, Klingberg 2000: One example of a declaration of com- 197). In connection with his recruitment, mitment is the letter of commitment he was commissioned to contribute to the signed by the musicologist Alfred Brock- “Enlightenment of the Institute of Music haus, who worked for many years at the History” (Klingberg 2000:200). This for- Institute for Musicology at the Humboldt mulation shows how Stasi’s employees University (HUB) Berlin, in the 1970s and defined their work. They did not interpret 1980s as head of the musicology depart- their mission, as we do today, as a kind of ment.4 Brockhaus received his doctorate spying and denunciation. Rather, they saw in 1962 with the thesis The Symphony of themselves as employees who were sup- Dmitri Shostakovich and in 1969 he was posed to protect the East German state by appointed professor of musicology at the helping to achieve “clarity” about the po- HUB.5 Brockhaus was formally recruited litical views and activities of individuals, as a “secret informer” (GI) in East Berlin groups and institutions. From a discourse- back in 1957, but he did not make his writ- analytical perspective, one can speak here ten commitment until three months later: of a threat topos, a “locus terriblis” I, Heinz Alfred Brockhaus, born on 12.8.1930 in (Wodak 1998:85), which laid the founda- Krefeld […] voluntarily commit myself to cooper- tion for cooperation with the Stasi. One ate with the Ministry of State Security. I will keep speaks of a “locus terriblis” when an idea this cooperation secret from anyone. of an existential threat exists and one has I will sign my written reports with the name K. to defend oneself in time against an ene- Bergmann. I am aware that if I break this obliga- my. In the case of the Stasi employees, tion I may be held responsible under the laws of the GDR. So far I have not been contacted or re- they learned that one had to protect one’s cruited by any other department. own state against “foreign powers”, such Berlin, 27.2.1958, Alfred Brockhaus.6 as the capitalist countries. 48 Petra Garberding, “We Could Smell That He’s Stasi…”

In order to clarify whether a threat was enemy. In a seminar presentation with Prof. [Ernst present or not, the Stasi needed informa- Hermann] Meyer, the student [name] said: “She tion from persons who had insight into quoted an essay: ‘Science must abstain from any political comment.’” certain groups, organizations or institu- The student [name] said to this student [name] tions and had certain networks at their dis- that she should only pay attention that she instead posal. In the Stasi files, the term “enlight- of Adolf [Hitler] does not say Walter [Ulbricht]. enment” is often used to refer to the gath- (Underlining in the original.)7 ering of information about suspected op- While the students quoted here thought ponents of the regime. “Enlightenment” is that music and politics should have noth- usually seen as a positive word, and in ing to do with each other, the interpreta- Stasi’s usage it can also be interpreted as a tion and reporting of the GHI shows that word that illustrates how the Stasi and its these views challenged the official dis- IM perceived their work as something im- course in the GDR, in which music was portant and constructive (see Almgren supposed to express a certain political 2009:448f.). ideology. The students were opposed to a One year after his recruitment in 1958, discourse order in which the political Brockhaus was promoted to Secret Main worldview is prescribed by the state and in Informator (GHI, geheimer Hauptinfor- which the interpretation of musical ex- mator, BStU 2015:36). Now he also as- pressions is also to be determined. This re- sumed responsibility for supervising other port to the Stasi shows how the discursive IMs, many of whom were students at the space in musicology at the HUB should be Faculty of Philosophy (Klingberg 2000: designed according to the official authori- 202). The meetings with the other IMs ties of the GDR: Any questioning of the were often held in Brockhaus’s office, but official discourse on music as an expres- according to Brockhaus this became sion of a certain (socialist) ideology “more and more difficult” for him because should be documented and then so-called he was “rarely alone” (ibid.). An example “measures” (Maβnahmen) taken. As of one of “Bergmann’s” collaborations Klingberg has shown, for several of the with Stasi is his report to his Stasi contact above-mentioned students the measures in 1962: meant that an academic career in the GDR He [Bergmann] reported the following about the was made more difficult or even denied. Institute of Musicology: There is now a real con- They had problems getting suitable hous- ception that some students want prove that music ing, received lower salaries than their col- has to be apolitical, that music has nothing to do with society. They continue to demand that mod- leagues, and some left the GDR for good ern western music be taught and performed at our (Klingberg 2000:201–202). Concepts institution. The following students belong to it: such as the “enlightenment of conditions Spokesman [name] 3. Study year. [Name], [name] in musicology at the HUB” legitimized and [name]. [Name] said the following: What can the exercise of power by the Stasi through be reflected in our music? Only fear and terror. its GHI Brockhaus. So he saw it as his task […] [Name] says, ideological things are decisive, that’s the trouble with us. If you don’t join in, to expose critics and hand them over to the you’re drilled until it fits. Stasi. By naming the quibbling students, The GHI estimates that [name] is a distinct power could be exercised at the individual Petra Garberding, “We Could Smell That He’s Stasi…” 49

level, and individuals could be controlled 1983, “John” reported that there was an and persecuted. The power factor was fur- influential group of people in the VKM ther strengthened by secretly controlling who were not in accord with the party line the students – from today’s point of view and who advocated an “ideological co- a human rights violation. In this case one existence” between West and East Ger- can first speak of power in the form of man musicology. Another problem were subjugation – when the students were un- “church-pacifist” tendencies in the VKM, knowingly intercepted, and their opinions which were expressed, among other were presented to the Stasi – and then of a things, by the fact that composers used form of violence, when the denounced texts by Italian and French writers that students were subjected to so-called could be interpreted as “church-pacifist” “countermeasures”, such as not getting an statements. The Stasi had this problem apartment or employment. confirmed by another employee, Gerd From 1962 onwards, there are no fur- Schönfelder (see below).9 “John” sent ther reports in Brockhaus’s Stasi files. In along a list of names which included the 1969 it was announced that his profession- musicologist Ingeborg Allihn, who also al career and his work at the HUB took so had contacts in Sweden. Allihn was the much time that he could no longer be editor of the VKM journal Bulletin and “used” as GHI (Klingberg 2000:207). But “John” regarded her contacts with the in 1979 Brockhaus was recruited again, West and to the church as a problem.10 and this time as IMS “John”. As an IMS, he had the task of “politically-operatively “A. is Politically behind the Fence”11 penetrating and securing an area of re- During a conversation with me, the Ger- sponsibility” (politisch-operative Durch- man musicologist Ingeborg Allihn said dringung und Sicherung eines Verantwor- that she was not surprised when she read tungsbereiches, BStU 2015:44), and as in her Stasi file that the supervisor of her one of these areas the Stasi had designated doctoral thesis, Alfred Brockhaus, had re- the Association of Composers and Music- ported on her as IM “John” of the Stasi. ologists of the GDR (Verband der Kom- She and her friends had long had a suspi- ponisten und Musikwissenschaftler der cion. “We could smell, he’s Stasi,” she DDR, VKM).8 The VKM was the main or- said. During the GDR period, she and her ganization for musical life in the GDR and friends were often fairly certain who was founded in 1962 by the composer worked for the Stasi. When she read her Hanns Eisler. The Council was superior to Stasi files after the fall of communism, her all other music organizations and was ac- suspicions were confirmed in all cases. cepted as a member of the International When I met Mrs Allihn for a conversation Music Council of UNESCO in 1966. Nu- in Berlin, I had been allowed to read some merous international connections were parts of her Stasi files with her consent. I maintained through the VKM, including wanted to talk to her about her contacts to Sweden. with Swedish music life and her trouble The GDR authorities were not satisfied with the Stasi. Ingeborg Allihn came into with the development in the VKM. In contact with Swedish colleagues, among 50 Petra Garberding, “We Could Smell That He’s Stasi…”

others Sven-Erik Bäck and Eskil Hem- munism these were exactly the contacts berg, through her work for the VKM and that helped Allihn to survive, since several her Chamber Music Guide (Kammer- valuable employment opportunities were musikführer, Allihn, ed., 1997). In the ear- offered her from West Germany. Thanks ly 1980s, by invitation of the VKM, she to them, the transition after the fall of travelled to Sweden to collect material and communism was relatively unproblematic find authors for the chapters on Nordic for her. composers in the Chamber Music Guide. Allihn’s report can be interpreted as an She also travelled from Sweden to Oslo at example of a narrative in which Allihn – the invitation of the Nordic Music Council looking back on the events – positions to take part in a music conference. From herself not merely as a victim of the Stasi. then on she remained in contact with Instead, she describes her own position in Swedish colleagues, especially with Eskil its complexity: On the one hand, through Hemberg, who visited her several times in her work for the VKM she was a target for the GDR.12 Brockhaus’s negative reporting to the She reported to me that her supervisor Stasi; on the other hand, it was precisely Alfred Brockhaus had actually not been this work for the VKM that gave her em- particularly interested in her doctoral ployment and relative freedom in the thesis. She now believes that it may have GDR. Her report also makes it clear how, been advantageous for her that Brockhaus on the one hand, international cooperation told the Stasi about her, that she was “po- could allow a certain amount of freedom, litically behind the fence” and had church but, on the other hand, could lead to even connections. This would have had the more intensive scrutiny by the Stasi. It is advantage that the GDR authorities re- also interesting to see how certain persons garded her as “lost” – she could not be who presided over international bodies used for political purposes. One problem, and did not accept Stasi methods weak- of course, was that she couldn’t pursue an ened the Stasi’s power potential and how academic career at university for this rea- this clearly called its legitimacy into ques- son, but she thinks she was lucky because tion. she could work for the VKM, both with But Brockhaus wasn’t the only one who the Bulletin and with the Chamber Music reported on Allihn. In the GDR era, Allihn Guide. In our conversation she particular- was aware that, as a single mother, she ly praised the then head of the VKM, Vera could easily be pressured by the authori- Reiner, as an important pillar in her ca- ties, because they could always have reer: Reiner had repeatedly held her “pro- threatened to take her children away. tective hand” over her. Thanks to Reiner, “Thank God this never happened”, she Allihn probably had relatively large free- said in our conversation. But she also told dom in her work with the Bulletin. But the me about an experience when she was par- Bulletin also meant many contacts with ticularly afraid. An important contact for colleagues in West Germany and Western her in Sweden was, as I mentioned, Eskil Europe, which of course was a thorn in the Hemberg, who was chairman of the Swe- side of the Stasi. But after the fall of com- dish Composers’ Association (För- Petra Garberding, “We Could Smell That He’s Stasi…” 51

eningen Svenska Tonsättare, FST) at the went to the Stasi in Dresden to find out time. Hemberg often travelled to the GDR who had reported on Allihn and the VKM. and was very interested in the musical life There she could read the notification and of the GDR. Allihn often acted as his saw the signature of the person who had “companion” on behalf of the VKM, done the denouncing; she recognized which meant that she helped him to get Gerd Schönfelder’s writing. Allihn: access to concerts, museums, restaurants, “Then the VKM never sent Schönfelder etc.13 anywhere again.” She also learned at that Once, when Hemberg was in the GDR time that Schönfelder and his wife had re- to visit the Dresden Music Festival, Gott- cently been in Vienna for 14 days on be- fried Scholz, then director of the Vienna half of the VKM. “From that hour on, Musikhochschule, was also there. Allihn Schönfelder was dead to me,” said Allihn. was to look after the guests. When she and Today she is certain that she was simply the guests had accepted Vera Reiner’s in- lucky that the Stasi in Dresden had treated vitation to dinner, the musicologist and di- her so “benevolently”. It could have ended rector of the Dresden Academy of Music, very badly for her.14 Gerd Schönfelder, was also present (see Schönfelder illustrates here how an IM below about Schönfelder). During their on the one hand establishes good relations talk, Scholz invited Allihn to visit him and with a national and international organiza- his wife in Vienna. Allihn: “And then I tion (VKM) in order to then use them for saw his [Schönfelder’s] face, and it was monitoring on behalf of the Stasi. Schön- clear to me that he would do anything to felder here represents two different orders prevent that.” When she came to her hotel of power, which he combines as an IM: in the evening, she had a message that she On the one hand the noumenal power, in should be at the Stasi the next morning at which his colleagues in the VKM trusted 7.00 o’clock. A colleague offered to take him as a musicologist and respected col- her there and wait outside for her. She also league, regarding this exercise of power as received a call from Vera Reiner, who was justified (they let him travel to Vienna on aware that Allihn was going to the Stasi, behalf of the VKM). On the other, there is and Reiner advised her to say as little as power as a form of subjugation (with a possible. threat of violence in the background) in “Really, it was like a crime thriller,” Al- which he controls the same organization lihn said. She had rarely been so afraid. as an IM and reports to the Stasi on behav- When she came to the Stasi the next morn- iour as he regards as harmful to the state. ing, she was told that she had been These combinations of different power charged with allegedly passing on internal exercises were characteristic of the condi- information to Western colleagues. That tions in the GDR. was a serious accusation. Allihn denied everything and got away with a warning. Gerd Schönfelder and the Royal When she was back in Berlin, Vera Reiner Academy of Music in Stockholm15 said that the charges were not only against Gerd Schönfelder was a German music- her, but also against the VKM. Reiner ologist who had grown up and worked in 52 Petra Garberding, “We Could Smell That He’s Stasi…”

the GDR. During the 1970s he was em- one’s “political utility” (Hedin 2005:289). ployed at the University of Leipzig and Only those GDR citizens who were classi- the Music Academy (Musikhochschule) fied as politically reliable could become in Dresden, from 1972 as Vice-Rector and travel cadres. The political loyalty was de- 1980–1984 as Rector. In 1984 he became termined through a process in which the head of the Semper Opera in Dresden.16 In Stasi had surveys carried out on the person 1961 he became a member of the SED, in in question at his/her workplace and in 1973 of the Central Music Commission his/her residential area. They also exam- (Zentrale Kommission Musik) of the Cul- ined the family and kinship relationships tural Association of the GDR (Kulturbund of the person, their political attitude and der Deutschen Demokratischen Repub- contacts in the West (Hedin 2005:294–299). lik). As of 1969 he was a member of the Within the travel cadre system, there VKM and was also active on the board.17 were also various gradations, depending In 1976 Schönfelder was invited to on the assessment of the travel cadre’s po- Sweden by the Swedish Composers’ As- litical loyalty and political influence. For sociation to represent the VKM. The invi- example, there were travel cadres who tation came from Eskil Hemberg, who were allowed to enter and leave the coun- was the chairman at the time. After this try without applications for their trips, trip there were regular connections be- while others still had to submit applica- tween Schönfelder and Swedish musical tions. There were travel cadres who were life, among others with Hemberg, the allowed to take their spouses with them, composer Jan Carlstedt, Hans Åstrand while other couples were not allowed to (the Permanent Secretary of the KMA) travel together, because despite their status and Per Skans from Radio Sweden.18 as travel cadres they were observed with Schönfelder’s collaboration with Åstrand certain mistrust by the GDR authorities.21 resulted, among other things, in the jointly As a travel cadre, Schönfelder under- published book Principle truth principle took to accept and obey directives from beauty: Contributions to the aesthetics of the Ministry of Culture. Within 14 days of modern Swedish music (Prinzip Wahrheit returning home, he had to send in a report Prinzip Schönheit: Beiträge zur Ästhetik in which he gave an account of how he had der neueren schwedischen Musik, 1984). followed the directives on his trip. Ac- In February 1979, Schönfelder was cording to sources in the Stasi archives, a granted permanent status as a so-called “permanent contact” with Schönfelder travel cadre (Reisekader) to what were was established at the beginning of the termed non-socialist foreign countries.19 1980s.22 At that time he had become His wife was also active as a travel cadre known to the Stasi as a very reliable travel and could often travel abroad with her cadre and his extensive and well-formu- husband.20 This meant that it became lated reports were highly appreciated. In a much easier for him to travel and that he 1981 report, for example, he categorized was considered politically reliable by the his Swedish music colleagues according GDR authorities. In order to become a to their sympathies for the GDR and di- travel cadre, one had to show the regime vided them into GDR sympathizers, crit- Petra Garberding, “We Could Smell That He’s Stasi…” 53

ics and enemies. This report was highly the Academy’s gift and that the Volvo appreciated by the Stasi.23 In Sweden, meant a lot to him. It is also well-known Schönfelder collaborated with colleagues today that in the GDR the party elite drove in musicology; among other things, he Volvos: the Volvo was a symbol of status produced analyses of Swedish musical and power. works, provided assistance with preparing In the GDR, most citizens received a musicological conferences and helped Ra- car only on application and after a long dio Sweden with the production of pro- waiting period, and then mostly a Wart- grammes on East Asian culture, especially burg or Trabant. “Western cars” were music theatre.24 mainly driven by politicians or people In 1981 the KMA wanted to thank with high social status. Car brands clearly Schönfelder for his work in Swedish mu- marked class affiliation in a state that sicology by giving him a Volvo. Hans liked to present itself as classless. For ex- Åstrand, KMA’s permanent secretary at ample, the Stasi always examined what the time, wrote to the “responsible author- kind of car a citizen drove (Münkel 2015). ities” in Sweden and the GDR asking Schönfelder therefore had to justify his them to respect KMA’s decision to donate gift from the KMA to the GDR authorities a car to Schönfelder.25 The car was to be a so that they would not become suspicious thank you for Schönfelder’s important and so that he would not jeopardize his work for the Academy, which he did in the freedom to travel or even be deprived of form of lectures, discussions, scientific his car and see it collected as state proper- support and participation in conferences; ty. Although Schönfelder had apparently all this commitment was difficult to meas- been very happy about the gift, he was not ure in money, according to Åstrand. But a allowed to show the GDR authorities his letter from the regional administration in pleasure with the car. Instead, he present- Dresden to the Stasi shows that Schön- ed the car as an imposed gift that he had to felder stated that he received the car be- accept for “political reasons”. But a gift cause his own car had been destroyed in always obliges one to give something in an accident. When he told his Swedish return, as the French sociologist Marcel hosts, they decided to give him a Volvo in Mauss (2002) has stated. Because a gift al- gratitude for his work.26 In a letter to the ways establishes a relationship between customs in the GDR in 1982, Schönfelder the donor and the recipient, the recipient is thanked them for having been allowed to expected to give a counter-gift in the fu- import the car. Among other things, he ture. From this point of view, the gift of wrote that he had not been able to refuse the KMA can also be interpreted as an ob- the car “for political reasons”. He had ac- ligation of Schönfelder: the KMA hoped cepted the car on the advice of the GDR that he would continue to make his ser- ambassador Kiesewetter, because a rejec- vices available to them in the future – tion would have been seen as an insult to which he did. the Swedish king.27 One of my interviews In February 1983 Schönfelder was re- with contemporary witnesses shows that cruited as an IMS by the Stasi. As men- Schönfelder was extremely pleased with tioned above, the designation IMS means 54 Petra Garberding, “We Could Smell That He’s Stasi…”

an unofficial employee at the Ministry of something of particular interest to the Sta- State Security with a specific area of re- si.32 As a travel cadre, Schönfelder had de- sponsibility.28 In 1984 he was upgraded to scribed this work in Sweden in a report IMB status. This designated an unofficial about his trip to Sweden in 1981.33 co-worker, who was to work more specif- The recruitment of new IMs by the ically with control and defence against Stasi can be described as a combination of enemies or potential enemies (inoffizieller noumenal power in connection with a Mitarbeiter der Abwehr mit Feind- threat of subjugation. Noumenal power verbindung bzw. zur unmittelbaren Bear- was important in Stasi’s recruitment beitung im Verdacht der Feindtätigkeit methods. As previous research has shown, stehenden Personen, BStU 2015:43).29 the Stasi can be described as making use Schönfelder was advertised as IMS and of a “professionalization of denunciation” later as IMB in order to “utilize” his exten- (Florath 2015:42). In the early years of the sive contacts with musical figures in West GDR, the SED had established that volun- Germany, Austria and Sweden to “gain in- tary reports by fellow citizens on political formation about the aims and intentions of opposition were not always reliable and the leading personalities of musical life in could also be based on resentment and Sweden, the Federal Republic of Germany conflicts between individuals. For this and Austria for the MfS”.30 reason, the IM system of state security Although Schönfelder was regarded as was continually expanded and profession- politically reliable according to his Stasi alized in the 1960s (ibid.). This profes- files, he was not easy to recruit for co- sionalization can also be described as a operation with the Stasi. He himself cited strategy of justification, since it was al- his high workload as a reason. His Stasi ways a question of justifying the secret files show that the Stasi visited him sev- surveillance of political views as indis- eral times to recruit him, which finally pensable to the state – so that the state succeeded in February 1983. In this re- could survive and people could gradually cruitment, Lieutenant Greif of the Stasi be drawn into the new political system. In had used the “recruiting legend” as a its 1979 guidelines, for example, the Stasi method, which was quite common among emphasized the importance of recruiting Stasi recruiters. The recruiting legend was IMs, who would join of their own free will a narrative in which the person to be re- and appealing to the personal willingness cruited was portrayed as extremely im- of individuals. A dilemma for the Stasi portant for the development or safe-keep- was that it was difficult for party members ing of the state. In doing so, the recruiter, to monitor their fellow human beings, as if possible, referred to an earlier success- their party membership was often known ful activity of the person to be recruited in and it was often difficult for these people order to convince them of their great im- to inspire confidence in others. As a result, portance for the state.31 In Schönfelder’s the Stasi tried to recruit more and more case, Greif mentioned Schönfelder’s re- people who were not known to be close to ports on Sweden’s work for a nuclear- the party or who were not party members weapon-free zone in Europe; this was (Florath 2015:42). Petra Garberding, “We Could Smell That He’s Stasi…” 55

According to Florath, the Stasi often internal and external enemies through the use of managed to use partial agreements with conspiratorial tools and methods in connection the IM candidates to persuade them to co- with the other prerequisites. The IM represents consistent political-ideological positions. He is a operate. Frequent narratives were for ex- convinced communist and internationalist, which ample that the Stasi asked for help in in- he does not reveal in every case.34 vestigating crimes, that the Stasi offered support in the candidate’s professional ca- In Greif’s description of Schönfelder, Schönfelder accepted the then common reers, promised them trips to the West or narrative of the threatened state, which even exploited a previous piece of mis- also had to be protected through “con- conduct in order to recruit a candidate for spiratorial tools and methods”. Schön- the purpose of making amends. But fear of felder is also clearly presented as a the power of the Stasi also led many can- “convinced communist and international- didates to commit themselves (Florath ist” and therefore as a suitable IM. He was 2015:47). given the alias “Hans Mai”.35 It was precisely this combination of According to Rainer Forst, any political voluntarism and coercion that character- normativity claims legitimacy, that is, that ized the Stasi. In the case of Stasi’s re- the political order can be justified and that cruitment strategies, it becomes clear that these justification narratives are accepted an important narrative in recruiting new by those living in that order (Forst 2015: IMs was that of political and social en- 187). But the mere fact that the Stasi want- gagement, which can be interpreted as an ed to keep its surveillance methods secret expression of noumenal power. This was a shows that it was aware of the problem, reason that many IM candidates could cer- that such methods basically violate demo- tainly consider acceptable. Another justi- cratic rules. In a genuine democracy, these fication narrative was that of the threat- monitoring principles should have been ened state, which had to be protected. openly discussed and decided by a parlia- Noumenal power, however, could very ment. In the GDR, as in the Soviet Union, quickly turn into coercion, even when the however, an important discourse was that IM candidate was just “offered” help with people must first learn socialism and not his/her professional career or travel always know what is good for them – but abroad when he volunteered as an IM. A what the state knew (Jarausch 1999). rejection of these “offers” could already Starting from Forst’s ideas about democ- be interpreted by Stasi’s employees as racy and justification narratives, it can be criticism of the state, but did not necessar- said that in the GDR the discourse of edu- ily have to be. cation to socialist people divided fellow According to his Stasi contact Uwe citizens into different groups – those who Greif, Gerd Schönfelder became an IM felt these methods were justified and those out of “political conviction”. Greif: who rejected them as an encroachment on personal freedom. There were also prob- It can be said that the IM itself has an interest in a close and trusting cooperation with the MfS. He lems when the secret surveillance strate- has recognized that socialism in the GDR and in- gies could suddenly be exposed. I will ternationally can only be reliably protected from come back to that in a moment. 56 Petra Garberding, “We Could Smell That He’s Stasi…”

One of Schönfelder’s most important cized, among other things, that 98 per cent tasks as IMS “Hans Mai” was to observe of the students at the conservatory would musical life in Sweden, West Germany be unable to find work after their studies and Austria. He was supposed to gather because there were not enough permanent information about “the aims and inten- positions. He was also of the opinion that tions of leading personalities of musical musical life in Norway would develop life in these countries”, better if the Norwegians realized that suc- because this opens up opportunities to obtain in- cessful cultural work was not just about formation from other areas of the economic and professionalism and the right people, but social life of these countries, as through the candi- about socialist cultural policy. Cultural date’s circle of acquaintances there are extensive life in Norway, as in other capitalist states, contacts to leading representatives of monopoly was too much determined by problems of 36 capital. profitability.38 According to Schönfelder, Here it becomes clear how Schönfelder’s the “only efficient authority” in Norway in contacts to “leading personalities in musi- the musical field was the Oslo Philhar- cal life” were to be used for political pur- monic, whose “artistic level”, however, poses: Music was to be used here as a way did not or only rarely come close to that of to spy on social, political and economic the Dresden Philharmonic.39 activities in the above-mentioned coun- And how did Schönfelder report on tries. Sweden? For reasons of space, only one But one of the first orders for the Stasi example can be given here. The Stasi was was to be executed by Schönfelder in Nor- particularly interested in the KMA in way. Here he was commissioned to ob- Stockholm. In 1984, the same year that serve the celebrations on the occasion of Schönfelder was promoted to IMB, he the 100th anniversary of the Norwegian was elected as the first East German rep- Music Academy (Musikkhøgskole) in resentative to the academy in December. Oslo. Among other things, the Stasi want- The Stasi took his election as an opportu- ed to learn more about the political and so- nity to give them questions about KMA as cial development, about the participation a directive, before he went to Sweden: of West German citizens in the celebra- What is the current attitude of academy members tions and, further, to gain information towards the GDR? about former GDR citizens.37 Schönfelder What expectations are placed on further coopera- stayed in Norway from 26 September to 3 tion with the GDR in the cultural field? What role is Prof. Schönfelder to play in this? October 1983 and wrote a detailed report What is the attitude of the academy members to- after his return home. Due to lack of wards Prof. Schönfelder as a communist? space, the report cannot be described and What material remuneration will result from the analysed in more detail here. But in sum- election to the Royal Swedish Academy? mary it can be said that Schönfelder em- What rights and duties does an academician have? phasized the great interest of his Norwe- What are the Academy’s national and internation- al objectives? gian colleagues in music exchange with What funds are allocated to the Academy? the GDR and their great respect for the How are the interests of right-wing bourgeois cultural work in the GDR. But he criti- forces perceived? Petra Garberding, “We Could Smell That He’s Stasi…” 57

How and through which persons are the interests pher.42 However, he received only 24 out of the USA and other reactionary systems en- of 44 votes in the election.43 This distribu- forced? tion of votes allows us to assume that Where are the starting points for the penetration into the conspiracy of Western secret services Schönfelder’s election was not entirely recognizable? self-evident and that not all of the mem- In particular, all findings in connection with the bers of the KMA supported him. From to- awarding of Nobel Prizes are significant.40 day’s perspective it is surprising that sev- eral people who supported Schönfelder’s In addition, the Stasi wanted information election to the KMA have been central about the political and economic situation figures in Swedish musical life. This in Sweden, wanted to know to what extent raises the question ‒ which cannot be one could recognize a right-wing orienta- tion in Swedish politics and how long the answered here: Why did these people sup- “opportunistic tendencies” in Swedish port Schönfelder’s election to the KMA? politics should be maintained. It also Erik Lundkvist, a Swedish organist wanted more information about Hans who gave concerts in the GDR for the In- Åstrand, Per Skans and Eskil Hemberg in stitute for National Concerts (Institutet för order to “further clarify the personality Rikskonserter; it existed from 1968 to profile”.41 The questions show that the 2010) and who has been a member of the employees of the Stasi did not have par- KMA since 1983, said in an interview ticularly good knowledge of KMA and with me that he and several of his col- that they apparently assessed its influence leagues in the KMA were surprised at the on Swedish cultural life as being greater choice of Schönfelder: “Why was he than it actually was. They also seem to elected? A cultural personality of the have confused KMA with the Swedish GDR? […] We were never properly told Academy. who he was, we knew too little about 44 Before I go into Schönfelder’s answers him.” to these questions, I would like to briefly But even when Schönfelder was elected report on his election to the KMA. The to the KMA in 1984, there was apparently choice of Schönfelder for the KMA was a suspicion that Schönfelder came to Swe- not entirely self-evident, as sources in the den not only for scientific reasons. Schön- KMA archives and contemporary witness felder’s Stasi contact Uwe Greif reported reports show. In 1984 he was proposed by to the Stasi that Schönfelder had told him the composers Jan Carlstedt, Eskil Hem- that before his election to the KMA he had berg and Ingvar Lidholm, and the music- “been questioned by the deputy president ologists Bo Wallner and Gunnar Larsson, [Claude Génetay]”. Greif: whose proposal was based on Schön- He [Schönfelder] was confronted with the fact that felder’s commitment to Swedish music in the Swedish Academy had information that he the GDR and his important contribution to was on a “secret service mission of the Ministry of musicology through the publication Prin- State Security”. This allegation was vigorously re- jected by the IM. The Swede’s question whether zip Schönheit Prinzip Wahrheit. They also he [Schönfelder] could also take his oath on this described him as an important musicolo- was of course answered in the affirmative by the gist, humanist and Swedish bibliogra- IM.45 58 Petra Garberding, “We Could Smell That He’s Stasi…”

According to Greif, Schönfelder had held tive of the “locus terriblis”: the image of a back in Sweden because of this mistrust threat is constructed, against which joint and had not fulfilled “his tasks”. His action must be taken (Wodak et al. 1998: Swedish colleague Hans Åstrand was of 85). It was important to create “alliances” the opinion that this suspicion could be with like-minded partners, which also is a connected with the fact that someone in kind of unification strategy in the critical Dresden, where Schönfelder had just be- discourse analysis: Two individuals or come head of the Semper Opera, was re- groups must work together to fight a com- sentful about the appointment and now mon enemy (Wodak et al. 1998:84). The tried to defame him.46 KMA seems to have “alliance” with important partners such as believed Schönfelder’s statement and ap- the GDR is legitimized as an effective parently did not pursue the issue any fur- strategy against the aforementioned threat ther at that time; Schönfelder was elected to Sweden by Americanization. Accord- as a new foreign member. ing to Schönfelder’s and his informant’s But what answers did the Stasi receive description it is necessary to raise the cul- to its questions about the KMA? Because tural level of the population in order to Schönfelder had not answered the ques- counteract Americanization. What is tions in his conversation with Greif, he meant by Americanization here remains wrote a report for the Stasi in January vague and is not explained in detail. One 1985. Among other things, he reported interpretation might be that the informant that the academy pursued a strict policy of of the KMA assumed that he/she and neutrality at national and international Schönfelder had a similar idea of the prob- level. He also mentioned that “material re- lems with Americanization, for example, muneration” by the KMA was “only” set- the threat that other, new musical styles tled to the extent that the KMA paid him posed to the position of classical music in twice a year for the trip to Stockholm, pro- society. vided him with a free guest apartment dur- According to Schönfelder’s informant ing his stays in Sweden and paid daily ex- at the KMA, it is important to start cultural 47 penses. According to Schönfelder the work with the citizens as early as possible. aim of the KMA was: The term “child class work” (Kinderklas- … to uphold cultural values and, above all, to de- senarbeit) can have two different mean- velop the tremendous work of increasing the cul- ings here: (1) musical education at school, tural demands and the cultural level of the popula- and (2) creating class consciousness in tion and, by raising this level, to paralyse the children. The description remains vague Americanization of Europe. He [no name men- tioned here] told me very clearly that these are here, and it is possible that both are meant. clear alliances that point them to us. Various Here the GDR becomes an important role things that we have done here, for example, are model for this child class work. This nar- adopted by them, such as music for children, child rative also points to Sweden’s great inter- class work, in order to direct people from the out- 48 est in the East German education system set towards a culturally high level of education. and state cultural work in the GDR. As the In this report, the cooperation between the previous research on the contacts between KMA and the GDR is justified by a narra- Sweden and the GDR shows, many Swe- Petra Garberding, “We Could Smell That He’s Stasi…” 59

dish politicians regarded GDR’s school classify individuals according to sympa- system with “one school for all” and the thies and antipathies towards the GDR. He state-financed cultural policy as a model describes here how the members of the (Almgren 2016:110ff.; Almgren 2009; KMA take on different roles in private and Abraham 2007). in the more public milieu of the KMA. However, it was difficult for Schön- However, these differences can also be in- felder to identify the “right-wing bour- terpreted as showing that Schönfelder had geois forces”: the confidence of the members whom he It is always very difficult to safeguard the interests was allowed to visit at home and who of the right-wing forces, because they never ex- complained to him about colleagues in the pose themselves in such a way. When you are in KMA. their apartment, they make each other bad and The Swedish composer and organist when they sit opposite each other at the banquet, Karl-Erik Welin is positioned as an enemy they say the most beautiful and kind things to each other. So the party principle is not the same there in several places in Schönfelder’s Stasi as in West Germany. It is very difficult to recog- files. Since Welin publicly opposed the nize right-wing forces, but there are some. They GDR, Schönfelder had the GDR Artist expose themselves like this W e l l i n, Karl-Erik Agency arrange for him not to be allowed [sic!] did, who has publicly opposed the GDR to travel to the GDR. One can also speak with all these insinuations such as freedom, hu- here in Forst’s words of subjugation and manity, etc., which are idiotic. He is also a mem- ber of the academy and stayed away on the day of oppression. Welin did not accept the offi- my election. He was also one of those who spoke cial justification strategies of the GDR au- against it for two years. But he was also one of thorities and could therefore not be influ- those to whom the GDR gave an international ca- enced by GDR propaganda. In principle, reer. the removal of Welin from the GDR He was one of the organists who came to the points to a kind of powerlessness on the GDR and played at big music festivals here like part of the GDR authorities: Noumenal Händelfestspiele, Musiktage, Biennale, etc. Now he is no longer coming, I have already clarified power could not be exercised here – i.e. that with the GDR Artist Agency [Künstleragen- Welin could not be persuaded to respect tur der DDR]. It was this person of all people who the GDR of his own free will. Therefore used this opportunity to carry out a subliminal one had to limit his mobility and not let 49 propaganda over the years. him enter any more. Here Schönfelder tried to fulfil his task, to Interviews with contemporary wit- identify his opponents and the potential nesses showed that Schönfelder’s col- enemies of the GDR and to make them leagues in Sweden wondered why he “harmless”. One can also speak here of the could come to Sweden so often, but they “art of distribution”, as Michel Foucault did not suspect that he might have worked calls it (Foucault 2003:143). The aim is to for the Stasi. Erik Lundkvist, for example, place different individuals in closed mi- reported to me that he wondered why lieus, to monitor and control them and to Schönfelder was allowed to leave the classify them according to a certain sys- GDR so often. Later he understood that tem and to grant them some freedom of Schönfelder had to have a kind of “mis- action – or not. Schönfelder’s aim was to sion”. At that time he thought that it had to 60 Petra Garberding, “We Could Smell That He’s Stasi…”

be observations of the Swedish military or lieves that it must have been very difficult something similar.50 The then permanent for foreign colleagues to understand this, secretary of the KMA, Hans Åstrand, had because it had already been difficult for introduced Lundkvist to Schönfelder. the East Germans themselves. “You must They became friends, and Schönfelder have grown up here [in the former GDR] visited him several times at home. Lund- and developed a sensibility for that,… that kvist describes Schönfelder as a “super- you can say I smell it, he can’t help it, he intelligent person” and says that it was is Stasi…”. As mentioned above, she very interesting to talk to him. In retro- meant that East Germans could “smell” spect, he also finds it interesting that who the Stasi was. But in Schönfelder’s Schönfelder often criticized the GDR and case it was difficult because he was very was very open with his criticism.51 skilful.52 At that time, Lundkvist had no way of Today one might ask why the suspicion knowing that this was a common strategy that Schönfelder could work for the Stasi for the Stasi staff; they had learned to was not pursued further in Sweden after make personal contacts with those whom 1984. The question is still difficult to they observed. They were often very so- answer. But the suspicion arose again in cial and friendly and could speak on many the end of 1989, when Schönfelder was in different subjects – they learned this dur- Sweden and suddenly had to go back to ing their training with the Stasi. Birgitta the GDR. In December 1989, the music- Almgren, in her studies on the contacts be- ologist and journalist Carl-Gunnar Åhlén tween the GDR and Sweden, has shown wrote articles in which he pointed out that how Stasi’s employees were expected to Schönfelder had worked for the secret po- create trust by “covertly” expressing “po- lice of the GDR.53 Even at that time there litical views”. The GDR authorities knew did not seem to have been any discussion that not many Swedes liked to discuss in Sweden and not even in 1994, when politics and therefore recommended not Åhlén and the journalist Stefan Koskinen expressing political views directly (Alm- took up the subject again.54 Up until today gren 2009:206). Stasi employees learned there has been little discussion of this topic. systematic strategies to make personal But that is the subject of another article.55 contacts with “key people” and they prac- tised certain argumentation techniques to Music and Politics: Strategies of give a positive picture of the GDR and to Justification and Power avoid difficult situations. Sometimes it According to the historian Jens Gieseke, could even be an advantage if a Stasi agent many former unofficial employees of the criticized the GDR in order to try to get his Stasi today justify themselves by saying counterpart on his side (ibid.). that this is certainly difficult to understand Ingeborg Allihn also told me that her today, but that the main reason for their West German colleagues were amazed at Stasi cooperation was their political con- how “courageous” Schönfelder was when viction. Basically, they believed in the he dared to criticize the cultural policies of “good core of the socialist idea”, “in the the GDR and Eastern Europe. She be- legitimacy of protection from operations Petra Garberding, “We Could Smell That He’s Stasi…” 61

of enemy powers”, in the “desire to impart As in other professions, the careers of better knowledge of the opponent” and “to musicologists, music administrators, com- do something for the interstate or intra- posers and musicians have been influ- societal ‘peace’” (Gieseke 2011:126). This enced by the presence of the Stasi. Stasi shows that the Stasi’s justification narra- staff members received many benefits, tives from the GDR era are still being up- were given desirable positions in the acad- dated. On the other hand, as Gieseke also emies, and were able to exert strong pres- emphasizes, other studies have shown that sure on others. Those who refused to there were also many Stasi employees mo- participate in the Stasi were not party tivated by personal advantages and career members or expressed opposition were opportunities (Gieseke 2011:127–128). marginalized and discriminated against The historian Ilko-Sascha Kowalczuk (Halbrock 2015:77). As I have shown, emphasizes that in the GDR all citizens however, international contacts or even had some kind of relationship with the mere interest in them could also be prob- Stasi. Thus there were those who had lematic. Of particular interest here are in- committed themselves to the service of the ternational organizations such as the Stasi – voluntarily or not – and who were VKM, which had a high status in the GDR closely interwoven with it both profes- and internationally and was vital for inter- sionally and politically. Then there were national cooperation. If such organiza- also those who were disappointed in the tions had leaders who did not accept the political development of the GDR and noumenal power of the Stasi, they could hoped for reforms to come through the conquer certain power areas themselves Stasi apparatus. A third group were critics and protect their employees against forms and opposition members who suffered of coercion or violence by the Stasi. under the Stasi’s ruling mechanisms Stasi’s power methods and justification (Kowalczuk 2015:73–75). strategies moved constantly between nou- In this article I have given examples of menal power, subjugation and physical various justification narratives and power and mental violence. It was precisely this strategies of the Stasi. Frequent justifica- mixture of different power methods and tions of Stasi employees in promoting new justification strategies that made the Stasi IMs were the narratives of the “enlighten- so unpredictable and difficult to assess. As ment” of political positions of individuals, Kowalczuk notes, this was precisely the groups and institutions or the construction intention of the Stasi. An important prin- of so-called legends in which personal or ciple of rule was to intimidate people and professional merits of the candidate were repress individuality (Kowalczuk 2015: presented as indispensable for the protec- 69). In my opinion, on the other hand, an tion of the state from enemies. Other justi- important principle of the Stasi was also to fications that could motivate people to emphasize and use individuality, for ex- volunteer were support for professional ample when new candidates were to be re- careers, the possibility of getting a place cruited. The story of the consequential in- for their children at university or finding dividual, who has already done important an apartment. things for the state in the past and who is 62 Petra Garberding, “We Could Smell That He’s Stasi…”

therefore needed in the future to protect Dnd, AIM 3242/90, I, Vol. 1, p. 370. German the state, was an important narrative of the original: “Begründung der politisch-operativen Not- exercise of noumenal power. These differ- wendigkeit der Werbung ent perspectives fit in a state that is de- Die politisch-operative Notwendigkeit der scribed in different studies as a “welfare Werbung liegt in der konkreten politisch- dictatorship” (Jarausch 1999:60) and a operativen Situation innerhalb des für das Musikleben der DDR verantwortlichen Perso- “participatory dictatorship” (Fulbrook nenkreises begründet. […] Dabei ist es von 2005:12): Emancipatory and egalitarian besonderer Bedeutung, daβ der Kandidat über goals were combined with a repressive, umfangreiche Verbindungen ins Operations- dictatorial practice. On the one hand, the gebiet verfügt, deren Nutzbarmachung zur In- formationsgewinnung über die Ziele und Ab- individual was expected to be committed sichten der führenden Persönlichkeiten des to society, on the other hand he/she was Musiklebens in Schweden, in der BRD und in clearly expected to subordinate him- or Österreich für das MfS von Bedeutung ist, herself to the collective. weil dadurch Möglichkeiten eröffnet werden auch Informationen aus anderen Bereichen When the state of the GDR finally dis- des wirtschaftlichen und gesellschaftlichen appeared after 1990, the ways in which Lebens dieser Staaten zu erarbeiten, da durch power was exercised and the justification den Bekanntenkreis des Kandidaten umfang- narratives changed radically. Now it was reiche Kontakte zu führenden Vertretern des Monopolkapitals bestehen. […]” up to the Stasi employees of the time to 2 “Normative Orders” is an association of re- reposition and legitimize themselves, and searchers from various social sciences and hu- as for the victims, it was up to them to manities disciplines, including European Eth- come to terms with their own past, to de- nology. The association was founded at the University of Frankfurt am Main in 2010, and mand justice. And they too had to reorient it sees it as its mission to investigate how po- themselves. There has not as yet been litical, economic, legal, religious and social much research done on this subject, and orders change, how different power structures even less on the influence the Stasi has develop from this, and how these in turn influ- ence power structures and life chances, on had in other states, such as Sweden. Also both a national and a transnational level. See still missing is a discussion of how the also: https://www.normativeorders.net/de/ Stasi’s power and justification strategies (visited May 2, 2020). can have influenced cultural life in other 3 For more information about the Stasi and its history, see among others Münkel (ed.) 2015, states and how this issue could be ad- Gieseke 2011, Almgren 2011. See also: dressed in our time. https://www.bstu.de/informationen-zur-stasi/ themen/was-war-die-stasi/ (visited May 2, Petra Garberding 2020). Associate Professor of European Ethnology 4 In 1969 the academies in the GDR were re- Dept. of History and Contemporary Studies organized and from that year on the Institute Södertörn University for Musicology was transformed into a schol- SE-141 89 Huddinge arly department (WB) Musicology in the new email: [email protected] Institute “Aesthetics/Art Science” (IÄK) (Klingberg 2000:196). 5 BStU, MfS, AIM 4952/89 C, pp. 81–82, 88. Notes 6 BStU, MfS, AIM Nr. 2452/63, Part I, pp. 21– 1 Bezirksverwaltung für Staatssicherheit Dres- 22. German original: “Ich, Heinz Alfred den, Leutnant Greif: “Vorschlag zur Werbung Brockhaus, geb. am 12.8.1930 in Krefeld […] eines IMS”, February 2, 1983. BStU, MfS BV verpflichte mich freiwillig, mit dem Ministe- Petra Garberding, “We Could Smell That He’s Stasi…” 63

rium für Staatssicherheit zusammenzuarbei- the wrong side politically, i.e. not in line with ten. Über diese Zusammenarbeit werde ich the party. gegenüber jederman [sic!] Stillschweigen be- 12 Interview with Ingeborg Allihn, June 18, wahren. Meine schriftlichen Berichte werde 2018. ich mit dem Namen K. Bergmann unterschrei- 13 Allihn emphasized in our conversation that ben. Mir ist bekannt, daβ ich bei Bruch dieser she did not have to report about him to the Verpflichtung nach den in der DDR geltenden GDR authorities. Gesetzen zur Verantwortung gezogen werden 14 Interview with Ingeborg Allihn, June 18, 2018. kann. Ich wurde bisher von keiner anderen 15 Some parts of this section about Gerd Schön- Dienststelle angesprochen oder verpflichtet. felder, the Stasi and the KMA have already Berlin, den 27.2.1958, Alfred Brockhaus.” been published in a Swedish article, but with a 7 BStU, MfS, AIM 2452/63, part A, Vol. 2, p. focus on the person of Schönfelder and his 88. German original: “Über das Musik.Wis- role in the KMA (Garberding/Geisler/Rosen- senschaftl.-Institut berichtete er folgendes: Es gren 2019). gibt jetzt eine richtige Konzeption von eini- 16 ”Antrag auf Ernennung des Prorektors für gen Studenten, die Beweisen [sic!] wollen, Lehre und Forschung der Hochschule für daβ Musik unpolitisch sein muβ, daβ sie Musik ‘Carl Maria von Weber’ in Dresden, nichts mit der Gesellschaft zu tun hat. Sie for- Genossen Dozent Dr. Sc. phil. Gerd Schön- dern auch weiterhin, daβ man die moderne felder, zum ordentlichen Professor für Musik- westl. Musik bei uns lehrt und aufführt. Fol- wissenschaft (Musikästhetik und Musik- gende Studenten gehören dazu: Wortführer geschichte)”, October 29, 1975. BStU, MfS [Name] 3. Stj./ [Name], [Name] und [Name]. BV Dnd, AIM 3242/90, I, Vol. 1, p. 93. [Name] sagte folgendes: Was kann sich schon 17 “Kurzbiografie Dr. Sc. Gerd Schönfelder”, October 10, 1973.” BStU, MfS BV Dnd, AIM in unserer Musik widerspiegeln? Nur Angst 3242/90, I, Vol. 1, p. 56. und Schrecken. […] [Name] sagt dazu, Welt- 18 BStU, MfS, BV Dnd, AIM 3242/90, II, Vol. anschauliche Dinge sind eben ausschlagge- 1, pp. 170–171. bend, daβ ist bei uns eben das Schlimme. 19 BStU, MfS BV Dnd, AIM 3242/90, I, Vol. 1, Macht man nicht mit, wird solange gedrillt, pp. 190–191. bis es paβt. 20 BStU, MfS BV Dnd, AIM 3242/90, I, Vol. 1, Der GHI schätzt ein, daβ [Name] ein ausge- pp. 187–189. sprochener Feind ist. 21 An example is Erich Stockmann, professor of In einem Seminarreferat bei Prof. [Ernst musicology, and his wife Doris Stockmann, Hermann] Meyer sagte die Studentin [Name]: asscociate professor of musicology. They Sie zitierte einen Aufsatz: ‘Die Wissenschaft were considered politically unreliable and muβ sich jeglicher pol. Stellungnahme enthal- were not allowed to travel together. BStU, ten.’ MfS, HA VIII, Nr. 2656, pp. 166, 168; BStU, Der Student [Name] sagte zu dieser Stu- MfS HA XVIII AP 51144/92. See also Gar- dentin [Name], sie solle nur aufpassen, daβ berding (forthcoming), 2020. sie statt Adolf [Hitler] nicht Walter [Ulbricht] 22 BStU, MfS BV Dnd, AIM 3242/90, I, Vol. 1, sagt.” p. 374. Note: [Name]: due to the protection of per- 23 BStU, MfS BV Dnd, AIM 3242/90, I. Vol. 1, sonal rights, I was not allowed to know the pp. 327 –336. See also Garberding/Geisler/ names of these persons in the file. Rosengren 2019. 8 BStU, MfS, AIM 4952/89 C, pp. 2–3. See 24 Ibid. also Klingberg 2000:210 and BStU 2015:44. 25 Hans Åstrand; October 13, 1981. KMA ar- 9 BStU, MfS, AIM 4952/89, Part II, pp. 48–49. chives, The Swedish Musik- and Theatre Li- 10 BStU, MfS, AIM 4952/89, Part II, pp. 49–50 brary (Statens Musik- och teaterbibliotek and p. 57. (SMB). Secreterary’s correspondence, E 5 a, 11 BStU, MfS, AIM 4952/89, Part II, p. 2. “A. is vol. 9. politically behind the fence” can be inter- 26 Inspector Köhler to Region Department Dres- preted as a metaphor, with which “John” den, October 23, 1981. BStU, MfS, BV Dnd, wants to say that “A.” [Ingeborg Allihn] is on AIM 3242/90, I, Vol. 1, pp. 198–201. 64 Petra Garberding, “We Could Smell That He’s Stasi…”

27 Gerd Schönfelder to GDR’s Customs, March 40 BStU, MfS, BV Dnd, AIM 3242/90, II, Vol. 9, 1982. BStU, MfS, BV Dnd, AIM 3242/90, 1, p. 242. German original: I, Vol. 1, pp. 198–199 and p. 356. “Wie ist die aktuelle Haltung der Akade- 28 BStU, MfS BV Dnd, AIM 3242/90, I, Vol. 1, miemitglieder zur DDR? Welche Erwar- p. 374. tungen werden an die weitere Zusammenar- 29 BStU, MfS, BV Dnd, AIM 3242/90, I, Vol. 1, beit mit der DDR auf kulturellem Gebiet ge- pp. 383–395. stellt? Welche Rolle ist Prof. Schönfelder da- 30 BStU, MfS, BV Dnd, AIM 3242/90, I, Vol. 1, bei zugedacht? Wie ist die Haltung der p. 370. Akademiemitglieder zu Prof. Schönfelder als 31 BStU, MfS, ZAIG, Nr. 26648, pp. 47–49. Kommunisten? Welche materielle Vergü- 32 BStU, MfS, BV Dnd, AIM 3242/90, I, Vol. I, tungen ergeben sich aus der Einwahl in die p. 374. Königliche Schwedische Akademie? Welche 33 BStU, MfS, BV Dnd, AIM 3242/90, I, Vol. I, Rechte und Pflichten hat ein Akademiemit- pp. 327–336. glied? Welche Zielstellungen verfolgt die 34 BStU, MfS, BV Dnd, AIM 3242/90, I, Vol. 1, Akademie im nationalen und internationalen p. 393. German original: “Es ist einzuschät- Rahmen? Welche Gelder flieβen der Akade- zen, daβ der IM selbst Interesse an einer mie zu? Wie werden die Interessen rechts- engen und vertrauensvollen Zusammenarbeit orientierter bürgerlicher Kräfte wahrgenom- mit dem MfS hat. Er hat erkannt, daβ der So- men? Wie und durch welche Personen wird zialismus in der DDR und auch international versucht die Interessen der USA und anderer nur durch die Anwendung konspirativer Mit- reaktionärer Systeme durchzusetzen? Wo sind tel und Methoden im Zusammenhang mit den die Ansatzpunkte für das Eindringen in die anderen Voraussetzungen zuverlässig vor in- Konspiration westlicher Geheimdienste er- neren und äuβeren Feinden zu schützen ist. kennbar? Insbesondere sind alle Erkenntnisse Der IM vertritt konsequente politisch-ideolo- im Zusammenhang mit der Vergabe von No- gische Positionen. Er ist überzeugter Kommu- belpreisen bedeutsam.” nist und Internationalist, was er nicht in jedem 41 BStU, MfS, BV Dnd, AIM 3242/90, II, Vol. Fall offenbart.” 1, p. 242. 35 BStU, MfS, BV Dnd, AIM 3242/90, I, Vol. I, 42 KMA archives, SMB, KMA minutes, “Pro- p. 374. tokolldossier”, A 3 a, Vol. 21, 1984–1985. 36 BStU, MfS, BV Dnd, AIM 3242/90, I, Vol. 1, 43 KMA archives, SMB, A 1 a, KMA minutes, p. 370. German original: 1984–1985. “[…] Dabei ist es von besonderer Bedeu- 44 Interview with Erik Lundkvist, March 2, tung, daβ der Kandidat über umfangreiche 2018. Verbindungen ins Operationsgebiet verfügt, 45 BStU, MfS, BV Dnd, AIM 3242/90, II, Vol. deren Nutzbarmachung zur Informationsge- 1, p. 249. winnung über die Ziele und Absichten der 46 Ibid. führenden Persönlichkeiten des Musiklebens 47 BStU, MfS, BV Dnd, AIM 3242/90, II, Vol. in Schweden, in der BRD und in Österreich 1, p. 290. für das MfS von Bedeutung ist weil dadurch 48 BStU, MfS, BV Dnd, AIM 3242/90, II, Vol. Möglichkeiten eröffnet werden auch Informa- 1, pp. 290–291. German original: “Ziel der tionen aus anderen Bereichen des wirtschaftli- Akademie ist, die kulturellen Werte hoch zu chen und gesellschaftlichen Lebens dieser halten und vor allen Dingen eine ungeheure Staaten zu erarbeiten da durch den Bekann- Breitenarbeit zu entwickeln, um die kulturel- tenkreis des Kandidaten umfangreiche Kon- len Bedürfnisse und das kulturelle Niveau der takte zu führenden Vertretern des Monopol- Bevölkerung zu heben und mit der Hebung kapitals bestehen.” dieses Niveaus im Grunde genommen die 37 BstU, MfS, BV Dnd, AIM 3242/90, II, Vol. 1, Amerikanisierung Europas zu paralysieren. p. 55. Es sind klare Bündnisbeziehungen, die sie zu 38 BStU, MfS, BV DnD, AIM, 3242/90, II, Vol. uns hinweisen, das hat er mir ganz klar ge- 1, pp. 67–72 and pp. 73–79. sagt. Verschiedene Dinge, die wir hier ge- 39 BStU, MfS, BV DnD, AIM, 3242/90, II, Vol. macht haben, werden z.B. von ihnen über- 1, p. 69. nommen wie Musik für Kinder, Kinderklas- Petra Garberding, “We Could Smell That He’s Stasi…” 65

senarbeit, um den Menschen gleich von vorn- tiskt mullvadsarbete.” Svenska Dagbladet, herein in der Erziehung auf ein kulturell June 6, 1994; Koskinen, Stefan: “Stasiman hohes Niveau hinzulenken.” var ofta i Sverige.” Svenska Dagbladet, Janu- 49 BStU, MfS, BV DnD, AIM 3242/90, II, Vol. ary 9, 1995; Koskinen, Stefan: “Spionen som 1, pp. 290–291. German original: “Die In- gick vilse i salongerna.” Svenska Dagbladet, teressen der rechtsorientierten Kräfte wahrzu- January 9, 1995; Koskinen, Stefan: “Svar.” nehmen, ist immer sehr schwierig, weil die Svenska Dagbladet 1995. sich nie so exponieren. Wenn man in deren 55 See Garberding/Geisler/Rosengren 2019. Wohnung ist, dann machen sie sich gegensei- tig schlecht und wenn man sich dann am Ban- References kett gegenübersitzt, dann sagen sie sich die schönsten und liebenswürdigsten Sachen. Abraham, Nils 2007: Die politische Auslandsar- beit der DDR in Schweden. Zur Public Diplo- Dort ist also das Parteienprinzip nicht so wie macy der DDR gegenüber Schweden nach der in der BRD. Rechtskräfte zu erkennen, ist diplomatischen Anerkennung (1972 –1989). sehr schwierig, aber es gibt welche. Sie expo- Nordische Geschichte, Vol. 6. Berlin: Lit Ver- nieren sich wie dieser Wellin, Karl-Erik lag. [sic!], der sich öffentlich gegen die DDR ge- Allihn, Ingeborg (ed.) 1997: Kammermusikführer. stellt hat mit diesen ganzen schwachsinnigen Stuttgart: Metzler. Unterstellungen wie Freiheit, Menschlichkeit Almgren, Birgitta 2009: Inte bara Stasi… Relatio- usw. Er ist auch Mitglied der Akademie und ner Sverige – DDR 1949–1990. Stockholm: am Tag meiner Einwahl ferngeblieben. Er war Carlsson Bokförlag. auch einer derjenigen, die zwei Jahre lang da- Almgren, Birgitta 2011: Inte bara spioner. Stasi- gegen gesprochen hat [sic!]. Er war aber auch infiltration i Sverige under kalla kriget. Stock- einer derjenigen, denen die DDR die interna- holm: Carlsson Bokförlag. tionale Karriere verschafft hat. Almgren, Birgitta 2016: Dröm och verklighet. Er war einer der Orgelspieler, die in die Stellan Arvidson: kärleken, dikten, politiken. DDR kamen und zu groβen Musikfestspielen Stockholm: Carlsson Bokförlag. hier spielten wie Händelfestspiele, Musiktage, Arvidsson, Alf 2008: Musik och politik hör ihop. Biennale usw. Jetzt kommt er nicht mehr, das Diskussioner, ställningstaganden och musik- habe ich schon bei der Künstleragentur ge- skapande 1965–1980. Umeå universitet: Etno- klärt. Ausgerechnet dieser Mensch hat diese logiska skrifter 46. Möklinta: Gidlunds förlag. Möglichkeit dort genutzt, um eine unter- Arvidsson, Alf 2014: Bilder från musikskapandets schwellige Propaganda zu betreiben, über vardag. Mellan kulturpolitik, ekonomi och este- Jahre hinweg.” tik. Umeå universitet: Etnologiska skrifter 59. 50 Interview with Erik Lundkvist, March 2, Bernhard, Theresa 2018: Musik. Bildung. Distink- 2018. tion. Symbolische Kämpfe im kulturellen Feld 51 Interview with Erik Lundkvist, March 2, der DDR. Berlin: Logos-Verlag. 2018. Bretschneider, Simon 2018: Tanzmusik in der 52 Interview with Ingeborg Allihn, June 18, DDR. Dresdner Musik zwischen Kulturpolitik 2018. German original: “Da musste man und internationalem Musikmarkt 1945–1961. schon hier aufgewachsen sein und eine Sensi- Bielefeld: Transcript-Verlag. Serie: Musik und bilität dafür entwickelt haben…, dass man sa- Klangkultur, ZDB-ID: 2865896-6; 31. gen kann, ich rieche das, der kann nicht an- BStU 2015: Abkürzungsverzeichnis. Häufig ver- ders, der ist Stasi…” wendete Abkürzungen und Begriffe des Ministe- 53 Åhlén, Carl-Gunnar: “DDR-hefen [sic!] som riums für Staatssicherheit. BStU: Berlin. vände åter hem.” Svenska Dagbladet, Decem- Dankić, Andrea 2019: Att göra hiphop. En studie ber 2, 1989; av musikpraktiker och sociala positioner. Mal- Åhlén, Carl-Gunnar: “Mitt påstående blir mö: Universus Academic Press. obesvarat.” Svenska Dagbladet, December Florath, Bernd 2015: “Die inoffiziellen Mitarbei- 23, 1989. ter.” In Münkel (ed.), pp. 40–51. 54 Åhlén, Carl-Gunnar: “Stasi-man favorit hos Forst, Rainer 2015: Normativität und Macht. operachefen.” Svenska Dagbladet, June 6, Suhrkamp Taschenbuch Wissenschaft 2132, 1994; Bäumel, Mathias: “Kulturellt och poli- Berlin: Suhrkamp Verlag. 66 Petra Garberding, “We Could Smell That He’s Stasi…”

Forst, Rainer & Klaus Günther 2010: Die Heraus- History of the GDR, ed. Konrad Jarausch, pp. bildung normativer Ordnungen. Zur Idee eines 47–69. New York: Berghahn Books. interdisziplinären Forschungsprogramms. Nor- Kelly, Elaine 2014: Composing the Canon in the mative Orders Working Paper 1/2010. Univer- German Democratic Republic. Narratives of sität Frankfurt am Main. Nineteenth-Century Music. Oxford: Oxford Foucault, Michel 2003: Övervakning och straff. University Press. Fängelsets födelse. Lund: Arkiv förlag. Kelly, Elaine 2019: “Performing Diplomatic Re- Fredriksson, Daniel 2018: Musiklandskap. Musik lations: Music and East German Foreign Policy och kulturpolitik i Dalarna. Umeå universitet: in the Middle East during the 1960s.” Journal of Institutionen för kultur- och medievetenskaper. American Musicological Society, Vol. 72, Fulbrook, Mary 2005: The People’s State. East Number 2, pp. 493–540. German Society from Hitler to Honecker. New Klingberg, Lars 2000: “IMS ‘John’ und Schosta- Haven: Yale University Press. kowitsch. Zur Stasi-Karriere von Heinz Alfred Garberding, Petra 2020, forthcoming: “Zur Ent- Brockhaus.” In Dmitri Schostakowitsch – Kom- stehung der Musikethnologie als internationale ponist und Zeitzeuge, ed. Günter Wolter & Disziplin – das Beispiel Erich Stockmanns und Ernst Kuhn, pp. 194–226. (Schostakowitsch- Doris Stockmanns.” Conference Paper, pres- Studien Bd. 2, Studia slavica musicologica. ented at the conference “Ethnologie als Ethno- Texte und Abhandlungen zur slavischen Musik graphie: Interdisziplinarität, Transnationalität und Musikgeschichte sowie Erträge der Musik- und Netzwerke der Disziplin in der DDR” at the wissenschaft Osteuropas, Vol. 17). Berlin: Department for Anthropology of the Americas, Kuhn. Institute for Archaeology and Cultural Anthro- Kowalczuk, Ilko-Sascha 2015: “DDR-Alltag und pology, Bonn University, February 1–2, 2019. MfS.” In Münkel (ed.), pp. 69–76. Paper will be published in 2020 in a conference Lenski, Katharina 2015: Geheime Kommunika- volume. tionsräume. Die Staatssicherheit an der Fried- Garberding, Petra, Ursula Geisler & Henrik Ro- rich-Schiller-Universität Jena. Frankfurt/New sengren 2019: “‘Jag ser till att bli uppfattad York: Campus. som en vanlig DDR-medborgare’. Musikfors- Mauss, Marcel 2002: The Gift. The Form and karen Gerd Schönfelder, Kungliga Musikaliska Reason for Exchange in Archaic Societies. Lon- akademien och Stasi.” Svensk tidskrift för mu- don/New York: Routledge. sikforskning/Swedish Journal of Music Re- Münkel, Daniela 2015: “Was bedeutete es, ein search, Vol. 101, 2019. Tschekist zu sein?” In Münkel (ed. ), pp. 29–39. http://musikforskning.se/stm-sjm/node/243 Münkel, Daniela (ed.) 2015: Staatssicherheit. Ein Gieseke, Jens 2011: Die Stasi 1945–1990. Mün- Lesebuch zur DDR-Geheimpolizei. Berlin: chen: Pantheon. BStU. Halbrock, Christian 2015: “Nonkonformität, Ver- Noeske, Nina & Tischer, Mattias (eds.) 2010: Mu- weigerung, Protest, Widerstand und Opposi- sikwissenschaft und Kalter Krieg. Das Beispiel tion.” In Münkel (ed.), pp. 77–85. DDR. Köln: Böhlau. Hedin, A. 2005: “Ingenstans den minsta motvil- Polzin, Arno 2015: “Postkontrolle, Telefonüber- ja?” Den östtyska resekaderns besök i Sverige. wachung, Funkaufklärung.” In Münkel (ed.), In Kommunismens ansikten, ed. Anu-Mai Köll, pp. 104–112. pp. 284–317. Eslöv: Symposion. Rosengren, Henrik 2018: “Musik som politik. Heidemeyer, Helge 2015: “Das Ministerium für Musikrelationerna Sverige‒DDR. Propaganda, Staatssicherheit und sein Verhältnis zur SED.” kulturarv, karriär.” Vetenskapssocieteten i In Münkel (ed.), pp. 10–19. Lund, Årsbok 2018:75‒87. Jahn, Roland 2014: Wir Angepassten überleben in Wodak, Ruth, Rudolf de Cillia, Martin Reisigl, der DDR. München/Berlin/Zürich: Piper. Karin Liebhart, Klaus Hofstätter & Maria Kargl Jarausch, Konrad 1999: “Care and Coercion. The 1998: Zur diskursiven Konstruktion nationaler GDR as Welfare Dictatorship.” In Dictatorship Identität. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp Ta- as Experience. Towards a Socio-Cultural schenbuch Wissenschaft 1349. Boys’ Memories in Adult Narratives Positioning and Qualia in the Retelling of Boyhood By Jakob Löfgren

How would you recount the experience of and (at times) toxic (cf. Veissière 2018; growing up as a boy? Stories we tell our- Kivijärvi et al. 2018:13 ff.). Boyhood sto- selves are often normative and tell of how ries are ascribed a qualia with certain con- the world should be according to our cul- notations: feral (in literary representa- tural norms (Veissière 2018). Stories tion), problematic, toxic and hierarchical bring the world they describe into being (in public). This leads to the question: How (Veissière 2018). In public, boys are often is qualia constructed in male life stories? spoken of as a cohesive, worrying group. The aim of this article is to highlight Concerns typically related to boys are vio- connections between qualia and position- lence, exclusion, or anti-schooling (Kivi- ing in autobiographical stories about boy- järvi et al. 2018:8). The stories (and to hood in the Swedish-speaking context. By some extent research) connected with analysing qualia in the informants’ stories, boyhood tend to represent boys as gen- through the lens of narrative positioning I dered archetypes: free, feral and up to no will analyse their autobiographical pro- good (cf. Veissière 2018). cess, and the informants’ evaluation of In narratology, the experience narrative their upbringing. By doing this I want to corpus explored in previous studies high- diversify the picture of male stories con- lights similar concerns: boys’ academic cerning boyhood, concentrating on narra- performance, school violence (Dutro tion rather than representation, and qualia 2002) and boyhood anxieties (Thorn & and positioning rather than normativity McLean 2003). Other studies focuses on and ideal types. the representation of the boy in literature, or on stories aimed at boys’ potential mar- Questionnaire Questions and ket. Stories about boys and boyhood in lit- Answers erature tend to represent the character as The material in this article consists of an- feral. Representations studied are protag- swers to a questionnaire in Swedish, dis- onists like Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry tributed digitally in Sweden and Finland Finn (cf. Ziff 2012). An example of a in 2019. The questionnaire has been de- study of boys as intended audience and signed, distributed and archived at the connections to masculinity constructions Swedish Literature Society’s (SLS) ar- is Wooden and Gillam’s study Pixar’s chive in Helsinki and at the Folklife Ar- Boy Stories: Masculinity in a Postmodern chives at Lund University (LUF). The Age (2014). Wooden and Gillam’s ap- choice to send out lists in two countries proach is a feminist analysis of the media was intended to broaden the informant directed at boys. Kidd’s (2004) study of base, to get as many Swedish-speaking feral stories and the construction of boy- answers as possible, and to diversify the hood or Pollack’s study of the “boyhood answers in relation to upbringing, class myth” (1998) both deal with stories and and geographical whereabouts. boys while focused on mediated stories. The questionnaire was exclusively The choice of topics previously studied in aimed at men, which was unique. A great male childhoods mirrors a discussion of deal of effort was devoted to constructing masculinity as hegemonic, hierarchical open and inclusive questions that “create

Ethnologia Scandinavica, Vol. 50, 2020 68 Jakob Löfgren, Boys’ Memories in Adult Narratives

the opportunity to express experience in standing of the text’s form, function and the form of storytelling in a reflective way significance. Pöysä points out that close and where the use of evaluative words and reading is an intuitive method, in which a emotional expressions conveys the narra- dialogue is formed (2010:331‒334). This tor’s attitude to the world.” (Marander- dialogue is done by repeated re-readings Eklund 2012:65). The issue that kept com- of the text, but more importantly, in taking ing back in the collaboration with the ar- notes (ibid.). In the close reading process, chives was the issue of the average per- I have looked for passages where the in- centage of male respondents/responses in formant tries to position himself as a nar- archive rolls being very low. In the Nordic rator in order to understand the narrator’s archives, the majority of respondents are view of his experience, his feelings and women. Therefore, the list was partly his boyhood. treated by the archives as a marketing strategy aimed at obtaining more men to Autobiography, Qualia and enlist in the archive respondent systems, Positioning partly treated as an opportunity to get a The narratives are discussed through (pri- material corpus of male life stories. marily) two separate narratological con- With that in mind, about 25 answers per cepts: (1) qualia and (2) narrative posi- country have been obtained. In demo- tioning. These two concepts move in the graphic terms, all the informants are realm of story and emotion, which makes men, born between 1933 and 2001. They them relatable to autobiographical story- represent different socio-economic back- telling. Autobiographical storytelling com- grounds and different regions in Finland municates a view of what we call our- and Sweden. As for ethnicity, the inform- selves and our actions, reflections, ants are Swedish-speaking men. The an- thoughts and place in the world (Bruner swers to the individual questions have var- 2001:25). Such stories are a subset of life ied in length from a couple of sentences to narratives that can be described as a selec- approximately 20 pages per theme. The tive process involves memory, experi- answers to the questionnaire as a whole ence, identity, execution and agency (cf. range from two to 85 pages. The inform- Smith & Watson 2000:15). The retention ants will be referred to only by date of of the autobiographical process is an en- birth and the town or region of upbringing deavour to “win back what has gone they have provided to the archive. I leave wrong” in one’s life (Freeman & Brock- out names and occupations, as these de- meier 2001:81). The goal of this process is tails, especially in smaller locations, can not a historically correct representation of lead to the informant being traceable. a lived a life, but to show that a life has I have sorted, categorized and ap- been worth living (ibid.) The autobio- proached the informants’ stories by a graphical stories are seen here as a separ- method of close reading (Pöysä 2010). ate story world (Herman 2009; Young Close reading is attentive analysis of a text 1987), in which emotion is conveyed with a focus on significant textual details through positioning (Douglas 2010). A that let researchers develop a deep under- process of the informants’ active selection Jakob Löfgren, Boys’ Memories in Adult Narratives 69

of memories shows “an affective pattern of a construction of one’s identity (Hynni- and themes that define a person’s most nen 2017) and as such it is a potent tool in important concern” (Singer & Salovey the deconstruction of autobiographical 1993:4). narratives and self-defining memories. The concept of qualia or “the sense of Jyrki Pöysä examines narrative agency what it’s like for someone or something to using positioning theory (e.g. Davies & have a particular experience” (Herman Harré 1990; Harré & van Lagenhove 2009) is a basic function of stories. The 1999) and positioning analysis (e.g. Bam- term is used to focus on the subjective ex- berg 2003). Positioning tends to be perience conveyed in stories, rather than viewed as a technique that is used in inter- storytelling. “Qualia is an unfamiliar term action, between narrator and narrated. for something that could not be more fa- Pöysä made the argument that, if in every- miliar to each of us: the ways things seem day narrative, for example in a conversa- to us” (Dennet 1997:619), which includes tion, positioning takes place immediately, thoughts, experiences and perceptions of in a space-time shared by speakers, then an experience. Narrators readily use dif- the idea of narrative positioning extends ferent techniques to evoke a representa- the scope of the subjects to a position be- tion of experience in the storyworld. The yond pure interactive positioning (cf. term “storyworld” is the occurrences and Pöysä 2009). Narrative positioning is situations in narrative texts upon which driven by narrative framing and rhetorical the audience’s interpretation of the story is reimagination (Pöysä 2009:323). Building based (Herman 2009:106–107). The on this understanding of narrative posi- points of evaluation are revealed in the use tioning, Hynninen explicates Pöysä’s no- of clues or “signals that convey informa- tion stating that: tion about these underlying norms and The narrative frames function as if they were be- values” (Herman 2009: 70). tween the immediate real world and the abstract Narrative positioning is the construct in narrative world […] rhetorical reimagination usu- which a character is explained in a series ally involves the crystallization of the narrative of positions vis-à-vis, for example, other [text] (the content and form of the narrative are es- tablished) and the narrative [performance] (the characters in the story, other stories or so- narrative, stylistic, and thematic features of the cial stages. This conveys an understanding narrative that were not present in the original nar- of the narrator and his worldview (Her- rative). By reimagining and at the same time repo- man 2009). Narrative positioning studies sitioning, the narrator can construct new actors’ have been conducted by Anna Hynninen positions (Hynninen 2017:263 [author’s transla- (2017) and Jyrki Pöysä (2009). Position- tion]). ing theory marries well with the folklor- Thus, narrative positioning functions on a istic study of everyday life narrative common horizon that is shared between studies, since “[P]ositioning takes place in narrator and narrate, beyond the present affective relationships with people, but time and place of when the narratives also with different discourses, practices, were written. Keeping in line with Hynni- places, and spaces” (Hynninen 2017:90). nen, I will analyse the positioning by the The act of positioning is often seen as part informants on a storyworld level (e.g. the 70 Jakob Löfgren, Boys’ Memories in Adult Narratives

position from which the informant writes). ing themselves as, in the story? (cf. The analysis is conducted by investigating Hynninen 2017:263). I will explicate textual cues of positioning that express af- these positions, by using three positioning fective relationships to people, discourses tools; relationships, materiality and posi- and material things. The purpose of this tion vis a vis (master)narrative context article is not a psychological analysis of (cf. Hynninen 2017:90; Fivush & Haden the answers. Rather, I want to show how 2003). the feeling and experience of boyhood ap- pear in the stories. The happy war child, the “non-thug” and For the purpose of this article, I have se- the introvert lected the answers of three informants. All Early in the autumn of 1943 we were sent to Swe- three answers are between ten and twenty den as war children. We came to the same city; [small town in Sweden] Sweden’s largest railway pages long. They tell the stories of differ- hub, in [Southern County]. We actually came to ent generations of Swedish-speaking live in the same house too, though we were not to- men’s upbringing. The oldest of the three gether in the same way as before. [Brothers name] was born in 1933 in Mariehamn (Åland came to a medical family with two older children. Isles), and writes a boyhood story that My family was childless, but had a dog (Man, Ma- stretches through the winter war and into riehamn, 1933). the 1950s. The in-between informant is a During the wars in Finland numerous chil- man born in Vasa (Ostrobothnia) in 1970, dren were evacuated to Sweden, and and his story takes place in the late 1970s placed in foster families. One part of the and ’80s. The youngest informant was story of the elderly man from Mariehamn born in a Stockholm suburb in 1987, and dwells on his experience as a “war-child” tells a story that stretches between the late in Sweden. The above quotation is the 1980s and 2000. The choice to analyse opening of the retelling of that experience. these three autobiographies was dictated It is part of the answer to the question con- by geographical and generational differ- cerning everyday life. He begins the entire ences, as they exemplify three time segment with the position of a war child, periods as well as three different loca- referring to his brother who happened to tions. As such they are a representative stay in the same building as him for the sample of the entire material corpus, duration of the war. The comment about meaning that the informants discussed himself being placed in a childless home, here represent the informants as a whole, I interpret as a position of a “wanted boy”, the age groups and geographical spread of rather than an expression of loneliness; an the respondents, and that the issues and explanation of what-it-was-like. positioning techniques correspond with In a subsequent section of the story he writes about his relationship to his “Swe- the entire material corpus. dish dad”: Positioning within the Storyworld My Swedish dad, [Dad’s name], and I had a good relationship. Locomotives were my big interest. I will concentrate on the positioning done He got literature on the subject from the library. by the informants within the storyworld. Dad was [working as an] accountant at a company In short, who are the informants position- called Bilkompaniet, and he had previously been Jakob Löfgren, Boys’ Memories in Adult Narratives 71

a taxi driver. So, my great interest in cars was sister of my age. [She] and I sometimes took bike founded. rides together. We enjoyed each other’s company. He saw that I was collecting stamps. So, he picked up his old stamp albums and bought me al- This is yet another example of how the bums for Finnish and Swedish stamps. And he story transmits the what-it-was-like of the himself took up his old stamp interest. Then we wartime childhood, depicting the boyhood both sat sometimes in the evenings and fiddled as a happy one. I claim that the function of with stamps. the people referred to in the segment is to The informant is pointing out the good re- function as textual clues used to transmit lationship and shared interests with his the qualia of happy memories. The affec- Swedish dad, emphasizing the position of tive component of positioning with people a happy child, by positioning his Swedish (Hynninen 2017:90) provides textual dad, as a father, with whom he had an ex- clues to transmit happiness. This tech- cellent relationship. In the same manner nique is prevalent throughout the inform- the friend mentioned is a clue to the same ant’s writings, also when talking about his childhood happiness, showing how “posi- brother, his friends in Finland or his par- tioning takes place in affective relation- ents. The story that emerges is one few an- ships with people” (Hynninen 2017:90). tagonistic characters. It is told as a remi- The relationship with the dad functions as niscing about a happy past, despite it be- a textual clue to how the boyhood is to be ing wartime. This is a sort of justification; perceived by a narrate; as a happy one. An the boyhood was happy despite the war. In emotion that culminates in a segment de- conjunction with qualia, the use of posi- scribing the family’s summer place: tioning without any direct conflicting po- sition with close ones accentuates the po- The family had a summer place in a community sition of a happy childhood and that the located two railway stations from [Resident town] narrative self was a happy child. This along the narrow-gauge railway line towards [Bigger town]. [Friend’s name]’s family were our technique, transmitting happiness through neighbours there. Two other families lived near- lack of conflict with characters in the by: Lindgren’s and the old couple [Female] and story, is one readily used by other inform- [Male]. [The couple] had grown boys. One was a ants in the material corpus, signifying that sea captain, the other had a fox and mink farm happiness is expressed as a lack of inter- right next door. I was often there when the animals personal conflict and is tied to narratives were fed. I enjoyed being with [them] and was in which the informant wants to portray maybe a little too often there. They had a dog of the same breed as my family had (German Vor- himself as happy and lucky, despite con- steh), but their dog Mitzi was calm in contrast to flict. Sickan who was apparently wrongly raised. The The informant from Vasa utilizes posi- community was next to [a lake] where there were tioning-by-way-of-character in a different crayfish. I had to learn to catch crayfish with cords manner. A self-professed introvert, the and pieces of roach. We didn’t use nets or traps positioning is contingent on an opposing because we didn’t really have permission to catch position vis-à-vis the others in the story. crayfish at our dock. (I later wondered why there was a dock because the family had no boat, and This example is written by the informant you couldn’t swim at our beach). […] [My friend] in the answer to the second question in the had an older brother who was an engineer, and a questionnaire: 72 Jakob Löfgren, Boys’ Memories in Adult Narratives

Of course, since we were close in age, [Friend’s done by two juxtaposed relationship posi- name] and I played a lot together. However, we tions connected to affect; the detestation are very different, he is an extrovert and likes of the schoolmates juxtaposed with the ad- nightlife and such, while I am introverted and miration to the father as a role model. more fond of reading and thinking about profound questions. In our teens we did not get on well. I Later on, the informant tells the story of thought he was slap-happy and he thought I was a being bullied in school, but he is not with- dullard. Later we started to appreciate each other out friends in his childhood. In one ex- again (Man, Vasa, 1970). cerpt the informant writes: The positioning of the informant as an in- In school, however, I had a certain feeling of in- trovert is here directly contrasted against security. The comrades were unpredictable and the friend’s slap-happy disposition. This could be nasty. And I was a year younger than the others. I remember once when we built a treehouse position is furthered throughout the an- in the neighbourhood and some older boys came swers: and meddled. They had other opinions about how it The schoolmates had their idols – pop stars and ath- was to be built, but I didn’t dare to assert my opin- letes. I abhorred this whole silly cult. I couldn’t un- ion. When I misunderstood their instructions, they derstand that anyone could identify with people got angry, which scared me. I was also shy. In the who produce loud music or do trivial things like classroom, I never said anything without being kicking a ball. Dad has always been my role model. asked. In high school, I was uncomfortable ex- He was knowledgeable and proficient in all areas, pressing a dissenting opinion, but overcame the except for things that require social skills, and so he fear due to strong conviction (Man, Vasa, 1970). thought independently. Once in my teens I would Yet again, there is a position vis-à-vis buy a new jacket, but could not find one that I liked, other characters. In this case, it is not the but then I found the same model that Dad had, so I took it (Man, Vasa, 1970). strategy of othering, in the sense of “they were stupid”. Rather the strategy is a clas- In this quotation the informant ratifies his sic, polarizing “strong vs. weak” position position as an introvert, by positioning (Herman 2009:55), where the informant himself in connection to two sets of char- explains his emotions of anger, fear and acters: the others (his schoolmates) and introversion, in an underdog position. The his father. In contrast to the preceding in- crucial textual clues are the use of the formant, the affect transmitted by posi- affect of shyness, fear and insecurity tioning vis-à-vis the (affective) relation- vis-à-vis the older boys. The affects justi- ships construct, uphold and transmit a fy the position of the others as “stupid”. qualia of outsidedness. The informant This position is a stance found in all in- uses the affect of the relationship to em- formant narratives in the corpus, in which phasize the what-it-was-like to experience the informant positions himself as the un- his boyhood. This is done by the textual derdog. The positioning-by-character in clues in telling about pop stars and ath- this form transmits a qualia of the experi- letes. Together with the description of his enced boyhood as a struggle for survival. dad as a role model, this creates a position This is not odd, seeing that the informant and transmits the qualia of outsidedness, tells a story that explicates a boyhood and emphasizes for the narrate the affects plagued by bullying. In that sense it is an and experience of the informant. This is answer that has a reflective aspect in a Jakob Löfgren, Boys’ Memories in Adult Narratives 73

therapeutic sense (cf. Asplund Ingemark low). The violence experienced in the seg- 2013); writing “something off one’s ment (and in the answers) as a whole, is al- chest”. ways part of ‘the other’. The position of The youngest of the informants tells a the posse is juxtaposed against “Turks” tale in which he positions himself as part and “racists” as the other. of a group of boys. The position he The informant, in contrast to the other ascribes himself is one of a “geek”, class two considered in this article, tells in a clown, hanging out with loyal friends in a style that positions him against a lot of world that he finds violent. The story told characters (friends, family, “others”). The is one of a posse of loyal, lifelong (male) story throughout is an evolution from the friendship, in what he experiences as a position of a self-professed geek, and violent environment: “nice guy”, who has to evaluate the vio- Some of my friends at home carried a knife and lent surroundings and explain the experi- [Friend 1’s Nickname] had started hanging with ence of the upbringing. The experience is the gang that had previously robbed us. They were retold as gratitude towards the posse of the “immigrant gang”. My and [Friends Nick- friends. It is a story about male friendship: name]’s buddy [Nickname] had started to become a racist and planned to buy a gun to shoot his old Between the age of 12 and 15, [Friend 1] and bully (luckily it didn’t come to that). There was a [Friend 2], were my best friends. I told them great deal of talk that we needed to get to know everything, even the stuff that I wasn’t supposed gangs, AFA or Hells Angels or Dalen in order to too, like when my dad was in prison. Officially he have some defence in case we were attacked. […] was touring with his band. But they got to know It was better in town than at home, I thought. In everything. We used to discuss who deserved to town, we used to sit on [2nd friend’s name] dad’s be together with the girl we all fell in love with at roof, one of the old six-storey houses along [Street the time (usually [names of girls]) and tried to get name], and talk about life. About girls and who we it as fair as possible while rationally listing which were in love with. Me and [2nd friend’s name ] couples were most compatible. [Friend 2] was the and [3rd Friend’s name] talked a bit about politics best-looking, and we all had a hard time in our too, […] it was good conversation, not conflict- way, so usually we came to the conclusion that filled (Man, 1987, Stockholm). [Friend 2] had the most chance. [Friend 1] liked a girl in the class that no one else liked and we The position vis-à-vis characters is one of thought we were good. […] We used to talk about a collective “us” against another “them”. who we thought were poor, and who were rich in The segment is written in a form that con- our class and who probably was taking drugs, had tinuously promotes (and positions) the in- lost his virginity and so on. Most of all, we prob- formant as part of a crowd. This is done by ably still talked about our parents and how and telling the story of the surrounding violent why they were who they were (Man, Stockholm, 1987). environment, through the crowd, and friends; using textual clues such as names Referring back to constant conversations of gangs and reference to weapons; juxta- with the posse of friends is part of the po- posing the violence with the conflict-free sitioning strategy that relates to qualia. friendship. Furthermore, the informant’s The experience, the what-it-was-like, of story could be interpreted as first-hand ex- the story is one of collective and gratitude perience which is referred to as “toxic towards the friends during boyhood. The masculinity” (Veissière 2018 and see be- position vis-à-vis the posse expresses 74 Jakob Löfgren, Boys’ Memories in Adult Narratives

more than just gratitude. The pattern of The tin soldier war had changed little. A ball had continuous referral to the posse signals a replaced the guns and shell casings, and the sol- sense of explanation; “if it was not for you diers sought protection near the chair and table guys, it would’ve been shit”. legs and moved according to certain rules. Some- times there was war on the “great plains” on the at- The positioning techniques that is used tic floor (Man, Mariehamn, 1933). by the informants here is found through- out the material collected for the analysis. The tin soldiers and the games convey a The use of character positioning is tied to sense of a feral and happy boy; in this case narration of how one wants to be per- throwing balls in the attic. The same can ceived: happy, as an outsider and part of a be said about the fortress and the ant crew crowd. of the bark boat. The stories connected to material objects are mostly reminiscent of The happy, the feral and the mischievous the boyhood representations in literary – positioning through objects works: playing, feral and happy. Curious- Positioning can be an act of attachment to ly enough, this seems to be a pattern that material actors (Davies & Harré 1990:48). repeats itself in the other informants’ auto- I will now turn to the connection between biographies as well. material objects mentioned in the auto- We had a villa […] on an islet in the archipelago. biographies, and the qualia connected to There we spent all of Dad’s holidays and all week- positioning using objects. The use of ob- ends during the summers. The islet was not that jects is seen as a part of telling from a po- big, but we owned the entire islet. It is filled with stones and boulders, so we always climbed on sition. I will consider a series of quota- them and also in the trees. We built huts and made tions from the informants, all of which small boats of board tags, and I remember we built bring objects into focus to as part their his- a cannon of some logs. It lasted for several years. tory as a boy. […] Mum gave us free rein on the islet, although Near our home there was a shooting range in the you can injure yourself if you fall from the rocks woods. We went there to pick up empty shell cas- or into the water, but no accidents ever happened. ings. We used the sleeves in our small wooden The island was (and is) a paradise (Man, Vasa, cannon when we had tin soldier’s war. In the 1970). yard we had a small pool of water in a depression In this quotation, the informant utilizes in the mountain. There we played with bark material objects (the log cannon, stones, boats, and had ants and beetles as a crew. Said animals as well as centipedes were also made to rocks, the surroundings of the cottage) to crawl up from more or less deep sand craters that convey a feeling of freedom and paradise. we dug. In the winters we built snow fortresses The environment of the cottage and sauna and had snowball fights, skied and went kicking itself can be seen as a cultural artefact “re- or sledding on the “Big Hill” (Man, Mariehamn, lied upon as tools for remembering, focus- 1933). ing attention, and interpreting, but also, In this excerpt, there are references to sev- and simultaneously, as tools for socially eral material objects: tin soldiers, snow positioning oneself and others” (Cole & fortresses, bark boats. Especially the tin Holland 2009:487). The position con- soldiers are a reoccurring object through- structed by using the material objects and out the informant’s story: environment is one of a boy free from the Jakob Löfgren, Boys’ Memories in Adult Narratives 75

boundaries of the self-expressed problems interesting vis-à-vis the positioning by with bullying and introversion; a paradise. means of material objects, in this case La- It conveys a what-it-is-like component of serdome, arcade hall, games and guns, is “lack of restriction”, using materiality as a that they too perpetuate the understanding backdrop to express a feeling of a feral of boyhood as free and feral. The passage and happy boy. The use of material ob- about the soft air guns positions the boys jects is connected to the same sense of vs. parents, in that the mother is fined for freedom and feral boyhood later on in the the boys’ behaviour, but also a position informant’s story: against society. The mother is fined for We used to cycle into town and go and ask different letting them have toys that society disap- companies if they had stickers. We rode a lot, and proves of, despite the boys being robbed. we had speedometers on the bikes. Sometime at this Peculiarly, the quotation tells a story of time it became mandatory for moped riders to wear the feral boy which is in line with the in- a helmet. We thought that was ridiculous. When I formant’s story as a whole: a band of was twelve, we would ride […] to Grandma’s cot- tage, which we now had as a summer residence. In friends, who lives in a violent environ- [village name], a truck ran past us and my hat blew ment. The qualia in the story, I interpret as off because of the wind (Man, Vasa, 1970). one of freedom and a feeling of the feral. In the excerpt the bikes are the artefacts The two go hand in hand. The story takes that focus the attention for the retelling of place after school, with friends, and tells a story that ends in an evaluation of the about the leisure time spent with friends. boyhood as free; the informant’s games In a later use of positioning by means of were more active than those of his sisters. material, the informant positions himself The informant from 1980s Stockholm as the feral boy: uses the same techniques when describing What I really loved about being a boy was that I his “things”: was expected to be active.[…] I love that I got to climb, wrestle, fight with latex foam rubber After school we go to the video game exchange swords and play temple knight wars, that I got to and stand in line to try out Tekken 2 or we go moon at the window of the hairdresser’s salon and home to Erik and play “Golden Eye” on his Nin- piss down on passing cars from the pedestrian tendo 64. Sometimes we go to the arcade hall and bridge on [street name] (Man, Stockholm, 1987). go to the Laserdome, or go to the adventure bath in [Borough name]. I go diving and I’ve dived The material objects (rubber swords, the from the number seven and did a bellyflopp from window and the bridge) acts as a means of number five. [My friend] and I will start orienteer- social positioning. The social position ing together this autumn and it will be fun. I play with soft air guns that [Nickname] has and once against society is an explanation using we get robbed with a knife, which we report but what-it-was-like to position and empha- instead, [Nickname’s] mum gets fined for letting size the informant’s experience as free us have soft air guns. I play Starcraft at home al- (feral) and happy. ternating with the Sims and Age of Empires (Man, Throughout the informants’ quotations Stockholm, 1987). concerning and referring to material ob- Keeping in line with the story of a gang of jects, one can see a connection with mate- boys, the informant from Stockholm re- rial objects, breaking of rules, and a notion fers to a communal experience. What is of freedom. This is done by using the ma- 76 Jakob Löfgren, Boys’ Memories in Adult Narratives

terial act as “the crystallization of the nar- sition is acceptable to, or resisted by, a rative” (Hynninen 2017:263), using the valued audience” (ibid.). The informant’s materiality to transmit freedom. The man positioning of himself vis-à-vis a master born in 1933 does not explicitly tell about narrative is a form of explanation of rule breaking, but there are certain clues. what-it-was-like growing up, in the par- The bark boats filled with insects, the pit ticular time and place where this hap- filled with insects, and the fact that they pened. The particular position told is a throw balls indoors all lead me to interpret textual clue to how the qualia is to be in- the what-it-was-like as mischievous, if not terpreted by an audience. rule breaking. The story of the Ostroboth- The oldest informant was brought up nian man directly reveals his position amidst the Winter War and the Continua- about the ridiculousness of moped riders tion War between Finland and the USSR having to wear helmets, insinuating a (1939‒1940, 1941‒1944), and the experi- rule-breaking attitude towards the law. ence of being a war child is part of the Similarly, the passage about the summer self-defining memories of his boyhood. cottage includes the notion that there were Keeping that in mind, the mention of the fewer rules, in that the mother gave the war is marginal. The war(s) are however a boys free rein, in other words, a paradise. constant backdrop, a master narrative in The Stockholm lad connects rule break- the background of his boyhood experi- ing, boyhood, friendship and being feral ence. Consider the following quotations: by explicit use of material objects as There was a war going on. Empty bottles and means to focus the story and position him- newspapers were collected for the state, and rasp- self as anti-authoritarian. berry leaves and rose hips for the family. And I Of the techniques described in this tried to dig up troublesome dandelion roots. The roots would be dried and ground to become surro- article, the expression of freedom, fun and gate coffee. During part of the continuation war, breaking the rules by positioning with ma- Dad was stationed in the area around north-west terial objects is the most commonly used Ladoga; […]. It must have been pretty quiet then, by all informants in the material. The because he sent home lots of salted mushrooms qualia of freedom is connected to toys, and a set of bows and arrows mounted on a card- bikes, and other objects in male retellings board board (Man, Mariehamn, 1934). I think I wasn’t really scared at any time. (Once of childhood. I noticed that the boat I was pushing out with force was missing oars. But I had a bailer. When the city Happy vs. suffering – A twelve-year-old was bombed during the war and you sat in the anti-communist – despite-violence-here- basement you were so small that you just thought I-am it was exciting) (Man, Mariehamn, 1934). The last part of this article concerns posi- The two quotations are the only time the tioning by means of master narratives. war is mentioned directly in the inform- Master narratives are used by narrators as ants’ retelling. Both quotations entail a re- strategies for sense-making (cf. Thorn & turn to the position of “the happy war McLean 2003:171): “The minimal criter- child”. This is done by using textual clues ion for identifying a master narrative is the that emphasize both struggle and joyful perception that a particular emotional po- moments. The gifts sent home from the Jakob Löfgren, Boys’ Memories in Adult Narratives 77

front, together with the casual mentioning icles from international press, also belonged to the of the war – “There was a war going on” – literature. At the end of that year, a sample of and the chores that had to be performed; Contra magazine dropped into our mailbox. It was anti-communist and fearlessly challenged the this position states the fact of a war going tenet of the time. I was fired with enthusiasm and on, but retains the position that it was a hap- quickly subscribed. I started writing pieces in the py boyhood. This is a position prevalent Vasa magazine, and with Contra’s help, I could throughout the narrative, turning the retell- easily reveal the copious propaganda that flour- ing into an explanation or justification, ished at this time (Man, Vasa, 1970). contingent on the master narrative of the In this excerpt from the informant’s story, Finnish wars. What-it-was-like is de- he positions himself as a conservative scribed through the position of the happy young boy, by the use of the 1984 US elec- war child, conveying a feeling that can be tion of President Reagan. He focuses on the described as my-upbringing-was-a-happy- experience of communist propaganda and one. This experience of the war is juxta- anti-Americanism in Finnish media at the posed with the master narrative of the wars time. The use of the election and the men- in Finland, reflecting on the war through re- tion of anti-Americanism and anti-com- flexive positioning by continuously re- munism positions the informant experience minding the narrate that the childhood was as against-the-perceived-societal-values- happy. The story of the happy war child is of-the-time. Later he describes his experi- a form of rejection or correction of the pre- ence of Finnish state television: vailing picture of the suffering of the war, a I remember that we were subjected to propaganda. slight resistance to the master narrative One programme was about a world where boys (Thorn & McLean 2003). This strategy re- and girls had different tasks. Then they ended up occurs in different forms in the retellings of in different places and a crisis arose when tasks the two other informants. were left undone. But a couple named Hansa and Thorn and McLean state that “the con- Honsa realized that it doesn’t matter who does what, and so everything started to work. Their cept of master narrative positioning al- memory is carved with the pronouns he and she. I lows for considerable agency with regard thought the gender uniformity of the sexes was to acceptance or rejection of community uncomfortable and perverse. A few years later, I value” (Thorn & McLean 2003). The in- may have been about 12 years old, I saw a chil- formant brought up in Vasa in the 1970s dren’s programme whose purpose was to inform and 1980s use this form of master narra- children about current affairs. They talked about tive positioning. He rejects the values of US President Ronald Reagan. He was an actor and had figured out that you could run the movie about the community he is brought up in: Fin- Robin Hood backwards and take from the poor land in the midst of the Cold War. and give to the rich. Even a twelve-year-old could In my teens, I became very interested in politics. I see through such communist propaganda (Man, watched the US presidential election closely in Vasa, 1970). 1984, and was happy Reagan won. The anti- This is a prime example of how storytell- Americanism in our media disturbed me. I read ers resist the master narrative (Thorn & Newsweek, which Dad subscribed to on my behalf from the age of 14. It provided information, but McLean 2003). The informant uses the was probably a little far to the left. The magazine master narrative of the Cold War to posi- Tempus, whose business idea was to translate art- tion himself as a conservative, pro-Ameri- 78 Jakob Löfgren, Boys’ Memories in Adult Narratives

can boy. The use of performative lan- beaten up at school, and promised myself that I guage such as “propaganda”, and his ac- would be brave and intervene when my friends count of viewing the children’s television were beaten, but it only happened a few times. There was always a risk of interrupting the bullies, Hansa and Honsa both work as a way to you could get reprisals like a knife in the back position himself by retelling the affective later (it happened only once as far as I know). As response to gender uniformity: uncom- a guy, you could defend yourself. I remember Dad fortable and perverse. The master narra- telling me, “You don’t have to be such a coward” tive is opposed, conveying the alternative (Man, Stockholm, 1987). position of the informant, justifying the References to assault, gangs and violence position of feeling compelled to position create a position in which the qualia is cru- his personal experience (ibid.). The what- cial; the qualia is to be perceived as vio- it-was-like to experience this position as a lent and scary. The use of affect, of textual conservative boy among communists is clues such as discomfort, fear of reprisal textually underlined by the use of the 1984 and violence, positions the informant as US election, juxtaposed with the story of onlooker to the violence. Juxtaposed with the children’s television show. The qualia this, the resistance position is the constant conveyed could be interpreted as struggle return to the posse of friends, and the feel- against society, a justification of a con- ings of friendship experienced. The posi- servative view opposed to the societal dis- tion of the teller is one of despite-the-vio- course he experienced while growing up. lence-here-I-am. I would also claim that If the two informants can be argued to the narrative as whole reads as a commen- use positioning by means of master narra- tary on toxic masculinity. The informant’s tive as a form of positioning by resisting, I story is an “eyewitness” retelling of the take the last informant’s narrative as a “toxic”; a commentary on being brought whole to be a form of justification based up in what is to be considered toxic mas- on resisting. The story offered by the man culinity and persistence. In this, the story born in 1987 has numerous textual clues is a resistance position towards the story that can be interpreted as a story about the of toxic masculinities. violent suburbs of Stockholm, in the late Throughout my material, when master 1990s and early 2000s: narrative positioning is used there is al- I thought that since I was born in a suburb (a pros- ways a degree of resistance. Master narra- perous suburb really, just my street and a few tive positioning thus seems to be used to more that were a little rougher) I would never be explain one’s world view, by way of re- able to get any decent job and I remember how, as sistance; the men in the material corpus a fifteen-year-old, I memorized a lot of entry codes in case I in the future would have to sleep explain their view of the world around there. A friend lived in our school then, too. Her them by means of opposition. father had custody of her even though he was a heroin addict and had abused her as a child. So I Concluding Remarks assumed I would live on the street as an adult. Ab- All the men in this study use positioning solutely absurd, but I thought so. As a 14‒16-year-old, I had no good role models. […] I techniques to convey qualia to the narrate, felt uncomfortable when “Turk gang” was in rendering an understanding that Swedish- town. I felt uncomfortable when people were speaking men of different generations and Jakob Löfgren, Boys’ Memories in Adult Narratives 79

geographical whereabouts use positioning important concern is to convey a justifica- in order to convey the qualia they want to tion of one’s life; including views on so- transmit. By positioning themselves vis-à- ciety, happy moments and justification for vis people, things and narratives, the in- one’s behaviour and affects; whether they formants employ a process of showing are happy, resisting or in seclusion. The that their life has been worth living (Free- concerns are conveyed by the various po- man & Brockmeier 2001:81). The male sitioning techniques described. childhood stories convey what-it-is-like to I view the informants’ stories as expla- experience (a Swedish-speaking) boy- nations and justifications. The stories hood. The way this is done is by a position “brought into being” (Veissière 2018) are and qualia of justification. Since the posi- to some extent to be seen as a reaction tioning techniques described here are against the prevailing boyhood issues dis- present throughout the material corpus cussed in the public sphere (Kivijärvi et al. collected for this study, it seems reason- 2018:8). The justification can be viewed able to conclude that in Swedish, what the as an attempt by the informants to juxta- informants convey as their most important pose their boyhood with the perceived concerns are to be found in the position negative picture of boyhood. My analysis they narrate. Furthermore, the positions shows how this is done by transmitting a the men take show similarities to the other more varied and nuanced boyhood qualia informants in the material corpus; charac- than the feral often associated with boy- ters are positioned to reveal their self-per- hood representations in literature (cf. Ziff ception, objects are connected to freedom 2012). This shows that the informants put and master narratives are opposed. The themselves in contrast to societal under- positioning is crucial for the transmission standings of boyhood as problematic and of both the “affective pattern and themes at times toxic behaviour. The feeling con- that define a person’s most important con- veyed, the qualia, of autobiographical re- cern” (Singer & Salovey 1993:4), and for telling of boyhood thus seems to be some- the qualia (Herman 2009). Since the posi- thing-to-be-explained-and-justified. tioning is used in this way, it makes qualia and positioning inseparable. Compared to Jakob Löfgren earlier studies on autobiographies, these PhD, SLS researcher in Nordic folkloristics at autobiographical stories cannot be la- Åbo Akademi University. Department of Art and Cultural Sciences belled as “win back what has gone wrong” Ethnology in one’s life (Freeman & Brockmeier Box 192 2001:81). Rather, my informants attempt SE-223 62 Lund to show what-it was-like, and tell how email: [email protected] their experience/position is justified. The positioning is used to explain or justify References what it-was-like to experience boyhood; Field material reflecting on their place in the world Questionnaires: LUF 252 (Folklife Archives, Lund University) (Bruner 2001:25); showing the inform- SLS 2337 (The Society of Swedish Literature in ants’ most important concerns. The most Finland (SLS), Helsinki) 80 Jakob Löfgren, Boys’ Memories in Adult Narratives

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”Is it mandatory to celebrate children’s sive and exclusive aspects of birthday par- birthdays?” A mother of five with a Soma- ties, underlining that they invited either li background asked this question in a par- everybody in the school class, or all the enting class she attended with other par- girls or all the boys. They had made sure ents from East Africa. The mother ex- to make religiously neutral food and tried plained that she experienced a very specif- to keep the expenses for the gifts down, ic demand from both the kindergarten and hoping to make the birthday party into an school concerning birthdays: that her chil- inclusive event. They were also concerned dren should have a celebration. “Why are with why some children with a migrant children with a migration background not background did not attend birthday par- attending birthday parties in our chil- ties. Some made a special effort to facili- dren’s classes at school?” A white middle- tate for poor children or children with a class mother asked this rhetorically, partly migration background to join birthday to herself and partly to others, while dis- celebrations. cussing how to make a more inclusive We argue that birthday celebrations are school environment in a parents’ meeting not just private or individualized family at a school. During our fieldwork with matters. They are also symbolic events parents of different class and ethnic back- highlighting important codes of belonging ground in a diversified area in Bergen, the in schools, neighbourhoods and nations. second largest city in Norway, we noticed An increasingly pluralistic society has that questions about birthday parties were brought up discussions about birthday of high concern among both professionals celebrations in different arenas. Discus- working with children and many differ- sions of birthday parties for children fea- ently situated parents. Some parents in our ture in the media, in integration courses study discussed how to perform it, others aimed at refugees, parenting classes, parent- whether to do so at all, and many reflected teachers’ meetings, working committees upon expectations concerning guests, gifts at schools, and in everyday conversations. and hosts. In this article, we will draw on conversa- A mother with a Somali background tions about birthday parties which took asked a neighbour for help on how to or- place at different settings during our field- ganize a birthday party and received a list work, as well as interviews with parents and explanations that she used. A couple and written material such as newspaper ar- with an Eastern European background ticles and public information on websites told us how they had tried to organize a for education. Media articles expose the party “the Norwegian way” and had even way in which birthday celebrations have surfed the internet for information. But come to represent ideas of belonging in still they had done something wrong: the nation state, and symbolic events for Choosing a date when many Norwegians integration which we believe are also re- were on holiday had the result that no flected in the ways in which the parents re- guests showed up for their daughter’s par- flect upon and respond to birthday parties ty. Parents with a majority background in their everyday lives. Media articles also were frequently concerned with the inclu- indicate the invisible scripts that parents

Ethnologia Scandinavica, Vol. 50, 2020 82 Hilde Danielsen & Synnøve Bendixsen, “Is it Mandatory to Celebrate Birthdays?”

respond to in their meetings with birthday suitable for studying cultural and social celebrations. processes. Like any rituals, birthday par- Birthday celebrations may be important ties bring along tacit but important, social rituals within families and between par- practices and expectations through which ents and children. Children themselves these events should be performed. The have an independent and crucial role as codes are often implicit, and they are not actors in organizing birthday celebrations, shared by all, for example, due to class as shown by Scott (2007). Our focus, differentiations or ethnic background. As however, is not on children’s experiences a consequence of migration and new ways of birthday celebrations, but rather on the of parenting and upbringing in Norwegian symbolic value ascribed to birthday cele- society, we see an increasingly heated brations as part of ideas of the particular public discussion about the ritual of birth- collectivity and community. We investi- day parties for children. gate birthday parties as a ritual of belong- Although children’s birthday parties ing in order to understand broader mech- are frequently discussed in the popular anisms of exclusion and inclusion in Nor- press, as we will investigate later in this wegian society. Further, we examine how article, and the ritual is an inherent part of differently positioned parents and other Western popular culture (Otnes & adults, such as teachers, discuss birthday McGrath 1994), they have received only parties for children, and keep a special in- limited research attention. Within the terest in investigating how they negotiate fields of Nordic cultural studies, formerly ways to respond to the expectations in- named ethnology and folkloristics, there is volved. Organizing or attending birthday a continual interest in everyday and sacred parties are in many settings in Norway rituals. Birthday parties are interpreted as taken for granted rituals with strong a ritual developing historically, underlin- scripts. When someone is not following ing individuality and the individual’s life the invisible rules regarding children’s course (Frykman & Löfgren 1979:37). Jo- birthdays, such everyday happenings be- nas Frykman and Orvar Löfgren place come a focus of attention. We will argue birthday celebrations as emerging rites de that birthday parties for children have be- passage in bourgeois environments in come a symbol of Norwegian values and modern times. Such celebrations became can be interpreted as manifestations of more widespread and common among everyday nationalism. working-class people after the Second World War, following the economic Everyday Nationalism as a Ritual of growth and prosperity made available to Belonging common people. Considering birthday parties as a ritual Two studies by Erika Scott (1999; means that we recognize that the event 2007) focus on birthdays parties as a ritual consists of specific rules and structures for children in Norway, within a multi- that are subject to negotiation and change- cultural context. Both studies are based on able according to specific place and time fieldwork and interviews with children, settings (Scott 2007:96). Rituals are thus highlighting their experiences with birth- Hilde Danielsen & Synnøve Bendixsen, “Is it Mandatory to Celebrate Birthdays?” 83

day celebrations. The last publication also ty, for instance analysing the pressure on covers the parents’ perspectives. Scott mothers to buy the right gift and arrange concludes that laying on a birthday cele- the appropriate party in the UK (Clarke bration for one’s child, including a party, 2007). has become a critical part of parenting ob- The concept of everyday nationalism ligations. For most majority parents and provides perspectives that shed light on many migrant parents, celebrating birth- the symbolic role of the ritual of the birth- day for their child is a habituated and nat- day party. Everyday nationalism is con- uralized part of parenting (ibid.).1 Scott cerned with the masses and human agency underlines that the performance of birth- within nationalism studies to consider the day parties carries strong normative ex- role and relevance of the lived experience pectations, which are also about social re- of nationalism, from a bottom-up ap- lations, socialization and class (ibid.). The proach (Knott 2015). It focuses on the Swedish ethnologist Helene Brembeck agency of ordinary people, as participants has studied how birthdays are part of the and users of national symbols, rituals and commercialization of childhood in the identities, as opposed to elites. Collective Swedish context (Brembeck 2007), and rituals in everyday life is a common object the development of commercial play- of research within studies that examine grounds as places for birthday celebra- everyday nationalism (Skey 2011). The tions has also been investigated within so- concept of everyday nationalism is de- cial sciences (McKendrick et al. 2000). veloped in relation to the influential con- Earlier research on birthday celebra- cept of banal nationalism, coined by Billig tions and parties in social sciences more to highlight that nationalism pertains to broadly has taken up different perspec- personal and group identities in the West tives and thematic issues. Scholars have (Billig 1995). Billig introduced the term to studied how children are socialized in show how nationalism is produced by their participation in the ritual of birthday people in everyday lives through forms parties in the USA, with gendered differ- that are not always visible and have be- ences (Otnes & McGrath 1994). The soci- come naturalized and are considered inno- ologist Michael Windzio (2012) has ex- cent. Nationalism, Billig shows, is pro- amined how birthday parties in Germany duced though the media by means of mun- are embedded in social networks of trust, dane symbols and conventional language. and considers attending birthday parties as The term everyday nationalism focuses an action based upon having or building more on human agency than banal nation- trust. Windzio finds that birthday celebra- alism, and gives an empirical lens to un- tions affect majority and minority children derstand the lived experience of national- in different ways, as minority children are ism (Knott 2015:1). There is a distinction less interwoven in exchanges of birthday between banal and everyday nationalism parties than majority children (ibid.). as stated by Fox and van Ginderachter Other researchers have focused on the (2018): whereas banal nationalism con- complicated role of gift exchange in birth- siders implicit forms of nationalism, fo- day celebrations, and the quest for equali- cusing in particular on the role of media 84 Hilde Danielsen & Synnøve Bendixsen, “Is it Mandatory to Celebrate Birthdays?”

and language, everyday nationalism is & Löfgren 1993). Billy Ehn, Jonas Fryk- more about everyday practices. Hearn and man and Orvar Löfgren focused in differ- Antonsich (2018), argue that the banal and ent ways on how national identity is root- the everyday nationalism approach should ed in everyday routines and rituals. This be combined in studies of nationalism in research gained a lot of interest and was order to capture both unspoken norms and followed up broadly. Frykman moved on practices. In this study, although taking in the 2000s to include affects and feelings these discussions into account, we rely on as research objects in the study of nation- the concept of everyday nationalism as we alism, also in line with how everyday na- think it entails both norms and practices. tionalism is perceived. According to the American sociologist The social anthropologist Marianne Bart Bonikowski, everyday nationalism Gullestad saw a strong link between chil- should be studied in so-called “settled” dren and nation building in Norway (Gulle- times, for instance in stable modern dem- stad 1996); children carry the Norwegian ocracies, and not only in moments of fun- flag on national celebrations and the Nor- damental institutional crisis (Bonikowski wegian flag is often included as part of 2016:424). This is a way to understand la- birthday celebrations for children. Her ar- tent tensions pre-existing or succeeding gument about children and youth as car- periods of shocks to the nation. The re- riers of the values of the nation is import- search strategy involves understanding ant to bear in mind. Within everyday na- dispositions towards the nation as rela- tionalism studies, some researchers focus tional, intersubjective, morally and affec- in particular on the role of children in tively laden and mostly taken for granted everyday nationalism (Millei 2019:20). (ibid. 429). Everyday nationalism has a The educationalist Zsuzsa Millei investi- tendency to become visible when breach- gates how children perform the nation, es of ordinary but otherwise unspoken and from a young age learn how to sense rules of social intercourse take place (Fox who “we” are in contrast to who “they” 2017:31). This includes when breaches at are (2019:85). Millei shows that children the borders of the national happen, or in enact the nation in institutional settings everyday life, for instance if taken-for- such as kindergartens and schools (Millei granted rituals, rules and norms are in- 2019, 2014). In such institutional settings, fringed (Fox 2017). national forms of knowledge, practices The concept of everyday nationalism and emotions naturalize specific notions fits very well with the research agenda in of the world (Skeggs 2011). Children’s Nordic cultural studies, with the effort to birthday parties are often planned and or- study everyday life and practices and ex- ganized within the framework of schools, plore the diverse meanings specific actors and educational institutions play an im- give to cultural phenomena. In the 1990s portant part in creating and repeating several ethnologists began to focus on scripts for birthday celebrations. how nationalism developed and was creat- In Norway, as in other Scandinavian ed in everyday life, by ordinary people, countries, everyday nationalism must be within a Swedish context (Ehn, Frykman read within the context of egalitarianism. Hilde Danielsen & Synnøve Bendixsen, “Is it Mandatory to Celebrate Birthdays?” 85

Studying the everyday life of the working bourers and a growing number of high class in particular, Gullestad (1984) ex- skilled and low-skilled migrants, and it plored the concept of “egalitarian individ- has the highest number of non-Western ualism”. Drawing on the scholarship of migrants in Bergen. Ethnic diversity is a Dumont, Gullestad argued that in a range recent social phenomenon, with growing of social contexts the dominant code of numbers of migrants from the 1990s and behaviour emphasizing equality in status especially from the 2000s, and the ways to was a pragmatic one: it was more about deal with it are currently enfolding. Both partners making each other similar over the local municipality and national bodies the course of interactions than about an currently view this area as vulnerable due objective form of equality. Gullestad’s to a high level of child poverty. analytical term “equality as sameness” has This article draws on qualitative field- become essential to understand the enact- work and interviews from the study “Par- ment of “Norwegianness” (Gullestad enting Cultures and Risk Management in 2002). Being considered as similar is a Plural Norway” (2014‒2017), which ex- precondition for being treated as equal amined how migration and increased class (Olwig 2011). At the core of the argument differences bring differentiations and the is that in a society such as Norway where co-existence of different ideas of parent- being considered as similar is a prerequis- ing in the same place. We conducted field- ite to be treated as equal, there will be an work and interviews at three different effort to invite newcomers to adapt to schools where we pursued observation everyday ways of life in Norway and an during teacher-parents’ meetings in the expectation that they should do so in a beginning of the school year (first to sixth similar way. In our fieldwork we found a year), parent committee meetings at strong commitment from many parents schools and events where parents were in- and professionals to make sure that birth- vited to the schools. We also followed day parties were arranged in what they neighbourhood initiatives and welfare themselves viewed as an inclusive man- state interactions – including at state- ner. funded parenting class in the areas. We conducted formal, open-ended, audio- Presentation of Cases, Methods and taped interviews with participants, some- Material times in their own homes, other times at a Bergen, Norway, where this study took neutral place. In a few cases, we made use place, is a relatively medium-sized Euro- of an interpreter. pean city (300,000) – and second largest We conducted a total of 45 interviews, in Norway. In 2015 almost 15 percent of each lasting between one and three hours, its population were immigrants from 164 with parents (middle-class and working- out of 192 countries ratified by the UN. class, non-migrant Norwegians and mi- The borough of Årstad, where we have grants) living in the three different neigh- pursued fieldwork, has a mixed popula- bourhoods in Årstad.2 Informants were re- tion. It caters to both the middle class and cruited through meetings and activities at social-housing clientele, highly skilled la- schools that we attended, through the 86 Hilde Danielsen & Synnøve Bendixsen, “Is it Mandatory to Celebrate Birthdays?”

snowball method, and through various days or the perspective of everyday na- leisure and neighbourhood activities tionalism when we designed our research where we met parents living in the area. project or methods. During our fieldwork We asked about their parenting practices on how parenting was performed and and ideals, including their views of discussed by diverse actors in different schooling, the relationship to the neigh- arenas, birthday parties were a recurring bourhood, and what they meant by “a topic brought up by different actors, in- good parent”. During our interviews, we cluding teachers, social welfare represen- had an open approach to the field – asking tatives, and parents with and without a mi- similar questions to everybody, while en- grant background. We encountered both suring that our sample included parents similar and different reflections among with a variety of class and migration back- majority and minority parents and profes- grounds. All names in this article are ano- sionals. Considering birthday parties as a nymized, in line with ethical guidelines ritual and thus part of the social construc- for research ethics.3 tion of reality, we found that this activity, In this article, we mostly rely on set- like other social activities, can be experi- tings where birthdays were discussed enced in multiple ways by diverse actors spontaneously, and even in the interviews and observers. The data we analyse for talk of birthdays mostly occurred when this article are based on our rereading of the interviewees themselves brought up our fieldnotes and interviews, where we the topic. The diverse settings we encoun- discovered different meanings that differ- tered gave us a broad understanding of ent actors attributed to birthday celebra- performances and discussions of parent- tions and observed the different settings ing by diverse actors, such as parents with where discussions about birthday parties and without a migrant background, and had occurred. We are not in a position to different professionals. We have also used use class as a clear-cut category in this art- the newspaper archive Retriever to find icle; while we came to know some of the newspaper articles covering birthday cele- informants intimately during our field- brations for children in the time period work, other informants we met only once around our fieldwork, in 2015 and 2016. during different parent or school meet- We used the search words “birthday par- ings, and we have less background infor- ties” and “birthday celebrations”, which mation about them. led us to a controversial public debate about birthday parties which we use as Public Discussions: Showcasing one case in the analysis of the media rep- Otherwise Invisible Strict Norms of resentation of birthday parties. We chose Integration this particular case because it covered Several official websites of educational many different actors on both the local institutions present birthday parties as cru- and national level and it dealt with the is- cial to participate in as a way to integrate sue of migrant children and birthday par- into everyday life in Norway. Some civil ties from a range of different perspectives. society organizations in Norway also offer We had not included the theme of birth- help in organizing birthday parties to poor Hilde Danielsen & Synnøve Bendixsen, “Is it Mandatory to Celebrate Birthdays?” 87

families and families with a migrant back- may contribute to a good school environ- ground, such as the Resource Centre Unik ment (FUG 2019). One piece of advice is (Frivillig 2019), which helps organize the following: “Cooperate with the other birthday celebrations for children in poor parents about common rules regarding families (https://frivillig.no/ressurssenteret- birthdays and other parties. Make sure that nunik-1). The expectations in Norway to nobody is kept outside” (ibid.). The for- celebrate in a certain way is strong. For mulation makes it clear that birthday par- example, the Norwegian Directorate for ties are a self-evident part of the school Education and Training (Udir) gives ad- environment. vice on how to organize birthday celebra- Birthday parties for children are a topic tions on their website, when addressing that reoccurs in Norwegian media. News- parents and writing about how grown-ups paper articles giving advice on birthday can help create friendship and inclusion menus typically claim: “It does not have among the pupils (https://www.udir.no/ to be difficult to make sure that all chil- laring-og-trivsel/mobbing/voksne-skaper- dren are included”, presenting a halal- vennskap/). Under the heading “Perform based allergy-friendly menu (Aftenposten an inclusive birthday policy” (ibid.) they 10 May 17). Another article advised on advice parents to invite whole groups, for “how to invite Muslims on birthdays” instance the whole school class, or all the (Vårt Land 17 January 2016), again pre- boys or all the girls within the school senting birthday parties as an event of pos- class, to celebrations. The argument is that sible inclusion. Norwegian media regular- “leaving someone behind or outside is a ly also cover stories where children have common form of bullying” (ibid.). They experienced that nobody came to their also urge parents to “talk to your children birthday celebration or children who and explain to them why it is important to never received invitations to such celebra- invite more children than they usually tions (Bergens Tidende 7 June 2016). play with” (ibid.). This way the welfare Such mediated stories highlight birthday state constitutes parents and birthday chil- parties as events of bullying as well as dren as citizens responsible for creating how social inclusion has failed. inclusive events, and for preventing isola- Norwegian voices, with and without a tion and harassment from happening. The migration background, have discussed National Board for Parents (FUG), which birthday parties publicly, with an under- represents parents who have children in standing of how this has posed a challenge elementary schools in Norway, closely for integration in recent years. During the follows up this strategy (FUG 2019, send- period when we did our fieldwork, an ing the same message as Udir, adding that imam claimed in an interview in a local parents should discuss the organization of newspaper that it was haram (prohibited birthdays and the price of the gifts at par- or religiously unclean) to celebrate birth- ents’ meetings at schools (ibid.). The aim days for Muslims, both grown-ups and of promoting values such as inclusion and children. He argued that such celebrations equality is clear. A poster about inclusion were not mentioned in the Koran or the is made, highlighting ten ways parents Hadith and were thus against the Islamic 88 Hilde Danielsen & Synnøve Bendixsen, “Is it Mandatory to Celebrate Birthdays?”

religion (Fædrelandsvennen 13 January asked the mosque for a meeting with the 2016). This local statement caused a na- imam, “to discuss integration in Nor- tional media outburst and led to a heated wegian society” (Dagbladet 16 January national debate. Several public figures 2016). The statement from the imam was with a Muslim or migrant background ap- framed as unacceptable in the national proached social and journalistic media to media debate that followed. defend birthday celebrations. Chaudry, a The Secretary of State in the Depart- well-known left-wing politician with a Pa- ment for Justice, Jøran Kallmyr, repre- kistani background, said: senting the far-right Progress Party said: To deny children the possibility to celebrate birth- “It is negative that we have imams that days is not only to deny them an innocent and true work against integration. I urge the imam pleasure, but it is also very harmful for a normal to reconsider. […] Imams should learn and understanding of co-existence in a pluralistic Norwegian values and, not least, gain an society (Utrop 15 January 2016). understanding of Norwegian society” (Af- Chaudry further focused on children’s tenposten 14 January 2016). Birthday par- rights to take part in this ritual and linked ties were equated with Norwegian values, acceptance of birthday celebrations to and allowing children to take part in birth- ideals of how one should live together in a day celebrations seemed like an obli- diverse society (ibid.). Abid Raja, repre- gation. A member of Parliament from senting a liberal party, a prominent mem- the Conservative Party, Hårek Elvenes, ber of Parliament and with a Pakistani added: “This is completely unheard of. To background, encouraged Muslims to turn prevent children from attending birthday their backs on the message from the imam parties is a perverse way of performing re- and celebrate birthdays with joy and pride, ligion that affects the children. This way, arguing: distance and delusions between groups are The fight over values in Norway is about how we created. It instigates parallel societies. should live together and have common norms and This is what we need least of all. This is an common arenas. Children who eat, play and cele- anti-integration measure” (Aftenposten 14 brate together at birthdays are not only creating January 2016). joy, but it is also good integration in practice (Af- To prevent children from attending tenposten 17 January 2016). birthday celebrations is here considered as This media controversy about birthdays an act through which you define yourself highlights not only current disagreements as outside the Norwegian community, within Muslim communities in Norway with no interest in integrating or following concerning questions of upbringing, reli- dominant norms and values in Norwegian gion and integration. It also suggests how society. This member of Parliament ex- children’s birthdays have become part of a poses a fear of migrants and what failure larger discussion on norms, values and of integration may lead to, by bringing up ideas of how to live together. The case the idea of parallel societies. A National also made Norwegian majority society’s Child Authority spokesman at the time views on birthday parties very visible. The stated, with reference to the United Na- mayor of Kristiansand went public and tions Convention on the Rights of the Hilde Danielsen & Synnøve Bendixsen, “Is it Mandatory to Celebrate Birthdays?” 89

Child that “children have a right to be ation between the school and home on heard in all questions regarding them, also their child’s first day in school, went from regarding birthdays” (Nettavisen 17 Janu- talking about reading, homework, behav- ary 2016). He encouraged parents to ask iour, and breakfast to address the organ- and listen to their children when it came to ization of birthdays. She clearly had par- birthday parties. The case was highly pub- ents with a migrant background in mind licized in national media, and in the end when talking about birthday parties, as the imam had to withdraw from his posi- most of the information she gave may be tion in the mosque (TV2 14 April 2016). It considered as common knowledge in Nor- was obviously not acceptable to publicly wegian society. During the meeting, she claim that children should not attend birth- informed that it is important to invite all day parties. This mediated case made vis- boys or all girls in a class and to provide ible a strong interlinkage between birth- feedback to the hosts when your child is day parties for children and national ideas invited to a party. The teacher confessed of inclusion, exclusion and integration, that she gets a stomach-ache when people where birthday parties became symbols of do not give notification that their child Norwegian ways of life. will not attend the birthday, adding, “It is very painful when children do not come to Birthday Parties as Tools for birthdays”, referring to the situation both “Tolerance” or Inclusion? of children who experience that guests do Schools were an important context for or- not come, and of children not allowed to ganizing the guest list for birthday parties, go to parties. “In my opinion, if you are in- within the framework of the school class a vited, then go”, the teacher said. The child belongs to. In some contact meetings teacher then addressed economic obs- between schools and parents that we at- tacles to participating, and advised the tended, teachers would advise parents to parents to agree upon a low maximum make common rules for the birthday cele- sum for the gifts, in order to prevent the brations. Parents would frequently raise gifts from becoming too expensive. How- the question of how to celebrate birthdays ever, much of this information was not at their specific school or class. Birthday translated to parents with a migrant back- parties, although organized and held out- ground in this meeting, as the interpreter side the realm of education, were thus was by then exhausted by the amount of seen as events that were legitimately dis- information the teacher gave. What the cussed in public in schools. Some teachers non-Norwegian-speaking parents under- in our fieldwork informed the parents that stood from this information was thus un- they were only allowed to distribute invi- clear; they did not comment on the infor- tations to birthday parties in the school en- mation. Judging from our conversations vironment if everybody in the class or with the parents with a migrant back- everybody belonging to the same gender ground in that particular class (more than in the class was invited. half of the parents), many of them were A teacher telling first-time school par- not able to understand what the teacher ents about the practicalities in the cooper- was saying. 90 Hilde Danielsen & Synnøve Bendixsen, “Is it Mandatory to Celebrate Birthdays?”

One of the evening meetings for parents for and the amount of food they should was arranged by a school where parents prepare, since they often were not notified were invited to discuss how they could by the children’s parents whether or not contribute to a better school environment. the child would participate. Another At this event, one of the sessions con- mother interjected, with a disappointed cerned in particular how parents with a voice: “It is part of having children in this migrant background could become more school, setting the table for everybody and involved in different activities. During then taking the cutlery away.” Some par- this discussion on inclusion and integra- ents added that their children had felt let tion, as we also experienced other places down because only a few children came to and times, the conversation soon touched their party, and the invited absentees had on the theme of birthday celebrations. A not given prior notification. Other majori- Norwegian majority mother seemed an- ty parents seemed particularly happy to noyed with parents who did not send their say that in their children’s class almost children to birthday parties. She said: “I everybody came to the parties, also men- feel sorry for the children who are denied tioning that this was a consequence of a the chance to go to birthday parties. We specific effort. Majority Norwegians had want the best, we want to give! But the for instance ensured Muslim parents per- communication cannot be only one- sonally that they would not serve pork to sided.” She referred to her son’s class their children. Some parents would specif- where more than half of the children had a ically call or text parents with a migrant migrant background. She criticized par- background beforehand, asking whether ents for letting their own and other chil- their child was coming, and sometimes of- dren down by forbidding them to go or by fering to bring their children along in their not facilitating their attendance at birthday car to other children’s parties. To focus on parties. In her view, those hosting parties the inclusion of migrants and level out so- gave something to others, just by inviting cial differences was a common trait them. Other parents continued the discus- among parents engaged in public bodies in sion, bringing up similar experiences. In a this school (Danielsen & Bendixsen later interview with this particular mother, 2019). she explained how she prioritized very Maria, a Norwegian majority middle- hard to save money in order for her child class mother who was very engaged in her to host a birthday party. They lived in pre- children’s schooling and leisure activities, carious economic conditions, and the boy was among those who had “done some- had to prioritize which birthday parties he thing extra to try to involve them in birth- would attend, as they could not afford to day celebrations”. “Them” were in this have him going to all the parties he was in- case parents and children with a Muslim vited to. background. Maria had experienced that Many remarked on how arranging half of the guests did not show up at her birthday parties for their children at this children’s celebrations, and she remarked school posed some challenges, such as un- that all of those not attending had a Mus- certainty about how many to set the table lim background. At first, her children had Hilde Danielsen & Synnøve Bendixsen, “Is it Mandatory to Celebrate Birthdays?” 91

been sad, but later they had accepted that parties, and her effort to find ways to pro- “this is how it is”. Maria, however, tried to mote the inclusion of all children in the find out why these children did not come, school class in birthday celebrations, was in order to understand what she could do a trait we found among other parents too. in order to make them come. She said: For majority parents, birthday parties One year I asked the teacher if she knew why they carried an expectation that children can were not allowed to attend. Couldn’t they afford meet across differences, an ideal some Nor- it? Because, for example, they can join in with the wegian majority parents living in these so- gifts my children are giving. So I have tried to fig- cially mixed areas held high (Danielsen & ure it out, how we can include everybody. But it is Bendixsen 2019). In the guest list, it is not not that easy, no. Now, I have spent a lot of energy socially acceptable to discriminate on the thinking about what we can do to include all the groups belonging to the school, discussed it with grounds of economic or ethnic back- other class representatives. But we have sort of not ground; on the contrary, one should espe- found a good solution, nor has the school. We can cially make sure that “everyone” should see that when we see who attends parents’ meet- be invited. Thus, what is sometimes ings. So I really do not know what I can do. viewed as an event and act focusing on an For Maria, trying to include children with individual child, in practice is tied up to different backgrounds in birthday celebra- community building and collectivity – tions was an integrated part of her engage- highlighting that the individual child is ment in her children’s everyday life and part of a community. As part of our field- school environment, and her effort to in- work, we have investigated how parent- clude minorities in activities in the neigh- ing, for some, also incorporates inclusive bourhood. Pursuing this issue further, she parenting (ibid. 2019). This entails not had asked some parents with a Muslim only a responsibility towards their own background why their children did not at- child, but a concern for and time invest- tend birthday parties. They had explained ment in other people’s children (Daniel- that it was not allowed because it could sen & Bendixsen 2018). This parenting take the focus away from Allah. Telling us style is linked to a desire to create a more this during the interview, she stresses that egalitarian society, and a belief that a on the other hand some Muslim families child’s upbringing and future depends did let their children take part, explaining upon the well-being of other people’s chil- that two children with a Muslim back- dren. It is against this background, we ground usually came to her children’s argue, that the parent’s emphasis on every- celebrations. Nonetheless, these two chil- one celebrating birthday parties, and of at- dren had not attended other children’s tending other children’s parties, should be birthdays, the reason for which she didn’t understood. know. One reason, she reflected, was per- haps that their parents trusted her more Critical Self-Reflection and New than other parents in the class, because she Practices had been in direct contact with them. The At one of the parents’ meetings we attend- engagement of Maria, trying to find out ed at one of the schools, a discussion on why some children did not attend birthday how to reach out to parents who were not 92 Hilde Danielsen & Synnøve Bendixsen, “Is it Mandatory to Celebrate Birthdays?”

present in school meetings turned into a 8-year-old daughter cycle around out- conversation about the possible reasons doors on her own. “They show us who we why some immigrants, mentioning Mus- are – the helicopter parents”, he added and lims, did not send their children to birth- criticized the risk-conscious Norwegian day parties or arrange parties for their style of child rearing. The parents’ dis- birthdays. The parents wondered if birth- cussion on ways of inclusion and birth- day parties involved too high costs be- day parties turned into a self-reflection on cause of the socially expected gifts, if the what they considered as Norwegian higher number of children in these fami- values, namely the engaged ever-present lies made attendance difficult to organize, risk-conscious parents attentive to their or if they did not appreciate birthdays. offspring. This self-reflection may be in- Later during this parents’ meeting, a terpreted as a willingness to understand white middle-class majority father be- and accept why others act differently than came more critical towards the idea of oneself. birthday parties, saying: “Birthdays are so Some parents told us that they had important to us; they may not be so im- changed the way they celebrated birthdays portant to them. They may not be able to due to living in a socially and ethnically invite others to a birthday party.” Other mixed area. They had tried to take the per- parents commented that they (“the Mus- ceived economic differences between lims”) may see the world with different families into account and organized it so glasses. The father continued: that the birthday child only got one joint present from all the children in the class What is the purpose of the birthday party, should children really get that much attention? We are so attending the party. This solution both engaged as parents, maybe too engaged. Those suited the middle-class parent who could who come here [to Norway as migrants or refu- avoid cheap plastic things, and it helped to gees] do not have that engagement, the close fol- make invisible the economic differences low-up with GPS and attending every [soccer] between families, at least in the gift-giv- training session. ing moment. This father was very critical towards a standard of parenting which he identified Some Migrant Parents’ Views: as typically Norwegian: much weight on A Necessary Custom? fostering the individuality of the child, be- The migrant parents we met through field- ing very concerned with giving much at- work, or interviewed, revealed very dif- tention to the child. Instead of letting the ferent views and experiences of birthday discussion about birthday parties be about celebrations. We encountered families the others and their so-called unwilling- with a migrant background who took ness to integrate, he turned the discussion birthday celebrations for granted, a few around, to become introspective about who thought that birthday celebrations “themselves” and their own parenting fo- were a Christian tradition and thus haram cus. He urged that Norwegian parents (ritually unclean or prohibited), families should learn from people like his neigh- who wanted to take part in this ritual as a bours, the Iraqi family who let their way to integrate into their neighbour- Hilde Danielsen & Synnøve Bendixsen, “Is it Mandatory to Celebrate Birthdays?” 93

hoods, and families who organized birth- could talk in their mother tongue while day celebrations in order to make their parts of the discussion took place in Nor- children happy. We will now dig into a wegian or were interpreted by the course separate part of the fieldwork consisting leader. Birthday parties were discussed of a group of parents with a migrant and twice during the nine afternoon classes religious background often mentioned by and the woman quoted at the beginning of majority parents as a category of parents this article, asking whether birthday par- that did not take part in birthday celebra- ties were mandatory, took part in these tions. classes. The first time birthdays were During our fieldwork, we participated brought up, the group discussed whether it in a parenting class for migrant parents was difficult to switch between two cul- and their discussions of birthday celebra- tures as parents. A mother then answered: tions. It was an official parenting class or- “Yes, with Christmas, and Christmas ganized by a local mosque with funding gifts, and birthdays.” A father followed up from the local municipalities. This specif- to confirm what she had said: “Birthdays, ic parenting class aimed especially at em- they are not a custom in my country, and powering parents with a migration back- it is challenging.” ground in their role as parents in a new The course leader, who had a migration country. The ten participants all had a mi- background, presented birthday celebra- grant background from East Africa. The tions as a Norwegian custom that parents main course leader was a representative had to deal with one way or the other, as it from the local mosque, certified by Nor- was a phenomenon they would encounter. wegian authorities to hold this particular Some of the parents talked about birthday kind of parenting class. There was also a parties as an event that seemed foreign course leader with a Norwegian non-mi- and distant to them. They had not celebrat- grant background. One of the researchers ed their own birthdays when they grew up, took part in this setting, observing the in- and birthday celebrations were not im- teractions and discussions. The partici- portant to them. A mother said that birth- pants in the parenting class had a long de- days were not important to her, but she bate about whether they should accept a made celebrations for her children’s sake researcher in the setting, and they decided because it was important to them. Another it was fine, partly because some of the par- mother said she felt pressure from her ents already knew the researcher from children to arrange birthday parties, and other parts of the fieldwork and ensured that once her son cried because she had the others that the researchers did not be- forgotten his birthday. The boy had no- long to government’s child welfare service. ticed this when he arrived in the kinder- The setting appeared to the researcher garten and the kindergarten employees as a safe space for the mothers and fathers had planned a celebration for him. This participating in the parenting class, as mi- example also suggests that not celebrating grant parents dominated the group. The at- birthdays in Norway is difficult, as the mosphere was very friendly and light- majority society expect a celebration, and hearted, with lots of laughter. Participants the kindergarten and school will mark the 94 Hilde Danielsen & Synnøve Bendixsen, “Is it Mandatory to Celebrate Birthdays?”

day for the individual child anyhow. In up with economic and practical arguments this case, the kindergarten can be said to against attending birthdays, which had not take over the role of the parents, providing been mentioned in the first discussion. the child with a celebration. Now many of them said that they had so Some of the parents present said they many children, some had five, others were against birthday celebrations due to seven, and so it would be extremely ex- their religious belief, stating that such pensive to let all of them host or attend celebrations would take attention away birthday parties. A mother of seven said from Allah. One father showed the re- that it would be economically and prac- searcher photos on his smartphone of the tically impossible if each of her children birthday parties his family had hosted, and should attend and give presents to all the eagerly pointed out that Norwegian ma- parties they were invited to. Many, and jority children were also present as guests probably most, of these parents lived in in their home during these parties. Yet he social housing and identified openly as did not share this information with the poor during other discussions in the par- other parents. The course leader wrapped enting class. up the discussion by saying that birthday Others parents commented that it was parties are a tricky question – suggesting too difficult to plan and organize their simultaneously that it nonetheless could children’s attendance at birthday celebra- be a valuable way to interact with their tions due to their practical responsibility neighbours. to look after their other children at home, The second time they discussed birth- or to difficulties connected to not having a day parties in the parenting class, the de- car to transport their children to the vari- bate was initiated by the researcher who ous settings. A father said that because was present. The course leader asked the they could not afford to celebrate their researcher if it was something she wanted own children’s birthdays it felt wrong to to discuss with the class on the last night let their children attend other children’s of the nine classes. The researcher sug- parties. His explanation for not letting his gested talking about birthday parties once children attend birthday parties thus had more, as she felt that there were more to be more to do with his self-respect and a wish said about the issue than time had allowed to not feel or be seen as inferior to other in the past discussion. The researcher families who were more well-off. brought up the way Norwegian majority Some parents who had seemed reluc- parents in the area viewed and discussed tant in the first discussion on birthdays, birthday parties. She told them how ma- now admitted to also organizing birthday jority parents felt sorry for their own chil- celebrations. A mother of three explained dren when invited guests did not show up, that she herself enjoyed celebrating her and they were curious as to why some par- children’s birthdays, but she made sure to ents did not facilitate such celebrations for do it the day before or after their real birth- their children. This second discussion days in order to honour Allah first. During evolved in new directions after this direct the coffee-break some of the parents quest for answers. The parents now came showed the researcher photos on their Hilde Danielsen & Synnøve Bendixsen, “Is it Mandatory to Celebrate Birthdays?” 95

smartphones of birthday cakes and happy Throughout this article, we have argued birthday children surrounded by guests. that birthday parties for children are repre- Overall, these parents talked about birth- sented in the media, through major institu- days as a Norwegian custom and taking tions and in everyday talk among majority part in them as something they did for parents as a naturalized and taken-for- their kids, who wanted this, rather than for granted occurrence in childhood in Nor- themselves or as a way to get to know way. The importance of birthday celebra- Norwegian parents in their neighbour- tions for children is not questioned, and hood. As such, they negotiated and the underlying premise seems to be that all changed everyday practices in their fam- children should have the opportunity to ily life in order to fulfil their children’s experience the same attention on their wishes. Looking at how this small group birthdays as other children do. For many of parents with a somewhat similar social, Norwegian majority parents their individ- ethnic and religious background encoun- ual child’s happiness and fulfilment of ex- tered birthday celebrations and expecta- pectations is in focus when arranging tions, strikingly different views and prac- birthday celebrations. However, simultan- tices became visible. eously at stake is their child’s social posi- tion in the larger community: the birthday Discussion: Birthday Parties as a party is also about creating and maintain- Litmus Test for Belonging in Nor- ing social networks and friendships. The wegian Society latter is why parents describe it as a trage- The open qualitative research design of dy if few or no guests come – through such this study, based on fieldwork and inter- events loneliness, lack of friends and so- views with open-ended questions, allowed cial position becomes established, notice- us to follow up on what parents and others able and affirmed. in a socially and ethnically mixed area Taken-for-granted rituals, norms and were concerned with. The inclusion of so- practices are typical features of everyday cially differently situated majority parents nationalism. Not facilitating birthday and migrant parents of different economic celebrations is interpreted as breaking un- and educational background gave a possi- spoken rules of conduct in Norway, and bility to analyse what differently situated this draws attention. In the media debate it actors talked about. During our fieldwork, was even considered as an act of anti-inte- it became clear that the issue of birthday gration or a signal of developing parallel celebrations as a topic was discussed in societies. In media debates we saw an different ways across social, economic equation between birthday parties and and ethnic differences. Why did birthday Norwegian ways of life. Supporting or not parties for children cause so much engage- supporting birthday parties becomes an ment, hope, anxiety, frustration and dis- invisible litmus test of whether you be- cussions? To understand the centrality of long, or wish to belong, in Norway or not. the ritual of birthday celebrations for chil- Migrant children and their parents become dren in everyday interactions, the perspec- objects of nationalization into Norwegian tive of everyday nationalism is useful. rituals. The Swedish sociologists Åker- 96 Hilde Danielsen & Synnøve Bendixsen, “Is it Mandatory to Celebrate Birthdays?”

blom and Harju (2019:1), also using framed as part of an anti-bullying strategy. everyday nationalism as a perspective, ar- As such, inclusion measures such as birth- gue that migrant children in Sweden are day parties can be interpreted as risk man- fostered to become “Swedish” in the pre- agement, with an effort to solve anxieties school setting to integrate them into related to integration, both in the present Swedish society. Their research shows and in the future. Children attending in that preschool education mediates domi- birthday parties become citizens, seen as nant culture to migrant children and they expressing normative standards and sym- “are being compensated for lack of as- bolizing ideals for how to live together in sumed national identity” (ibid. 2019:11). Norway today. Our study shows, in a similar way, how Minority parents had different ways of birthdays are educational tools used by responding to the birthday ritual in Nor- teachers and other professionals and par- way and its tacit rules: from embracing it ents to integrate children into Norwegian as an ordinary event in their children’s society. lives, to struggling with being able to per- Majority parents talked about birthday form this ritual, to being critical against parties as social arenas where every child the idea of birthday celebrations. In con- should be included. Some had an ideal that trast to how many majority parents talked special measures should be taken in order about the celebration of birthdays, some to include migrant and poor children, such of the migrant parents understood the rit- as negotiating prices of the gifts in ad- ual as situating the individual in focus (the vance to make reciprocity possible. By birthday child) – an individual event in framing the organization of birthday par- which one person receives a lot of atten- ties as part of anti-bullying strategies that tion and thus it became religiously prob- may encourage inclusion in school classes lematic for some. Additionally, the focus and neighbourhoods, such parties become on how they should deal with their chil- part of preventing children from becom- dren’s birthdays may for some be experi- ing marginalized. Birthday parties are enced as a trespassing of their private seen as potential meeting points between lives. The detailed norms regarding how children who otherwise do not spend time you should perform the party, such as hav- together outside of school. The inclusion- ing to include all members of a school ary aims that are linked to birthday parties class or all boys or girls in the class, or in the sense that “everyone should be in- serving specific food, are intended to cluded”, as expressed by some parents, make the party inclusive. But for some can be a response to anxieties: if some families such rules can mean that it be- children today are marginalized and ex- comes too overwhelming or difficult to cluded – or excluding themselves, this can host such a party due to lack of space in make inclusion in Norwegian society their home or lack of knowledge about the more difficult tomorrow. Birthday parties food expected to be served. are thus seen as events where it is import- Majority parents’ disappointment when ant to include everybody and the effort to some migrant children did not attend such ensure that nobody is left out is often events may also reflect an anxiety of par- Hilde Danielsen & Synnøve Bendixsen, “Is it Mandatory to Celebrate Birthdays?” 97

allel societies and express a potential fear and equality can also result in parents of too large difference in lifestyles and making sure that their children give religious beliefs. Bringing your child to birthday presents that are less expensive, other children’s homes requires a certain much cheaper than they can afford. This degree of trust, of believing that the other way they can keep down the costs of at- parents will show proper care and respect tending birthday parties, also for other that your child has a certain diet, for in- families. stance. It may be that the Norwegian ma- During our fieldwork we talked to a jority parents feel that they are not trusted poor single mother who even sold her own when other parents will not let their chil- furniture in order to be able to host the dren visit them. For some, it might appear kind of birthday party her child expected. as if arranging inclusive birthday parties is This was not a common practice among a gift that the migrant parents do not rec- those we interviewed, but it suggests how ognize or are unwilling to take on. the wish to be in an equal, egalitarian po- Frykman has claimed that national sition can include an effort and a struggle identity, rightly viewed as a dangerous to be able to arrange birthday parties. This force of exclusion, can also, under certain was the case not only for parents with a circumstances, serve as a tool in the ser- migrant background, but also for majority vice of cultural complexity – not hom- parents struggling socio-economically, ogenization – and can contribute to nego- such as the single mother. The desire to be tiations and deeper reflexivity (1995). on an equal footing can in some cases This carries a complex understanding of mean that parents do not celebrate birth- nationalism where the outcome is open. days for the child and do not allow their Birthday parties can bring different people child to attend other children’s birthday together, but they can also be experienced parties in order to avoid the feeling of as an enforced obligatory ritual, imposed shame related to poverty. from above. Another aspect is that birth- Ideas of cultural sameness, Gullestad day parties intended to offer a common (2002) argues, are part of the production ground of participation expose economic of an “invisible fence” vis-à-vis immi- and social differences as they can make grants. Immigrants are expected to play differently situated homes visible for the down their differences or else they risk be- participants. In his introduction to The ing viewed as compromising the narrative Gift, the sociologist Marcel Mauss (1990) of Norway as “a homogeneous, tolerant, points to modern societies where Christ- anti-racist, and peace-loving society” mas and birthday presents, weddings and (Gullestad 2002:59). Scandinavian socie- any kind of invitation imply obligations, ties are characterized by notions of strong and the gift’s recipient feels strongly com- similarities and cultural notions of equali- pelled to reciprocate. The wish to appear ty (Olwig 2011), which produces specific on an equal footing with other families policies and ideologies of social incorp- can nudge parents to make an extra effort, oration (Bendixsen, Bringslid & Vike economically and socially, to arrange a 2018). The image of egalitarianism up- birthday party. The quest for inclusion held, although cracking, by the Norwe- 98 Hilde Danielsen & Synnøve Bendixsen, “Is it Mandatory to Celebrate Birthdays?”

gian majority population has partly be- The fear or shame of exposing their come dependent on whether non-Western own economic or practical shortcomings immigrants are considered to perform ac- can make both majority and minority par- cording to standards of normality. ents withdraw from birthday celebrations. The present construction of egalitarian- In order to appear equal it might be a bet- ism as a social norm and cultural value ‒ ter option for some to hide differences that that is, a one norm society ‒ is a factor of could become visible by hosting or attend- exclusionary mechanisms as Norwegian ing birthday celebrations. From our mate- society grows more heterogeneous (Ben- rial it becomes clear that parents who do dixsen et al. 2018). Using sameness as a not let their children attend or celebrate scale for measuring whether someone birthday parties have many different rea- should be identified as equal, risks consti- sons to do so, intertwining practical, eco- tuting certain kinds of difference as prob- nomic, social and religious aspects of their lematic and can even be interpreted as a everyday life. As seen throughout this art- deviation or a lack. The ways in which the icle, the understanding among members of cultural construction of egalitarianism as the majority society for different reasons sameness has become entangled with na- for not participating in the birthday ritual tionalism and the racialization of differ- seems to range from no understanding at ence contributes to a situation in which all to a more open-minded curiosity about “‘immigrants’ are asked to ‘become Nor- why some people do not take part. wegian’, at the same time as it is tacitly as- sumed that this is something they can Conclusion never really achieve” (Gullestad 2002:59). As we have seen, birthday parties are Simultaneously, such expectations also loaded with meaning, and bring together mean that newcomers such as migrants are many intersecting conflicts and expose seen as people who potentially can fit into economic, social, cultural and religious Norwegian normative standards. differences in Norwegian society today. Different reasons, rationalizations and Going back to the question of whether practicalities interacted in different ways birthdays are obligatory, raised by the and affected whether parents let their chil- mother with a Somali background, our dren take part in birthday celebrations or foray into the organization of birthday not. Some minority or Muslim parents in parties shows that informally they are our material expressed that they cannot or thought of as obligatory, being a natural- do not want their children to participate in ized and integrated ritual of childhood birthday celebrations due to religious con- within majority Norwegian culture. As cerns or economic or practical limitations. such, they constitute a ritual of everyday Some other minority or Muslim parents in nationalism. The way that a number of our material did engage with and organize parents and professionals talk about birth- birthday parties for children, some ex- day parties gives the impression that mi- pressing that they saw this as a way for grants who embrace the tradition of birth- them and their children to take part in Nor- day parties “the Norwegian way” are wegian rituals. viewed as better included than those who Hilde Danielsen & Synnøve Bendixsen, “Is it Mandatory to Celebrate Birthdays?” 99

celebrate birthdays differently or not at interpreted as rejecting social relation- all. Discussions and practices of birthday ships with the specific child, engagement parties can be interpreted as statements with the school class, the neighbourhood concerning how to raise the next genera- or integration into national values such as tion, and how to develop local and nation- trust, equality and social inclusion. Taking al communities. The ritual of the birthday part in the ritual of a birthday party be- party is politicized and given the symbolic came a symbol of adapting to Norwegian importance of fostering national identifi- ways of life. Notably, those who for vari- cation, committed to values of equality ous reasons did not arrange or attend par- and inclusion. ties may not be aware of these expecta- Birthday parties are considered to be tions and concerns as they are seldom vo- able to instigate encounters between chil- calized directly. However, some migrant dren attending the same school. The re- parents considered birthday parties for petitive and continuous celebration of children as a ritual that was imposed on children in the school class is intended to them from institutions such as kindergar- create and affirm inclusion and prevent tens and schools. exclusion. Sharing this ritual is assumed This article has shown that there are to promote trust and solidarity, also many different reasons that interact and among parents. At the same time, the cele- influence the ways parents view and react bration is filtered with particular ideals of to birthday parties. Among the migrants how to do it “the right way”. Migrants as who were reluctant to participate in the well as non-migrants are expected to com- ritual, some dismiss it as against their reli- ply with these ideals and norms that are gious conviction. Others said it was too mostly implicitly vocalized. In the field- expensive for them to afford. Others fear work we did within the larger project of that they are not capable of doing the ritual which this study is a part, we found that in the way that is expected of them, or that schools expected migrant parents to com- it is too much work due to practical rea- ply with dominant and largely unspoken sons if they have many children to raise. ideals of intensive parenting in Norway The wish to appear on an equal footing (Bendixsen & Danielsen 2020). Perform- can encourage some parents to facilitate ing birthday parties becomes part of the birthday parties and others to avoid such generalized expectations towards parent- parties in order to hide existing differ- ing. ences. As a consequence, while some con- Birthday parties represent a hope and a sider birthday parties as important en- desire to create encounters across social counters between children with a different and economic differences. Preventing or backgrounds, in practice birthday parties not facilitating for children to attend birth- sometimes expose and sharpen economic day parties was seen as unacceptable by and social differences to such an extent Norwegian majority society because it that the ritual exposes and establishes dif- also denied the child the opportunity to ference and leads instead to avoidance. become a member of Norwegian society. As Scott (2007:104) points out, rituals Not accepting a birthday invitation can be have intended effects as well as unintend- 100 Hilde Danielsen & Synnøve Bendixsen, “Is it Mandatory to Celebrate Birthdays?”

ed effects when performed in practice. learning about processes of everyday na- When rituals have a strong standing, as tionalism can help to offer new entry birthday parties for children have in Nor- points where relations can be reshaped to- way, they affect and can have conse- wards a more inclusive ideal and form of quences for those who do not participate everyday nationalism. or are excluded from taking part in the ritual. The Australian anthropologist Hilde Danielsen Research Professor Ghassan Hage has interpreted Western NORCE (Norwegian Research Centre) ideas of white tolerance, presented email: [email protected] through ideas of multiculturalism, as a fantasy of a national order where minori- Synnøve Kristine Nepstad Bendixsen Associate Professor ties are objects of a national will (2000: Department of Social Anthropology 98) and a lack of capacity of acknowledg- University of Bergen ing minorities’ own wills. Birthday parties email: [email protected] for children are indeed examples of such tolerance and its borders. Along with Notes Knott (2015) we also underline here the 1 There are however, established religious “contingency and messiness of national- groups such as Jehovah’s Witnesses who do not allow their members to celebrate birth- ism in everyday life” (2015:8). When na- days, but these are considered as deviant from tionalism is investigated through empiri- the general norm. cal fieldwork, as we have done, the com- 2 All quotations from Norwegian sources are plexity of the phenomenon becomes vis- translated by the authors. 3 https://www.etikkom.no/en/ethical-guide- ible, showcasing the blurring of borders lines-for-research/guidelines-for-research- between us and them and how nationalism ethics-in-the-social-sciences--humanities- is given meaning by different actors. law-and-theology/. Some majority parents are willing to ad- just the content of the ritual of birthdays References celebrations in order to make the ritual Field material more inclusionary. To take part in a birth- Observations Quotations are from five parents’ meetings ar- day celebration can act as way to make ranged at three different schools (autumn 2016) contact with others you would not other- and from two different lessons in a parenting wise have a common ground to meet with. class for migrant parents (autumn 2016). With the help of the concept of everyday Interviews 2015 and 2016 nationalism, the article has highlighted Maria contradictions in how nationalism is en- Natalia acted in different ways in everyday life. Anna Using birthday parties for children as a Bente lens to discuss how we live together today, shows the importance of schools and Mass media neighbourhoods in making inclusive and Aftenposten 14 January 2016; 17 January 2016; 10 May 2017. exclusive paths in our everyday life. As Bergens Tidende 7 June 2016 Millei (2018:94) states, exposing and Dagbladet 16 January 2016. Hilde Danielsen & Synnøve Bendixsen, “Is it Mandatory to Celebrate Birthdays?” 101

Ethical guidelines for research. Danielsen, Hilde & Synnøve Bendixsen 2019: https://www.etikkom.no/en/ethical-guide- Dealing with Diversity, Hoping for Inclusion. lines-for-research/guidelines-for-research- Parents’ Involvement in Multi-ethnic and Class ethics-in-the-social-sciences--humanities- Differentiated Schools in Norway. Ethnicities law-and-theology/ (22 November 2019) 19(6): 1158–1180. Frivillig.no. “Resource unique”. Ehn, Billy, Jonas Frykman & Orvar Löfgren 1993: https://frivillig.no/ressurssenteret-unik-1 Försvenskningen av Sverige. Stockholm: Natur (18 November 2019) och Kultur. Fædrelandsvennen 13 January 2016 Fox, Jon 2017: The Edges of the National: A Re- Nettavisen 17 January 2016 search Agenda for Uncovering Taken for The Norwegian Directorate for Education and Granted Foundations of Everyday Nationhood. Training 2016. “Vaksne skaper vennskap”. Nations and Nationalism 23(1): 26‒47. https://www.udir.no/laring-og-trivsel/mobbing/ Fox, Jon & Maarten van Ginderachter 2018: Intro- voksne-skaper-vennskap/ (18 November 2019) duction. Everyday Nationalism’s Evidence TV2 14 April 2016 Problem. Nationals and Nationalism 24(3): Utrop 15 January 2016 546‒552. Vårt Land 17 January 2016 Frivillig 2019: (https://frivillig.no/ressurssenteret- file://eir.uib.no/home4/ghkhd/Downloads/ unik-1) 2018. Foreldreplakat+om+inkludering+(bokm%C3% Frykman, Jonas 1995: The Informalization of Na- A5l).pdf (18 November 2019). tional Identity. Ethnologia Europaea 25: 5‒15. Frykman, Jonas & Orvar Löfgren 1979: Den kul- Literature tiverade människan. Malmö: Gleerups Förlag. Åkerblom, Annika & Anne Harju 2019: The Be- FUG2019file://eir.uib.no/home4/ghkhd/Downloads/ coming of a Swedish Preschool Child? Migrant Foreldreplakat+om+inkludering+(bokm%C3% Children and Everyday Nationalism. Chil- A5l).pdf (18 November 2019). dren’s Geographies. Gullestad, Marianne 1984: Kitchen-table society. Bendixsen, Synnøve & Hilde Danielsen 2018: A case study of the family life and friendships of Other people’s children. Inclusive parenting in young working-class mothers in urban Norway. a diverse neighborhood. Ethnic and Racial Oslo: Universitetsforlaget. Studies 42(7). Gullestad 1997: A Passion for Boundaries. Re- Bendixsen, Synnøve, Mary Bente Bringslid & flections on Connections Between the Every- Halvard Vike (eds.) 2018: Egalitarianism in day Lives of Children and Discourses on the Scandinavia: Historical and Contemporary Ap- Nation in Contemporary Norway. Childhood proaches. Basingstoke: Palgrave. 4(1): 19‒42. Bendixsen, Synnøve & Hilde Danielsen 2020: Gullestad. Marianne 2002: Invisible fences: Egali- Great Expectations: Migrant Parents and Parent- tarianism, nationalism and racism. Journal of School Cooperation in Norway. Comparative the Royal Anthropological Institute 8(1): Education. 199‒226. Billig, Michael 1995: Banal Nationalism. Lon- Hage, Ghassan 1998: White Nation. Fantasies of don: Sage. White Supremacy in a Multicultural Society. Bonikowski, Bart 2016: Nationalism in Settled Annandale: Pluto Press. Times. Annual Review of Sociology 42: Hearn, Jonathan & Marco Antonsich 2018: Theor- 427‒449. etical and Methodological Considerations for Brembeck, Helene 2007: Hem till McDonald’s. the Study of Banal and Everyday Nationalism. Stockholm: Carlsson Bokförlag. Nations and Nationalism 2483: 594‒605. Clarke, Alison J. 2007: Consuming Children and Howell, Signe & Marit Melhuus (eds.) 2001: Blod. Making Mothers: Birthday Parties, Gifts and Tykkere enn vann? Bergen: Fagbokforlaget. the Pursuit of Sameness. Horizontes Antropo- Knott, Eleanor 2015: Everyday Nationalism. A lógicos 13(28): 263‒ 287. Review of the Literature. Studies on National Danielsen, Hilde 2010: Diversity and the concept Movements (3): 1‒16. of place. Inclusion and Exclusion Mechanisms Mauss, Marcel 1990: The Gift. The Form and among Norwegian City-Dwelling Parents. Eth- Reason for Exchange in Archaic Societies. New nologia Scandinavica 40, pp. 68‒82. York: WW Norton. 102 Hilde Danielsen & Synnøve Bendixsen, “Is it Mandatory to Celebrate Birthdays?”

McIntosh, Laurie 2015: The Gift. Impossible handling. Ph.D Humanistic Faculty, University Presence. Race, Nation and the Cultural Politics of Oslo. of “Being Norwegian”. Ethnic and Racial Scott, Erica Ravne 1999: Fødselsdagsselskap for Studies 38(2): 309‒325. barn. Ritual og praksis. En studie av to skole- McKendric, John H., Michael G. Bradford & klasser i Oslo i 1990-årene. Hovedoppgave i et- Anna Fielder 2000: Time for a party! Making nologi. University of Oslo. Sense of the Commercialisation of the Leisure Skey, Michael 2011: National Belonging and Space for Children. In Sarah L. Holloway & Everyday Life. The Significance of Nationhood Gill Valentine (eds.), Children’s Geographies. in Everyday Life. New York: Palgrave Macmil- Playing, Living, Learning, pp. 100–119. New lan. York. Routledge. Smette, Ingrid & Monika Grønli Rosten 2019: Et Millei, Zsuzsa 2014: The Cultural Politics of iakttatt foreldreskap. Om å være foreldre og mi- ‘Childhood’ and ‘Nations’. Space, mobility and noritet i Norge. NOVA Report 3/19. Oslo Met- a global world. Global Studies of Childhood ropolitan University. 4(3). Vollebergh, Anieck 2016: The Other Neighbor Millei, Zsuzsa 2019: Pedagogy of Nation. A Con- Paradox. Fantasies and Frustrations of ‘Living cept and Method to Research Nationalism in Together’ in Antwerp. Patterns of Prejudice Young Children’s Institutional Lives. Child- 50(2): 129‒149. hood 26(1): 83‒97. Wilson, Helena 2013: Multicultural Learning. Olwig, Karen Fog 2011: “Integration”: Migrants Parent Encounters with Difference in a Bir- and Refugees between Scandinavian Welfare mingham Primary School. Transactions of the Societies and Family Relations. Journal of Eth- Royal Geographical Society. nic and Migration Studies 37(2): 179‒196. Wilson, Helena 2015: An Urban Laboratory for Otnes, Cele & Mary Ann McGrath 1994: Ritual the Multicultural Nation? Ethnicities 15(4): Socialization and the Children’s Birthday Party. 586‒604. The Early Emergence of Gender Differences. Windzio, Michael 2012: Integration of Immigrant Journal of Ritual Studies 8: 73‒93. Children into Inter-ethnic Friendship Networks. Scott, Erica Ravne 2007: Bursdag! En samtids- The Role of ‘Intergenerational Openness’. Soci- studie av fødselsdagsselskapet som rituell ology 46(2): 258–271. The Coffin, the Urn and the Ashes Conceptions of Death By Tove Ingebjørg Fjell

Death is a change of status, usually lead- sen and the art historian Mette Haakonsen ing to some form of rite of passage, in argue that our own time represents a which the dead are separated from the liv- period of change in the culture of death, ing and integrated among the dead (cf. van where we see a reaction against forbidden Gennep 1999). In all such rites, there are death (Jacobsen & Haakonsen 2008: some specific modes of communication 13ff.). According to the two researchers, that are expressed in closing ceremonies, the death-denying society which has re- such as in coffin burial or cremation cere- written and privatized death and hidden it monies. These forms of communication away is no longer an apt description of are generally standardized but change to how we relate to death in our culture. The some degree over time. This study dis- taboos and the secrecy that belonged to cusses contemporary cultural conceptions the forbidden death are disappearing, and of coffin burial, cremation, and ash scat- the contours of something new appear. tering, and of the dead body, and thoughts The researchers point out that it is difficult on how to rejoin the biological cycle after to know exactly what has led to this devel- death. opment, but they list a number of societal In his work on the history of death, the changes that include increased political historian Philippe Ariès (1914‒1984) de- awareness of caring and terminal care, scribed changes in attitudes to death from recognition of worthy death, and the im- the Middle Ages to his own time. He ori- portance of self-determination (Jacobsen ginally distinguished between three dif- & Haakonsen 2008:16‒17). This gives ferent phases: “tamed death”, “one’s own rise to several new terms such as “spec- death” and “Death of the other” or “thy tacular death” and “mediated death”, a death” (Ariès 1991; see also Jacobsen death that is observed and exposed in the 2016:3‒5).1 According to Ariès, in his public media; “the paradoxical death”, be- own lifetime – the twentieth century – a cause there is a distinction between the de- schism occurred, and the fourth phase, sires and imaginings of our death on the “forbidden death”, expresses an alienated, one hand, and on the other hand what ac- tabooed and distanced attitude to death. A tually happens after death; and “death in- slow waning of faith in eternal life now terregnum”,2 an in-between time, suggest- makes death meaningless and the ultimate ing it is difficult to specify why the recent enemy, so it must be kept at a distance. changes in contemporary death culture Critics have pointed out that Ariès, when have occurred, and whether the changes describing forbidden death, was greatly will continue (ibid.; Jacobsen 2009; influenced by his own time, namely, a Jacobsen 2016). The fifth stage in the his- time of two world wars and significant tory of death “is returning from its exist- numbers of deaths with a subsequent ential exile and its societal hiding place” death-fatigue in populations. These condi- (Jacobsen 2009:36; my translation). tions make an understanding of meaning- So even though death belongs to “slow less death possible (Jacobsen and Haakon- culture”, with no rapid changes (Jacobsen sen 2008:15‒16). 2009:18), attitudes do change. This is seen The sociologist Michael Hviid Jacob- in the way that people increasingly take

Ethnologia Scandinavica, Vol. 50, 2020 104 Tove Ingebjørg Fjell, The Coffin, the Urn and the Ashes

care of dying relatives, albeit with good self throughout life, and by the individ- help from pain relievers and health profes- ual’s bereaved afterlife. An authentic nar- sionals. It is seen in the way children be- rative about an individual, a perception of come central to funerals again, after being a sincere presentation about an individual, excluded for decades (Kjus 2019). There is increasingly in focus, even after death. are ways in which obituaries are increas- The same trends in “individually tailored” ingly being “individually customized”, closing ceremonies may be seen, although though they still largely resemble obitu- these, whether religious or non-religious, aries published 50 or 100 years ago (Fjell have many similarities to so-called “tradi- 2019). And it is seen when death is broad- tional” closing ceremonies (Utby 2019). cast from cancer departments, from griev- The changes are seen today in the visibili- ing survivors, in television series about ty of death, how death is viewed and how young people’s suicides, or debates about it is handled. active euthanasia (cf. Jacobsen 2009:23). It is this “death interregnum” (cf. Ja- The same is true when Facebook friends cobsen & Haakonsen 2008:16‒17) that I show up after their death in the Facebook focus on in this study, and my contribution feed, for example, when it is their birth- will include how a general individual day. Michael Hviid Jacobsen calls it a orientation in society is reflected in the democratization of death (ibid.). This new death culture, particularly in notions of phase in the developmental history of closing ceremonies and the dead body. death is seen in connection with several Research questions are: What conceptions factors: of coffin burial and cremation are found in There are many reasons for that change […] a Norwegian context, and what do new where taboo, silence and suppression of the previ- practices such as ash scattering express? ous century seem to be a thing of the past. One can What are contemporary cultural concep- talk about the impact of soft values, increased po- tions of dead bodies, and how do notions litical awareness of care and care for the sick and of nature and the environment play into dying, the recognition of the need to create a these conceptions? Before I get to the re- framework for dignified death, the need for self-choice, the return of the repressed, the actual- search questions, I will first explain the ization of death due to increased focus on the risk material and methods, and give a histor- of terror, violence, environmental crises, etc. ical review of cremation as a practice in (Jacobsen & Haakonsen 2008:16‒17; my transla- Norway, as a context for the later analysis. tion). A focus on self-determination and being Material, Methods and Research able to choose – the late-modern individ- Ethics ual orientation – constitutes the theoretical The study’s main material is a response to framework around the present study. The the Norwegian Ethnological Research active and unique contemporary individ- (NEG) questionnaire 240, “Death and ual is increasingly shaped by doing, not by Burial” (2012). I have examined the re- being (cf. Giddens 1997:93ff.): The narra- plies to the questions “Coffin burial or tive of the individual is created, among cremation ‒ what do you think of this other things, by the individual him- or her- choice?”, and “In cremation you can do Tove Ingebjørg Fjell, The Coffin, the Urn and the Ashes 105

other things with the ashes than bury them tional ecclesiastical burial or cremation in a cemetery. Do you have any experi- ceremony, some choose a humanist cere- ence with this or thoughts on it?” (my mony, and a few choose a civil ceremony. translation). There are 231 replies to this Cremation was prohibited in Norway until questionnaire, from 180 women and 49 1898. Since then, the number of crema- men, in addition to two unanswered sub- tions has risen slowly but surely, although missions. The list is sent to regular re- in Norway majority still have coffin bur- spondents, as well as being posted digital- ials. Cremation implies that the body is ly. Using digital questionnaires, NEG cremated after the closing ceremony and reaches younger respondents, who may that an urn is placed in the ground at some only answer this one questionnaire. Most subsequent date, either with a traditional respondents were born between 1940 and named headstone, or in a named or an- 1989.3 Ethical approval has been obtained onymous memorial garden, alternatively for the research and the material has been the ashes in the urn are scattered. An in- anonymized.4 creasing number of people are cremated in Other material used in the analysis are Norway, and a few choose ash scattering.8 laws (the Funeral Act of 1997, the Crema- Cremation, from the Latin cremo which tion Act of 1913, the Graveyard Act of means “I burn”, was practised in closing 1897, Denmark and Norway’s Church ceremonies in Norway from the early me- Ritual 16855) and the proposition to the dieval period to the Christianization of the Odelsting on the Church Act and the Fu- country (Hadders 2013:196; Østigard neral Act, statements from the govern- 2006). In a Christian context, fire has been ment, county governors and the Church associated with hell, sin, and punishment, Meeting on ash scattering, as well as some and burning was incompatible with the general media material about death, along resurrection of the body; therefore, crema- with statistics. Where it is relevant, infor- tion was prohibited as Christianity was in- mation on funeral practices in the Nordic troduced (Hadders 2013:197; Østigard countries and the UK will be mentioned. 2006:36). Even today, there may be some resistance to cremation. It is difficult to Closing Ceremonies in Norway find theological evidence that cremation is There are various closing ceremonies in incompatible with resurrection, but a lit- Norway, such as coffin burial and crema- eral interpretation of Paul’s parable of the tion ceremonies under the auspices of the wheat grain has led conservative Chris- church, under the auspices of the Nor- tians to conclude that there must be some- wegian Humanist Association and civil thing left of the body for it to be resurrect- ceremonies (Utby 2019).6 A cremation ed (cf. Lahtinen 1989:21).9 The religious ceremony may end with an urn burial or historian Tuomo Lahtinen describes the ash burial. A coffin burial must take place literal interpretation of Paul’s wheat par- within ten working days after death, while able as absurd, in that Paul’s message is inurnment and ash scattering must occur that the body is perishable, and that God within six months after death (Section 12 will create a new heavenly body (Lahtinen of the Funeral Act).7 Most choose a tradi- 1989:21).10 But the issue of whether cre- 106 Tove Ingebjørg Fjell, The Coffin, the Urn and the Ashes

mation is compatible with the resurrection Møllendal in Bergen in 1907, nine years has been debated for a long time, and after the lifting of the cremation ban (Østi- when it comes to cremation and ash scat- gard 2006:15; Hadders 2013:197). The tering, these practices have been shown to Graveyard Act of 1897 did not contain violate belief in the resurrection. Ash scat- provisions on cremation, nor did Denmark tering, where the body is cremated and the and Norway’s Church Ritual of 1682. The ashes are not deposited in consecrated first cremation act came in 1913, and here earth, presents problems for some priests. it was granted that persons over the age of This is the basis for the suggestion of the 15 could declare in writing or orally that hearings that Norwegian priests, for rea- they wanted to be cremated, but only if sons of conscience, should be able to they had “the full use of their minds” (§ 1; make a reservation against participating in my translation). In this law, there was par- ash scattering (Church Meeting 2012:37; ticular concern that a deceased person Hadders 2013:202). should not be cremated without the state The introduction of cremation is often prosecutor’s consent, if the death was pos- linked to a lack of space in large European sibly the result of a criminal act (§ 4). The cities during the industrial revolution. law also had a provision on how the ashes Hygiene was also an issue and eventually should be treated: allowed for the acceptance of cremation When cremation has taken place, the ashes must (Østigard 2006:14). In 1873, a cremator- be carefully collected in an urn, which is buried in ium oven was displayed at the World Ex- a cemetery or put in a room arranged for the hibition in Vienna; the first modern cre- storage of ashes (chapel, urn hall) and approved mation took place in a Siemens furnace in by the King. However, the King or his authorized Germany in 1874 (Hadders 2013:197; representative may authorize the ash to be stored in another way (§ 6, pt. 2; my translation). Lahtinen 1989:39‒40); while the world’s first crematorium was built in Milan in There were thus clear provisions for how 1876 (Lahtinen 1989:15, 35). There were the ashes should be collected in an urn, few cremations in the first decades, partly and that the urn should be placed either because there was resistance to cremation in soil or in a columbarium; this section in the church and in society at large, but was regarded in the 1990s as a prohibition also because it was more expensive than a on ash scattering (Ot.prp.no.64 (1994‒ coffin burial. In Norway, the ban on cre- 1995):66), although it may be assumed mation was lifted in 1898, following ef- that ash scattering was not in the legisla- forts by the Norwegian Cremation Associ- tors’ minds in 1913. Provisions in both ation (Norsk Kremasjons Forening), this act and the Graveyard Act were re- which had been established nine years ear- placed by the Funeral Act in 1997. In lier (Hadders 2013:197). The Norwegian comments from hearings on the act, the Cremation Association, which consisted Church had reservations against ash scat- of an urban intellectual elite of doctors, tering, as it “could open for pantheistic lawyers and businessmen, worked to le- notions” (Ot.prp.no.64 (1994‒1995):46; galize cremation and establish crematoria. my translation).11 Other consultative Norway’s first crematorium was built in bodies emphasized that religious freedom Tove Ingebjørg Fjell, The Coffin, the Urn and the Ashes 107

should be considered, and that “people wegian law is an alternative to coffin bur- who, for religious reasons, want to scatter ial and may only happen “unless it is the ashes should have their desire ful- known that it was contrary to the de- filled” (ibid.; my translation). There was ceased’s wishes” (NOU 2014:12; my also a debate about whether there are theo- translation). In Norway’s 428 municipali- logical reasons why ash scattering is diffi- ties, 40 crematoriums were reduced to 24, cult to implement. Some believed that the based on new environmental regulations earlier reservation against cremation and (Hadders 2013:200). Furthermore, there later ash scattering was linked to tradition, are large variations in the percentages of and that resurrection did not depend on the cremations: while in 2012 in eastern Nor- body being laid whole in the earth. How- way, such as Oslo, Akershus and Buske- ever, more conservative voices argued rud, it was 76%, 53% and 52% respective- theologically that ash scattering violated ly, in other parts of the country, such as faith in the resurrection (Church Meeting Sør-Trøndelag, Nordland, Finnmark and 2012:23ff.). Sogn and Fjordane, it was considerably Thus, there is a relatively restrained at- lower, 13%, 6%, 5% and 3% respectively titude to cremation in Norway. While (NOU 2014:23). There may be different Denmark and Sweden are considered the reasons why Norway has had another ap- most “innovative” with a relatively high proach to cremation, especially compared cremation rate, Norway and Finland are to Sweden and Denmark. One reason is considered the most “traditional” with a that population density is lower, with a high degree of coffin burial and a low per- number of rural areas where it takes hours centage of cremation (NOU 2014:43‒44; to travel to the nearest crematorium, Hadders 2013:198; Holm & Lahtinen which makes coffin burial the more obvi- 1985; Lahtinen 1989). In Finland crema- ous choice. Another reason may be the tion was first used in the 1920s, while it church, and conservative voices within the was introduced in Sweden in 1887 (Holm church, having been allowed to play an & Lahtinen 1985:13‒14). Denmark con- important role in debates on cremation. ducted the first cremation in 1886, but this Following the enactment of the new fu- was without the permission of the author- neral law in 1997,12 ash scattering was ities. The first legal cremation was carried permitted in Norway, and by 2012, the out in Denmark in 1892 (Lahtinen 1989: rate of ash scattering was very low, around 42‒43). Norway was not the last of the 1% (Hadders 2013:201). To be allowed to Nordic countries to introduce cremation, scatter ashes, one must apply to the Coun- but today has one of the lowest rates of ty Governor and the applicant must be at cremation in the Nordic countries, and the least 15 years of age. One can apply on weakest increase. While Denmark and one’s own behalf before one’s death, or it Sweden are at almost 80%, Finland at must be proven that the deceased wanted 44%, Norway is at 37%, and Iceland at this. On the application form, the chosen 25% (NOU 2014:11, 43‒44). While cre- location must be marked on a map. The mation in Sweden, Denmark and Finland ash can be scattered on land, but not where is legally equivalent, cremation in Nor- it is built-up and only where it is suffi- 108 Tove Ingebjørg Fjell, The Coffin, the Urn and the Ashes

ciently desolate, and not in popular tourist tween cities and rural areas: in less central areas. It can be in open sea or close to areas, more people will leave this decision land, but not where there is a lot of leisure to the bereaved, while in central regions traffic. One can also choose fjords or more people want to make the decision rivers, but only where it is desolate themselves. This trend also shows a gen- enough.13 Most applications are for ash der divide, as more women than men want scattering at sea or in the fjords (57%), to decide for themselves. A number of and otherwise the applications are for ash people with immigrant backgrounds also scattering in mountains (38%), in forests want to make this decision themselves. (5%), and in rivers or lakes (below 0.1%) When asked what kind of closing ceremo- (NOW 2014:27). All the ashes must be ny they wanted, half (50%) responded that scattered in one place; one cannot choose they wanted a coffin burial, 37% crema- to scatter some of the ashes and bury the tion and an urn, and a full 13% wanted rest, or scatter some ashes at a holiday cremation and ash scattering (NOU 2014: home, some in the garden, some in a cem- 58). The figure of 13% is high in the Nor- etery, some in the sea and the rest in the wegian context and may be explained by mountains, nor can one scatter the ashes at the fact that about half of the respondents home in one’s garden, in practice creating were under the age of 44, and questions a private burial ground (Government about the type of grave they wanted may 2018; see also Hadders 2013:201).14 As have been remote for them. When we see mentioned, one cannot erect a headstone, how many people actually apply for ash or add an inscription to an existing head- scattering, the figure is far lower, which stone, after having ashes scattered. One may also be related to this being a new can also sink urns of easily soluble mate- practice in Norway. In 2012, there were rial, so-called environmental urns, into the only 251 instances of ash scattering, or sea. This choice is equivalent to scattering 0.6% of all deaths that year (NOU 2014: the ashes to the wind. The common fea- 162).16 In comparison, ash scattering is ture of these methods is that the ashes are carried out in about 3.8% of all deaths in absorbed in nature and cannot be re- Denmark, 2.4% of all deaths in Sweden, covered. and less than 2% in Finland (NOU 2014: 162).17 Attitudes to One’s Own Burial The survey “Attitudes to Burial”, conduct- Ash Scattering – More or Less ed by Statistics Norway (SSB), shows that Spectacular over half (54%) would leave the provi- In Norway, there is a conservative atti- sions for their own burial to the bereaved, tude to ash scattering; permits must be while far fewer (37%) would want to de- applied for, locations marked on maps, cide this themselves; however, only a and only areas with a desolate character small proportion (29% of the latter catego- will be approved. This contrasts with, for ry) had already made such a provision on example, the practice in the UK, where their own behalf (NOU 2014:21, 216).15 cremation has been allowed since 1885 This tendency shows a distinction be- and ash scattering since the 1930s. Here Tove Ingebjørg Fjell, The Coffin, the Urn and the Ashes 109

it is not required that ash scattering take plaque rented for 99 years, and when that place far from people. On the contrary, time expire, the company does not expect ash scattering occurs where people move, it to be removed; or in a 5‒8 minute fire- such as on cricket grounds, golf courses, work display, with or without music, at a racetracks, and there are memorial gar- price between £950 and 2350 (Scattering dens attached to major football stadiums ashes, undated). In Norway, there are such as Manchester United and Arsenal, currently only offers for ash scattering as well as in smaller football clubs (Ap- from boats, which is probably related pel 2017). Many want to scatter ashes at both to Norwegian regulations and to the famous football stadiums, so this is not boat as a well-known funeral and head- advertised, for fear that there will be too stone symbol for “the last voyage”. Vega many requests. The historian Hans Hen- Sailing, which offers a variety of event rik Appel, who has studied death culture types including summer tours, mystery associated with football pitches, empha- tours, stag parties, weddings, baptisms, sizes that this is an institutionalized confirmations and sightseeing from the mourning culture with inflation. It makes ship S/S Vega, presents ash scattering death visible in a way “that breaks with trips thus: the taboo and displacement of death, as Vega tailors trips for ash scattering on Oslo Fjord, the French historian Philippe Ariès’s ma- and makes the last goodbye a beautiful and digni- jor division of the cultural history of fied farewell. Have the captain pick out a classic, death into four main stages characterizes beautiful route on Oslo Fjord, or tailor the trip to the twentieth century”, and constitutes your own needs ‒ in consultation with knowledge- the spectacular death (Appel 2017:3; my able local people. […] We offer food and drinks from a diverse menu, provided by one of the city’s translation; cf. Jacobsen 2009; Jacobsen best catering companies. Together we create a 18 & Haakonsen 2008). personal and beautiful event, where you decide The spectacular death is an over-ex- how involved you will be in the process, decor- posed death to which a commercial in- ation and planning. Feel free to contact us for dustry is linked (Appel 2017:3), and in more information on events related to the scatter- this context, it is not only football pitches ing of ash on Oslo Fjord (Vega Sailing, undated; my translation). that are relevant places for ash scattering in the UK. There are several possibilities This “floating function room” costs NOK available, for example, that for £440 an 6500 per hour, and there is information hour, the deceased’s ashes may be scat- about the application form to the County tered from a “vintage wartime Tiger Governor and which areas are permitted Moth” aircraft; or from a £1550 helium for ash scattering. A somewhat smaller balloon sent up 100,000 feet and ex- boat offers the same type of services in the ploded in the stratosphere or at the edge same area. The text contains contact in- of space, where some of the ash will orbit formation, pictures of an urn being low- the planet, and some of the ash will return ered into the water and a drone video, but to earth in raindrops; or at a memorial prices are not shown: site for up to £1950 where the name of We are committed to having a fine and dignified the deceased is inscribed on a memorial framework around the ceremony, and we strive to 110 Tove Ingebjørg Fjell, The Coffin, the Urn and the Ashes

the utmost to ensure that the bereaved should be tion was also referred to as strange, un- left with positive impressions and a worthy clo- usual, pagan, impersonal, alien, dramatic, sure. brutal and horrific. We can accommodate 12 people, we have ca- tering on board according to your wishes, the boat Furthermore, several of the respondents will be nicely and simply decked with flowers were concerned about how coffin burial suitable for the occasion, if you have your own and cremation may have different environ- wishes for flowers etc. this can be done as desired. mental consequences: an older woman be- We can offer trips just for ash scattering and lieves that coffin burial is the best for the subsequent return, or trips for ash scattering, fol- environment, because the burning process lowed by anchorage / mooring to quay in the ar- itself involves too much air pollution, chipelago for dining and coming together to re- member the one who has passed away before re- while a younger woman believes that a turning to the starting point. body has been exposed to so much We are available for inspection if desired through a long life that it is best to get it (Ocean Princess, undated; my translation). cleansed through cremation before the body is put into the earth. This is a far cry from the more spectacular Practical considerations were empha- opportunities available in the UK market. sized when coffin burial and cremation In addition to being able to have an indi- were compared. A young archaeologist vidually tailored ceremony, there is a fo- who, through her position, has “become cus on silence and dignity, not unlike that intimately acquainted with the legislative which is central to traditional closing cere- protection of coffin graves”, considers monies. There is also a burgeoning focus conservation conditions in Norway before on environmentally friendly and spectacu- concluding that she herself would prefer larly expensive burial vehicles. In consul- cremation (40490, K1982; my transla- tation with the Tesla plant, a Norwegian tion). Others prefer cremation because the has developed the Tesla burial car. There clay in the municipality is so compact that are four such cars worldwide, three have it will take 50 years before the remains been sold in Norway, and the market in disappear. Still others emphasize that it is Finland and Iceland has announced an in- 100 km to the nearest crematorium, and it terest (Brustad 2019). is therefore natural to choose a coffin bur- ial. One respondent points out that, unlike Coffin Burial or Cremation? cremation, coffin burials allow for the What conceptions of coffin burial and cre- possibility for unsolved crimes to be in- mation are found in the questionnaire ma- vestigated by opening graves at some fu- terial? It indicates that most respondents ture date and extracting DNA. Another had conceptions of coffin burial versus practical consideration is land availability. cremation, and it is interesting how con- One argument for cremation is that there ceptions of coffin burial and cremation are is little space, such as this person who similar. Both practices were referred to as points to conditions in her own municipal- grotesque, gruesome and macabre. But ity: “Maybe one ought to be cremated, be- there were more opinions about cremation cause there is a constant need for the cem- than coffin burial: in addition to the terms etery to be enlarged, at least where I live” grotesque, gruesome and macabre, crema- (40456, K1947; my translation).19 Tove Ingebjørg Fjell, The Coffin, the Urn and the Ashes 111

Pedagogical considerations were only fin burials and one must be cremated. I have little mentioned in connection with coffin bur- experience of this, but I have my thoughts. All ials. When one sees a coffin lowered into people will rise again one day and have the same opportunities. Death is not an end to life, but is the the ground, one understands that the body path to eternal progress, which will eventually is lying there and that it is dead, while lead to happiness. […] We are here to prepare our- when a coffin is lowered into the floor or selves and develop ourselves and qualify our- driven away, one has no control over what selves, so that we may be worthy to dwell in the is actually happening. Some emphasize presence of our Heavenly Father. Because of Je- that a small urn grave does not give the sus Christ, we will be resurrected from the dead same understanding that there is a dead (40484, K1940; my translation). person under the headstone. The answer shows an ambivalence: the Few refer to religious contexts when woman explains the use of coffins with explaining their thoughts on the subject. A reference to eternal life and resurrection. small number of people associated with However, she also has thoughts about the the Bahai community responded that they fact that some people choose cremation, prefer coffin burial because it is in line while emphasizing that everyone will be with their faith. One put it this way: resurrected after death. As a Bahai, I have been taught that we should not The responses show a large variation in be cremated. Abdul Baha says that if we were attitudes to coffin burial and cremation: meant to disintegrate as quickly as we do during environmental consequences of the two cremation, then it would have happened spontane- alternatives, practical considerations such ously after dying. Baha’i believes that traditional as land availability, and pedagogical con- burial is the gentlest way to treat the soul (40510, K1960; my translation). siderations. Few refer to religious con- texts. The variation points to a larger de- One of these emphasized that she is aware gree to individual considerations, and to a that coffin burial is seen as the most cor- lesser degree to what is regarded as tradi- rect in the Bahai faith, but that she herself tion and religion. has difficulty accepting this and that she needs more time to think the matter Ash Scattering – Belonging to a Place through. There are also some Christians, and Lack of Memories often from the older generation, who refer What do new practices like ash scattering to the resurrection as they explain their express? As mentioned above, ash scatter- thoughts. Some call cremation “un-Chris- ing is a relatively new practice in Norway, tian”. An older woman, a Christian, is not and not many people have used it. There that explicit, but she still sees coffin burial are however many opinions about this as an act in the Christian faith: practice. Those who are sceptical call it I choose coffin burial, and the reason […] is that I “poor symbolism” and something one believe that this life is not the end, but that it is part does not “like”, without going into more of eternal life. I think we lived like spirits before detail as to why. Others call it “creative we came to earth, and our spirit will live on when we die. The Bible says, “we shall return to God thinking” and “silly ideas”, which one who gave us”. Jesus Christ, our great example, keeps silent about to avoid being rude. rose from the dead. Some places do not have cof- These short statements, which are not 112 Tove Ingebjørg Fjell, The Coffin, the Urn and the Ashes

elaborated, emphasize that the practice A headstone may be considered important breaks with an understanding of what is as the gathering place of the extended traditional. family at Christmas, or memories of the The regulations do not give authorities deceased arise when visiting the grave. An the ability to control what happens to elderly man, who himself is to be buried in the contents of the urn after it has been a coffin next to his wife and perceives this removed from the crematorium. Some as most natural, puts it this way: people therefore imagine that one can re- I really don’t like the idea of my ashes being trieve the ashes from the crematorium, not spread by the wind after cremation. I really appre- in order to scatter them, but to keep them. ciate walking in the cemetery and stopping in This is often referenced in the comment front of the graves of relatives and acquaintances, that one does not want a relative standing seeing the names on the headstones, the dates and “in an urn on the fireplace”. The notion of the little tributes. It’s a celebration, the revival of old and good memories, a good way to process the having an urn on the mantelpiece or mak- loss. The dead return to life in my mind when I ing a diamond from the ashes may come stand in front of the headstones (41031, M1938; from popular culture or from knowledge my translation). of other countries’ practices. The regula- The encounter with the physical head- tions also do not allow one to distribute stone and how this brings memories to life the ashes in more than one places, a little is touched on by other respondents, when in the fjord, a little at the cabin and a little they state that the feeling of loss is differ- in the woods, or simply to bury the whole ent when one can visit a physical grave urn in a place that the deceased had a good (cf. Gustavsson 2003). Sitting at a head- relationship to, i.e. to create a private cem- stone and “talking” to a deceased relative etery. But this may theoretically take may be experienced as grief therapy – the place, because, as mentioned above, it is focus here being on the needs of the be- not controlled by authorities. Some, per- reaved. An elderly woman tells of her par- haps inspired by popular culture, reason ents who insisted on being cremated, and thus about the latter theme: that the urns were buried in an urn garden. But assume that we had buried Dad’s urn in the She misses having a grave to go to and garden here – the garden he built and cared for all feels sad that every trace of her parents has those years since he finished building the house in 1954 – what should we have done now, when it disappeared. For this woman ash scatter- turns out that no one in the family will take over ing is an even worse practice, it is “totally the house and garden when I pass away? […] obliterating, self-eradicating” (44507, Then the house must be sold… I think it’s good K1952; my translation). that the urns are in the cemetery! (44068, K1946; Those with a more positive attitude to my translation). ash scattering say both that they do not The burying of urns on private property want the ashes to be buried in consecrated might, if allowed, result in official regis- earth, and that the lack of space is an argu- tration or the duty of disclosure to new ment, and thus it is an advantage that some owners. people’s ashes are scattered. Others point Several cite the absence of headstones to the high mobility in our society. People as a main argument against ash scattering. do not necessarily settle in the same area Tove Ingebjørg Fjell, The Coffin, the Urn and the Ashes 113

that they grew up in. This woman there- Thoughts about the Decaying Body fore finds that ash scattering is a good al- What contemporary cultural conceptions ternative for herself: “Many do not live in of dead bodies are found in the research the place where the family is buried, and material, and how do notions of nature and guilty consciences for unkempt graves are the environment play into these concep- probably widespread. I want my family to tions? A large and important topic in the avoid this” (40416, K1978; my transla- material is the focus on the aesthetic, un- tion). Some people emphasize that the hygienic and claustrophobic aspects of be- same argument applies to the childless: ing buried, and popular culture has in- they do not have descendants to look after spired more people to problematize appar- the grave, and then ash scattering is a good ent death. Suspended animation or “living alternative. dead” is a well-known film theme. This Several people point to a close relation- woman plans to donate her body to re- ship between the deceased and a particular search, to reduce the possibility of being place, pointing out that it gives meaning buried alive: for the ashes to be scattered in a place one I’ve seen people who have been living dead on feels connected with, either in the moun- TV. They can’t scream, move a finger, they were tains, where one has walked a lot, or at a put in one of those drawers in the hospital. But this part of the ocean where one has spent person was saved, because they noticed the eyes time. Several people refer to sailors whose moving (40275, K1974; my translation). ashes are scattered at sea. Others exclude Others point out that they have claustro- the sea as a place to scatter their own phobia and can’t bear the thought of wak- ashes, because they cannot swim or be- ing up in a cramped coffin after the fu- cause they are afraid of water. Being un- neral. Some who reflect on being buried able to swim should not be a problem alive realize that one can also be cremated when discussing one’s own cremated alive: ashes, but the idea has clear parallels to the desire not to be buried, or not to be cre- I was raised with coffin burial as the most natural choice. After hearing horror stories of apparently mated. For some, it is important that the dead people waking up in a coffin after the fu- person one “is” when alive, one’s identity, neral, I’m more sceptical. The fact that someone is corresponds to how one’s remains are lying in the coffin and trying to claw their way out treated after life, and which burial method is awful to think about. At the same time, this can one perceives as best for oneself. It might also happen with cremation – in theory. For me, it not be perceived as very authentic for a doesn’t matter if I’m traditionally buried or cre- non-religious person to be buried in a cof- mated, hopefully I’ll be dead (40463, K1967; my translation). fin or an urn in consecrated earth, or for a person who loved hiking and who spent The fact that someone one loves, or one- all their spare time in the mountains to be self, will be put into a cold, dark hole is a buried in a graveyard, however it suits terrible thought for many people, not least their individual narratives to have their considering the possibility of not really ashes scattered in places where they feel being dead. However, most people who they belong more. question coffin burial point to the concept 114 Tove Ingebjørg Fjell, The Coffin, the Urn and the Ashes

of the decaying body, and the descriptions found some bones (not bits, but whole bones) are concrete, as these people put it: “I where we threw the rubbish (40413, K1982; my don’t like the idea that worms and larvae translation). will eat the body” (40436, K1969; my The experience of having seen decay or translation), “The idea that the body the remains of bodies in the earth is some- should lie and rot and be eaten by worms thing several people mention, and these is very unpleasant” (40390, K1932; my associate cremation with something translation), or: “It’s worse to think about cleaner and more hygienic. It is unclear the decaying body. A bit unpleasant to where this woman had her summer job, imagine seeing the remains of a body in but in areas with blue clay, it is not un- the earth” (40421, M1950; my transla- common for the decay process to take tion). A young woman who initially thinks much longer than Norway’s 20-year con- the family should be included in the deci- servation period for a coffin grave. In this sion about whether to cremate or bury in a type of soil, with little oxygen and few coffin, has at the same time difficulties in microorganisms, the process of decay imagining herself being buried in a coffin, might have only just started, even after 70 having a picture from her childhood pres- years, but the use of blue clay in grave ent. A person who was close to her died in sites was not an issue until the reuse of a shipwreck, and the respondent imagined graves became relevant (Krüger & Solbu “that she and other bodies are eaten by 2019). With so-called “plastic graves” the worms – I’ve seen it with animal carcasses same problem exists as with clay soil. several times – it’s one of the nastiest From the 1950s and for 15–20 years, an things I can think of” (42821, K1980; my estimated 250,000 dead were wrapped in translation). A younger woman also has plastic foil to prevent smells and bodily “childhood images in her head”, describ- fluids escaping. This too stopped the pro- ing her grandmother’s funeral in an East- cess of decay from starting. Plastic graves ern European country: have not been capable of reuse, and there- Although I think the tradition is basically fine, I fore, quicklime has been injected into also think that it creates a slightly nasty feeling these graves to initiate decomposition that the body will rot in eternity. I have also ob- (Government 2008). served termites in cemeteries in the past, and that The process of decay does not only does not give me nice images in my head (44169, cause disgust, but is also seen as some- K1989; my translation). thing natural, which, according to some, Such personal experiences have an impact may become more environmentally on notions of the decaying body. This is friendly than it is today. A few respond- also seen in some people who have ents go far in imagining decomposition worked at grave sites. This woman will with minimal pollution. Becoming part of opt out of a coffin burial because of such the biological cycle with as little pollution an experience: as possible, is a desire that surfaces with I had a summer job at the cemetery several sum- work on the new freeze-drying method. mers in a row, so after some of my experiences Here, bodies are treated with liquid nitro- there, I will probably choose cremation. We gen, frozen and vibrated to powder – an Tove Ingebjørg Fjell, The Coffin, the Urn and the Ashes 115

ecological method “on nature’s terms” thing that needs to be destroyed. I would like to be (Wernersen & Dahlback 2014; Krüger & buried without wrappings – if it is not difficult to Solbu 2019).20 As of today, this is not per- implement or unclean – or cremated and scattered mitted by law, but work on developing the in the landscape. Being non-religious and a science enthusiast, I have little faith that there is method is ongoing. anything left of “me” in my body after I die, so the This new eco-friendly turn in the field, non-random juxtaposition of atoms that I have with nature and the environment in focus, been can be easily broken down and shared with is also seen in other ideas about rejoining whatever lives on in any way possible. If it wasn’t the biological cycle in the least destructive a problem for society and the bereaved, I think I way. Some have experienced dead bodies would have had nothing against being left in the being consumed by animals but have wild to be eaten by scavengers. I have seen pic- tures of a traditional Nepali burial where friends problems with the mental images that this carry the corpse into the wild, where the bones are has created. An elderly woman has ex- eaten clean by vultures. It was shocking at first, perienced cremation in India, and empha- then really quite OK. I think it would be nice to be sizes that it is not like on film, where the given a handful of my nearest one’s ashes if they body turned into fine ashes: are cremated, which I can fertilize a bush / tree / plant with. The idea that some of their atoms will The stray dogs waited impatiently for a bite to eat. live on in new configurations is beautiful to me. When the bonfire had burned down, the corpse did It’s nice to have a place to visit where there are not turn into fine ashes, as is often seen in films, some physical “remains” of a person. Looked at in but the corpse was only blackened on the outside and light pink inside. The dogs tore at the meat, that way, one should have a place – cemetery, me- which was pink and chewy, like oversized rubber morial or something, where something is pre- bands (40459, K1953; my translation). served. I think that a visit to an apartment, for ex- ample, would be the same – to remind one of the This woman’s experiences have resulted independent person they were in their own context in her taking a stand on how she wants to – but it is obviously less practical to do it that way have her own dead body treated: she has (40502, K1984; my translation). donated her body for research and has al- This young man perceives it as “un- ready planned cremation and ash scatter- worthy” to be buried in a coffin meant to ing afterwards. Others emphasize the de- disintegrate. His main wish is for his dead sire to join the cycle somewhat more spe- body to be directly included in the bio- cifically. A younger male who presents logical cycle. For him, the most environ- himself as non-religious and a science mentally friendly way would be to be left enthusiast, would have preferred either to to scavengers, but he realizes that it could have his ashes scattered, or to be left in be dangerous for public health if it were the wild to be eaten by scavengers, as carried out on a large scale. long as this did not cause problems for The same pattern as in the analysis of others: ash scattering is found here. For some Personally, when one dies, I think one should be- everyday experiences like claustropho- come part of the biological cycle which once gave bia, work experiences from grave sites, one so much – as long as it does not endanger health and society. I know that coffins often must or popular cultural presentations of the be crushed for decomposition to begin, and it living dead develop disgust of decay, and seems a bit unworthy to bury someone in some- fear, which plays an important role to 116 Tove Ingebjørg Fjell, The Coffin, the Urn and the Ashes

many, when reflecting on one’s individ- The recent democratization of death ual body after life. For others, there is no has opened for thoughts of more individ- disgust about the decay, but rather a de- ual-oriented and thus diverse closing sire to join the cycle, in the most natural ceremonies. A positive view of ash scat- and environmentally friendly way pos- tering seems to be linked to several fac- sible. There is a correspondence between tors: in addition to reluctance to end up in who one “is”, or wants to be, and likes consecrated earth, and ash scattering be- and dislikes when alive, and how one ing well suited for people who have wishes one’s remains to be treated when moved a lot and people without descend- dead. ants to care for their graves, there is an idea that a person’s final journey should Conclusion be related to who they were, their identi- Compared to several other Nordic coun- ty. There must be a relationship between tries and the UK, in Norway people are who the deceased was and where the relatively traditional in terms of handling ashes are scattered. If a person loved the dead bodies. Most choose a coffin burial mountains, then it is appropriate to scat- for themselves or their relative, and the ter the ashes on a mountain top; if a per- percentage cremated only increases son was a sailor, then it is apt to scatter slowly. On the one hand, positive notions the ashes at sea; if a person had a fear of of coffin burial are linked to tradition, re- water then ash scattering at sea would be ligion and environmental considerations inappropriate, but perhaps better on land. as in avoidance of air pollution in con- A newer concept is avoidance of conse- nection with a burning process. Positive crated earth, and at the same time, in the conceptions of cremation, on the other most sustainable and gentle way pos- hand, are mainly linked to lack of space; sible, to be useful after life by incorporat- a focus on order and hygiene; environ- ing one’s atoms in new constellations, for mental considerations, the coffin repre- example by being eaten by animals. This senting a pollutant; and dislike of decay. is in many ways the non-Christian con- Many have opinions about the new prac- cept of eternal life. tice of ash scattering, but not many are The focus on the environment and on positive, and even fewer have thoughts of sustainability must be read as an increas- presently illegal practices such as freeze ing expression of the individual-oriented drying or being left in the wild. Negative and of diversity, and in the context of attitudes to the new practice of ash scat- similar trends in contemporary times. tering are linked to the notion of the loss Death is no longer forbidden territory, it is of self, that one disappears completely given a lot of focus compared to only a and that the bereaved cannot feel the few decades ago. Closing ceremonies in presence of the deceased, when one’s Norway are perhaps not all that spectacu- name is not to be found on any head- lar, compared to some other countries, but stone. Remembrance is made difficult they are increasingly more individually when there is nothing material left, such oriented, where people, to a greater extent, as a headstone. question what is best with respect to the Tove Ingebjørg Fjell, The Coffin, the Urn and the Ashes 117

identity of the deceased, and to a lesser ex- ates with approximately 30 days before cre- tent focus on religion and established tra- mation and 20 days before burial. Therefore, embalming is used in Sweden to prevent the ditions. decay process in the waiting period (Krüger 2019). Tove Ingebjørg Fjell 8 In ash scattering, neither headstone nor an Professor extra inscription on an existing headstone is Department of Archaeology, History, allowed, because in Norwegian practice there Cultural Studies and Religion is a principle that a person should have only University of Bergen one grave. However, it is possible to set up a PB 7805 named headstone for a person who is missing NO-5020 Bergen and not found, based on the same principle. email: [email protected] Until 1997, urns could be placed in a colum- barium, a niched vault where cinerary urns are closed or walled in (Hilland 2014). Colum- Notes baria were banned because they violated the 1 The first phase describes the tamed death of Norwegian principle that graves should not the Middle Ages, which is a natural and last forever: Neither the urn nor the ashes de- recognizable part of life, in a time of high compose in columbaria but may in theory last mortality and wars. Tamed death could nei- forever (NOU 2014: 55‒56, 165). ther be forgotten nor hidden. During the Re- 9 Corinthians 15 verses 35‒44: 35 But someone naissance, the phase of one’s own death be- will ask, “How are the dead raised? With gins. Now death is individualized, and it is the what kind of body do they come?” 36 You individual’s unique life that ends. Death is foolish person! What you sow does not come now associated with fear and alienation. Dur- to life unless it dies. 37 And what you sow is ing Romanticism, the third stage begins, the not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel, focus shifting from one’s own death to the perhaps of wheat or of some other grain. death of the other, “thy death”. The fear of 38 But God gives it a body as he has chosen, losing someone close is the origin of the cul- and to each kind of seed its own body. 39 For ture of remembrance (Jacobsen & Haakonsen not all flesh is the same, but there is one kind 2008:14‒15; Jacobsen 2016:3‒5; Ariès 1991). for humans, another for animals, another for 2 “Death interregnum” is a translation from the birds, and another for fish. 40 There are heav- Danish “døden i en mellemtid” (cf. Jacobsen enly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory & Haakonsen 2008:17). of the heavenly is of one kind, and the glory 3 Respondents born 1910‒1919: 1 response; of the earthly is of another. 41 There is one 1920‒1929: 16 responses; 1930‒1939: 29 re- glory of the sun, and another glory of the sponses; 1940‒1949: 45 responses; 1950‒ moon, and another glory of the stars; for star 1959: 39 responses; 1960‒1969: 29 answers; differs from star in glory. 42 So is it with the 1970‒1979: 28 responses; 1980‒1989: 37 re- resurrection of the dead. What is sown is sponses; 1990‒1999: 5 responses. perishable; what is raised is imperishable. 4 See section 9 on confidentiality in ethical 43 It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glo- guidelines applicable to the subject (Research ry. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in Ethics Committees 2019). power. 44 It is sown a natural body; it is 5 The Norwegian titles of these acts are, respec- raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural tively, “gravferdsloven” (1997); “likbrennings- body, there is also a spiritual body. loven” (1913); “kirkegårdsloven” (1897); and 10 The archaeologist Terje Østigard points out “Danmarks og Norges Kirkeritual” (1685). an even stronger connection between crema- 6 A civil ceremony may be held with or without tion and prohibition: “There were […] certain religious elements (Utby 2019). requirements that had to be fulfilled for the 7 There are major differences here between resurrection of the body to be possible. In any Sweden and the other Nordic countries. The case, God needed the skull and thighs for the latter operate with approximately ten working resurrection and therefore cremation was for- days from death to burial, while Sweden oper- bidden” (Østigard 2006:36; my translation). 118 Tove Ingebjørg Fjell, The Coffin, the Urn and the Ashes

11 It is unclear what is meant by pantheistic no- logical kinship. From the point of view of the tions in this quotation. With ash scattering, it football clubs, this is important because one can be argued that man, or the ashes of man, achieves a focus on decency and respect, ra- is or is part of, everything, which means that ther than an unwanted focus on hooligans. God is, or is part of, everything, which is any- 19 The five-digit number refers to the answer, K thing but pantheism. is the Norwegian abbreviation for woman and 12 The provision on ash scattering is in § 20. The 1947 is her birth year. Funeral Act applies to the Norwegian main- 20 There are also other methods considered en- land, while Svalbard is covered by the Regu- vironmentally friendly, such as “green crema- lations on cemeteries in Longyearbyen and tion” or water cremation (water and lye), ash scattering on Svalbard (2008). which is available in the US (Krüger & Solbu 13 The application form must include the name, 2019). A pilot study of “human composting” ID number, address and signature, as well as claims a prevention of 1.4 tonnes of carbon an enclosed map, marking the place where release, and is presented as a climate change one wants the ashes scattered. The county awareness project (Ghosh 2020). governor states the following rules for where the ashes may be scattered: “When scattering in the sea, it is not a requirement that it be References done on the open sea. Ash scattering may also Literature be allowed in fjords, rivers, watercourses and Appel, Hans Henrik 2017: De evige fodboldbaner. other fresh water, but the area must have a de- Askespredning, mindehaver og transformatio- serted character. If there is a lot of leisure traf- nen af britisk fodbold siden 1990. Kulturstudier fic in the area or there are beaches or a lot of 2:1‒27. buildings, one will usually not be given per- Ariès, Philippe 1991: The Hour of our Death. mission. With respect to scattering on land, New York: Oxford University Press. the importance of the area rather than the alti- Fjell, Tove Ingebjørg 2019: Continuities and tude above sea level is emphasized. Ash scat- Changes in Death Notices, the 1960s and 2010s. tering is allowed in areas that are not built-up Arv, 75:35‒53. and where the area has a desolate character. It is emphasized that the ash can be absorbed Gennep, Arnold van 1999: Rites de passage. into the ecological cycle” (County Governor Overgangsriter. Original title: Les rites de pas- 2018, my translation; see also Government sage. Oslo: Pax forlag. 2019). Ghosh, Pallab 2020: Human compost funerals 14 In Denmark it is legal to bury an urn on ‘better for environment’. BBC News. private property, larger than 5,000 square https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environ- metres. It is also legal to bury ashes in two ment-51389084 (18 February 2020). different places (Wanseele & Jacobsen 2009). Giddens, Anthony 1997: Modernitet og selviden- 15 Some 9% answered “don’t know”. titet. Selvet og samfundet under sen-modernite- 16 The county governors approved far more ap- ten. København: Hans Reitzels Forlag A/S. plications for ash scattering in 2012 (741 ap- Gustavsson, Anders 2003: Gravstenar i Norge plications). Most were applications from och Sverige som symboler för känslor, tankar people who had not yet died (64%), and a mi- och idéer i vår egen tid. Oslo: Novus forlag. nority (36%) were applications on behalf of a Hadders, Hans 2013: Cremation in Norway. deceased person. Regulation, changes and challenges. Mortality, 17 Ash scattering is not common in Iceland. Fur- 18:2, 195‒213. thermore, it is emphasized in NOU 2014:162 Holm, Nils G. & Tuomo Lahtinen 1985: Jordbe- that no official statistics on ash scattering are gravning eller kremering? En studie av grav- kept in the Nordic countries; these must there- skicket i Finland. Åbo: Åbo Akademi. fore be regarded as approximate figures. Jacobsen, Michael Hviid 2009: Den femte fase – 18 From the standpoint of the deceased or the be- med Philippe Ariès ind i det 21. århundrede. In reaved, the choice of football club, and ash Döden speglad i aktuell kulturforskning, ed. scattering in that context, is read as an expres- Anders Gustavsson, pp. 13‒40. Uppsala: sion of “chosen kinship”, rather than bio- Kungl. Gustav Adolfs Akademien. Tove Ingebjørg Fjell, The Coffin, the Urn and the Ashes 119

Jacobsen, Michael Hviid 2016: ‘Spectacular askespredning. [Statement from county gover- Death’ – Proposing a New Fifth Phase to nor.] Philippe Ariès’s Admirable History of Death. https://www.fylkesmannen.no/nn/Nyhende/ Humanities, 5: 19:1‒34. 2018/07/sok-om-askespredning/ Jacobsen, Michael Hviid & Mette Haakonsen https://www.fylkesmannen.no/en/People-and- 2008: Indledning. Memento mori – døden i society/Scattering-of-ashes/ (12 May 2019) Danmark i tværfagligt lys. In Memento mori – Cremation Act [Lov om likbrænding (likbren- døden i Danmark i tværfagligt lys, ed. Michael ningsloven)] 1913: LOV-1913-05-03. Hviid Jacobsen & Mette Haakonsen, pp. 11‒29. Denmark and Norway’s Church Ritual [Dan- Odense: Syddansk universitetsforlag. marks og Norges Kirkeritual] 1685: LOV- Kjus, Audun 2019: Døden flytter hjemmefra. 1685-07-25. Barn i og utenfor begravelser på 1900-tallet. Funeral Act [Lov om gravplasser, kremasjon og Tidsskrift for kulturforskning, 1: 3‒41. gravferd (gravferdsloven)] 1997: LOV-1996- Lahtinen, Tuomo 1989: Kremering i Finland. 06-07-32. https://lovdata.no/dokument/NL/lov/ Idéhistoria och utveckling. Åbo: Åbo Akademi. 1996-06-07-32 (15 May 2019). Østigard, Terje 2006: På liv og død. Med døden som Government [Regjeringen] 2008: Plastgraver – en følgesvenn i 1500 år. Vestfold: Migard forlag. orientering. [Statement from the Government.] Research Ethics Committees [De nasjonale forsk- https://www.regjeringen.no/globalassets/upload/ ningsetiske komiteene] 2019. Forskningsetiske kkd/rundskriv-med-vedlegg/v-18n-2008-plast- retningslinjer for samfunnsvitenskap, humanio- graver-vedlegg1.pdf (9 September 2019). ra, juss og teologi. Government [Regjeringen] 2019: Om askespred- https://www.etikkom.no/forskningsetiske- ning. 07.03.2019. [Statement from the Govern- retningslinjer/Samfunnsvitenskap-jus-og- ment.] humaniora/ (23 August 2019). https://www.regjeringen.no/no/tema/tro-og- Utby, Vilde Ørsjø 2019: I avdødes ånd. En livssyn/gravferd/innsiktsartikler/om- kulturvitenskapelig analyse av livssynsåpen askespredning/id445138/ (12 May 2019). seremoni ved gravferd. MA Thesis, Cultural Graveyard Act [Lov om Kirker og Kirkegaarde Studies. Bergen, University of Bergen. (kirkegårdsloven)] 1897: LOV-1897-08-03-1. Wanseele, Janet Ferrari & Michael Hviid Jacob- Hilland, Linda 2014: Bergen kan få gravplass i sen 2009: ’I Did It My Way’? En sociologisk etasjer. Bergensavisen, 10.10.2014. samtidsdiagnose over den senmoderne/postmo- https://www.ba.no/nyheter/bergen-kan-fa- derne død. Dansk Sociologi, 4:9‒34. gravplass-i-etasjer/s/1-41-7631892 (12 May 2019). Sources Krüger, Frida J. & Erlend Lånke Solbu 2019: Av The Bible 2011. 1 Corinthians 15, verses 35–44. jord er du kommet. Nrk.no, 16.07.2019. https://www.bibel.no/Nettbibelen.aspx?query https://www.nrk.no/viten/xl/plassmangel-og- =yYAOW1g5DEgYQbwhVIg0ijrVmC3E7g blaleire-gir-store-utfordringer-pa-norske- 2shPE7ru6Xm1TXspf3cyLAh6WYih5fB/Wm kirkegarder-1.14563866 (19 May 2019). (22 May 2019). Krüger, Frida J. 2019: Svenskene må balsamere Brustad, Mats 2019: Jan Erik er mannen bak Nor- sine døde. Nrk.no, 03.09.2019. ges dyreste Tesla. TV2.no, 06.09.2019. https://www.nrk.no/viten/dode-i-stockholm- https://www.tv2.no/a/10426893/ (6 September ma-balsameres-pa-grunn-av-lang-ventetid-pa- 2019). gravferd-1.14597535 (4 September 2019). Church Meeting [Kirkemøtet] 2012: Kirkelig med- Norwegian Ethnological Research [Norsk etnolo- virkning ved gravferd når den ønskes avsluttet gisk gransking] 2012: Død og gravferd, ques- med kremasjon og askespredning. Endring i al- tionnaire no. 240. minnelige bestemmelser for gravferd. NOU 2014:2: Lik og likskap. Om betaling for kre- https://kirken.no/globalassets/kirken.no/ masjon, gravlegging og grav. [Official Nor- migrering/km_8_1_12_alm_best_gravferd_ wegian Reports]. askespredning.pdf?fbclid=IwAR2rK5HUDCIj https://www.regjeringen.no/contentassets/ SkyEW3zokmzxRD21MdcAhhwXbjzzB6I1 9c7c0328863d4c15a53aa60e84a89e82/nn-no/ bvgDWrsTWpNUcbA (15 May 2019). pdfs/nou201420140002000dddpdfs.pdf County Governor [Fylkesmannen] 2018: Søk om (22 May 2019). 120 Tove Ingebjørg Fjell, The Coffin, the Urn and the Ashes

Ocean princess, undated. “Askespredning”. https://lovdata.no/dokument/SF/forskrift/ http://www.oceanprincess.no/nb_NO/tjenester/ 2008-02-15-153 (14 May 2019). tjenesteraskespredning/ (12 May 2019). Scattering ashes, undated. Proposition to the Odelsting on the Church Act https://scattering-ashes.co.uk (12 May 2019). and the Funeral Act [Ot.prp.nr.64 (1994–1995) Vega sailing, undated. S/S Vega. 1. Om lov om Den norske kirke (kirkeloven) 2. https://www.ssvega.no/index.html Om lov om kirkegårder, kremasjon og gravferd (12 May 2019). (gravferdsloven)] 1995. Wernersen, Camilla & Ida Titlestad Dahlback Regulations on cemeteries in Longyearbyen and 2014: Fra jord er du kommet, til frysetørret næ- ash scattering on Svalbard [Forskrift om kir- ring skal du bli. Nrk.no, 24.10.2014. kegårder i Longyearbyen og askespredning på https://www.nrk.no/norge/fra-jord-er-du- Svalbard] 2008. FOR-2008-02-15-153 kommet_-til-frysetorret-naering-skal-du-bli- 1.11996067 (6 September 2019). Sellable Stories The Use of History in the Marketing of Heritage Plants and Gardens By Katarina Saltzman, Carina Sjöholm & Tina Westerlund

Garden phlox “Alma Jansson” comes The purpose of the article is to highlight from a smallholding in Roslagen. It has intersections between heritage, markets been on the farm at least since 1939 when and gardens in Sweden, by paying atten- Stina Jansson moved in. It was her mother- tion to the ways in which heritage is pro- in-law, Alma Jansson, who took care of duced and articulated within formal as the plants in the garden. “Everything well as informal markets for garden-relat- comes from Grandma. She had such beau- ed items and services through storytelling. tiful flowers”, said Stina. We do not know In these contexts stories are used to en- where she received or bought this variety, hance the value of gardens with a history but it was not newly planted in 1939.1 to visitors and customers; connecting This story is told in the marketing mate- plants, places and gardening practices to rial for an old variety of garden phlox people, past and present. By focusing on (Phlox paniculata), a perennial flower the production and articulation of heritage found and propagated within the Swedish we are connecting to understandings of Programme for Diversity of Cultivated heritage as processes whereby “[t]he pres- Plants. Under their trademark Grönt kul- ent selects an inheritance from an im- turarv® (“Green Heritage”) a number of agined past for current use and decides heritage plants have been (re-)released on what should be passed on to an imagined the market during the last five years – and future” (Tunbridge & Ashworth 1996:6). there is clearly a demand. The story of In recent research and not least within the Alma Jansson is now part of a product field of critical heritage studies such pro- sold in nurseries all over Sweden. Her cesses have often been discussed in terms story is told in a context where the of heritagization (e.g. Harrison 2013). garden’s heritage has become a commod- Based on examples of “heritage plants”, ity in a market, and is sold with the help of “heritage gardens” and the intangible heri- storytelling. tage of practical gardening knowhow, we This article will investigate the use of want to discuss the following questions: storytelling as an articulation of heritage How is heritage articulated as a value in in the field of gardening, when “old” the garden market and when is garden-re- plants and gardens are turned into heritage lated heritage perceived as a commercial products. Examples show that such stories value? What is understood as heritage in are used to enhance the values of plants as these contexts are certain origins and his- well as entire gardens. Based on the pre- tories seen as interesting to highlight and sentation of heritage gardens to visitors, others not? How are ideas and conceptions and on the marketing of officially ap- about origin and heritage used, managed proved heritage plants as products for con- and conveyed by different actors? And temporary gardeners in Sweden, we will how is heritage made in a practical sense? demonstrate how such stories are utilized At the intersection between garden, as tools to strengthen the value of plants as heritage and market we have found a ra- well as gardens. We will discuss how ther unexplored empirical field. In order these stories are gathered and conveyed, to examine what happens at this intersec- defining plants and gardens as “old and tion we combine cultural perspectives on valuable”. how value is created (cf. Macdonald

Ethnologia Scandinavica, Vol. 50, 2020 122 Katarina Saltzman, Carina Sjöholm & Tina Westerlund, Sellable Stories

2013) and critical perspectives on the role One of these is a nationally acknowledged of the past in the present and for the future and official heritage site, located in the (e.g. Smith 2006; Harrison 2013). In this capital, whereas the other one is rurally lo- article we want to stress the actual making cated, privately owned, and relatively new of heritage as well as of stories, and have as a visitor garden. These are two of the found it instructive to study these issues in many gardens that we have visited as part relation to the living and ever-changing of our study, and they are relevant for the matters involved in gardening. purpose of this article through the way One way to gain an insight into the they use storytelling as a tool. stories about heritage is to study how dif- ferent actors work and mediate what they Garden Values think is central to convey. In this article, Today, gardening and cultivation are often which is based on a combination of inter- associated with ideals of sustainability, views, field observations and document origin, authenticity and inspiration from studies,2 we have chosen to emphasize the the past. Commercial actors often high- producers’ perspective. We have visited light such ideals in the contexts where gar- several private and public gardens in dif- dening has become a commodity in the ferent parts of Sweden, and have met key lifestyle market. Garden-related objects actors within the Programme for Diversity such as tools and not least plants are wide- of Cultivated Plants. When visiting gar- ly circulated today in a market that is high- dens we have had the opportunity to take ly commercialized. The seeds, bulbs and different roles, both as visitors among plants that you buy at your nearest garden many others and as interviewers in con- centre are rarely cultivated in the immedi- versation and walks with garden owners ate area, even though “locally produced” and professional gardeners who work with and “organic” as well as “heritage” are plant production, maintenance and man- popular guiding principles in today’s gar- agement. We have also participated in den trends. Furthermore, private visitor seminars on the management, mediation gardens, as well as garden tours and vari- and marketing of gardens as a heritage. ous informal channels such as blogs and We will here focus on three Swedish internet-based trade have become markets examples of how heritage is produced, in- to count on (Lipovská 2013). Public parks terpreted and created in contemporary and gardens are regarded as valuable and markets for garden-related goods and ser- important assets within tourism, urban re- vices. Firstly, we will look into the work newal and regional development (Ben- on the inventory, collection and preserva- field 2013; Čakovská 2018). Many visitor tion of old varieties of garden plants, and gardens, private as well as public, are ex- the development and marketing of the amples of how the heritage of gardens is brand Grönt kulturarv. After that we will managed but also how business is created take a closer look at two examples of visi- (Connell 2005; Gao & Dietze-Schirde- tor gardens where storytelling has become wahn 2017). an important way of anchoring experi- In recent decades, the green aspects of ences by emphasizing traces of history. heritage have become increasingly im- Katarina Saltzman, Carina Sjöholm & Tina Westerlund, Sellable Stories 123

portant in the field of cultural conserva- tion, management and maintenance of tion, from being a decorative accessory to garden heritage, and they quite clearly re- culturally valuable heritage buildings. flect what has been considered historically Since 1988 the Swedish Cultural Environ- correct or authentic. Defining authenticity ment Act emphasizes that gardens and can be a critical task for those involved in parks can be declared building monu- the selection and valuation for example of ments and as independent cultural-histori- heritage plants, or in the interpretation of cal objects (KML, Kap. 3 §1). Within his- documents related to the historic manage- torical garden research and garden heri- ment of gardens. tage management in Scandinavia, heritage The focus on heritage values in the con- has been studied mainly with a focus on text of gardens and gardening can be seen the cultural historical traces that can be as a result of the broader increase in what found in older gardens; how these can be has been considered as heritage in recent identified, valued and preserved. There decades. This is a change that Rodney are several studies, based on historical Harrison, professor of Heritage Studies, perspectives, that discuss garden ideals in has described as a “heritage boom” (Har- a social context (e.g. Tandre 2008; Ja- rison 2013). As many scholars have dis- kobsson 2009; Ravn & Dragsbo 2017). cussed, heritage can be seen as a process However, there is not much previous re- where memories, traditions and associa- search on how garden-related heritage is tions are chosen from history to be used articulated and produced in a market con- for various purposes and thus become a text. strategic factor in the profiling of, for ex- The literature in the field of heritage ample, a commercial enterprise (cf. Kir- garden conservation is differentiated. shenblatt-Gimblett 1998; Bendix 1997). Many books can be categorized as man- Important keywords that are often used in uals for identification of historic garden such contexts are authentic, old-fash- values (e.g. Wilke 2006; Iwarsson 2014; ioned, vintage, retro, homemade, hand- Tandre 2014), whereas others discuss made, local, and sustainable (cf. Sjöholm values in combination with recommenda- 2019; Palmsköld 2018; Pico Larsen & tions for the conservation management Österlund-Pötzsch 2015). processes (e.g. Mackellar Goulty 1993; The common definition of a market is Flinck 2013). In both cases they can be ap- that it is a trading and meeting place where plied to public as well as private gardens, something is bought and sold, and where large as well as small. Some include ad- pricing, demand and supply are central. vice on what to do, provide examples of Market is an economic term that refers to different kinds of approaches, as well as the supply and demand of a product or ser- more or less “authentic” ways of preserv- vice. Here, we rather work with an ex- ing or reconstructing old gardens (e.g. panded market concept, including differ- Watkins & Wright 2007). As some of ent kinds of markets and also different these books have been widely distributed kinds of values that are produced and ne- they have had an influence as recommen- gotiated – not just monetary or economic. dations and guidelines for the reconstruc- Storytelling as marketing and how stories 124 Katarina Saltzman, Carina Sjöholm & Tina Westerlund, Sellable Stories

fascinate people has been a matter of in- duced to the market, it was one of the first terest and investigation (Fog et al. 2010; perennials labelled Grönt kulturarv, Lundqvist et al. 2013). Less has been done which translates “Green Heritage” by the about the link between storytelling and official Swedish programme for diversity marketing of heritage in connection with of cultivated plants. This programme is plants and gardens. The term storytelling commonly referred to under its Swedish is today often used in commercial contexts abbreviation “Pom”, which is short for and has become established as a way of Programmet för odlad mångfald. Pom marketing various phenomena, goods and aims to find, collect, conserve and reintro- services, i.e. to support a business.3 In this duce old and valuable varieties of garden context, telling personal stories is a way to plants – edible as well as ornamental. achieve something, and is often part of a Raising of public awareness has been an- well-developed business strategy with the other important part of the “mission” of aim of attracting visitors (Salzer-Mörling Pom, and in the books and pamphlets they & Strannegård 2004; Mossberg & Johan- have produced, as well as on their website, sen Nissen 2006; Mossberg 2008). Telling they declare that there are many reasons to stories is also used as a way to strengthen care about old varieties of garden plants, the identity of brands and attractions. Our and that domesticated plants have played examples are perhaps not entirely compar- important roles in human history (e.g. able to how, for example, major tourist at- Nygårds & Leino 2013; Strese 2016; tractions work with stories, even fictitious Strese & de Wahl 2018). ones, based on a distinct business perspec- Pom was initiated in the year 2000 as tive, but there are similarities in the way part of Sweden’s response to The Conven- they both work with stories based on his- tion of Biological Diversity (1993), which torical background and histories of cre- states that the genetic variation is seen as ation as a means for marketing and as a a potentially valuable resource, for society way of creating historical aura (cf. Ström- and for ecosystems, including, for ex- berg 2007). A story about the previous ample, pollinating insects. When their role or function of, say, a place can also be work started there was little interest in old of importance for strengthening local varieties within the horticultural sector. identity. Our study confirms that it has Pom is organized as a network, including become very common to explicitly use open-air museums, botanical gardens, the stories and storytelling to profile places Swedish Board of Agriculture, and is co- and businesses, as a way to make them ap- ordinated by the Swedish University of pealing to visitors and local residents Agricultural Sciences in collaboration alike. with the Ministry for Rural Affairs and the Swedish National Heritage Board. Their Telling Green Heritage Stories work is based on the assumption that old At the very start of this article we met varieties should be regarded as resources “Alma Jansson”, a perennial flower found with potential genetic qualities, such as in a rural garden in Mid-Sweden. When hardiness and taste, that are no longer this variety of phlox in 2013 was reintro- available. Katarina Saltzman, Carina Sjöholm & Tina Westerlund, Sellable Stories 125

A main aim of the programme was to carry out national inventories, searching for old garden plants of different kinds all over Sweden. This was a challenging task: Where to look and how to search in order to find old varieties of plants perhaps once common, but now only surviving in a few private gardens or kept as seeds on an old farm? A lot of the work was carried out by volunteers, in collaboration with teams of experts on each category of plants, and with the general public. “It would not have been possible to do this without the volun- teers all around”, says the former director of the programme, who recently retired. Originally a biologist with a focus on plant physiology and working with Pom since its initiation, she has seen the need to tackle the challenges in cross-disciplinary and innovative ways. The inventories Some old varieties of geranium collected were organized through eight different through the Swedish Programme for Diversity “calls”: The calls for vegetable seeds and of Cultivated Plants (Pom) have been selected perennial flowers were among the first, to be released on the market, and labelled followed by calls for roses, pot plants, ‘Grönt kulturarv’, i.e. Green Heritage. Photo: Carina Sjöholm. flowering bulbs, fruit and berries, trees and bushes, and perennial crops such as rhubarb and asparagus. The volunteers re- the years? According to the former direc- ceived training within the programme on tor, the history of each plant has become a what to look for, and they were instructed much more important part of the pro- to collect plants and talk to people to doc- gramme than was originally foreseen: 4 ument the stories of each plant. There was not meant to be so much cultural histo- To be of interest for Pom a plant had to ry and garden culture in this from the beginning, have a documented history in its location not at all. And it would not have been that way if since at least 1940, 1950 or 1960, with dif- it wasn’t for us pushing for it, because in a great ferent time limits for different groups of many other countries around us, other than the plants. In order to ensure that the collected Nordic countries, the focus is almost only on plant breeding. plants did fulfil this requirement, it was important also to collect the story of each For those working with Pom, it became in- plant from reliable sources: How long had creasingly important to regard the collec- it been growing in its current location, and tion of stories as equally important as the in other known places before that? Who collection of the plants themselves. There had been growing and caring for it over was a fear that a project like this in the end 126 Katarina Saltzman, Carina Sjöholm & Tina Westerlund, Sellable Stories

could turn out to be temporary, and if so, available, by introducing – or in some what would happen with the collected cases rather reintroducing – them on the plants, and their stories. The former direc- market. During the last few years many tor says that her mission was to find sus- different kinds of plants, including 16 tainable solutions where the plants were varieties of perennial flowers such as “Al- not only regarded “as something you save ma Jansson”, have been released on the in a bank”, but rather as something that Swedish market and are now sold in nurs- should be recirculated, together with their eries and garden markets all over Sweden stories. under the label Grönt kulturarv. Accord- There is however now a “bank” within ing to Pom representatives, their work to- Pom; a national gene bank for horti- wards this goal had to be strategic, as there cultural plants has been established in were many hurdles to pass on the way. the Swedish University of Agricultural They were aware that a programme with Sciences (SLU), Alnarp, and in addition to similar goals in Norway, Plantearven, had that, regional clone archives have been set failed with their reintroduction of old gar- up around the country. For seeds, there den plants because they were not prepared was already a Nordic initiative, NordGen, for the large public interest when these va- storing traditional seeds in the Global rieties were launched, and the number of Seed Vault located in the island of Sval- plants that were available at the time of the bard in Northern Norway (cf. Breithoff & launch was simply too small. “That’s a Harrison 2020). The aim of the national good way to kill a market”, notes the for- gene bank is to preserve, document, dis- mer director. As a plant physiologist she is tribute and do research on the plants col- well aware that plant propagation takes lected through Pom. The gene bank now time, and with this in mind she and her hosts more than 2,200 varieties of old gar- colleagues made sure to have a good sup- den plants (in the field collection and the ply of plants ready when new Green Heri- local clonal archives). The aim of the gene tage varieties were introduced: bank is not only to protect and preserve There was a lot of discussion about what we the genetic material but also to make sure should do with the plants when they come out – that this is available for those who might should we label them or do something to show that these are special plants? And that it is not just any see values of different kinds in the old va- plant that you sell at a nursery. That they have rieties. “The information and the plants been around. That they have a history. This also should get out. That is the best way to pre- starts with the fact that history is important. And serve them”, says the former director today this has almost the same weight, but in the when describing the role of the gene bank. beginning it was like, what the hell… After test growing in the gene bank and The end of this quotation refers to how the elsewhere, and careful considerations Pom team initially struggled with plant within Pom’s “Propagation and Market- propagators who found the historical as- ing Group”, a few plant varieties have pect completely irrelevant. Over the years, been selected to be more deliberately however, this has changed, and now the spread. One goal for Pom has been to stories are regarded as a significant part of make a selection of the collected plants the product. The naming of the plants has Katarina Saltzman, Carina Sjöholm & Tina Westerlund, Sellable Stories 127

become important in the process of turn- ed by Pom, and good enough to be market- ing collected plant varieties into products, ed as a heritage plant. Perennial flowers and within Pom it has been agreed that all such as this one also proved to be surpris- names given to Green Heritage plants ingly easy to propagate using modern, should have connotations either of a per- lab-based micro-propagation methods, and son, a place or a tradition with document- thus it was possible to provide a large ed connection to the plant. Choosing a enough number of plants to the market for name has often proved to be a challenging the release. Since then the story of Alma task, when donors’ preferences need to be Jansson has been spread together with the reconciled with the actual documented plants. Thus, the story of the origin of this history of the plant, and at the same time phlox and other old plant varieties is now with the market potential and the regula- an essential part of products on a market. tions for naming plants within the garden From almost complete neglect these old industry. plants are now receiving a lot of attention. In the marketing material that is avail- In garden centres, garden media, on the in- able on Pom’s website, the phlox “Alma ternet and in private as well as public gar- Jansson” is presented with facts about the dens in Sweden today you can easily find colour (“dark green foliage and bright plants labelled Grönt kulturarv. This label- purple flowers with white eye”), height ling can be understood as an authorization (100‒110 cm) and growth (“healthy and of heritage (cf. Smith 2006). spreads well with runners without having There are however still a number of an aggressive growth pattern”), accompa- challenges connected to the promotion of nied by the story of the plant and how it Green Heritage plants. The collected plant was found: material includes many different kinds of Two of those working with the inventory of peren- plants with differing growth patterns and nials noticed the phlox when they were visiting requirements, as well as a wide variety of the home of almost 90-year-old Stina Jansson. In different kinds of histories and documen- the summer of 2005 they visited her in Edsbro and tation thereof. Some of the plants, as for in a flowerbed on the farm, this tall, light purple example different varieties of hops (Hu- phlox grew. It has done so at least since 1939 mulus lupulus), has proved to be more dif- when Stina Jansson moved in. Then she was new- ficult to propagate in large quantities, and ly married and came to the in-laws’ farm. The plants in the garden were taken care of by her others, such as varieties of dahlias (Dah- mother-in-law Alma Jansson who was interested lia), have been accompanied with plant in gardening and planted many of the plants in the diseases. yard. We do not know where she got or bought the autumn phlox, but it was not newly planted on the A Prince and His Flowers farm in 1939. Let’s now move from inventory, collec- After collection in the garden of Stina Jans- tion, conservation, production and mar- son and test growing at the Swedish Uni- keting of old garden plants to the manage- versity of Agricultural Sciences in Alnarp, ment, mediation and marketing of old gar- this phlox was assessed to be a worthy rep- dens. The first example that we will take a resentative of the old garden plants collect- closer look at is the garden at the Swedish 128 Katarina Saltzman, Carina Sjöholm & Tina Westerlund, Sellable Stories

art museum Prince Eugen’s Waldemars- and gardens are included in what is con- udde in Stockholm, the home of Prince sidered valuable to show. The guides not Eugen in the first half of the twentieth cen- only show the estate as it was, they also tury. The house with its surrounding ter- tell its story with the help of the garden raced garden is located by the waterside at and the plants. In addition to the regular the harbour inlet of Stockholm. For many guided tours, where the house, the collec- decades it has been an established visitor tions and the garden are displayed, the destination with a special art-and-garden gardeners offer special guided tours of the profile. garden and the surrounding park. In these The prince was born in 1865, as the guided tours, the stories focus more on the youngest son of the Swedish King Oscar different “rooms” in the garden and on II and Queen Sophia. Already at a young specific plants. On some occasions, visi- age he showed artistic promise, which tors are also invited into the garden’s nur- would result in a life-long commitment to sery. They are told about the Prince’s arts. He was also dedicated to the art of choice of plants and how the gardeners gardening, as we can still experience work to preserve as much as possible of when visiting Waldemarsudde today. In a what was grown in his time, including letter to a friend5 he wrote: “After paint- tricky tasks such as replacing old plant va- ing, I think flowers are my greatest pleas- rieties that can no longer be obtained with ure” (www.waldemarsudde.se). Prince something as similar as possible. Eugen had firm ideas about which plants Today’s gardeners at Waldemarsudde he wanted to see where in the garden that work in the tradition that was established was established around his house. He em- in the days of Prince Eugen. The nursery ployed a head gardener to lead the work, is still there, with its greenhouses and and in addition to the construction of the frames where many old varieties of plants garden, a nursery with a greenhouse was are propagated, and the flowerbeds in the built to provide the home and garden with garden are still flourishing. Not only are plants. Flowers indoors were seen as these an attraction in the garden, they are equally important as flowers outdoors. also a resource for the museum florist in After the death of Prince Eugen in 1947, making the flower arrangements indoors. the entire property with its collections was Some of the indoor arrangements are re- passed on to the Swedish state. In his will, peated every year exactly as the prince the prince expressed a wish that everything wanted them to be. The seasonal change, in and around the house should be both in the garden and inside the house, is “preserved as a living cultural image” an attraction in itself, and makes tourists (www.waldemarsudde.se). Waldemars- as well as locals return to visit the house udde was opened as a museum the follow- and the gardens at different times of the ing year. Since 2017 the museum has been year. run as an independent foundation with A more in-depth story about the garden government grants. and the plants can be read in a book writ- Waldemarsudde is an example of a his- ten by the today’s head gardener (Rydberg torical environment where plants, parks 2014). In the book, the history of the Katarina Saltzman, Carina Sjöholm & Tina Westerlund, Sellable Stories 129

garden is highlighted in text and images. structed flowerbed, it is also possible to Stories from past times, illustrated with share the gardener’s reflections on the old photographs, are interspersed with the prince’s choice of colours in the flower gardener’s own interpretations and reflec- combinations, and compare these reflec- tions. Contemporary photographs show tions with your own. the garden rooms and plants during differ- In the collections at Waldemarsudde ent seasons. The head gardener writes there is not only art; the prince also had about the different sources she uses to find collections of plants. One section in the out what the garden may have looked like book by the head gardener is devoted to and what it may have contained. Photo- the museum’s collection of geraniums: graphs are one source, old inventory lists In the list of gardener Löfgren, from 1949, there another, and so are sketches and plans. are six varieties of zonal geraniums […] Of these She has found information in correspond- varieties only “Meteor” is in our current assort- ence from the years when the garden was ment, but surely the other varieties could be found established, where the prince himself de- in other collections, and it would be nice to grow them for display. The geranium “Genitrix” is ap- scribes how the work is progressing. From parently hard to find. Certainly many more kinds this time she has also found invoices that of geraniums have passed through the greenhouse tell about seed and plant orders made from at Waldemarsudde since 1901, and the varieties near and far. still come and go (Rydberg 2014:187). On the 1st of April 1900, the prince or- As in many cases, stories about past and dered flower seeds from Kelways, a Brit- present are intertwined in the search for ish nursery in Langport: the perennial heritage value. In the book, it is the current “Sammetsaurikeln”, a garden auricle in gardener who has chosen what she wants mixed colours, California poppy, coastal to tell about this place. This book is not tidytips, two kinds of mignonette, namely published to be a manual for garden con- “Mignonette Bismarck” and “Nineteom- servation, but the stories can nevertheless men”. As usual, the prince carefully spec- affect readers in their approach to the ified all the shades of colour. I recently management, preservation and recon- tried to plant a flowerbed with exactly struction of their own gardens. Reading those plants. It all fits very well together this book can raise some questions in rela- and you can imagine the prince’s thoughts tion to the heritage making process, for on the colours, and realize how closely he example: What kind of connection to the must have studied the flowers (Rydberg prince did the gardener experience when 2014:21‒22). she created “his” flowerbed? How did she Here the head gardener describes what perceive the colour combinations suggest- she has found in an old delivery note and ed by the prince? And was it possible to how she has tried combining the listed get hold of all the varieties described by plants in a reconstruction of a flowerbed. the prince for this particular flowerbed? The reader thus gets an insight into the de- With these questions, we want to highlight tective work needed to show what once the importance of discussing how the past was, and the gardener’s search in itself be- is described through today’s experiences, comes a story. When visiting the recon- views, assessments, as well as access to 130 Katarina Saltzman, Carina Sjöholm & Tina Westerlund, Sellable Stories

materials and workmanship (cf. Mårdh in Prince Eugen’s days. In this workshop 2017). The production of garden conser- the gardeners show and describe how they vation manuals and books is to a certain grow and manage to preserve the old gera- extent about creating a cultural heritage by nium varieties that they have in their col- telling how to reconstruct in the “right” lection. In addition to getting to see the en- way. The question is how clearly such tire collection and hearing the story about guidelines convey one’s own starting the work, participants get an opportunity point, and how it influences the making of to try for themselves to sow seeds and take cultural heritage. cuttings. At this workshop, one of the gar- This book about the garden is some- deners tells what is needed to grow and thing that visitors can buy in the gift shop preserve these plants, and this is not only at Waldemarsudde, so that they can bring communicated in words. He demonstrates the stories with them. However, the book how he cuts pieces of plants for cuttings; is not the only thing connected to the gar- he shows how he handles them and points den that is possible to by in the shop. out what he is looking for. The materiality Plants from the nursery are also for sale, of the geraniums is used to communicate newly rooted cuttings from the Walde- the practice. From our point of view, this marsudde plant collections. Selling plants is also a kind of storytelling, where the with connections to the site is not uncom- telling involves the plants, the tools, the mon in historical gardens today, and can pots and the soil, which relates to how the be regarded as yet another way of telling anthropologist Tim Ingold argues that “we and spreading stories of heritage along can tell what we know through practice with the material, vegetal heritage. and experience” (Ingold 2013:109). In- At Waldemarsudde, another kind of gold states that because something is not storytelling is also used, conveying stories articulated, or written in words, it does not of the craft of cultivating and designing mean that it is untold. He uses the verb “to with plants. On a few occasions every tell” in two related senses, on the one hand year, the museum organizes activities to recount stories and on the other hand where visitors are allowed to participate in “to recognise subtle cues in one’s environ- the practical work with plants. The gar- ment and to respond to them with judge- deners organize workshops in cultivation ment and precision” (Ingold 2013:109). and the museum florist guides the visitors When the gardener tells the participants of to make arrangements with cut flowers. what he knows he uses his sensory experi- By doing this, they take responsibility also ences to guide them, to understand what for the mediation of the craft knowledge he is recognizing in the material and how. needed in the management of a historic He makes comparisons to clarify what garden. As with the guided tours, these kind of judgements needs to be made in workshops are something that visitors pay order to get a good result. By trying this an additional fee to take part in. themselves, and experiencing it hands-on, A recurring workshop theme at Walde- the participants at the workshop become marsudde is about geraniums, which is a more aware of the variations in the mate- popular group of pot plants today, just as rial and how to judge. By this way of tell- Katarina Saltzman, Carina Sjöholm & Tina Westerlund, Sellable Stories 131

transfer of knowledge within a specific professional tradition is influenced by the individual’s own experiences (cf. Planke 2001; Westerlund 2017). Passing on prac- tical skills in this manner is a specific way of connecting past and present through storytelling. At Waldemarsudde this kind of storytelling also is used as a business strategy with the aim of attracting visitors. In their marketing material, the mu- seum stresses that it is its mission to pre- serve the collections and the entire estate and make them available to visitors. Regulations have been developed for how the conservation work at Waldemars- udde should be carried out, not only for the buildings and art collections, but also for the management of the park and gar- den (www.waldemarsudde.se). However, Knowledge and know-how concerning culti- there are significant differences in the task vation of old plant varieties is here conveyed of preserving paintings, sculptures, tex- in a workshop at Waldemarsudde, where the tiles and buildings, compared to preserv- participants get a chance to practice the hand- ing a park or a garden. Plants – the most ling of cuttings of geranium. Photo: Tina fundamental components of parks and Westerlund. gardens – are living things in constant change and interaction, and thus the pre- ing, a skilled practitioner can guide novic- servation of a garden needs to embrace the es by making them see, feel and listen (cf. fact that vegetation can never be static Ehn 2011, 2014; Pink 2009). (Mackellar Goulty 1993). Gardeners have The gardener does not only tell about to accept and manage long-term as well as his own experiences, he also conveys how short-term changes, involving not only work on propagating geraniums has been plants but also other non-human organ- carried out by others before him, at isms, all with their own characteristics, re- Waldemarsudde and in other places over quirements and growth patterns. An oak centuries. This is knowledge that has been tree, for example, grows slowly and can developed within a tradition, a profession- be standing for hundreds of years, but al tradition that can be seen as a constantly when it finally falls it causes a sudden and ongoing story that is passed on between radical transformation of a large part of people, where each person forms a link the garden. For other plants, their visual (Molander 1996). Within research on appearance is more closely connected to practical knowledge, with a focus on regular human interference, such as the crafts, there is a discussion of how the low box hedges around the flower beds in 132 Katarina Saltzman, Carina Sjöholm & Tina Westerlund, Sellable Stories

the formal parts of the garden that are main building was erected in the late trimmed at least once a year. Yet other seventeenth century but the history of the plants, such as annual flowers and pot estate goes back at least to the twelfth cen- plants are placed every year in the garden tury. When today’s owners took over in by the gardeners, and develop quickly the 1970s, large parts of the garden were from seeds, to flourish a few months later overgrown. The long historical roots of and then wither and die with the first frost this garden and the estate where it is locat- in autumn. The preservation of a historic ed are emphasized by the owners in their garden is indeed a challenging task in- storytelling. Just as at Waldemarsudde, volving many kinds of considerations and the history of the garden is presented in coincidences. detail in a book, in this case written by the current owners, and made legitimate since Searching for Family Stories in a it is published by the regional museum. Garden The history is also presented in an exhibi- Not only official heritage sites but also tion in one of the buildings at the farm. In private garden owners have chosen to the exhibition, visitors are introduced to open their gardens in order to attract visi- stories about the history of the specific tors and tourists. Enterprises like these are place, with a certain focus on gardening. nothing new per se, but the numbers of There are lists of plants that have grown in open private gardens, as well as how they the garden over time but also histories are run and kept, have changed and today about individuals of importance for the the private visitor garden has more or less creation of the garden, and stories about become an institution (Benfield 2013; Li- methods and materials that have been used povská 2013). Often these activities have when making the garden. All in all, many explicitly become part of the tourism and elements not only from the old but also the hospitality sector, and can be understood more recent history are picked up and as elements of the cultural economy where highlighted when this garden in presented different kinds of storytelling are of sig- through storytelling in the exhibition as nificant importance. In this and previous well as in the book: projects we have visited a variety of large Today, there are no neatly raked gravel paths with and small, as well as private and public sharp edges. Much has happened during the three visitor gardens. One such garden, which hundred years that have passed since the Baroque garden was established. Fashion, business and in- we use as example in this article, is a ra- terest have changed. In the 1980s the remains of ther large private garden at a manor locat- the ornamental garden became a pasture for the ed in a rural setting in south-western Swe- heifers on the farm. Then it turned again, and to- den. At the time of our visit, this particular day we cherish the memories of what once was, garden had not been open to visitors for so we add something new, and take care of the plants long, but was well known in the area, and we found when we cleared away all that was not a the current owner is part of a network for garden (Thorburn 2014a:121). visitor gardens in the region. One common thread in the story about this This garden includes remains of a park garden is about people: The family, the that has a long, documented history. The ancestors and the gardeners who have Katarina Saltzman, Carina Sjöholm & Tina Westerlund, Sellable Stories 133

been involved in the creation of the gar- graphs and they are all from the 1900s”. den. The initiative to develop and show However, they have also found some the garden was taken by one of the current sketches of the older gardens. The work owners, who is married into the family began, creating a visitor garden inspired and started with “the garden idea”, as she by what they found in the archives. puts it, about ten years ago. She has a Visitor gardens are often displayed background as a journalist/communicator through guided garden walks, as we have and was already interested in gardening seen in the case of Waldemarsudde, and and cultural history, but had not thought of sometimes combined with other experi- the garden as anything other than for pri- ence-based activities such as diverse kinds vate use. It was a friend who put her on of events and the possibility to shop and track, when being shown around the gar- eat. In this case it was the owner herself den and told about what it had once been. who showed the garden, and this strength- “You have to do something about this”, ens the credibility of the storytelling. In the friend said, and that was the start. “It their marketing, it was emphasized that goes without saying that you should main- the guided walk would offer opportunities tain the buildings on a farm, but when it “to hear the story about that which once comes to the gardens, they are just a tedi- was, and look at that which currently is”, ous, costly project that needs to be simpli- as stated in the advertising. To take part in fied… So, I thought, what the…. Here it such a guided walk was the only way to should be possible to do something about gain entrance to this garden, which en- it.” She continues her story about the cre- hances the exclusivity. In the stories there ation of the garden: “When I first arrived are many different things that are high- here in ’75, it was completely overgrown. lighted: the people, the place, the plants So here we have cut down trees and dug but also how the garden has been arranged up stumps with an excavator and un- in the past and in the present. Many of covered the old shrubs – that was 25‒30 these stories were emphasized by the years ago”. She talks about old plants that owner during the garden walks. During gained new vitality when others were the ten years that she had arranged garden cleared away, but other things were found walks, visitors had been turning up almost too, for example an old pond that was dis- every Sunday. The record, she says, was covered when thick layers of vegetation 83 visitors in one day, and she is over- were removed. The core of the story is no whelmed by the reactions longer what the place looked like once I never got as much cred for anything I did as for upon a time, but the reconstruction and this. […] That tells a lot about people’s interest. preservation work itself. This garden is very unpretentious in its current Together with her historically interest- form, as I take care of it myself. […] And since it’s ed husband she began to search the ar- not pretentious, people feel pretty inspired when chives for traces of the garden during dif- they leave. They feel that maybe I could do this ferent periods. “What we know best is the too. 20th century. From earlier periods we Part of the success of this garden seems to have little evidence. We do have photo- be that it offers possibilities for visitors to 134 Katarina Saltzman, Carina Sjöholm & Tina Westerlund, Sellable Stories

Stories about the origin of a plant are often used in marketing, as in the case of these locally col- lected seeds, for example: “I have heard that in 1920 they succeeded to revive seeds from the her- barium of Linnaeus, and since then they grow this marigold at his farm Hammarby. I got seeds from a garden friend and this is the third year that this nice and easy plant is growing in my gar- den”. Photo: Carina Sjöholm. find inspiration for their own gardening related to gardening and conservation. projects. Many of those who took part in Here, the visitors could also buy some these walks are themselves gardeners, or plants from the garden: “I multiply the dream of having a garden in the future. It plants that are willing to multiply”, the is obvious that an important aspect of owner said, making it clear that the plants storytelling can be to convey ideas and and seeds that she sold, collected and inspiration. The walk itself was about packaged by her, were ones that are easy one kilometre long, it took about an hour to propagate, and ones that have a history and a half, and concluded with the oppor- in this particular garden. tunity to see the exhibition. This was dis- As so often in the hospitality industry, played in the old stable, where the tour visitors want to be able to bring something also started, and where visitors were from the place they have visited (e.g. Pine given the opportunity to buy the book & Gilmore 1999; Urry 1995). Buying a about the manor and some other books souvenir from a journey can be a way to Katarina Saltzman, Carina Sjöholm & Tina Westerlund, Sellable Stories 135

remember what you have been through In this garden, heritagization and story- and often becomes part of a new and dif- telling have become guiding principles. ferent story (Löfgren 1999). Planting the The stories told about it rely on different flower that you brought from a visit to a kinds of documents, but when searching special garden in your own backyard for knowledge about what it once looked might give you reason to tell others about like and all the changes that have been the visit. Buying a book about a garden made over the years, the result is inevit- and/or some plants that have grown on the ably a mixture of different kinds of plants site are clear examples of how to material- and stories. Depending on what time you ize the experience. are referring to, it looks “real” in differ- When it came to the management and ent ways. There are many things that the mediation of the garden, the owner of matter for how things become what they this garden had many ambitions. She are: different kinds of heritage, different wanted to inspire visitors to create or traditions, and not least coincidences. manage a garden themselves, possibly a One specific example that the owner of historical one. She wanted to share in- this garden talks about is the different sights, knowledge and what she herself varieties of the perennial flower astilbe has managed: “It is a joy to share this (Astilbe) found in the garden. One has wonderful property that has so long been been there for generations and can be inherited in the family and which we will traced to the early 1900s, another comes eventually pass on”, she says. Here she from her own grandmother and a third points to a key issue for many owners of one has she bought herself. What is private visitor gardens: Succession. It is considered genuine/false or right/wrong increasingly common that the conserva- varies depending on ideals. Regarding tion and care of the green heritage is other plants she is able to link them to given prominence and, as we have seen their exact location, based on old photos, in contexts like this, it is often presented as with the Apothecary’s rose that grows as an obligation towards generations to on what she describes as its original place come. In the case of this gardener, her in the garden. ambition has been to “develop and refine but not destroy” but how do you guaran- Confirming Heritage Values tee that future generations will do the For some owners of old private gardens, same? In an article written for a yearbook one possibility to identify values and get of the regional museum, she writes: guidelines for what to regard as heritage in That’s the way it is with gardens, they are the garden has been to ask for advice from ephemeral and for the one who gets to be a link Pom, in connection to their inventories. in a historical garden, it is no choice to mourn To get an official confirmation that you what is lost. Instead, I enjoy everything I find, have something unique and particularly both plants, archival material and knowledge. In old in your garden can be desirable, and different ways, I keep this heritage alive, and I am strengthened by the appreciating words that I when talking to gardeners we have noticed meet, eye to eye or in old documents (Thorburn a wish to be confirmed by Pom. Visits by 2014b:13). experts from Pom to assess specific plants 136 Katarina Saltzman, Carina Sjöholm & Tina Westerlund, Sellable Stories

can be interpreted as a kind of judgement, tors, themselves based at the gene bank in even if such an impression is not deliber- Alnarp, found her white wild strawberries ately sought by the visiting experts. At the more tasty than other specimens, so even same time, Pom has been dependent on re- if it is the same variety they brought some ports from gardeners and other represent- plants with them. The owner proudly con- atives of the public in order to find un- cludes: “So it is ours that will end up in the known old plants. Thus, the relationship gene bank.” On the other hand, there were between Pom and individual gardeners other old plants in her garden, each with can be described as reciprocal. its own history, that Pom was not inter- When we met the owner of the private ested in, including the hundred-year-old visitor garden described above, she told us peonies that she is pleased to have saved about Pom’s visits to her garden. “I have and that she believes are “original”. Dur- had contact with Pom, or still have, and ing the interview it became clear that this they have selected four plants from here for had caused some disappointment: their gene bank, but they have also helped The thing was that I had to have such amazing me very much to tell me what kind of plants stories about them as well, and it just wasn’t I have here”, she says. One of the plants enough that I told them that it was my husband’s that Pom found particularly interesting in grandmother who planted them in the garden here. It wasn’t enough, apparently they needed more… her garden was an autumn ox-eye daisy (Leucanthemella serotina), that according When you visit attractions of different to DNA analysis was a unique old variety. kinds, it is rare that you go there to do only When they got to see the autumn ox-eye daisy one thing. For example, a garden may be the they were happy, because it’s not that common, reason why you go there, but once you are they said. And they also said that it is great to there, there are often surrounding activities spread it to several gardens so that it will surely such as the opportunity to eat and drink, to survive somewhere in the future. And it is easy be able to buy a book or locally produced enough, just dig it up along the edges and make plants. Often it is combinations of several small pots with plants, and it grows willingly also different parts that create a significant in pots as you see. whole. This garden is thus a quite typical In her garden there are many other plants representative of visitor gardens, although that she believes have historical connec- they have no formalized plant sales from tions to the place, and on a number of oc- greenhouses, nor a café, as many others do casions she has checked whether these have. To emphasize that the business has could qualify as “Pom plants”. However, been inherited is a way to stress that the not everything that is old is unique. On the storyteller is well-rooted. Ambitions to man- other hand, there are different aspects of age the garden heritage, to convey knowl- uniqueness. For example, Pom has identi- edge about place, plants and history, and fied white strawberries on her property, also to sell, are recurrent in such stories (cf. and the owner knows that these are de- Andersson Cederholm & Sjöholm 2014). scendants of the white strawberries that This garden was displayed for a certain her husband’s grandfather bought in Aln- fee. For garden owners this can be a diffi- arp in the early 1900s. The Pom collec- cult decision to make, as the expectations Katarina Saltzman, Carina Sjöholm & Tina Westerlund, Sellable Stories 137

from the visitors to really get to know the things are emphasized rather than others. garden, as well as its owners and their his- Managing and mediating an old garden as tory, might rise with a fee. Some owners a garden with a story directs the attention find it tricky to charge visitors for experi- of visitors and locals – as well hosts – to encing their garden (Andersson Ceder- certain parts of this history, which is mani- holm & Sjöholm 2014). It is well-known fested in specific details and passages. within tourism research that a good expe- There are always many different stories rience is supposed to include new knowl- linked to a place, and which stories are edge, but also elements of entertainment highlighted is the result of a complex and and pure escapism, something beyond constantly ongoing process. When some- everyday life; and that it should all be thing is defined as heritage, something wrapped in an attractive package (Pine & happens to our way of thinking about it, Gilmore 1999). Storytelling can be of vital and this process is never neutral; it de- significance here, in order to create a pro- pends, among other things, on the purpose file for the actual place – in this case a gar- of the heritage making. den – and to create a brand. At the same So, what happens when something that time, the storytelling is in this case also has been selected to be regarded as old and part of the branding of an entire region, as valuable is also made into a commodity? this garden was participating in a regional Here, there are clearly parallels to the ways network that is promoting visitor gardens in which “old stuff” of different kinds is to- in Western Sweden. day often revalued and upgraded with labels such as retro and vintage (e.g. Appelgren & Heritage on the Market Bohlin 2015; Hansson & Brembeck 2015). In the making and staging of heritage, a Within the field of historic gardens we see place, a person, family or a garden can be many examples of commercialization of used to highlight specific meanings and tangible heritage “objects” such as places values. In the sections above we have seen and plants, as well as intangible heritage examples of processes where heritage is such as methods and knowhow connected to made into an attractive product. We un- cultivation and management. Turning a heri- derstand heritage as a construction of the tage plant or garden or skill into something present and the future rather than of the desirable and sellable often involves a selec- past, and we have now seen that what heri- tion of what stories to be told. And quite of- tage is, is negotiated between different in- ten, there is an underlying tension between terests, and understandings of heritage are preservation and commodification. constantly revised. Heritage is both cre- When things are circulated on a market ated and used for more or less fixed pur- they tend to get affected and to some ex- poses, and when something is heritagized tent transformed by it. In the case of the it is often a certain kind of history that is heritage plants labelled Grönt kulturarv seen as especially worthy of marketing, the genetic properties of each plant should medialization and management. be identical to those in the gene bank, but In the production of heritage as a part of in practice it is difficult to control that the marketing of places and plants, certain every plant sold with this label fulfils this 138 Katarina Saltzman, Carina Sjöholm & Tina Westerlund, Sellable Stories

requirement. And in circulation, the sto- lar Goulty 1993:xi). Constituted to a large ries connected to the plants also tend to extent by living material, parks and gar- transform. A mere Google search for dens are constantly changing, in long-term “phlox Alma Jansson” shows that the sto- processes of transformation as well as ry of Alma continues to live and develop, shorter and cyclical changes connected to beyond the control of Pom. At the website seasons, weather, daylight, etc. This has perenner.se “Alma Jansson” is somewhat many implications, and always has to be surprisingly described as “Green Heritage considered in garden management. In crit- from Småland”. In the app Gardenize, de- ical heritage studies, Rodney Harrison has signed as a tool for garden owners to keep discussed the limitations of categories a record of the plants in their garden, “Al- such as natural and cultural heritage, and ma Jansson” is one of five suggested gar- proposed that heritage “emerge in the dia- den phlox varieties – although illustrated logue of heterogeneous human and non- with a picture of another pink/violet phlox human actors who are engaged in keeping variety. Interviews with representatives of pasts alive in the present, which function Pom reflect on examples like these as a di- towards assembling futures” (Harrison lemma: Even if such mistakes are clearly 2015:28). Inspired by Harrison’s ap- beyond their control and responsibility, “it proach, we suggest that historical gardens can be frustrating if it goes wrong”, as one and garden plants are best understood if of them puts it. we refrain from distinctions between na- Heritage gardens are sometimes used ture and culture, and rather regard them as on local, regional and national levels as a living heritage. Working with green components in the wider marketing of heritage, conservation is always a ques- cities, districts and regions. This is largely tion of keeping heritage alive. a question of brand building at a time The living nature of the garden heritage when business, in this case visitor gar- entails difficulties as well as opportunities dens, has become a way of marketing mu- in relation to economic sustainability. As nicipalities, regions and individual entre- we have seen, the marketing of heritage preneurs (Ek & Hultman 2007). The em- plants needs to be planned in relation to phasis on the historical that we see in the time it takes for specific plant species many of the examples we have considered to grow big enough to be “sellable”. And is an expression of how heritage has be- for visitor gardens, the seasonal cycle can come an essential part of the cultural poli- be a commercial advantage compared to cy of the last few decades, where heritage other kinds of heritage sites, as visitors is often used as an asset in the branding seem to be willing to return to experience and commercialization of places and re- the garden in different seasons during the gions (cf. Beckman 2010). year. Despite many similarities to other heri- tage fields, green heritage, exemplified Collecting, Finding and Making here by historical garden plants and heri- Stories tage gardens, differs in certain ways from Storytelling is used in the marketing of other kinds of heritage “objects” (Mackel- heritage plants and gardens, in both for- Katarina Saltzman, Carina Sjöholm & Tina Westerlund, Sellable Stories 139

mal and informal contexts. Stories can be- those who have taken over the manage- come ways to create a value by telling ment of such a garden talk in terms of them to visitors, but also as ways of rein- present and past when presenting the gar- forcing an identity for those who create den, for example in walks, in lectures and them. From our examples it is obvious that on websites. On the market, it seems to be conceptions of origin and authenticity are of great value to envision and encounter important components of storytelling. The the people behind the scenes, and get a term authenticity is used in many fields, glimpse of how others, today as well as in and in many different ways, and dichoto- the past, live their lives. This reflects a de- mies such as what is considered historical- sire to be a guest in other people’s reality ly “right” or ”wrong” are continuously re- and a fascination with stories of what produced. Authenticity is connected to something has been, what it has become different kinds of values, meanings and and how it was made (Sjöholm 2011). In contexts within the heritage field as well the private visitor garden that we have de- as in the tourism and hospitality industry scribed above, this is evident not only in in general (e.g. Urry 1990; Gilmore & the oral stories and the texts about the gar- Pine 2007; Knudsen & Waade 2010). The den, but also in the exhibition on the farm. search for authenticity is also discussed as Pictures and maps of what it once looked an important part in the valuation of what like and how it has changed are displayed, should be preserved or maintained in his- together with names of key persons such toric parks and gardens (Gustavsson & Pe- as gardeners, and original examples of terson 2005; Tandre 2014; SFV 2015). tools that were used, and other traces of Certain objects, such as trees and peren- history that can be regarded as links to the nial plants that have been growing in the same place for many years, are often garden’s creation story (cf. Flinck 2010). pointed out as authentic in relation to a In addition, those who visit the gardens certain history. Authenticity can in this and are presented with the stories, in turn context also refer to the original orienta- tend to create their own stories about their tion of a pathway or the height of a hedge experiences when they return home. And (The Florence Charter 1981). More recent so the cycle of stories is set in full motion. research also stresses the authenticity of When gardens are opened to visitors, traditional working methods and that the there are often things for sale, such as knowledge and skills in horticulture are a plants and seeds with a certain origin. In vital part in garden heritage conservation both the gardens presented in this article it (Seiler 2020; Westerlund 2017, 2020). is emphasized that the plants for sale are When it comes to conveying intangible not only of the same type as the ones seen heritage such as knowhow and knowledge in the garden today, but that they in fact in gardening crafts, the question of who have been cultivated in this specific place has what knowledge is raised. for a long time. Such stories stress how In the display of visitor gardens it is past, present and future belong together. common that stories about people who Management and dissemination of visitor have created, managed and used the gar- gardens include values beyond the plants den over time are emphasized. Many of themselves. In these processes, heritage 140 Katarina Saltzman, Carina Sjöholm & Tina Westerlund, Sellable Stories

values of the whole (garden/park) and the individual parts (e.g. plants) are quite of- ten made to support one another. We re- gard this kind of interaction as a particu- larly interesting aspect of the making of heritage values. As we have seen, the story of “Alma Jansson” that we met at the beginning of this article did not end with the presenta- tion of it as an authorized Green Heritage plant. During the years that have passed since the launch of the first perennials under the label Grönt kulturarv, micro- propagated copies of this plant have spread to gardens and parks all over Swe- den, and are probably also circulated in more informal ways, for example in the form of cuttings that might be swapped or shared as gifts (cf. Saltzman & Sjöholm 2019). “Alma Jansson” is no longer a rare The garden phlox ‘Alma Jansson’ from a old plant, but indeed a rather widespread smallholding in Uppland was one of the first one. Even when visiting the garden at perennial flowers to be labelled Green Heri- Waldemarsudde, where many of the tage in 2013. Since then, it has been planted in plants are of varieties that have been culti- many gardens all over Sweden, also here at Waldemarsudde. Photo: Katarina Saltzman. vated there ever since Prince Eugen’s days, we were surprised to find “Alma Jansson” flourishing in a large flowerbed. In our view, this can be seen as a reminder expense of a number of more unknown that there is actually a risk involved in the old plants and stories. Our interviews con- authorization of a few selected old varie- firm that Pom is aware of this risk, and so ties as heritage plants. When certain sto- are many gardeners working in historical ries are told and certain plants are chosen, environments. this means that others are not, and thus It is interesting to consider what is per- perhaps even made invisible. There is a ceived to be worth preserving, and what is risk that gardeners aiming to maintain a not. Certain plant varieties have proved to historical garden might choose to buy be particularly vital, have a long history as these authorized heritage plants, rather cultivars, and are today understood as than to look out for and take care of plants heritage plants. Some of these have spread that have a local history in their specific over centuries and are today regarded as garden and its surroundings. If so, a limit- “belonging” and as more or less “natural”. ed selection of heritage varieties – and In some cases, garden plants have spread their stories – might in fact spread at the too much, and are today frequently ac- Katarina Saltzman, Carina Sjöholm & Tina Westerlund, Sellable Stories 141

knowledged as a risk, labelled “invasive” interpret our history is inevitably linked to – potentially threatening local biodiver- the present and the future. Many of the sity (www.naturvardsverket.se; Qvenild stories that this article refers to are based 2013; Qvenild, Setten & Skår 2014). on ideas about maintaining things per- Here, boundaries are constantly crossed ceived to be disappearing. Thus, when and some garden plants are in fact regard- certain plants, places and phenomena are ed simultaneously as heritage plants and selected and labelled as heritage in the as invasive plants, balancing between be- present, it also becomes a guiding factor ing desired and despised (Frihammar, for what will be regarded as representative Kaijser & Lagerqvist 2018; Saltzman, of the past, and of our own time, in the fu- Sjöholm & Westerlund 2020). ture. Gardens and their plants are constantly Through our examples we have shown changing, and can always be incorporat- how stories, and selections of stories, re- ed into new stories. We have been fol- lating the past are used in the making of lowing the use of stories about plants and heritage, and how this heritage in turn is gardens and their roles within manage- made sellable, and marketed as products. ment, medialization and marketing. As the It is obvious that the heritagization of gar- examples above show, it has become com- dens, of certain historical gardening actors and practices, as well as of specific garden mon to explicitly use stories to profile plants, often implies a commodification places such as gardens in different ways where storytelling is used as a tool to cre- towards visitors. Person and place are of- ate and enhance values on a market. ten closely linked in storytelling concern- ing heritage gardens and heritage plants. Katarina Saltzman There is great interest in personal history, Associate Professor of Ethnology not least in visitor gardens where visitors Department of Conservation University of Gothenburg are often presented with stories about how Box 130 the garden has been created, developed SE-405 30 Göteborg and changed. Whose story is emphasized email: [email protected] in different visitor gardens varies; some- Carina Sjöholm times the lives and works of those who Associate Professor of Ethnology once established the garden are highlight- Department of Service Management and Service ed, other times those who managed or who Studies Lund University, Campus Helsingborg recreated it. In yet other cases, it is the gar- Box 882 den and specific plants rather than the SE-251 08 Helsingborg people that are stressed. What is empha- email: [email protected] sized depends on what kind of garden it is Tina Westerlund and who is responsible for it. Sometimes Senior Lecturer this also depends on the purpose of the Department of Conservation, University of Go- story. Storytelling is not just “innocent” thenburg Box 77 stories; sometimes it is a question of out- SE-542 21 Mariestad right marketing. How we remember and email: [email protected] 142 Katarina Saltzman, Carina Sjöholm & Tina Westerlund, Sellable Stories

Notes Literature 1 This and other quotations originally in Swe- Andersson Cederholm, Erika & Carina Sjöholm dish have been translated by the authors. 2014: Att leva och sälja sin dröm – livsstilsföre- 2 This article is primarily based on material col- tagaren mellan familjeliv, marknad och politisk lected as part of the research project “Roots retorik. Sociologisk forskning 51(2), pp. 137‒156. En Route: Heritage Politics on the Garden Andréasson, Anna 2007: Trädgårdshistoria för Market”, funded by the Swedish Research inventerare. Alnarp: Programmet för odlad Council. mångfald/SLU. 3 Storytelling has become an established con- Appelgren, Staffan & Anna Bohlin 2015: Grow- cept within the tourism industry and in tour- ing in Motion. The Circulation of Used Things ism research. Corporate storytelling is, in on Second-hand Markets. Culture Unbound 7, short, a method of communicating ideas and pp. 143‒168. creating brands (cf. Mossberg 2008) and is Beckman, Svante 2010: Kultur som tillväxtresurs used extensively especially by practitioners och bildning. In L. Jonsson, (ed.), Astrid Lind- working with strategic storytelling. grens världar i Vimmerby. En studie om kultur- 4 In connection with this training of volunteers arv och samhällsutveckling. Lund: Nordic Aca- for the inventory work, a number of instruc- demic Press. tive books were published within Pom, e.g. Bendix, Regina 1997: In Search of Authenticity. Andréasson 2007; Engström 2007; Nygårds The Formation of Folklore Studies. Madison: 2008; Oskarsson 2008; Persson 2010. University of Wisconsin Press. 5 Letter to Erik Werenskiold, 1901. Benfield, Richard 2013: Garden Tourism. Wall- ingford: CABI. Acknowledgements Breithoff, Esther & Rodney Harrison 2020: From Ark to Bank. Extinction, Proxies and Biocapi- Our sincere thanks to our informants for their tals in Ex-situ Biodiversity Conservation Prac- time and generosity during our visits and in- tices. International Journal of Heritage Studies terviews. And thanks to Alf Arvidsson and 26(1), pp. 37‒55. Line Esborg for arranging the panel Stories at Čakovská, Barbora 2018: Garden Tourism. Rea- Work – Working with Stories at the SIEF sons for Opening Private Gardens in the UK conference in Santiago de Compostela 2019, National Garden Scheme. Current Issues in where the outlines of this paper were first pre- Tourism 21(12), pp. 1344‒1348. sented. Connell, Joanne 2005: Managing Gardens for Visitors in Great Britain. A Story of Continuity and Change. Tourism Management 26(2), pp. References 185‒201. Field material The Convention of Biological Diversity 1993. Interviews with professional gardeners and Ehn, Billy 2011: Doing-It-Yourself. Autoethnog- garden managers in Sweden 2013, 2017‒ raphy of Manual Work. Ethnologia Europaea 2020. Recordings and transcriptions are kept 41(1), pp. 52‒63. by the authors. Ehn, Billy 2014: Komma åt detaljerna. In Almevik, G. & Höglund, S. (eds.), Hantverkare emellan. Mariestad: Hantverkslaboratoriet, Websites Göteborgs universitet. https://www.gardenize.com Ek, Richard & Johan Hultman (eds.) 2007: Plats http://www.naturvardsverket.se/Amnen/Invasiva- som produkt. Kommersialisering och pakete- frammande-arter/ ring. Lund: Studentlitteratur. https://www.slu.se/centrumbildningar-och- Eklund, Karl Johan (ed.) 2012: Parken på projekt/programmet-for-odlad-mangfald-pom/ Grönsöö. Om bevarande och utveckling av en gront-kulturarv/gront-kulturarv-sortiment/ historisk park. Uppsala: Institutionen för stad gront-kulturarv-perenner/hostflox-alma- och land, SLU. jansson/ Engström, Rolf 2007: Att inventera rosor – en https://perenner.se handledning. Alnarp: Programmet för odlad https://www.waldemarsudde.se mångfald/SLU. Katarina Saltzman, Carina Sjöholm & Tina Westerlund, Sellable Stories 143

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In northeast Argentina, in the province of have been organized around it, creating a Misiones, located in the border zone be- structure for this heritage. I will analyse tween Paraguay and Brazil, the city of the historical background of the Swedish Oberá rests in lush vegetation and green emigrants’ settlement in the region, focus- hillsides. This is a place where the tea- ing on the formation of the community’s bush-like yerba mate traditionally grows. structure in order to understand how ideas It is also the place where some Swedish of Swedishness and heritage practices emigrants and their children formed a have been shaped. As Gradén has noted, community that they called Villa Svea at the making of ethnic heritage alternates the beginning of the twentieth century. with time and place (Gradén 2003:26). Through relations, practices, and differ- This study draws on Laurajane Smith’s ent kinds of activities, the Swedish commu- understanding of heritage as a cultural nity of Oberá has created, maintained, and practice (2006). A premise for under- developed what can be described as a Swe- standing heritage for Smith, is that heri- dish heritage-making over the last hundred tage is always intangible (Smith 2006:3). years. During this time, an idea of Swe- True, material structures exist, the porcel- dishness has prevailed, strong enough to ain brought from the far-away homeland keep people occupied with activities relat- and the handwritten recipes in Swedish ed to it. In her study of Swedish heritage are tangible artifacts, yet the meaning of celebrations in Kansas, USA, Lizette Gra- materiality is not intrinsic or inherent – dén asks how it comes that people dedicate rather, meaning is decided through social time and effort to celebrating heritage (Gra- relations that govern practices and epi- dén 2003:7). Likewise, one might wonder stemes. This means that what is regarded why Swedish heritage is still central for as heritage is conditioned by materiality, many individuals in this community so re- but the meaning assigned to this material- motely located from what we might usually ity it is always decided by social relations. think of and consider Swedish. This leads Smith’s re-theorization of the heritage up to the question to be addressed in this concept was a response to what she calls article: In what way is Swedishness and the hegemony of authorized heritage dis- Swedish heritage lived, imagined, prac- course, AHD (Smith 2006:11). This is a tised, and conditioned in Oberá? discourse that, she argues, depends upon: To understand this, I will look at the an- the power/knowledge claims of technical and aes- chor points through which Swedishness is thetic experts, and institutionalized in state cul- shaped and heritage is practised in Oberá, tural agencies and amenity societies. This dis- Misiones. This means that I will focus on course takes its cue from the grand narratives of the structure that makes Swedish heritage nation and class on the one hand, and technical ex- in Oberá possible, tracing the way a joint pertise and aesthetic judgement on the other (Smith 2006:11). past, and the idea of it, has been interlaced with a discourse about Sweden and Swe- The specific heritage-making in question dishness, in such a way that materiality, here is locally anchored in a specific Ar- organizations, and activities, from the gentine region, but also created through foundation of Villa Svea until the present, multiple personal, informal and formal re-

Ethnologia Scandinavica, Vol. 50, 2020 146 Jenny Ingridsdotter, Waffles with Dulce de Leche

lations to Sweden. This turns the focus to- ture of the two languages. The interviewees wards what happens to the relation be- were of varying ages, the oldest over 80 tween the institutionalized understandings years old and the youngest 19 years old, all of heritage in the Swedish national context of them were residents of Misiones. All and the heritage practices in a space be- interviews have been transcribed and the- yond the nation state. matically coded in the software program Popular science and fictional texts have NVivo. The quotations in this article are been written about the Swedish emigrants translated by the author. All names used in who went to Latin America,1 and linguis- the text are pseudonyms. When informa- tic studies investigated the Swedish lan- tion in a quotation has been deleted due to guage spoken in Oberá (Flodell 2002, lack of relevance, i.e. repeated words or a 1986). Yet there has never been a qualita- half-spoken sentence, this is marked /…/, if tive ethnographic study in this commu- there are more than three words deleted it is nity. Therefore, the opportunity is here marked by //…//. taken to provide a thorough empirical background to the way Swedishness and Background: Emigration to Brazil and Swedish heritage have been lived and are Settlement in Argentina still practised in this region. Between the years 1868 and 1911 a rela- tively small number of emigrants, in total Material and Method approximately 3300, set out from Sweden The empirical material analysed here was towards Brazil (Friborg 1988:78; Retsö produced together with the photographer 2016).2 Like the many emigrants who Victoria Galmarini and the photographer travelled to the USA at this time, these and political scientist José Curto. Obser- emigrants were driven by factors such as vations and semi-structured qualitative in- unemployment and poor working condi- terviews were conducted with 34 persons, tions. As Albin Widén noted in his many during two periods of fieldwork; in April studies of Swedish emigration to the USA, 2017 and February 2019. Working in a emigration served as a solution to “the team like this was a creative way to reflect problem of Swedish poverty” (Widén about the field and the material in the field 1996:10). The Brazilian government, in site, the visual material in the form of hun- need of recruiting European labour, fos- dreds of photographs was also helpful for tered immigration by subsidizing part of the analysis beyond the field. the boat fare from Hamburg (Friborg In order to locate participants, we resort- 1988:39). The state requested families ed to personal contacts and to the Swedish with agricultural experience to come and honorary consul, who were asked if they work the land, and many of the Swedes, could put us in contact with individuals of even though they were of diverse back- varying ages who were Swedish descend- grounds such as sawmills workers, ants or who were active in Swedish associ- miners, and factory workers, were regis- ations. The majority of the interviews were tered as farmers upon arrival (Retsö conducted in Spanish, but some were also 2016). Some of them sought work at the made in Swedish, or in some cases a mix- sawmills in Paraná (Friborg 1988:74), Jenny Ingridsdotter, Waffles with Dulce de Leche 147

while others settled as farmers on land of Through these policies of settler coloni- poor quality, suffering high mortality due alism, it became possible for the Swedish to diseases and unsanitary conditions (Fri- emigrants to access land and settle in Mi- borg 1988:44). After meeting with harsh siones without economic capital. Settler conditions some of the migrants decided colonialism is understood here as a gov- to cross the Uruguay River and enter the ernmental practice of establishing agricul- province of Misiones in Argentina where tural colonies on indigenous territories conditions were more favourable. claimed by nation states. As Patric Wolfe Swedish immigrants are first found in noted, settler colonialism is premised on a local Argentine statistics in 1903, when 15 “logic of elimination”, by which settler Swedish families were registered in Mi- colonial states such as Australia, Canada, siones (Flodell 2002:61). These Swedes or the USA forged a genocidal erasure of were emigrants who had arrived with the indigenous peoples as the governmental 1890‒91 or the 1909‒11 contingents, and basis for the replacement by settlers they had lost many on the way, but also (Wolfe 2006). Currently I am developing had children who had been born during articles on how the heritage-making pro- the years-long journey through Brazil cesses of the Swedish community in Mi- (Flodell 2002:27). In 1903, the Argentine siones can be analysed in relation to the state initiated an extensive colonialization power structures emplaced by settler colo- of the Misiones region through small- nial society, and how settler heritage can scale farming. As settling colonists, the be analysed in relation to the invisibiliza- Swedes could acquire a “chacra” – a land tion and dispossession of the indigenous slot of 25‒100 hectares – where they were Guaraní Mbyá. Even though my focus to clear the forest and grow crops, prefer- here is strictly on how heritage has been ably yerba mate. Like Brazil, the Argen- practised and lived during the history of tinian state recruited overseas emigrants the Swedish community in Misiones, this during this period. Occupied with the idea process must be understood as part of a of supreme European culture and morals, settler colonial context. Argentine intellectuals of the nineteenth century strove for a strategic whitening of Various Ways of Organizing Swedish the population as a solution to the nation’s Heritage supposed problems of backwardness The idea of Swedishness and the practices (Helg 1990). Endorsing European immi- of Swedish heritage-making in Oberá are gration, policies sanctioning European not unique in form. Descendants of Swe- immigration were implemented into the dish emigrants have celebrated heritage Argentine National Constitution in 1853. and Swedishness in various manners across This was followed by other policies, like the Americas for a long time, as extensive- the 1876 immigration law that included ly studied by ethnologists and folklorists in several economic subsidies, among them the US context. In an early phase, scholars passage to agricultural colonies, and the were interested in a perceived static tang- offer of possible access to low-price land ible heritage, for example, how migration and seeds (Bastia & vom Hau 2014:478). affected Swedishness and traditions, Swe- 148 Jenny Ingridsdotter, Waffles with Dulce de Leche

dish heritage was analysed as something to moved across present national borders. be found in material artefacts and celebra- There were also Paraguayans, Brazilians, tions (Widén 1996 [1948]). Interest was cattle herders and farmers from Corrientes then turned to processes of acculturation living there (Bartolomé 1975:246). In (Palmqvist 1984; Fjellström 1970), or how 1876 it became Argentinian and was in- folklore could be transmitted (Klein 1970). serted into a legal framework that promot- Ethnicity, identity, and inclusionary/exclu- ed European immigration and the estab- sionary processes would then become an lishment of rural colonies (Schmidt 1991: important focus for researchers of heritage 8). During the early twentieth century, (Klein 1997). small-scale colonist agriculture emerged This investigation is grounded in this in Misiones, which was extensively popu- tradition of ethnological studies on Swe- lated by European immigrants (vom Hau dish emigration, yet it adheres to more re- & Wilde 2010:1292). cent ethnographic scholarship on Nordic migrant communities that approaches cul- Villa Svea and Parque Svea: The tural heritage as an active cultural prac- Initial Years tice, for example, in Swedish heritage- There is no clear-cut answer to how making in the USA (see for example people think about Swedishness and how Aronsson & Gradén 2013:12; Gradén many participate in Swedish heritage 2003), as well as studies on contemporary practices in the province of Misiones. The Swedish migrants, for example in Spain interviewees of this study were all invest- (Blaakilde 2018; Woube 2014: Blaakilde ed in heritage-making to different extents. & Nilsson 2013). This study presupposes There is, however, a clear difference be- that identities formed in heritage-making tween individuals of different age and processes are made through social, cul- their proximity to Swedish language. tural, and political relations, always de- When the interviewees born between the pendent on place, time, and context. Even 1930s and the 1960s talk about Swedish- if the form of heritage-making is similar to ness and Swedish heritage, they all men- the cultural processes studied in the US tion the neighbourhood Villa Svea and the context, the content of the heritage-mak- Parque Svea as sites that have been – and ing in Oberá clearly differs – the setting is to a certain extent still are – important for different and the local context and history the Swedish community of Oberá. In this affect the way Swedishness can be im- section I will discuss how the initial years agined and heritage practised. of the Swedish settlement are remembered The Swedish community in Misiones is by interviewees. one of many rural settlements established Villa Svea was the first settlement of through the policies of settler colonialism Swedish colonists. Established in 1913, in Argentina and the Southern Cone (see the neighbourhood emerged as the colon- e.g. Bjerg 2000; Ruggiero 1982; Williams ists settled in their land slots, planted 1991; Woortmann 2016). In the nine- crops, constructed roads, and united in teenth century, Misiones was a territory of building a place for social gathering and the indigenous Mbyá Guaraní, who the needs of colonist life. In 1917, a cem- Jenny Ingridsdotter, Waffles with Dulce de Leche 149

The famous red soil of Misiones and a road that leads through various “chacras” owned by Swe- dish settlers in the early 20th century. Photo: Victoria Galmarini. etery for Scandinavian settlers was built, heritage. As such, its name also reflects a today known as the Swedish cemetery. In national idea of Swedishness, Mother 1918 the first school of this region was in- Svea, the symbolic personification of the augurated and the majority of children at- Swedish nation. The park, Parque Svea, tending had Swedish names (Flodell was constructed as a space for social 2002:66). Villa Svea was a society in the gatherings, and in 1915, an association making, one that many of the interviewees called the Svea Society, was formed there. and the local history writing refer to as a The Swedes were in the majority in this “pioneer society”. The neighbourhood society, but there were also Danes and Villa Svea was the heart of this society Norwegians in it (Flodell 2002:77). The and the cradle of Swedish identity and society had different functions, for ex- 150 Jenny Ingridsdotter, Waffles with Dulce de Leche

ample it received books from the Society place. It was a place to gather, and it became quite for the Preservation of Swedishness popular (1. 10). Abroad, a society founded in Sweden in The way the colonists organized them- 1908. The Society Svea also established a selves in the initial years of settlement court of arbitration to settle conflicts be- gives some clues to the everyday life of tween Swedish colonists (Friborg 1988: hardships and challenges. The societies 88), and in 1923 it printed the first journal- served to collectively organize around is- istic newspaper of Oberá, written in Swe- sues such as harvest, practical education, dish (Flodell 2002:65). It is interesting to caring for elderly and children, schooling, note how there was a notion of preserving problems with alcohol and so forth, while Swedishness, but surely also a need to co- also providing a site for social gatherings operate around everyday issues in work- for Swedish and Scandinavian colonists. ing the land and living together. For ex- In this way, a material structure for Swe- ample, in 1929 an agrarian cooperative dish identity was formed, and associations was created by various colonists of differ- through which relations to the former na- ent nationalities. tion could be maintained. During these The initial society of the 1920s was an initial years the community received arte- active environment where much of the or- facts from Sweden, such as books used for ganizational structure had a reminiscence education, and in this sense they were of the contemporary Swedish workers’ so- oriented towards Sweden in a way that cial organizations. The Svea Society was would change over time. dominated by men, but in 1923, the colon- Besides the Swedish and Nordic colon- ist women started a society they named ists, other European immigrants, for ex- Verdandi. Like its namesake in Sweden, it ample Poles, Ukrainians, and Germans, was dedicated to social work, mainly settled in the area as well. The anthropolo- among children and the elderly. Apart gist Leopoldo Bartolomé has described the from the Svea Society and Verdandi, a so- process of settling Misiones with immi- ciety for sobriety was also formed, as well grants as a “family-based agricultural ex- as the social club Viking, and various ploitation” which ensured that the Argen- sport clubs open for Nordic colonists tine state could push the agricultural fron- (Flodell 2002:67f). From the 1930s up un- tier further (Bartolomé 1975:246). In the til 1952, Swedish was taught in different 1920s, Argentinians born in the country to school forms organized by the Swedish parents of European origin – called ‘Criol- colony of Villa Svea (Flodell 2018:179). los’ – also became interested in the region’s When Federico, born in 1939, remem- emerging possibilities and came to settle bered life in Villa Svea he emphasized (Eidt 1971:9). In 1928, the city of Oberá how, already in 1915, the Swedish colon- was founded close to where the Swedes ists had constructed a house for the associ- had settled and constructed Villa Svea. In ations, ensuring social relations: this way, what had been a small settler co- It was in Villa Svea, the same spot where we have lonial community became increasingly the Parque Svea today //…// They gathered there linked to the emerging Argentine nation. for parties and funerals, they did everything in that The relations between the governing state Jenny Ingridsdotter, Waffles with Dulce de Leche 151

and the colonists were not always harmoni- creased in the following generations (Foge- ous. The local historian Lloyd Jorge Wick- ler 2007:138). ström describes many conflicts regarding The Swedish community was neither the right of the Svea Society to organize homogeneous nor inherently attached to events on their own lands, or conflicts the idealized Europeanness the Argentine where the state wanted to seize land from intellectuals strove for when they decided “foreigners” in order to grant access to Cri- that governing Argentina meant populat- ollo settlers. According to Wickström, the ing it with white European bodies. As the Swedish colonists were considered too for- city of Oberá grew and developed into a eign, and as such were encouraged to show town of various settler colonial communi- solidarity with their new country. In the ties, questions of ethnic identity and class press, it was argued that a border zone seemed to have become an important as- should be populated by Argentinians rather pect of how life was shaped in rural and than by foreigners (Flodell 2002:66ff). urban settings. This is noted, for example, Many of the interviewees point towards in the way questions of race were some- language, and the increasing loss of lan- times implicit in interviewees’ reflections guage, as crucial for the preservation of on heritage. For example, Victoria, born Swedish heritage in Oberá. The question of in 1954, had married a dark-skinned man marriage across ethnic lines was something that her family had not approved of. She said that when she attended events in Villa that many touched upon in reflections on Svea no one would speak to her or her hus- how to preserve language and Swedish- band. For this reason she had left the com- ness. Federico looked at the community’s munity. Others mentioned how the Swe- history and pointed out that when the dish priests on mission would not visit the Swedes organized dances in Villa Svea and humblest of the community, implying people from other communities participat- there was a class issue involved in where ed in the festivities; “the Swedes were a bit the priests would choose to perform reli- jealous of the Argentinian boys, they were gious services before there was a church not happy that the Argentinian boys came in place. However, all interviewees criti- there, because the daughters had to marry cal of the class-based and racialized struc- the Swedish boys” (1.10). Like Federico, tures of the Swedish community and set- some other interviewees also mention how, tler society still identified with Swedish during the initial years, some families de- heritage, even if their sense of heritage sired their children to marry within the was not always located in the material group. Other interviewees give an opposite structures and sites where the community view, saying that the Swedish colonists gathered. Some of them would actively practised interethnic marriage right from engage in questions of heritage from the the start. María Fogeler, who did a genea- standpoint of them “all being Swedish”, logical study on Nordic descendants in seeking their own way to remember, ne- Oberá for a master’s thesis in social anthro- gotiate or assert Swedish identity. In this pology, has noted that while Scandinavians way, heritage became “a way of knowing of the first generation of emigrants married and seeing” (Smith 2006:54) – a manner other Scandinavians, this tendency de- of negotiating the present and positioning 152 Jenny Ingridsdotter, Waffles with Dulce de Leche

oneself regardless of materiality or par- Mario believed that had been “one of the ticipating in organized institutions. harmful things about maintaining the lan- Paula, born in 1957, reflected on the guage” (2.2). He remembered an anecdote choices her mother and aunts, who had that a man of Swedish descent born in the been born of Swedish emigrants in Brazil 1950s had told him about how he and his or Argentina, made when marrying. Ac- brother suffered in school: cording to her, Criollo men, who formed They came from the chacra to the city, because in part of an emerging professional class in this era people started thinking of coming to the Oberá, were more attractive for her mother city so the children could continue studying after and aunts. She thought their time in Buenos secondary school. So, they came with this accent, Aires had made they more “refined”, and from the (Swedish) language … and here it was all that they were clearly different from “from “Polaco chacra”. Like this, “Polaco chacra” was the man who was left behind in the chacra someone who did not even know how to speak. // …// (It) was said to Germans, to Swedes, to the (2.16.1). The idea of someone staying “be- Ukrainians, it was for everyone (2.2). hind in the chacra” – doing hard manual ru- ral work in the land slot acquired by the Keeping the Swedish language was a ne- first generation of colonists – clearly had a cessity in the daily work, but could also class aspect that others also touched upon. serve as a stigma in the emerging Argen- Mario, born in 1964, talked about how tinian society, revealing the class aspects class differences could be played out in his of its speaker. Other interviewees mention parents’ generation, where the class struc- how their parents had been teased in ture and economic resources were import- school for speaking Swedish amongst ant factors of the social fabric. According themselves or speaking Spanish with an to Mario, the Criollos, who held positions accent. Some said that the language had in public offices or had their own business- been lost because of the assimilation pro- es, were privileged by the social structure, cesses the children went through in while the immigrant colonists – who school. Victoria, who had been born in a worked the land in the “chacras” – could chacra in 1954, spoke about her own loss suffer discrimination. of the Swedish language. Her siblings, This class discrimination was also asso- who had stayed at home in the chacra, all ciated with ethnic heritage and related to spoke Swedish while she, who had been issues of language. The closed social en- sent away to go to school, had never been vironment in the “chacras” made it easier taught either the language or, for example, for the colonists to maintain the Swedish how to cook Swedish food. Victoria’s par- language, yet, at the same time, maintain- ents and siblings had lived an everyday ing the language over time, and not learn- life where Swedish was spoken and some ing proper Spanish, became a disadvan- of the practices, and objects, that would tage for such a small community as the later be picked up and regarded as heritage Swedish in the local society. According to were just part of the daily life. Due to her Mario, a typical insult was “Polaco late arrival in the family, however, Victo- chacra” (“Polish guy chacra”), a degrad- ria’s access to Swedishness was condi- ing phrase said to, and about, “any person tioned by the demands of the state on the who spoke (Spanish) with difficulties”. settler colonists to become part of the na- Jenny Ingridsdotter, Waffles with Dulce de Leche 153

tion. It is interesting to note how these people would also go there to learn trades, memories of the Swedish language being such as carpentry. However, she noted a stigma are interlaced with understand- that over time the activities decreased. ings of heritage and one’s own ethnic The “people that taught the classes died or identity. During the time of the fieldwork, they got too old … and slowly it was all there were still individuals in Oberá who lost” (2.6). Over time, the activities that spoke the Swedish they learned when shaped Villa Svea, the persons involved in growing up. Many expressed concerns activities there and the daily needs of the about what would happen when these community changed; in addition, so did individuals would no longer be around; the location of this neighbourhood as the nevertheless, many of those actively en- centre for the Swedish community. gaged in heritage-making did not speak In the 1950s the Svea Society ceased to Swedish. It seems that the language was exist, although celebrations associated connected to a sense of heritage when with Swedish heritage were still held oc- conversation touched upon the past, yet casionally in the Parque Svea at the time had less relevance when it came to the fu- of the fieldwork. One of these celebrations ture of the heritage. Some of the inter- was the annual midsummer celebration. viewees born in the 1980s or ’90s ex- Linnea talked about the typical Argentin- pressed a wish to learn Swedish, while ian barbecue made for midsummer. She others said it was probably better for them said that it had always been a popular to study English. event; “it was a way for the whole com- For the interviewees, Villa Svea and the munity to get out and socialize” (2.4). Parque Svea were not sites of active com- Nevertheless, she noted that over time this munity building; rather these sites existed had changed, and fewer people attended: in memories of former times and as such The place is really nice, the barbecue is so tasty, they were associated with heritage and but it is like it is getting lost. And the other gener- assigned a meaning of Swedishness. ations do not – they just want to get take-away Paula, born in 1957, associated the Parque barbecue, “I’ll eat at home”, “I have stuff to do” / Svea with her sense of feeling “Swedish”. /…// And that used to be the only social gathering For her, Parque Svea made her think of a there was /…/ it was the only option, there was united family and the Swedish celebra- nothing else to choose between /.../ So it was tions in community: “all our Swedish em- everyone’s shared happiness. Today when we have so many options, well, options within every- blematic celebrations, they were always one’s own life (2.4). held in the Parque Svea … That means that we belonged there, we did things During almost half a century, 1915 to the there” (2.16.1). It is clearly a place that 1950s, it seems that Villa Svea and Parque many of the older interviewees had dear Svea were important sites for living and memories of – all related to Swedish heri- practising Swedishness in collective form. tage. Victoria, who was born in 1954 and Apart from its ethnic aspect, the Parque grew up in Villa Svea, remembers how her Svea was certainly a space that filled the older siblings participated in activities, needs of the community’s everyday life – such as cooking and classes in Swedish regardless of identity making. Here, activ- organized in the Parque Svea. She said ities took place through collective effort, 154 Jenny Ingridsdotter, Waffles with Dulce de Leche

traditions such as celebrating midsummer couple of months in order to perform reli- or the cultural knowledge of how to con- gious acts of worship. In the 1930s, how- struct collective organizations were per- ever, the religious practices took on a haps lived as part of what was needed to more institutional form. In 1932, the com- build settler society, rather than as mere munity received a nurse and likewise a identity practices of Swedishness. This is midwife, Sigrid Bjurström, who had been of course nothing new, the immigrant set- sent on an official mission by the Church tler’s development of this kind of institu- of Sweden. In 1942, the first priest sent tions in the USA has been described by from the Swedish Church was installed in Arnold Barton as part of a process where the congregation of Villa Svea (Flodell the cultures of Swedish immigrants in the 2002:68). This was the first priest in a se- USA and the Swedish nation developed ries of five Swedish priests that would complementary and contrary to each oth- stay in Oberá up until 1973 to make sure er. While the immigrants engaged in the congregation would have the possibil- building institutions in their new home- ity to practise the Lutheran faith and at- land, they also transitioned further away tend sermons also in Swedish. In this way from the country they had once left (Bar- the heritage practices of the local com- ton 1994). Likewise, in her study of a munity were interlaced with religious Danish community in the Argentine Pam- practices and the institutionalized celebra- pas, María Bjerg concludes that while the tions of the church that became associated first Danish migrants focused on integrat- with Swedish heritage. ing into Argentine society, the later com- In the 1950s, the Lutheran Church, munity focused on Danish culture and re- “Olaus Petri”, was built in what was to ligion (Bjerg 2003). In a similar manner, become the centre of Oberá. The church the Swedish colonists first engaged in the was constructed with support from the building of institutions and a society. Church of Sweden and was inaugurated in Slowly, the society of Villa Svea “was 1956. In this way, one important assembly lost”, individuals passed away, collective point for the Swedish community was needs changed and the local society at moved from Villa Svea to the centre of large went through major transformations. Oberá and social gatherings took on new forms. For example, the women’s society Lutheran Swedishness and Heritage- Verdandi was incorporated in the Luther- Making an Church’s home sewing organization in Another important structure for Swedish- 1958 (Flodell 2002:67). From the late ness and heritage practices that many in- 1950s, the Swedish community still terviewees refer to is the practice of Lu- gathered to celebrate traditional midsum- theran faith.3 Through the interaction of mer and other events in the Parque Svea, the Swedish legate in Buenos Aires, a sea- yet many activities, and traditional cele- man’s chaplain from the local branch of brations, now took place in the facilities of the Church of Sweden in Buenos Aires ar- the Swedish congregation. Next to the rived at Villa Svea in the 1920s (Olsson church, the private school “Instituto Car- 1991:73). The chaplain would stay a los Linneo” was built by the congregation. Jenny Ingridsdotter, Waffles with Dulce de Leche 155

Parque Svea and the maypole from the Swedish midsummer celebration. Photo: Victoria Gal- marini.

It opened in 1962, and during the years interviewees as a site where it had been many children of the Swedish community possible to meet and speak Swedish to old have passed through is gates. It was a site friends, but also to make new acquaint- mentioned by interviewees who had at- ances and maintain ties to Sweden. For ex- tended the school or who associated it in ample, Maja, born in 1944, met her hus- various ways with Swedish heritage – al- band in the church. Like herself, her hus- beit not always in a positive manner. Some band’s parents were born in Sweden or of the interviewees born in the 1980s and during the journey through Brazil. Both of 1990s spoke of discriminatory practices them attended the church because of the and of class-related power structures, while social network that they were part of and others remembered their time in the school because they spoke Swedish. In this way with happiness and nostalgia. the church seems to have functioned as a The Swedish church and the congrega- social ethnic site, an extension of the for- tion were mainly described by the older mer space of Villa Svea. Hector, born in 156 Jenny Ingridsdotter, Waffles with Dulce de Leche

late 70s, said that his grandmother much objects that represent Swedish heritage, appreciated when the Swedish priests came the Dala horse and the folk costume stand to visit, “it was an opportunity to speak out, while each context also has their local Swedish with someone” (2.5). Settler soci- variation (Gradén 2003:232; 2000). Many ety was ethnically mixed and his grand- interviewees held on to this sort of objects mother had learned German, which she that would be considered typically Swe- spoke with her husband, Portuguese, from dish according to an authorized heritage the journey through Brazil, and “she was discourse. Yet while simultaneously treas- very good at Spanish, but she did not have uring a Dala horse as part of their heritage, many to speak Swedish with” (2.5). There- they could also describe a pierced jaguar fore, the church became an important site skin hanging on the wall in a settler colon- for her. Hector reflected that, given this, ist’s chacra as typical of the Swedish heri- one could say that the Swedish church tage in Misiones. In this way heritage was could be regarded as “an ethnic church lived, and made meaningful, in relation to cared for by the Swedish priests” (2.5). a local context where the settler colonial The Olaus Petri Church, built in the history was important for identity making. 1950s, is a solemn building, with mini- Interviewees who attended the church malist Lutheran decorations, in the church were thankful for the way the church had one finds the Swedish and Argentinian become a ground for practising Swedish flags and Bibles in Swedish. A couple of heritage, which was made possible years back a mural came up on one the through the connection to Sweden through walls that surrounds the church’s garden: the religious practices. Illustratively, Fed- a Dala horse, with the Argentinian and erico, born in 1939 and an active partici- Swedish flags. Next to the church space is pant in the congregation, said the only rea- the reading hall where the congregation son “we are here” was because of the can gather. During the fieldwork the read- Church of Sweden Abroad: “we need to ing hall was filled with Dala horses and give our gratitude to the Church of Swe- dolls dressed in Swedish folk costumes, den Abroad, it all started with the Swedish there was also a large collection of books sailors” (1.10). He said this referring to in Swedish, and traditional Swedish wall the missionary work the Church of Swe- tapestries. The space for social gathering den did abroad in the nineteenth and twen- was filled with pictures of Swedish visi- tieth century. Federico felt “proud to have tors, the priests who have served in the my roots in Sweden … Sweden has done community, the Swedish royal family, and a lot for the Swedes in Oberá. The aid they important state guests who have visited have sent us, money and everything, the community, for example ambassadors, through the Church of Sweden they and Prince Wilhelm who visited in 1947. helped us a lot” (1.10). Through the These official, and unofficial, relations church came not only spiritual beliefs, but seem important for the sense of communi- also materiality in the form of economic ty, Swedishness, and Swedish heritage support, and the construction of a church created in Oberá. As Gradén has dis- where the congregation could gather. cussed, in the transnational repertoire of Clearly this material structure had been Jenny Ingridsdotter, Waffles with Dulce de Leche 157

crucial for Swedish institutional heri- heritage. Some interviewees, for example, tage-making in Oberá. When older inter- felt that the Olaus Petri church had ceased viewees remembered the church and its to be an ethnically Swedish church when activities during the years with Swedish the Church of Sweden withdrew in the priests, they associated it not only with 1970s. For example, Katrin thought that their religious faith, but also with a sense the only reason the Olaus Petri church was of family and ethnic identity. For Katrin, still called Swedish was “out of habit”. born in 1945, the church was an important According to her, it was not Swedish any- place that she associated with her life tra- more, “because the Swedish disappeared jectory: “I was confirmed there, I got mar- when the Swedish priests left … maybe ried there, I spent my childhood there, my some priest comes to visit and give a ser- youth” (2.13). Linnea, who was born in mon in Swedish, but really there’s nothing 1955 remembered the Swedish communi- left, except for Lucia” (2.13). In this way ty of her childhood as a community close- the authentic Swedishness of the church ly tied to the activities of the priests sent was tied to the nation of Sweden rather from Sweden. Her parents worked with than to the local congregation that Katrin the priest in the church and she spent all had left. Being an active member of the her spare time there playing with the new congregation, Katrin felt that the sep- priest’s children: aration was not a threat to Swedishness It was a supportive environment; we all went there because she did not assign heritage to the with happiness. Mum sold the cloth they used for structure of the Olaus Petri church in it- the uniforms, the women gathered for the activi- self. Rather she felt, the new church that ties of La Colmena, where they did events and re- she attended was a continuation of the paired clothing, or they collected money, or they Swedish heritage in its practice. It had did small things of carpentry in order to sell or do- taken the same name as the church built by nate to those in need (2.4). the Swedish community, because “we are For Linnea the church was a place she as- the same descendants, for no other rea- sociated with her childhood community son” (2.13). Katrin drew the lineage from and Swedish heritage. In this way, life her new church to the first Swedish set- biographies and heritage were interlaced tlers and their religious activities, pointing with an understanding of Lutheran faith. out that they tried to preserve the Swedish More recently, a local conflict related to traditions and maintain traditions such as the church had shaken and divided the Lucia. When Katrin spoke about this she community. This painful conflict was drew a lineage to the historical heritage of something many interviewees experi- Villa Svea, emphasizing that in the new enced as a threat to the Swedish heritage church they did “all of the things that they in Oberá, since they felt it made commu- did from the beginning in Villa Svea, be- nity members constantly more divided. cause the first church was in Villa Svea” This article will not go into the details of (2.13). In this way she also signalled that this conflict, it is just interesting to note the church built in the 1950s was actually how some aspects of the conflict are made not the first church, but just a part of the meaningful in relation to Swedishness and lineage from Villa Svea, a site she con- 158 Jenny Ingridsdotter, Waffles with Dulce de Leche

structed as an authentic Swedish heritage. Pampas, María Bjerg has found that the The way Swedishness and Swedish heri- church served as an axis of “religious, cul- tage has been practised in this religious tural, and social life” (Bjerg 2000:7). context has travelled from the religious or- Through Lutheran faith, in the celebra- ganizational form from the initial site in tions of traditions, but also in the church’s Villa Svea, but also from the authorized organizational structure and the materi- heritage practised through the connection ality provided by the church, traditions to the Church of Sweden. Like Katrin, and objects have been given a meaning other interviewees also found it important through an idea of authorized heritage im- to connect the actual practices of heritage ported from Sweden, while simultaneous- and faith with the history of the community ly other forms of ideas about heritage and and with their Swedish ascendency. Simi- Swedishness have existed. larly, Hector related the social care work that the women’s group “la Colmena” did The Nordic Collective and the in the first church to the historical work Immigrant Festival of the Verdandi society: “they inherited The descendants of the Swedish settlers in everything that the work of the first Ver- Oberá belong to a complex and heteroge- dandi here meant. It comes from the immi- nous community, and as with Swedish com- gration, right? It comes with that … with munities in the USA, the making of heritage the reality that group of women had to face and the points of identification with Swe- … in the beginning here in Oberá” (2.5). In dishness for those that identify with Swe- this way, the present heritage-making, even dishness and/or engage in Swedish heritage if the community had been divided, was practices, is not necessarily bound by ances- connected to the past in ways that ascribed try (Gradeń 2003:22). This is made visible authenticity to the Swedish heritage of the in the heritage-making of the association the religious practitioners, while, also in ac- Nordic Collective and in the celebration of cordance with local heritage discourses, as- an annual heritage festival. signing importance to the deed of the first The Immigrant Festival started in a settler colonists. sports complex in the early 1980s, and con- In the 1950s the structure for organizing sisted of stands with “traditional food” and Swedishness and practising heritage thus groups that performed folk dances. From seems to have been centred on the activi- this small initiative of different ethnic com- ties of the church. Indeed, much of the ac- munities that wanted to celebrate their heri- tivities and associations that partly consti- tage, the festival has grown massively, at- tute Swedish heritage practices and Swe- tracting tourists nationwide, as well as in- dishness in Oberá has been made possible ternationally. In the late 1990s, the politi- through the transnational relation to the cians of the city dedicated approximatively Church of Sweden. The Swedish priests ten hectares of land in order to construct a seem central for the importance of ethnic public park where this annual festival and identity and language. In a similar man- other celebration of the city’s settler com- ner, in her study of Danish Lutheran com- munities’ heritage could be performed. In munities in southern Buenos Aires and the 1998, the “Park of Nations” was inaugurat- Jenny Ingridsdotter, Waffles with Dulce de Leche 159

ed, and each community constructed its coat of arms of Stockholm, and pictures of own house for social gatherings. This mas- red wooden houses in the forest. There are sive and increasingly commercialized heri- also small ornaments such as midsummer tage celebration can be understood as an poles and Dala horses – all objects resem- example of the fusion between the tourist bling traditional ideas about Swedish heri- industry and the idea of the multicultural tage. According to the interviewees the state, as has been discussed by Casper house was a place for all the Nordic com- Jacobsen in the case of indigenous heritage munities to gather, yet the majority of and tourism in Mexico (2019). those that attended were Swedish de- scendants. “We always put the Swedish Celebrating Heritage flag first,” a member said. The Immigrant Festival starts with a pa- The NC and the many activities related rade, where each community parades in to the Festival occupied a central place in traditional costumes from the city centre many interviewees’ ideas of Swedishness, to the park. The celebration consists of, where heritage could be practised. At the for example, traditional foods, live music, time of the fieldwork, the NC was dedicat- games, dance shows, and a beauty pageant ed to year-long preparations for the festi- where an elected queen from each ethnic val, as well as to the assemblies of the community competes in representing their board for the cooperation between the six- teen different ethnic settler groups that heritage. This form of heritage celebra- were represented with a house in the tions is something that can be found in park.4 Federico, born in 1939, talked about other settler communities in the Americas the festival and the work of the NC as (see e.g. Linde-Laursen 1999; Bjerg something helpful for the future of the 2003). The celebrations of elements such Swedish community: “there are always as these represent a non-threatening and activities in the Nordic House /…/. And socially non-transgressive otherness, as- there is the ten days long festival, a big pects of heritage that can be celebrated by festival, then we gather people from all of all the groups of settler society. Argentina, and usually there are also Swedish heritage practices associated groups from Sweden” (1.10). In this way with the festival were channelled through the celebration of Swedish heritage was the association Colectividad Nórdica – the turned into a practice that reached beyond Nordic Collective (NC) – which resides in the local community, establishing ties na- the Nordic House. This is a red two-storey tionwide with Argentina and internation- house, its corners and window frames are ally with Sweden. Some days before the painted in white, and its opulent garden is interview, the NC had hosted the Swedish ornamented with a runic stone and a large ambassador and the honorary consul at a barbecue space. On the inside a hall opens ceremony where the guests ate together for social gatherings, on the dark wood with Swedish-speaking senior members panelling hang pictures portraying, among of the community. Over time, the organ- other objects recognizable as Nordic, a izational structure for the making of heri- Swedish Lucia, the Swedish warship tage had shifted, but the way Swedishness Vasa, a map of Sweden, the municipal and heritage were imagined was still inter- 160 Jenny Ingridsdotter, Waffles with Dulce de Leche

A record of the children who attended the first school in Villa Svea, Yerbal Viejo, opened in 1918. Photo: José Curto. laced with representatives of the Swedish community. The members of the NC de- nation. Outside the Nordic House’s front scribed how their schedules were filled entrance hung placards that solemnly an- with activities. Maja, born in 1944, had a nounced important events in the commu- position on the board which meant she had nity’s history; for example, during the a meeting every week. In addition, she had 2002 Immigrant Festival, the Swedish, other undertakings in the NC: Finnish, and Norwegian ambassadors There is always something to do, some party or honoured the community with their pres- something, like now in June, then it is our … the ence. There were also placards commem- day of the Swedish flag, then we serve coffee and orating the 100 years of Swedish presence cake /…/ Yes, then in March we start making in Oberá, for example: “Homage to the waffles … and then come the rehearsals of the brave Swedish immigrants who 100 years dance group” (2.14). ago built the beginning of our beloved The year before the second fieldwork, in Oberá, June 6, 2013”. In this way histori- 2018, the NC had arranged the celebration cal landmarks in the Swedish communi- of Swedish midsummer for the first time. ty’s history were connected with local his- Traditionally it had been celebrated in the tory and the Nordic nations. Parque Svea, but it now seemed to have The heritage practices of the NC were a taken a new shape in the Park of Nations. yearly cycle and a social commitment that One of the interviewees took me out to the reached both the local and an international garden to show the maypole, and said that Jenny Ingridsdotter, Waffles with Dulce de Leche 161

the traditional song and dance “Små gro- they met to rehearse and perform. They dorna” had been good marketing for the also travelled to dance festivals in Buenos NC because it attracted Sunday strollers Aires, as well as to Brazil, where they met who then bought waffles. One can pre- with Swedish descendants who danced sume that the celebration of midsummer Swedish folk dances as well. In this way, in the settler community of the early twen- Swedish heritage had taken a meaning of tieth century filled certain functions. A a transnational Latin American communi- century later, it had come to occupy an- ty for them, and they invested time and ef- other role in the community, turning into a fort in their costumes and the choreogra- practice that – of course among other phies. Andrés, born in 1991, described things – also benefited the waffle sale. how all the effort and the work dedicated This points towards how the meaning over to the NC and the dance group made it heritage has shifted over time, and how worthwhile because he felt they were hon- Swedishness becomes a contingent rela- ouring the Swedish settlers and Sweden as tional process. That the meaning of heri- a nation: “because if it had not been for tage changes, or is used as an advantage Sweden we would not be here today. So, it for marketing (Gradén 2000; see also is a form to represent” (2.1). One of his Caspersen 2019), however, does not ne- dreams was that the Swedish royal couple cessarily mean that it is more or less au- would come to see them dance. thentic. As Smith has noted, heritage is a This interest in folk dance seems to cultural practice, “which engages with have been stimulated by the festival. An acts of remembering that work to create active participant in the NC, Mario, born ways to understand and engage with the in 1964, was eager to trace the roots of the present” (Smith 2006:2). dance group back to the Swedish commu- The dance group of the NC was de- nity of the 1930s and the dance classes led scribed as important for the present prac- in Villa Svea by the Swedish nurse and tices of heritage and the making of Swe- midwife, Sigrid Bjurström, a representa- dishness in the community. Some of the tive of the Church of Sweden. In this way interviewees born between the 1980s and the heritage-making of the dance group early 2000s was, or had been, dedicated to was ascribed an authenticity rooted in the the Nordic folk-dance group. As the group origins of the community, but also in the represented all the Nordic countries, they meditating role between the local commu- chose a new country to represent each nity and the authorized heritage that Bjur- year. Their leader took pride in investigat- ström has as a representative of the ing dances and traditional costumes Church of Sweden. According to Mario, it through Youtube, but also through jour- was not until the Immigrant Festival be- neys to the Nordic countries. He said he gan that the interest in folk dance really wanted to make sure the dances resembled became popular, and when people of the the folk dance of the original places. The Swedish community wanted to get in- group assembled participants ranging in volved and do something the dances age between children and people well over taught by Bjurström were revived. Thus, 80 years old, during the festival they per- the work members dedicated to NC can be formed a dance show, but all year long understood as a way to practise heritage 162 Jenny Ingridsdotter, Waffles with Dulce de Leche

and to live Swedishness. Katrin, who was longer active in the NC, but she associated born in 1945 and had worked over 20 years the Nordic House with her Swedish heri- in the NC, said that in their work in the NC tage. For her, strolling through the park on they always tried to “follow the culture like a Sunday and having waffles in the Nordic it was” (2.13). For her, this meant “typical House was a way to feel close to her fam- costumes from over there”, as well as the ily and her grandparents; to honour their dances they performed. Like Katrin, the in- Swedishness. In this sense it was related to terviewees who participated in the NC all issues of identity and kinship, since the described a similar wish to practice heri- stroll took an ethnic meaning. Similarly, tage and to keep Swedishness alive. for Iris, born in 1993, who was raised in a Swedish-speaking family and with a Heritage as an Identity and a Hobby strong Swedish identity – to participate in Apart from the importance of Swedish- the activities of the NC was a way to recog- ness and heritage, the time dedicated to nize her family’s heritage and express an the NC was also about the social relations ethnic identity. Active members of the NC formed there. Interviewees said that they who were not of Swedish, or Nordic, de- felt very at home in the Nordic House, and scent but still dedicated time and effort to that the NC was like a family. Maja, born the work of the NC, said it was because of in 1944, had been an active member of the the way the Swedish culture characterized NC for over 20 years. Her main duty was the work of the NC (observation note 2019). to be in charge of the cooking of tradition- This affiliation by choice has also been not- al dishes such as Swedish meatballs with ed in the US context (Gradén 2000). brown gravy or the Norwegian “fårikål” On the other hand, some interviewees (mutton in cabbage). Apart from the festi- were critical towards the Festival becom- val, she also cooked for birthdays, wed- ing a spectacle that was too expensive to dings, or family reunions – events that attend. Victor, born in 1957 and previous- members of the NC could host in the Nor- ly active in the NC, compared the celebra- dic House. Maja liked the quiet atmos- tion of heritage in the festival parade with phere of the Nordic House and she was a circus. He felt it had become too much of happy to have so many friends in the NC, a spectacle. I asked him whether or not it not only peers of her own age, but also could still be understood as a sense of cre- young members: “the youngsters here, the ating community: ones that come for the folk dance, they Of course, there are disputes in the sense of argu- call me grandma, I am grandma for every- ing who has most people in their block of the one here” (2.14) she said contentedly. parade, who has the best music, but I think that’s Sandra, born in 1994, had participated all right, it does no harm, people also dispute in the dance group of the NC, yet could about football games or volleyball (1.12). not afford the loss of time this participa- This is an interesting comparison; like Vic- tion took time away from her present work tor, other interviewees who still were or life. She would, however, still visit the had been active in the NC could switch be- house and attend the Immigrant Festival. tween describing the celebration of heri- Similarly, Andrea, born in 1986, was no tage through the NC as part of an ethnic Jenny Ingridsdotter, Waffles with Dulce de Leche 163

identity or a heritage, but also as “a hobby” heritage celebrations (Gradén 2000:220; – something similar to sports like football Klein 1997). Andrea, who had grand- or volleyball. Illustratively, Iris, born in parents both from Sweden and Switzer- 1993, felt the festival had been a way “to land, had chosen to dance either with the get out a little bit” when she was an adoles- Nordic group or with the Swiss group, de- cence. It was a way “to do something dif- pending on where her friends were danc- ferent than just being at home or going to ing. Likewise, Tomás, born in 1989, left school. So, with my sister we always went the Nordic dance group to dance with the to dance rehearsal, to the youth group’s Italian group when his girlfriend started meetings in the church. All of that we did to there. Iris who used to dance in the Nordic get out a little bit”. (2.9). Iris agreed with group, did not think one’s heritage was me that in this sense it was fair to say that important among groups of friends. She her social life as an adolescent was organ- said people normally did not think about ized through her Swedish ancestry. How- whether someone was Swedish or Ger- ever, this was not just typical for the Swe- man, but perhaps these origins were re- dish community, but was rather applicable vitalized by the Immigrant Festival when to all the ethnic groups organized in collec- heritage become a topic for conversation. tives in the Park of Nations. She believed that in the present society The mixture of different ethnic groups “everyone is so mixed up” so they could that characterize the former settler colo- choose between multiple collectives. For nial society of Oberá was often stressed as example, she herself could have chosen to an exceptional, multicultural, and inte- celebrate heritage with the German or grated social environment by the inter- Brazilian collectives, “but we were very viewees. According to Mario, who had rooted in the Swedish ancestry and its tra- spoken about the discriminatory attitudes ditions. So, it stays there” (2.9). of the colonist society, the festival had In Gradén’s study of Swedish heritage- changed the ways in which ethnic belong- making in a festival in Kansas, she finds ing was imagined and lived. “Thanks to that two understandings of heritage the festivals” the “new generations” could emerge: heritage by choice or heritage by celebrate their heritage more freely. Mario lineage. The first concept included every- felt that “the recovering of traditions is one who wanted to participate in activities different now; it is no longer a stigma” and recognized certain virtues framed as (2.2). According to Mario, one result of Swedish. Gradén finds that this was really the festival was that former stigmas asso- about localism and community building, ciated with ethnic difference had ceased. while the latter came down to ancestry and Through the festival, heritage seems to blood (Gradén 2003:228). Likewise, the have been made something open and flu- NC provided a space where Swedish heri- ent – a way for people to socialize. Many tage could be lived and imagined regard- of the interviewees who had grandparents less of one’s ancestry. In this way it was or parents of different national origins ex- also a place where this heritage was in- pressed how they would choose which scribed into the national context of Argen- heritage to celebrate in a given situation, tina. The ethnic mix of the former colonist something also seen in the US context of settler society found in Oberá is often im- 164 Jenny Ingridsdotter, Waffles with Dulce de Leche

agined as a real example of the Argentin- associated with the heritage of two differ- ian “crisol de razas” – a melting pot char- ent national settings had merged in an or- acterized by its mixture of European im- dinary way related to everyday practices migrants. Illustratively, some of the inter- of the NC. A member of the NC told me viewees had no Swedish ancestry, yet had that one of the traditional Swedish foods chosen to “sympathize” with the NC, or he had always been served at home and had married into a Swedish heritage – a still prepared was mandioca – a starchy tu- phenomena also found in the US context berous root that in the regional context (Tallgren 2000). Nonetheless, at the same serves as a logical dietary replacement of time, one’s origin and blood ancestry were the potato – an everyday aliment in Swe- also a criterion in order to access certain den. This can be understood as one way positions on the NC board or organizing that the content of Swedishness acquires a the beauty pageant. new form according to the local material- It must also be noted that the fluidity of ity. Another example of how the Swedish identity was expressed by interviewees heritage practices take their form and con- with a European heritage. As Mary Wa- tent from the Argentinian context is the ters noted in her study of European ethnic traditional barbecuing of 250 kilos of meat identity in the USA, white subjects tend to that Matías described as part of a tradi- be freer to choose a “situational ethnicity” tional Swedish midsummer celebration: depending on the context, in ways that “Well, let’s say we have Argentinized it non-whites cannot. For the white sub- quite a bit” he laughed (1.3). urban middle-class Waters interviewed it Above all, something almost all inter- meant no social cost, but rather enjoyment viewees spoke about as something they re- to invoke a European heritage (Waters lated to Swedish heritage was the making 1990). Likewise, it meant no social cost of waffles. In the NC they sold waffles dur- for the interviewees in my material to ing the festival, but also yearly on Sundays choose freely between different settler in order to raise money for the needs of the heritages. As I will discuss elsewhere, this NC. Andrés explained that a lot of people idea of fluidity, celebration, and choice in Oberá had grown fond of the waffles, did not seem to include celebrations the even if they were not of Nordic descent: indigenous group Mbyá Guaraní heritage. When we make waffles on the weekends, in the kiosk, we sell almost 150 waffles. On Sundays we Heritage as a Fusion are open between 15 and 19. And then people For many of the interviewees, food was an know there are waffles in the NC and they come. important aspect of their association with They write to each other “hey, there’s waffles to- day”. So, then people know … and it is really a Swedishness or with heritage. In the Nor- Swedish thing /…/ So that’s the way, and of dic House there was a large kitchen with course it has been adapted because in Sweden they room to make traditional Swedish food, eat waffles in another way, here we eat them with but also traditional Argentine barbecues. dulce de leche. Which is really our thing. /…/ So, On the shelves, the many waffle machines this mixture was made because of the excellence of the dulce de leche. Well, maybe someone likes imported from Sweden shared space with their waffles with salty stuff, like ham and cheese, Argentine cups for drinking yerba mate. they are also made with fruits or other sweet stuff, In this way objects and materiality closely like in the more traditional way they do them in Jenny Ingridsdotter, Waffles with Dulce de Leche 165

The Nordic House where the Nordic Collective resides, in the Park of Nations, Oberá. Photo: José Curto.

Sweden. But not the one we do here, it is most pot as a fusion and amalgamation of known as the fusion, the waffle with dulce de populations (1962). Unlike the older in- leche (2.1). terviewees, the younger members of the In a similar way, “the waffle with dulce NC interviewed seemed to identify with de leche” was often mentioned as a good multiple heritages rather than with an example of how the practices of Swedish ethnic identity. To partake in a heritage heritage were a mixture between the practice is a looser form for organizing Swedish settler colonists and Argentina. belonging, and gave scope for them to be In this mixture, the fusion between the a little bit of everything, perhaps cele- waffle, which symbolizes Sweden, and brating Swedish heritage one day and the dulce de leche, the ultimate symbol of Swiss heritage the other, but always feel- Argentina, became a telling image of the ing Argentinian. Argentine-Swedish heritage in Oberá. This symbol of the mixture of different Conclusions ancestry also reflects an Argentine auto- As Gunvor Flodell has pointed out, the image, canonized for example through Swedish language and traditions alive in influential Argentine scholarship, like Misiones today are a result of over a hun- the historian José Luis Romero who has dred years of heritage-making (Flodell regarded Argentina as a “hybrid society” 2002:27). As I have shown above, this (1956) or the sociologist Gino Germani heritage-making has been grounded in who referred to the Argentinian melting certain structures that have provided 166 Jenny Ingridsdotter, Waffles with Dulce de Leche

spaces for Swedishness and heritage to be- tage practices have been lived, practised, come lived, imagined, and practised. The imagined, and conditioned in Oberá are discourse of Swedishness has allowed a influenced by the relations to Sweden and material structure to take shape according the authorized discourses on national heri- to the needs of the community – but also tage, yet at the same time it has taken its as a result of relations between the Swe- own shape, influenced by the local settler dish settler community and, on the one society context. hand, the Argentine state, and on the other All the interviewees who spoke about hand, the Swedish state. This structure is their identification with Swedishness and both solid and loose, allowing for the con- who engaged in heritage practices said they tingency of heritage practices and the were of course Argentine citizens before meaning of Swedishness to change and anything else. In Argentina, where the na- take on new shapes. The making of Swe- tional myth is so fundamentally based on dish heritage has also certainly taken place the idea of the country being built up by in sites not discussed here, particularly in European immigrants (Grimson 2012: private homes, yet the structures I have 31ff), it seemed self-evident for the inter- described can be highlighted as important viewees that they would have an origin in a collective hubs. European country that could be celebrated During the initial years of the Swedish as heritage, both in official acts by the city colony in Misiones, the society was struc- and in their social life and private homes. In tured around everyday needs of the set- this context, celebrating non-transgressive tlers. Thus, in this sense, Swedishness and forms of Swedish (or any other) heritage some parts of what would later be prac- just made them more Argentinian. And tised as heritage were a lived practice of perhaps that is why Swedishness still mat- everyday life. Another condition for this ters in Oberá today. If the organizational possibility was the transnational ties to the structure of Villa Svea and the church was Swedish society that sent books and news- more a form of creating community out of papers, as well as representatives of the diasporic needs and ethnic traditions, in Church of Sweden. These relations cre- ways that the state at one point even regard- ated a certain structure where influx to the ed as a threat to the nation, then Swe- Swedish ethnic identity and the mainten- dishness, in the form in which it was prac- ance of the language was made possible. tised at the NC in the late 2010s, is sanc- This exchange surely also affected the ar- tioned by the Argentine national discourse tefacts related to heritage and the idea of as an authorized heritage. As such it is Swedishness in the community. However, linked to the Argentinian national idea the practice of heritage or the idea of Swe- about the nation being a melting pot of Eu- dishness was neither monolithic nor ex- ropean immigrants. Unlike the settler col- clusive. The settler colonial society was, onists of the initial period – who were just and still is, one where many experiences, foreign to the state – the interviewees were emigration trajectories, classes, and lan- Argentinian precisely because of their guages mixed, giving rise to diversified Swedish heritage.5 In this way celebrating experiences and practices. The way heri- Swedish heritage becomes part of a mani- Jenny Ingridsdotter, Waffles with Dulce de Leche 167

festation of national diversity contained ing indigeneity to settlers as they are regarded within its limits – in this process Swedish- as being the first to settle an “empty land” (see e.g. Gahman 2020:38f; Dunstan & ness needs mandioca and barbecue in order Peñaloza 2017:610). to be authentic, the waffles with dulce de leche become the logical way to imagine References and live Swedish heritage in contemporary Aronsson, Peter & Lizette Gradén (eds.) 2013: Per- Argentina. forming Nordic Heritage. Everyday Practices and Institutional Culture. Farnham: Ashgate. Jenny Ingridsdotter Attebery, Eastman, J. 2007: Up in the Rocky Postdoctoral fellow Mountains. Writing the Swedish Immigrant Ex- Department of Culture and Media Studies perience. Minneapolis, Minn.: University of Umeå University Minnesota Press. email: [email protected] Bartolomé, Leopoldo J. 1975: Colonos, plantado- res y agroindustrias. La explotación agrícola fa- miliar en el sudeste demisiones. Desarrollo Notes Económico 15(58), pp. 239‒264. 1 See e.g. Wilhelm 1948: Röda jordens svens- Barton, H. Arnold 1994: A Folk Divided. Home- kar. Stockholm: Norstedt; Paulin, Axel 1951: land Swedes and Swedish Americans, 1840‒ Svenska öden i Sydamerika. Stockholm: Nor- 1940. Carbondale: Southern Illinois Univ. Press. stedt; Tell, Per Erik 2011: “Svenskarna slet Bastia, T. and vom Hau, M. 2014: Migration, Race ont i Brasilien” Populär Historia 12/2011. and Nationhood in Argentina. Journal of Ethnic 2 The majority arrived in 1890–91 and 1910– and Migration Studies 40(3), pp. 475–492. 11. The figures for Swedish migrants in Brazil Bjerg, Maria 2000: A Tale of Two Settlements: differ in emigration and immigration figures. Danish Immigrants on the American Prairie and This discrepancy and the different statistical the Argentine Pampa, 1860‒1930. The Annals sources have been discussed by Dag Retsö of Iowa 59, pp. 1‒34. (2016). Bjerg, Maria 2003: The Danes in the Argentine 3 The importance of religion in the context of Pampa. The Role of Ethnic Leader in the Cre- immigrant life in America has been discussed ation of an Ethnic Community. In Mass Migra- by others (see Attebery 2007), and particular- tion to Modern Latin America, ed. Samuel L. ly the Lutheran faith in contexts of settler col- Baily & Eduardo José Míguez, pp. 147–166. onies in Latin America (Woortmann 2016: Wilmington, Delaware: Scholarly Resources. 61f). Likewise, in the context of settler colo- Blaakilde, Anne Leonora 2018: Et ældreliv i nial societies, scholars have also discussed “Solutopia”. Pensionistmigration fra nord til faith as an important aspect of recreating a na- syd. In Gerontologi ‒ Perspektiver på ældre tion or constructing a new society (Gahman mennesker, ed. Stinne Glasdam & Frode Jacob- 2020). sen, pp. 215‒233. Copenhagen: GadsForlag. 4 Argentina, Germany, Poland, Paraguay, Blaakilde, Anne Leonora & Gabriella Nilsson Ukraine, Switzerland, Spain, the Nordic coun- (eds.) 2013: Nordic Seniors on the Move. Mo- tries, Russia, Arabic, Brazil, French, Italy, Ja- bility and Migration in Later Life. Lund: Lund pan, Czechia, Portugal. There was also a Studies in Arts and Cultural Sciences 4. space constructed for the indigenous Mbyá Dunstan, Ines & Fernanda Peñaloza 2017: The Guaraní in 2010. Problem of Assimilation in the Aftermath of 5 The celebration of European heritage can also Conquest. A Comparison between Argentina be regarded as a way to invisibilize the fact and Australia (1879–1938). History Australia that the Swedes and other European immi- 14(4), pp. 607‒625. grants settled in indigenous lands that were Eidt, Robert C. 1971: Pioneer Settlement in violently conquered by the state in the nine- Northeast Argentina. Madison, Wis.: Universi- teenth century. Elsewhere, I will discuss how ty of Wisconsin Press. this particular making of heritage can also be Fjellström, Phebe 1970: Swedish-American Col- understood as a way to write history from the onization in the San Joaquin Valley in Califor- advent of the settler colonial society, ascrib- nia. Uppsala: Studia Ethnographica Upsaliensia. 168 Jenny Ingridsdotter, Waffles with Dulce de Leche

Flodell, Gunvor 1986: Misiones-svenska. Språkbe- multietnisk värld. RIG ‒ Kulturhistorisk tid- varande och språkpåverkan i en sydamerikansk skrift 1–2, pp. 15‒32. talgemenskap. Uppsala: Uppsala Universitet. Linde-Laursen, Anders 1999: “Unsettled” Sol- Flodell, Gunvor 2018: Missionessvenskans dagar vang, Danish Capital of America. A Photo- räknade? Svenska landsmål och svenskt folkliv essay. The South Atlantic Quarterly,98(4), pp. 141. 781‒799. Flodell, Gunvor 2002: “De verkar te å gå bakåt”. Olsson G. E. 1991: Suecos en la Selva. Migración Språk, etnicitet och identitet belyst utifrån emi- sueca 1891. Buenos Aires: Ediciones La Aurora. grant- och dialektmaterial. Umeå: Kulturgräns Palmqvist, Lena 1984: Byggnadstraditioner i norr. Minnesotas svenskbygder. Kontinuitet och Fogeler, M. R. 2007: Etnografía y red de pa- förnyelse. Bebyggelsehistorisk tidskrift 8, pp. rentesco de los colonos escandinavos en las 52‒66. sierras centrales de Misiones. Unpublished Retsö, D. 2016: Emigration from the Nordic Thesis. Universidad Nacional de Misiones Fa- Countries to Brazil 1880–1914. Iberoamerica- cultad de Humanidades y Ciencias Sociales. na – Nordic Journal of Latin American and Friborg, Göran 1988: Brasiliensvenskarna. Ut- Caribbean Studies 45(1), pp. 6–18. vandring, invandring, bosättning 1850‒1940. Romero, J. L. 1956: Argentina. Imagenes y Per- Växjö: Emigrantinstitutet. spectivas. Buenos Aires: Raigal. Gahman, L. 2020: Land, God, and Guns. Settler Ruggiero, K. 1982: Gringo and Creole. Foreign Colonialism and Masculinity in the American and Native Values in a Rural Argentine Com- Heartland. London: Zed Books Ltd. munity. Journal of Interamerican Studies and Germani, G. 1962: Politica y Sociedad en una World Affairs 24(2), pp. 163‒182. Epoca de Transición. De la Sociedad Tradi- Schmidt, Donatella 1991: Do You Have an Opy? cional a la Sociedad de las Masas. Buenos Politics and Identity among the Mbyá-Guarani Aires: Paidós. of Argentina and Eastern Paraguay. Blooming- Gradén, Lizette 2003: On parade. Making Heri- ton: Indiana University Press. tage in Lindsborg, Kansas. Stockholm: Stock- Smith, Laurajane 2006: The Uses of Heritage. Ho- holms Universitet. boken: Taylor & Francis Ltd. Gradén, Lizette 2000: I dalahästens skugga. Tallgren, Henrik 2000: Svensk-amerikaner i Kali- Lindsborg som kulturell hemvist och kommer- fornien. En studie av lågaktiv etnicitet. Göte- siellt koncept i Svenskamerika. RIG ‒ Kultur- borg: Göteborgs universitet. historisk tidskrift 83(4). Waters, Mary C. 1990: Ethnic Options: Choosing vom Hau, M. & G. Wilde 2010: “We Have Al- Identities in America. Berkeley: Univ. of Calif. ways Lived Here”. Indigenous Movements, Press. Citizenship and Poverty in Argentina. The Widén, Albin 1996 [1948]: Those Who Left. The Journal of Development Studies 46(7), pp. Swedish-American Historical Quarterly 47(1), 1283‒1303. pp. 5‒18. Helg, Aline 1990: Race in Argentina and Cuba, Williams, Glyn 1991: The Welsh in Patagonia. 1880–1930: Theory, Policies, and Popular Re- The State and the Ethnic Community. Cardiff: action. In The Idea of Race in Latin America, University of Wales Press. 1870–1940, ed. Richard Graham & Thomas E. Wolfe, Patrick 2006: Settler Colonialism and the Skidmore, pp. 37–70. Austin: University of Elimination of the Native. Journal of Genocide Texas Press. Research 8(4), pp. 387‒409. Jacobsen, C. 2019: Tourism and indigenous heri- Woortmann, Ellen Fensterseifer 2016: From Ad- tage in Latin America: as observed through venturers to Settlers. Norwegians in Southern Mexico’s magical village Cuetzalan. London: Brazil. In Expectations Unfulfilled. Norwegian Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group. Migrants in Latin America, 1820‒1940, ed. Klein, Barbro 1970: Legends and Folk Beliefs in a Steinar A. Sæther. Leiden: Brill. Swedish American Community. Bloomington: Woube, Annie 2014: Finding One’s Place. An Indiana University Press. Ethnological Study of Belonging among Swe- Klein, Barbro 1997: Tillhörighet och utanförskap. dish Migrants on the Costa del Sol in Spain. Om kulturarvspolitik och folklivsforskning i en Uppsala: Uppsala universitet. Low-Quality Border Control? A Cultural Analysis of Alternative Border Imaginaries among Police Officers at Copenhagen Airport By Marlene Paulin Kristensen

Copenhagen Airport is currently a gateway for il- hide the unsatisfactory conditions from legal migrants to the Nordic countries. This has the public, and some employees lamented been revealed to the magazine DANSK POLITI the fact that the low level of control at the by frustrated police employees (Dansk Politi airport was pushing illegal travel towards 2013a). neighbouring countries, e.g. Sweden and This intriguing statement could be read in Norway (ibid.). an article published in the independent In this article, I investigate this contro- magazine Dansk Politi (“Danish Police”) versy about the level of control in the air- in March 2013. The article was the first in port through an ethnographic account a series of articles in a public dispute be- based on interviews and field observations tween police employees and their super- with Danish police at Copenhagen Airport iors at Copenhagen Airport, Kastrup, in 2015 and 2016. By probing into the which concerned the quality of border emotional responses that arose at the air- control at the airport. In the dispute, the port in the midst of the above allegations, police employees at the airport claimed I am guided by the following question: that they had been told to “turn a blind What border imaginaries were inter- eye” to flight arrivals that they knew from twined in the claims of poor-quality bor- experience were likely to be carrying trav- der control at the airport? ellers with forged documents. In a series In the article, I will show how alterna- of articles printed in Dansk Politi tive imaginaries of the border emerged in (2013ab, 2014ab, 2015ab) in which both the incompatibilities and insufficiencies anonymous employees and named em- of the current European asylum and bor- ployee representatives voiced their criti- der regulations, imaginaries of a border cism, a range of claims were put forward: which promised a simpler manner to dis- First, the police employees asserted that tinguish between legitimate travel and there was not sufficient time or resources non-legitimate travel. Further, by bringing to carry out the investigative work of bor- international research on the European der control. Secondly, some also claimed Union border and migration system into that they were specifically being told to dialogue with ethnology contributions, I turn a blind eye to illegal migration in or- argue that recognizing the multiplicity and der to avoid the resource-demanding pro- simultaneity of borders has a potential for cessing of asylum cases. Thirdly, the art- furthering critical analysis of studies of icles reported criticism of the low number border enforcement in the European Union. of controls conducted on flights from Eu- ropean Union Schengen member coun- Fieldwork among Border Officials at tries as well as criticism of the selection of European Border Crossing Points controlled arrivals. Furthermore, reduc- The article is based on fieldwork material tions in personnel and the lack of special- generated at Copenhagen Airport, planned ized training were pointed out as reasons and carried out by the author between for poor-quality border control. Finally, 2015 and 2017, with the majority of mate- some claimed that the top management of rial cited in this article concerns the time the Danish National Police was trying to between September 2015 and spring 2016.

Ethnologia Scandinavica, Vol. 50, 2020 170 Marlene Paulin Kristensen, Low-Quality Border Control?

The analysis is based on semi-structured even though this article is only explicitly interviews with police officers at the air- concerned with matters at Copenhagen port, field observations and informal con- Airport. versations, and is combined with written material, mostly from the professional State Borders and Their Changing journal Dansk Politi. The fieldwork on Significance in Europe which this article builds is part of a larger In a Scandinavian context, the shortcom- fieldwork which also included interviews ings of the EU-Schengen and asylum sys- and participant observation with other tem became clear to a wider public during border officials who enforce state borders the refugee arrivals of 2015 and 2016, in the realm of the European Union, spe- when hundreds of thousands of Syrian cifically in relation to Schengen regula- citizens were fleeing a civil war which had tions and legislation. I conducted field- left their country devastated. As these work with Danish Police at the Danish- refugees moved north through Europe, so German border and with the EU border as- did certain insoluble problems, which ex- sistance mission (EUBAM) at the Moldo- posed a European border and asylum pol- van-Ukrainian border. The entirety of the icy that had severe legal, moral, and logis- material consists of interviews with bor- tical shortcomings (Hess et al. 2016; der officials and experts, participant ob- Staaf, Nilsson & Åkerman 2017). The au- servations of their diverse working situa- thorities’ struggles made it obvious that tions, and analyses of internal documents, the situation could not be resolved within reports, promotional publications, arch- the constraints of current national or Euro- ival material, and news articles. pean legislation. In order to counteract the My choice of methods, interviewing unprecedented pressure on asylum, immi- and shadowing everyday work routines, gration, and police authorities – and the has been guided by an interest in finding logistical and political chaos that resulted analytical pathways into exploring the from the refugee crisis – a number of processes of standardization and coordi- EU-Schengen member states, including nation of border procedures, that followed Norway, Sweden and Denmark – intro- the legislative harmonization of border duced temporary border controls, thereby and asylum procedures in the European compromising what had been a corner- Union and neighbouring countries in the stone in the Schengen cooperation: the twenty-first century. During fieldwork, I right to free movement of people and have been particularly attuned to capture goods. The reintroduction of border con- the border officials’ everyday conceptual- trol was a clear break with the ideals of izations of the task of ensuring safe and ef- free mobility and was a solution that for ficient borders. In other words, I have ex- long had seemed to be a highly controver- plored how official prescriptions to ensure sial and almost unthinkable move to safe and efficient borders come to matter make. amongst border officials. The entirety of This article speaks to this breakdown the fieldwork material has informed my of the Schengen cooperation, although questions and concerns in this article, without being directly concerned with Marlene Paulin Kristensen, Low-Quality Border Control? 171

the events of 2015 and 2016 and the rein- ism, and regionalism (Zaiotti 2011). In troduction of border control (for a study March 2001, the Schengen Agreement of the reintroduction of border control at began its implementation in the Nordic the Danish-German border, see Paulin countries Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Kristensen 2020). Rather, the article ap- Iceland, and Finland. By 2004, the proaches the shortcomings of the EU bor- Schengen Area was expanded to include a der and asylum system by studying bor- range of former Warsaw Pact countries, der officials’ emotional responses to bor- including Poland, Hungary, the Czech Re- der enforcement procedures and their dif- public, and the three Baltic states, cover- ficulties of ensuring safe and efficient ing a total of 27 countries in 2007, exclud- border control within the Schengen sys- ing some EU countries (e.g. United King- tem; difficulties which date back as far as dom and Ireland), while encompassing 2013, and which performs a profound non-EU member states (e.g. Norway and criticism of the Schengen-way of con- Iceland). At the end of the 2000s, the structing borders altogether. Schengen area had thus grown consider- In his account of the Schengen Agree- ably and had become one of the most tan- ment as a hallmark of past decades’ trans- gible successes of the European coopera- formation of borders within the European tion. Union, the social scientist William Wal- Emphasizing the right to free move- ters writes, “Westphalia, Vienna, Ver- ment (i.e., of people and goods) in ex- sailles, Potsdam, Maastricht … if the his- change for the political promise of secure tory of Europe’s formation as, and within, external borders, the Schengen Area was a space of territories, sovereignties, econ- designed as a space that would be exempt omies, and cultures can be evoked in from the border control of passenger and terms of such symbolic place names then transport vehicles. The agreement acceler- perhaps we can add to that series the name ated the mobility of people and goods of Schengen” (Walters 2002:561). He amongst EU member states, and in terms thereby underlines the symbolic and trans- of border enforcement, it paved the way formative role that altering the European for the reorganization of procedures re- state borders has played. The development garding customs, border control, and of the Schengen Area was the culmination criminal investigation (Schwell 2008; of a post-World War II integration of Eu- Casella Colombeau 2017). This reorgan- ropean countries; and launched a post- ization led to a range of diverse transfor- Cold War era in which a goal to overcome mational processes that impacted the par- the European continent’s divides was ad- ticipating countries symbolically, legally, vanced by harmonizing policies and se- and materially. The removal of border en- curity and economic measures (ibid.). The forcement from the international border- Schengen Agreement initially developed lines also relocated the border procedures through the 1980s and 1990s with Germa- to other locations within and beyond the ny, France, and the Benelux countries as EU-Schengen territories, and this process the primary drivers at the intersection be- involved a range of new methods (Follis tween visions of post-nationalism, liberal- 2012; Kristensen 2016). In the official vo- 172 Marlene Paulin Kristensen, Low-Quality Border Control?

cabulary, the territorial national border Theoretical Approaches to the Study was replaced by a de-territorialized, intel- of Europe’s Borders ligent border, which instead of stopping, Before I turn to the analysis, I will provide searching, and slowing down traffic, a short introduction to research on the bor- promised smooth mobility and high-level ders of the European Union, both interna- security at the same time. In other words, tionally and in a Scandinavian context, the rhetoric of the open borders promised and show how I am concerned with bridg- to strengthen police cooperation among ing the two. I will argue that international EU member states and to strictly enforce research, much focused on the neo-liberal the external borders of the European and dehumanizing aspects of the border Union, in order to ensure that within the and asylum system, can benefit from ana- Schengen area, only efficient and bona lytical approaches developed by ethnolo- fide travel would take place (Frontex gists who emphasize the multiplicity and 2014). ambiguity of borders. In official discourse, the intensified co- Over the past two decades, scholars and operation on border procedures was cele- activists have critically scrutinized and brated as the unification of a divided Eu- critically called out the combination of rope, and the European Union was even open, internal borders and closed, external awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2012 for borders for creating inequality, for pro- ducing illegalized subjects, and for creat- its success in overcoming the twentieth- ing a spiralling effect of militarization at century divides of the continent through the borders (e.g. Tsianos & Karakayali enlargement and harmonization pro- 2010; Hess 2012; Lemberg-Pedersen cesses. However, the border alterings of 2013; De Genova 2017). Scholars and ac- the European Union were also criticized tivists have argued that the inequality, the from the beginning for building a wall illegalization, and the militarization vio- around the rich and prosperous west, leav- late the European Union’s humanitarian ing only illegal pathways to the continent obligations to adhere to the Human Rights open for anyone without the proper pass- convention, to which the union itself is port (Snyder & Andreas 2001; Balibar committed in several ways (e.g. Charter 2004). The promise to ensure efficient and for European Rights from 2000). Scholars smooth travel and strong external borders have for instance forcefully shown how proved more difficult than expected, at the current system of border control deep- least within the bounds of liberal democ- ly challenges European liberal democracy racy and the rule of law, and for many by violating the responsibility to ensure commentators the promise of open bor- asylum and the right to protect lives at sea ders turned into the nightmare of failed (e.g. Gammeltoft-Hansen 2011; Vaughan- neo-liberal politics, which tried to com- Williams 2015; Follis 2015; Pallister- bine inclusive and exclusive policies, Wilkens 2015, Mainwaring 2019). which led to casualties, an illegalized la- Taken together, this scholarship sug- bour market, and overcrowded asylum gests that the borders of the European centres (Andersson 2014). Union – and the movements that the bor- Marlene Paulin Kristensen, Low-Quality Border Control? 173

ders seek to control – cannot be adequate- Nilsson, Orvar Löfgren, and Tom O’Dell ly grasped by simply pointing to a dichot- have studied the making of the Öresund omy between inside and outside, or by ex- region, as an example par excellence of amining a release of control within the Eu- the withering importance of state borders, ropean Union at the expense of and a turn to the European Union’s em- strengthening the external borders (An- phasis on the strengthening of border- dersen and Sandberg 2012:2–3). To clas- crossing regions (O’Dell 2003; Nilsson & sify and map the complex practices of Löfgren 2010). twenty-first-century borders, many schol- Turning my interest towards the every- ars reject the term “border” as a suitable day handling and maintaining of physical term. Instead, they suggest concepts such state borders, I am also inspired by eth- as border regime (cf. De Genova 2017; nologists who have developed a per- Hess & Kasparek 2017a, 2017b) or bor- formative approach to borders (e.g. derscapes (Lemberg-Pedersen 2013; Sandberg 2009ab; Andersen 2012; Lun- Brambilla 2014; Wagner Tsoni 2019), din & Nilsson 2015). Fredrik Nilsson and which emphasize that borders in a Johan A. Lundin’s study of liquor smug- post-Cold War, globalized world work gling at sea between Denmark and Swe- through networks, zones, and filtering den in the 1920s and 1930s illustrates mechanisms. To paraphrase William Wal- how bordering was a complex, heteroge- ters, European borders have been con- neous, socio-material network that structed as a sort of firewall that meticu- brought together smugglers, customs au- lously filters those who can enter and thorities, vessels, speed, darkness, and those who cannot (Walters 2006). Other technology (Lundin & Nilsson 2015). scholars have discussed how the borders The authors thereby show how “the bor- of the European Union reach both well der” as a concept is inherently multiple, within and far beyond the territories of networked, and performative – and thus Schengen, for instance by attending to underline that complexity is not merely a processes of externalizing border enforce- trait of present-day borders. A historical- ment to neighbouring countries (Bi- ly informed study such as Nilsson and alasiewisz 2011; Jansen 2009), outsourc- Lundin’s thus holds the potential to op- ing to private companies (Lemberg-Ped- pose the understanding of a present as ersen 2013), and the integration of border more complex and interconnected than a enforcement into other realms of migra- static past. This is a very important mes- tion policies, such as language and mar- sage to send to a field of studies which riage policies (Gutekunst 2018). tend to paint a picture of a development In a Scandinavian ethnological context, from “simple, national borders” to “com- the study of borders is closely intertwined plex, global borders” (O’Dowd 2009). with discussions of state, national identity In their work on borders, the ethnolo- and migratory and refugee practices (see gists Marie Sandberg and Dorte Andersen Povrzanović Frykman 2001; Bendixsen et have emphasized the multiplicity of bor- al. 2013; Linde-Laursen 2016). Among ders, by devoting their studies to analyt- others, the Swedish ethnologists Fredrik ically show how divergent notions of the 174 Marlene Paulin Kristensen, Low-Quality Border Control?

border align, collide, and co-exist (Sand- va 2017), I suggest an emphasis on the berg 2009ab; Andersen 2012; Andersen & multiplicity of borders within the EU bor- Sandberg 2012). They thereby emphasize der and asylum system. By doing so, I the critical importance of grasping the wish to bring critical nuance to the rep- border in the multiple simultaneity rather resentation of an all-encompassing neo- than in its singular entirety. liberal border system, and to encourage Another strand of Scandinavian re- further research to nurture the skill of search on borders arose in the wake of analytically capturing differences and refugee arrivals in the mid-2010s, and simultaneities rather than conflating dif- study the myriad of civil society initiatives ferences and contradictions into one con- that arose all over Europe in order to ac- cept. It was thus with these conceptual commodate, help, and welcome refugees concerns in mind that I embarked on my illegalized by the current European border study of borders in Europe, and I bring and asylum system (Staaf, Nilsson & them together with the international inter- Åkerman 2017; Sandberg & Andersen est in scrutinizing the current EU border 2020). The research shows how voluntary and asylum system. initiatives all participate in the reorganiza- In the next section, I will return to the tion or redefinition of categories such as analysis of the frustrated police officers at “legal” and “illegal”, and thereby question Copenhagen Airport with the aim of the role of borders in Europe. Further, the showing how, in the dispute about the studies show how the enforcement of bor- level of control at the airport, there was in- ders stirs a range of emotional responses deed a multiplicity of borders. among European citizens; from fear and anxiety to feelings of a responsibility to Frustration: “Copenhagen Airport as act and to accommodate. In the analysis, I a Gateway for Illegal Migration” also delve into the emotional responses of The claims put forward by the “frustrated police officers by drawing on work by the police officers” in Dansk Politi articles anthropologists Yael Navaro-Yashin that I quoted at the beginning of this art- (2002) and Katerina Rozakou (2017), who icle involved questions of decency and both work with emotional responses to fairness, about professionalism and the state practices. level of adherence to regulations, and The contributions to border studies that about the unsustainable conditions under I build on, emphasize the multiplicity and which the police officers believed they ambiguity of borders, and thereby contrib- were working. The claims suggested that ute important pathways for developing there was a growing distrust both in the critical analysis of borders in a European current system and in the management’s context; pathways left unattended in inter- handling of the system’s insufficiencies, national research on borders. Where much namely, that too many people could il- international research tries to capture the legally cross the border. workings of current EU border and asy- Copenhagen Airport is the largest air- lum system under one concept, such as a port in Scandinavia and serves as a hub for border regime (e.g. Hess 2012; De Geno- not only Denmark and the Greater Copen- Marlene Paulin Kristensen, Low-Quality Border Control? 175

hagen area, but also for the Southern Swe- still a topic of concern among police em- den region. In my fieldwork I identified ployees and management at the airport. In three conditions which framed the work- the following I look into two incidents in ing conditions in the airport concerning which these concerns came to matter border control. The first condition was an through expressions of cynicism and increased professionalization alongside anger. cutbacks. A second condition was the fact that the airport is a site for both border and Cynicism: “They Have an Open House non-border legislation in the sense that the at the Airport” distinction between internal and external As I was granted access to follow work borders is a cornerstone in the Schengen routines at Copenhagen Airport, a re- cooperation, and each of these border organization of border control procedures types comes with its designated regula- was being implemented: in order to re- tions, guidelines, procedures, and vocabu- lieve pressure on police employees at the laries. The external borders are sites for airport, the management decided to em- border control because they are entry ploy non-police staff. With Norway as a points into the Schengen Area. Internal role model, Danish police started to train borders (i.e. flight arrivals from other non-police as border guards specifically Schengen member countries) are not sites for passport control at Copenhagen Air- of border control, which means that only port, controlling travel between Denmark spot-checks of selected passengers based and non-Schengen destinations. The intro- on specific, intelligence-based suspicion duction of this new staff at the airport was can be carried out. Finally, police officers the result of various but coinciding calls to also had to consider the commercial inter- use resources more efficiently, and was est of the airport company to ensure quick intertwined in a number of developments and easy travel for all passengers. Pre- such as the increased work pressure due to scriptions of efficiency were not merely the expansion of the airport and the num- commercial, however; efficiency is also a ber of passengers, requirements to adhere core characteristic of the EU-Schengen to certain standards of control and investi- ideal of borders, which emphasizes pre- gation vis-à-vis the Schengen regulations, cisely the simultaneity of efficient, the past years’ reductions in personnel smooth borders which enable travel and and, more broadly, the process of intro- trade, while also combatting crime and il- ducing other professions into the Danish legal migration (Frontex 2015). It was in police force, which had traditionally been the midst of these complicated and contra- comprised of police and attorneys. As part dictory working conditions that the police of the general transformation of the police officers had sounded the alarm and from an emergency-prepared unit to a claimed that the airport was “a gateway public law-enforcement agency, academ- for illegal entries into the Nordic coun- ics, accountants, communications staff, tries”. and other professions had been employed When I entered the airport as a field- by the organization in order to perform worker in 2015, the level of quality was jobs and solve problems that were previ- 176 Marlene Paulin Kristensen, Low-Quality Border Control?

ously only handled by police-trained staff meant that they knew about the daily work (Stevnsborg 2018). at an airport and the kinds of situations The new group of non-police-trained that can occur between passengers, staff, staff at the airport was introduced to per- security, and police authorities in the con- form passport control at the booths that text of aviation. physically separate the Schengen areas Again, the journal Dansk Politi covered from the non-Schengen areas. In the vo- the events. The introduction of new ad- cabulary of the Schengen border codex, ministrative staff at the airport’s pass- the work in the passport control booth is port-control booths was described in referred to as “first-line passport control” terms of resource allocation, and they and is ideally complemented by “sec- wrote: “Five administrative staff members ond-line passport control”, which offers have completed eight weeks of training in an opportunity to further investigate pas- document-handling and are now ready to sengers and their documents, according to take their seats in the passport-control the Schengen Borders Code. This distinc- booths. This is meant to relieve the police, tion between the two kinds of control at giving them time to concentrate on sec- the external border was the point of depar- ond-line work” (Dansk Politi 2015a). The ture for resource allocation and the distri- article continued, quoting a superior of- bution of tasks in the process of integrat- ficer who said: “When we start to consist- ing the new staff into the police unit at the ently work with second-line, our profes- airport. In the following, I will show how sional satisfaction will increase.” How- the ideal of having sufficient resources to ever, he also touched upon the possibility carry out both first- and second-line bor- that this new initiative might not be as suc- der control was ridiculed among police of- cessful as promised, adding: “We are hop- ficers. ing that this does not mean a reduction in The training of the new passport-con- police because then the goal would not be trol staff took place at the Danish Police to strengthen; it would just leave us at sta- Academy. It lasted for eight weeks and tus quo, and that was not the intention of was followed by exams in all subjects. hiring non-police” (ibid.). The course consisted of a variety of mod- The hopeful (yet doubtful) attitude that ules that covered topics such as Schengen the police intendant conveyed, also ap- regulations, ethics, interview techniques, peared in the course of the training ses- social science and geography, and first sions, in which I participated, including aid. There were no educational require- the module “Border checks and control of ments to apply for the job as staff in the visa/residence permit in first-line: work- first-line of passport control. Most of the flow, examination of documents, and prospective passport-control staff whom I stamping”, which covered a wide array of met had some sort of previous connection techniques and procedures related to the to either the travel or the aviation industry. work in first-line border control: from pro- Some had worked as administrative staff filing techniques, the differences between at embassies; quite a few had been flight forged and false documents, information attendants or sales staff for airlines, which on situations where one should or should Marlene Paulin Kristensen, Low-Quality Border Control? 177

not stamp a passport, complicated quizzes This “as if” I borrow from the anthro- about residence-permit rules and excep- pologist Yael Navaro-Yashin, who in her tions to the rules, and the use of databases. analysis of the complex relationships be- The first-line passport-control staff were tween citizens and a corrupt Turkish state brought in to assist the overburdened po- apparatus, argues that citizens keep acting lice at the airport, and the logic of this as if their state was a reliable and predict- solution was that it would allow the police able entity, even if they know by experi- more time to perform the much-coveted ence that the state system is deeply corrupt second-line investigation and case-pro- (Navaro-Yashin 2002:161‒163). Navaro- cessing work, and thus ensure a higher Yashin shows that even if the citizens are level of border control than what was cur- highly cynical towards the idea of the state rently the case. However, during the train- as well-functioning, they continue to ad- ing course for the new staff, the textbook dress it as a non-corrupt state and to ex- understanding of the Schengen system’s pect the state to act stately. Thereby, they division of first- and second-line control uphold the very notion of a state as some- was both presented as an ideal and ridi- thing that can actually be coherent or just culed as impossible. (ibid.). Even if the empirical conditions In addition to being introduced to the differ, something similar was at play regulations, the profiling and interview among Danish police officers in the air- techniques, the new staffers also had to port. The officers were also highly cynical be initiated into the “cynicism” of the po- about the idea of ever being able to be able lice force. Through the training of the to perform the EU textbook definition of new first-line staff, then, a sort of contra- border, and in that sense, they were cyn- diction played out. On the one hand, in ically laughing at the EU-Schengen bor- the courses that were taught by police who der and its promises of ensuring smooth worked at the airport themselves, this and efficient transition, while combatting first- and second-line border control was crime and illegal migration. However, celebrated as state-of-the-art border con- they were also trying daily to uphold the trol and as the goal for which to strive. On system, acting as if the textbook defini- the other hand, it seemed clear to everyone tions were within reach, and as I will em- (instructors and class participants alike) phasize in the following, they did not that the division between “first” and “sec- laugh at the notion of the border as such. ond” line was just a textbook understand- ing of how police and border work could Anger: “This is What ‘Familien Dan- actually be performed, and that the level mark’ Does Not Like” of control at the airport would still not be According to the EU-Schengen regula- satisfactory, even with the introduction of tions developed by the EU’s agency for the new staff. Furthermore, the police who external borders, Frontex, the police of- mocked the system would also defend it to ficers had to complete a two-week course the new staff and reassure them that they in second-line border control, which had were about to perform an important job – been developed by the National Border as if the border procedures made sense. Control Unit in accordance with Frontex 178 Marlene Paulin Kristensen, Low-Quality Border Control?

guidelines for training curricula. The was about to begin. “Well, I think he’s biased; overall goal of the course was to ensure he’s not a neutral party because he has an interest the quality of border control through com- in attracting as many refugees as possible,” an- other replied. pliance with the Schengen border code of conduct. In this section of the analysis, I The police officers were referring to an in- show how an alternative imaginary of the cident during the previous lecture in border played out at such a course for po- which a representative from a Danish lice officers working second-line border NGO for asylum seekers’ rights had been control, and how this paradoxically led to invited to speak about fundamental rights. a questioning of the rules and regulations The lecture was part of a compulsory of the state itself. two-week course for police officers who Similar to the training sessions of the work at the external borders of Schengen non-police that I described above, the po- at Copenhagen Airport. However, before lice attending this course also joked the NGO representative even got very far about the standards, procedures, and with his prepared presentation, he was in- regulations; the standards and procedures terrupted with critical questions regarding that were taught at the courses were per- the NGO’s involvement in police work ceived as a mockery when compared to and its motives for working with the po- their lived experience of the working lice. Eventually, what was intended to be conditions at the airport. Their criticism a lecture on the fundamental rights of was ironically summarized in an anec- asylum seekers ended up as a heated dis- dotal recounting of what a conversation cussion of the legitimacy of asylum claims with the management could sound like: and a debate about the system for process- “You cannot say this to the press.” “But ing them. it’s true.” “Yes, but leave it up to us.” The NGO representative began his “Will you say it, then?’ “No.” “Then who presentation by proudly describing the will?” However, even though some of the cooperation between the NGO and the courses contained a light-hearted atmos- Danish Police in the return operations of phere with jokes about the state of the rejected asylum seekers. However, soon system, the officers’ frustration with the after he began talking, a police officer in- current situation also led to discussions terrupted him: “You guys are so biased!” about the sense of the system, and what the officer exclaimed, and a heated discus- was perceived as a waste of (scarce) re- sion about the true purpose of the NGO sources. followed: was it to attract as many asylum The seriousness became evident during seekers as possible, as the police officer a session about border control and funda- claimed, or to ensure the rights of asylum mental rights in which the course’s exter- seekers, as the NGO representative nal instructor clashed with the course par- claimed? During this discussion, the po- ticipants (fieldwork observation Decem- lice officer contended that he was con- ber 2015): fronted on a daily basis with asylum seek- “His face was all red when he left the class- ers who lied to his face, whereas the rep- room,” noted one police officer as a new class resentative insisted that the officer could Marlene Paulin Kristensen, Low-Quality Border Control? 179

not know whether they were lying before the NGO representative assumed the role their case had been processed. He instruct- of an advocate for the current system, in- ed the police officer that, under the rule of sisting on the reliability of fact-finding law, asylum seekers have the right to have missions and asylum case-processing pro- their claims processed. Another police of- cedures. Pointing to inconsistencies, some ficer contended that anyone can claim that of the police officers claimed to be safe- they are in danger of being persecuted if guarding the interests of “Familien Dan- returned to their country of origin, and an- mark”. The class participants frowned other objected, “This is what ‘Familien upon what they referred to as “asylum Danmark’ doesn’t like.”, indicating that shoppers”; i.e., people who registered as the system led to the loss of confidence asylum seekers in multiple EU member among ‘Familien Danmark’, an idiom for states, which meant they could not be the general Danish population. turned away at the border, but had to go The NGO representative strongly ob- through resource-demanding processing jected to this, insisting that the asylum- in both the police and the asylum systems. processing authorities know whether In that sense, the officers were question- claims are true or false; the UN conducts ing whether a border that allows people fact-finding missions that form the basis through before deciding whether or not for decisions regarding asylum cases, and they can stay is even a desirable border. he emphasized that the cases always in- As the disagreement in the classroom clude various kinds of information and are demonstrated, they were tired of being not merely based on the statements of the ridiculed by bogus asylum seekers “lying asylum seekers. The representative speci- to their faces”, especially when they were fied that the NGO did not encourage asy- the ones who cared about the state and the lum seekers to cheat, lie, or steal, but simply worked to ensure that their rights well-being of “Familien Danmark”. As as asylum seekers are respected. He re- such, they were what Navaro-Yashin has minded the police officers that Denmark is called more “statist than the state” (Nava- bound to human rights conventions re- ro-Yashin 2002:165), insofar as being garding the right to protection, and he in- “statist” means expecting a system to be sisted that, regardless of whether or not able to catch all, a system to be all-encom- the police officers agreed, it remained passing, and expecting the state to be able their job to comply with these conven- to fully manage its borders. For the con- tions. text of this article, I find the disagreement The entire dispute made for a very pe- particularly interesting inasmuch as it culiar experience: a group of police of- makes visible how the frustration with ficers were agitatedly fighting with a rep- current incompatibles and insufficiencies resentative from an asylum seekers’ rights led to an anger which paved the way for organization about the “rule of law”. the articulation of a need for a simpler bor- Some police officers in the classroom der: a border which could be sealed off by seemed to be questioning the sense of the drawing on a sense of justice rather than a border system, while in a surprising twist, system of justice. 180 Marlene Paulin Kristensen, Low-Quality Border Control?

Expectations, Deviations and the cratic procedures (2017). Rozakou shows Feeling of Abandonment that, in the case of Lesbos in the mid Research on state officials has indeed 2010s, irregularity in bureaucratic prac- pointed to the discrepancy between expec- tices was becoming far more prevalent tation and the practically possible. In his than regular bureaucratic practices. All of classic definition of “street-level bureau- the agents involved, however, remained crats”, Michael Lipsky explains that some loyal to the fantasy of an ideal-type bu- of the main conditions of public street- reaucracy, for instance by continuing to level bureaucrats are chronic lack of re- register asylum seekers, even if the regis- sources, a higher demand than can be ac- tration process was full of mistakes and ir- commodated, and weak or contradictory regularities. Rozakou shows that the expectations (Lipsky 1980). In his classic Greek Ministry of Immigration instructed text on the sociality of bureaucracy, the the Greek border guards to continue to anthropologist Michael Herzfeld argues register refugees even if the registration that complaining about the insufficiencies practices could not be carried out in ac- of state employees, and the complains of cordance with regulations. The ministry the state employees seem to be part of the did this to avoid refugees getting stuck on social fabric of bureaucracy (Herzfeld the island: by continuing the flawed regis- 1992). Furthermore, in the anthropologist tration of the refugees as asylum seekers, Colin Hoag’s studies of bureaucracy, the they were provided with paper that could discrepancies between expectation and ensure that their movement through Eu- the practically viable are understood as rope was not halted (ibid.:37). Rozakou pertaining to the powerful imaginary of argues however that even as the border bureaucracy. Hoag asserts that bureaucra- police was involved in the irregular regis- cies are aspirations for order and com- tration practices, a fantasy of the regulari- pleteness; aspirations which are neverthe- ty of bureaucracy was persistent among less powerful in appearing as prescrip- them. As the representatives of the minis- tions of order and completeness (Hoag try seemed to opt for the facilitation of 2011). As a consequence of the conflation movement of refugees through the conti- between aspiration and prescription, prac- nent rather than the facilitation of regular titioners and clients often come to inter- bureaucracy, the border officials felt aban- pret deviations from the ideal as a lack or doned by the state (ibid.:42). a mistake (ibid.:82). The fact that the irregularity of bureau- The anthropologist Katerina Rozakou cracy can lead to the feeling of being has recently studied the feelings of lack or abandoned is something I also encoun- mistakes in relation to the bureaucracy of tered in my work, and showed in the the European border. In her study of the above analysis. I thus follow Rozakou’s non-registration of asylum seekers in Les- argument, but by using the lens of multi- bos, Greece, she argues that the Greek plicity, I want to emphasize that the dis- border guards cling on to a fantasy about satisfaction and feeling of abandonment the regularity of bureaucracy, even in the among Danish police officers can be un- midst of chaos and non-regular bureau- derstood as the co-existence of alternative Marlene Paulin Kristensen, Low-Quality Border Control? 181

border imaginaries. To underline my Airport are not allowed to carry out border point, in the next and final part of the an- control at internal Schengen borders; the alysis I will return to the 2013 dispute in police at the airport systematically carry the journal Dansk Politi. out border procedures at the external bor- ders of the EU-Schengen Area. Mean- The Emotional Responses as More while, the opposition politicians kept Than a Misunderstanding pointing to the number of illegal immi- During the months following the allega- grants entering through the airports, insist- ing that this could not be interpreted as tions in Dansk Politi in 2013, the contro- satisfactory (www.folketinget.dk 2013). versy about the quality of the level of con- In the television news show as well as in trol at the airport travelled to national me- the video-recorded committee consulta- dia and television. In the Danish national tion, the two discussion partners seemed television show Deadline, a management to have a hard time understanding each representative kept repeating the same other’s point of view. By returning to the message again and again: the level of con- controversy between police officers and trol at Copenhagen Airport is in accord- management at the airport, I will argue ance with EU-Schengen regulations, and that the reason for this was that they were we are not allowed to carry out systematic not taking about the same thing; or in checks on flights from other EU- other words: they were not talking about Schengen airports (Deadline, 2013). the same kind of border. Meanwhile, the journalist interviewing him tried to shake him by pointing to the The Multiple Border Imaginaries at the number of illegal immigrants entering Airport Denmark and Sweden, a matter which the In response to the harsh criticism of the management representative would not employees, who claimed that they were comment on, since – in the European told to “turn a blind eye” to illegal migra- Union border vocabulary – it did not con- tion, the management of the police unit at cern regulations on border procedures but the airport did not acknowledge the criti- on immigration control. cism, and under the headline “Unfair art- A similar discrepancy in conversion icle in ‘Dansk Politi’” (Dansk Politi could be detected in a committee consul- 2013b), they brushed aside the criticism tation in the Danish Parliament in Novem- by pointing to technicalities: ber 2013, in which the then Minister of Justice had been called into meeting by Copenhagen Police adheres to the current regula- tions: we are not allowed to routinely check pas- the opposition, specifically including the sengers arriving from other Schengen countries. It Danish People’s Party, who are EU and is as simple as that. We are allowed to perform Schengen sceptics, in order to explain the [immigration control] based on a concrete suspi- level of control at Copenhagen Airport. cion that a passenger on board is carrying out an Reading from the papers his civil servants illegal activity – document fraud, human traffick- had written for him, the minister kept re- ing, or other things (ibid.). peating the regulations and rules of the The above quotation from the manage- EU-Schengen: the police at Copenhagen ment, who fought back at the police of- 182 Marlene Paulin Kristensen, Low-Quality Border Control?

ficers’ allegations, indicates that the lack ing of what a border should be able to do of resources was refuted by the manage- – that is, seal off illegal travel. ment, who claimed that the police officers In a similar vein to Rozakou’s analysis had misunderstood the purpose of the bor- of the disappointed Greek border offi- der control. So, the management did not cials, the Danish managers’ response acknowledge the criticism that police of- thus left the Danish police officers feel- ficers brought forth; quite the contrary, the ing abandoned by a management who management made it clear that all regula- were supposed to be the ones ensuring tions and obligations were indeed met in the regularity and quality of the border. the airport at Kastrup. The management However, the kind of border that the frus- even went so far as to lecture the police of- trated police officers were trying to de- ficers on the actual purpose and methods fend was not the same kind of border that of the border control they were employed the EU-Schengen system was built on, to enforce by emphasizing the difference and as such, within the vocabulary and between immigration control regulations framework of the EU-Schengen system, at internal borders and border control pro- the criticism of the border officials could cedures at the external borders of the not be heard. This, however, did not EU-Schengen area. However, this answer make police officers lose faith in the no- did not respond to the criticism of the low tion of the border as such; rather it rein- level of quality at the airport. Rather, the forced their frustrations with the current police officers maintained their dissatis- system in which the border could not be faction. properly enforced according to their un- I will however argue that the controver- derstanding of a border. sy between employees and management (patterns of disagreement which were re- Frustration, Cynicism, and Anger: peated in national media and in the com- Emotional Responses to the Border’s mittee consultation) was not a simple Insufficiencies question of a misunderstanding in which As is evident from the above analysis, the the repetition of rules and regulations claims of the low-quality control at the could put an end to the frustration of the airport were intertwined with a range of officers who had complained. Quite the emotional responses from the police of- opposite, I argue that this controversy ficers. The insufficiencies and incompat- shows that the police officers voicing the ibilities of the current border system led to criticism had not in fact misunderstood the frustration and a feeling of abandonment EU-Schengen regulations – they were in- among officers, but also to jokes and cyni- deed aware of the difference between bor- cism, which helped officers carry on, even der control (conducted at the external bor- if they knew that the border control they der of Schengen) and immigration control could offer was far from the textbook defi- (conducted at the internal borders of the nitions and ideals. Finally, the system’s Schengen) – however, they were not incompatibilities also led to feelings of an- convinced by that particular form of bor- ger as the heated debate between the NGO der, because it violated their understand- representative and the police officers indi- Marlene Paulin Kristensen, Low-Quality Border Control? 183

cated. In the emotional responses that tempted to add to the research on the cur- came with the complaints of the supposed- rent EU border and asylum system, which ly low-quality control at the airport, I have is often defined as a “border regime” located an alternative border imaginary, (Hess 2012; Casas-Cortes 2015; De Geno- which thrives on the idea that if more re- va 2017) by highlighting how different sources were allocated, if resources were imaginaries of the border coexist and in- properly spent, then mistakes, inconsist- tertwine as in the case at the airport, where encies, and violations of the law could be the claims of police officers were rebutted avoided. by the management. By being attuned to However, I would like to stress that my capture not only the dominant, but also intention has not been to paint a picture of emergent understandings of the border, an entire police station completely apathet- the article thus adds to the larger body of ic or turning their backs on liberal democ- research which stresses the importance of racy or Human Rights conventions. This I rethinking the current border and asylum have no grounds to claim. I do, however, policies in order to strengthen European wish to take seriously the ever- present dis- liberal democracy. satisfaction which I continuously met in The article proceeded from the claims my encounters with the police working at of low-quality control at Copenhagen Air- Copenhagen Airport, and which I argue port put forward by frustrated police of- were indicative of the co-existence of di- ficers. To the police officers, the regula- verse manifestations of the border (cf. An- tions and standards of the EU border and dersen & Sandberg 2012). asylum system seemed unattainable in Furthermore, emotional responses to everyday border procedures. I therefore border enforcement are indeed not re- emphasized how the insufficiencies of the stricted to police officers. Rather, the en- current border and asylum system led to forcement of European borders preoccu- frustration, cynicism, and anger among pies a broader public, and intertwines dis- the officers. Their emotional responses cussions about state, nation, and identity. seemed to go hand in hand with a longing Just as volunteer initiatives supporting the for a simpler, sealable border. An imagin- idea of open borders and solidarity emerge ary of a border which laughs cynically at in response to the insufficiencies of the the idea of EU-Schengen standards as at- European border and asylum system tainable, and which even provokes fanta- (Staaf, Nilsson & Åkerman 2017), so does sies about turning its back on conventions the fantasy of a sealable border. This and rules of law, thus seemed to grow in makes research into the role, capacity, and the ruins of the European border and asy- possibilities of European borders so perti- lum system. nent. Marlene Paulin Kristensen, PhD Conclusion The Saxo Institute With this analysis, I have been engaged in University of Copenhagen Karen Blixens Plads 8 a critical project of multiplying the border 2300 København S (Andersen & Sandberg 2012). I have at- email: [email protected] 184 Marlene Paulin Kristensen, Low-Quality Border Control?

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Cartographic Enactments of the German Polish digmeskift? Om forsvarets bistand til politiet. Border among German and Polish High-school UfR litteratær afd., 185‒191. Pupils. Anthropological Journal of European Tsianos, Vassilis, & Serhat Karakayali 2010: Cultures 18, 107–128. Transnational Migration and the Emergence of Sandberg, Marie & Dorte J. Andersen 2020: Pre- the European Border Regime. An Ethnographic carious Citizenship and Melancholic Longing. Analysis. European Journal of Social Theory On the Value of Volunteering after the Refugee 13(3), 373‒387. Arrivals to Europe 2015. Nordic Journal of Mi- Vaughan-Williams, Nick 2015: Europe’s Border gration Research. Crisis. Biopolitical Security and Beyond. Ox- Schwell, Alexandra 2008: Europa an der Oder. ford: Oxford University Press. Die Konstruktion europäischer Sicherheit an Wagner Tsoni, Ioanna 2019: Affective Border- der deutsch-polnischen Grenze. Bielefeld: Transcript Verlag. scapes. Constructing, Enacting and Contesting Snyder, Timothy & Andreas, Peter (eds.) 2001: Borders across the Southeastern Mediterra- The Wall Around the West. State Borders and nean. Malmö: Malmö University. Immigration Controls in North America and Walters, William 2002: Mapping Schengenland. Europe. London: Rowman & Littlefield Pub- Denaturalizing the Border. Environment and lishers. Planning D: Society and Space 20(5), 561‒ Staaf, Björn M., Fredrik Nilsson & Charlotte 580. Åkerman 2017: “Flykt”, special issue of Zaiotti, Ruben 2011: Cultures of Border Control. Gränslös 8. Schengen and the Evolution of European Fron- Stevnsborg, Henrik 2018: Udansk og/eller para- tiers. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Miss Hare Struggles How Examples of Species Threatened with Extinction Tell a Story of Climate Change By Marit Ruge Bjærke

The rapidly increasing pace of biodiver- influence both their understanding of the sity loss is considered one of the major relevance of the problem and what they environmental threats in the world today are willing to do about them. Escobar (UN Environment 2019; Cardinale et al. (1998) has highlighted biodiversity as a 2012). Although species have always construction that is produced, negotiated, gone extinct and new species have suc- and maintained through networks of sites ceeded them, estimates now show the and actors. My contention is that the extinction rate to be much higher than choice of which species to include as ex- the rate at which new species develop amples in texts on biodiversity loss is one (Chivian & Bernstein 2008; De Vos et al. important way in which different concep- 2015; Ceballos et al. 2015), and some tions of this environmental problem are scientists even contend that we are in the produced and reproduced. Both the choice middle of an ongoing mass extinction, al- of particular species and the understand- though there is as yet no scientific consen- ings of temporal and spatial scales that are sus about this (UN Environment 2019: conveyed with the help of these examples 144, 154). affect how biodiversity loss is understood Two of the obstacles when communi- and made meaningful. In this article,1 I cating environmental problems such as therefore study the use of redlisted species climate change and biodiversity loss are as examples in newspaper articles on bio- the fact that they often happen over long diversity loss, and investigate the ways in periods of time, and that they necessitate which these examples make biodiversity action before the effects can be seen loss temporally, spatially and culturally (Adam 1998:8‒10; Doyle 2011:4). One meaningful (cf. Doyle 2011:8). Through way of making environmental problems their inherent excess of meaning, brought visible and meaningful is to present them into the text by association, the examples through examples (Kverndokk & Bjærke contribute to specific understandings of 2019). Examples can be defined as par- the relationship between different envir- ticular instances presented to support a onmental problems, particular concep- general statement. They are fact-based tions of the present and future, and to the snippets of reality placed into an argument idea that some environmental problems to illustrate or to persuade. However, al- are of a global nature, while others are lo- though the examples are seen as pointing cal and secondary. towards reality, they are always artificial- The material used in this study comes ly selected, and this also means that they from Norwegian newspapers. Although are “cut out” so that they represent only Norway is a small country, it has played some part of what they are (Lyons 1989: an active role in environmental policy 33). Thus, examples contain numerous since establishing the world’s first Minis- potential interpretations and connotations try of Environmental Protection in 1972, which, by association, are brought into the being among the first countries to ratify texts where they are used. the Paris agreement in 2015 as well as People’s perception of the temporal and contributing positively to international ne- spatial scales of environmental problems gotiations on marine protection and pollu-

Ethnologia Scandinavica, Vol. 50, 2020 188 Marit Ruge Bjærke, Miss Hare Struggles

tion (Organisation for Economic Co-oper- As stated in the introduction, examples ation and Development (OECD) 2011: are particular instances chosen among a 97‒99). The national climate policy is am- range of possible cases to represent a gen- bitious, and the question of climate eral statement. The general statement, change is characterized by political con- however, only accounts for a limited as- sensus (Båtstrand 2014). At the same pect of the particular instance, and this time, Norway is a large oil and gas pro- means that the example contains an excess vider with a high per capita carbon foot- of meaning which is brought into the text print, and according to the OECD it has by association (Lyons 1989:33‒34). At difficulties implementing national goals the same time, the particular nature of the regarding biodiversity, for instance with example that was chosen also influences regard to forest protection, aquaculture, the general statement, threatening to make and especially the protection of large car- it less general than intended. Thus, ex- nivores (OECD 2011:142). The duality amples always both exceed and reduce the between Norway’s active role in interna- issue they are meant to illustrate. Ex- tional environmental policy-making and amples are at the same time always too the country’s position as an important sup- much and always too little, and as such, plier of oil and gas makes it particularly they create a large space for possible inter- interesting to study how Norwegian news- pretations in a text. papers present biodiversity loss. Most of the work on examples and ex- emplarity stems from literary studies of Example Rhetoric, Exemplarity, and medieval or early modern texts and rhet- Time oric (Scanlon 1994; Lyons 1989). How- The examples of threatened species that ever, the use of examples has also been are included in newspaper articles on the studied in more recent texts, revealing a 2015 Norwegian Red List for Species are tension between the example as a rhetoric- the main objects of this study. According al figure on one hand and as an epistemic to Aristotle’s Rhetoric, the example (pa- structure on the other (Gelley 1995; Kvern- radeigma ) is one of the two forms of lo- dokk 2015:249; Eriksen 2016; Kverndokk gical persuasion used in rhetoric. Aristotle & Bjærke 2019). Although examples to- calls the example a rhetorical induction, day are mainly considered rhetorical tools, that is, an argument based on a number of pointing out of the text and towards reali- similar cases (Aristotle Rhetoric: chapter ty, they also imply specific ways of think- 2). The popular media today use examples ing. This is partly due to the fact that since for the same reasons that Aristotle used antiquity, two different ways of using ex- them; to illustrate a point, to explain amples have existed: One where the ex- something, and, first and foremost, to per- amples are used inductively to illustrate a suade someone. In the case of the 2015 tendency or a general statement, and one Norwegian Red List for Species, this where the example works as a paradig- would mean mentioning one or several matic ideal or a model (Gelley 1995:1‒2). species from the list, to illustrate that bio- Eriksen et al. (2012:13) have remarked diversity loss is going on. that these logics are often entangled, and Marit Ruge Bjærke, Miss Hare Struggles 189

they describe how examples, including scales (Chivian & Bernstein 2008; De Vos those that are meant to have an illustrative et al. 2015; Ceballos et al. 2015), and the function, always contain a basic ambiva- temporalities within Red Lists are com- lence between the serial aspect of the ex- plex in themselves, as they aim to predict ample and the uniqueness that made the the possibility of a species going extinct in author of the text choose it. Thus, when the future, based on present risks and pres- specific species from the 2015 Norwegian sures (Henriksen & Hilmo 2015a). The Red List for Species are included in news- idea of a massive biodiversity loss, how- paper articles as examples, they do more ever, has never been based solely on sci- than just underscore an inductive argu- entific knowledge. As Escobar (1998) has ment. Their additional characteristics established, it is closely linked with poli- move the text towards specific stories and tics and environmental values, as well as ways of understanding biodiversity loss, with expectations of large-scale future working as models for understanding as consequences. This makes it necessary to well as illustrations. Examples are often juggle even more layers of temporality, seen as pointing towards a common historical and cultural as well as biological ground between writer and reader outside and geological (Jørstad & Skogen 2010; the written discourse (Lyons 1989:28). As Heise 2016; Braverman 2017). In recent models for understanding, they carry dif- years, the idea of a mass extinction of spe- ferent underlying assumptions about cies has often been coupled with climate space and time, as well as different con- change, presenting climate change as the ceptions of what and where this common most important cause of future species ex- ground is. For instance, are the examples tinctions. Thus, the idea of climate change rooted in specific local places, within na- and the idea of a massive loss of biodiver- tional or regional boundaries, or do they sity intertwine, especially when perceived draw upon ideas of a global environment? in a long-term perspective. While climate Is their authority embedded in the past, in change is predicted to be one of the most the present, or maybe even in the future? important drivers of species extinctions in The relationship between the past, the the future, however, there are several present and the future is especially multi- more important drivers today, such as layered and difficult to grasp when dis- changes in land and sea use and overex- cussing biodiversity loss. Still, as Adam ploitation (Díaz et al. 2019). (1998) and Doyle (2011) have shown, temporalities are important when trying to Presenting the 2015 Norwegian Red understand, communicate, and not least List for Species do something about environmental prob- In the science-policy interface, knowledge lems. Thus, understanding the ways dif- of potential/future loss of biodiversity is ferent temporalities play into different un- often presented in the shape of Red Lists. derstandings of biodiversity loss is of Red Lists are lists of species at risk of go- great importance. The concept of bio- ing extinct. Today, such risk assessments diversity loss is based on information on are usually based on the guidelines from various geological and biological time- the International Union for Conservation 190 Marit Ruge Bjærke, Miss Hare Struggles

of Nature and natural resources (IUCN), pers and 44 articles on different websites the organization that also provides the (mostly online news articles, op-eds and global IUCN Red List of Threatened Spe- various press releases) during the five cies (IUCN 2018). In Norway, the Nor- weeks following the release of the new wegian Red List for Species is compiled Red List. Many of the articles were, how- by the Norwegian Biodiversity Informa- ever, relatively short notices based on tion Centre, in co-operation with natural texts provided by the Norwegian News scientists. The 2015 Norwegian Red List Agency (Norsk Telegrambyrå, NTB), for Species is the third version of the list.2 which is the primary news agency in Nor- It states that more than 20% of Norwegian way. Along with the press release and web species are in danger of extinction, while postings from the Norwegian Biodiversity 11% have a high or extremely high risk of Information Centre, I have chosen to going extinct. close-read the examples of redlisted spe- When the Norwegian Biodiversity In- cies in two online newspaper articles from formation Centre launched the 2015 Nor- the newspapers Dagbladet and Aftenpos- wegian Red List for Species, they sent a ten . Both newspapers were among those press release to all Norwegian newspapers that published articles on the new Red List about a week before the launch date.3 A on the launch date, and both presented total of 4,438 species had been placed on relatively long articles with several spe- the Red List in 2015, and these were sub- cies as examples. The article in Dagbladet divided into six categories: Regionally was about 950 words and the one in Aften- Extinct (RE), Critically Endangered (CR), posten was just over 1,000 words (Brustad Endangered (EN), Vulnerable (VU), Near 2015; Mathismoen 2015). Both articles Threatened (NT) and Data Deficient contained mainly news material, but also (DD). While all species on the Red List included several interviews with repre- are called redlisted species, only species sentatives of environmental NGOs and that are classified as Critically Endan- public authorities. As the second and third gered (CR), Endangered (EN) or Vulner- largest online newspapers in Norway, able (VU) are defined as threatened (Nor- Dagbladet and Aftenposten had about two wegian Biodiversity Information Centre million readers in total in 2015 (Media- 2015a). Of the species on the 2015 Nor- Norway 2018).4 They are both daily news- wegian Red List for Species, 2,355 were papers with a national scope and distribu- classified as threatened. tion. However, the two papers differ in The release of the 2015 Norwegian Red political outlook. While Aftenposten is a List for Species was covered quite exten- subscription-based newspaper, politically sively in Norwegian national and local positioning itself as an independent, centre- newspapers, both on the launch date and right newspaper (Nohrstedt et al. 2000), during the following weeks. A search in Dagbladet is a left-wing newspaper in tab- the media-monitoring database Retriever, loid format, sold on newsstands. As online which covers all Norwegian newspapers newspapers, they both contain a combina- and media houses except one, identified tion of open access articles and articles 41 articles and op-eds in printed newspa- that require subscription or payment. The Marit Ruge Bjærke, Miss Hare Struggles 191

articles used in this analysis are from the two newspaper texts through the examples online versions of the two newspaper and of redlisted species they include. I have had open access.5 chosen to do this by first examining all the The press release about the 2015 Nor- redlisted species that are used as examples wegian Red List for Species from the Nor- as two series, one for each of the newspa- wegian Biodiversity Information Centre is per articles. Then, I turn to what I consider a typical representative of numerical rea- to be the main example species in both art- soning, as opposed to narrative reasoning icles, namely, the mountain hare (Lepus (Hastrup 2013:8‒9). It categorizes and timidus). The choice is based on the length presents biodiversity loss in the shape of of the presentation of the species, as well risk categories, numbers, and percentages as whether it is mentioned in headlines of threatened species. The first paragraph and headlining photos. I analyse this spe- goes like this: cies first as an individual example and then as an exemplar. As an individual ex- Of the 2355 threatened species on the Red List 2015, 241 are critically endangered, 879 endan- ample, the species “mountain hare” can be gered and 1235 are vulnerable. 139 species that understood as a representative of all the were placed in the category of Least Concern in species on the 2015 Norwegian Red List 2010 are redlisted this year. At the same time, 414 for Species. As an exemplar, however, the species have disappeared from the Red List. 1063 individual mountain hares in the two species have been assessed for the first time, and newspaper articles can be understood to 2302 species have changed category.6 represent all individuals of the same spe- The press release text contains no stories cies. The examples are studied primarily of individual animals or plants, neither with regard to the excess information they does it mention specific species. When bring into the texts and what kinds of com- published on the website of the Nor- mon ground they evoke, with a focus on wegian Biodiversity Information Centre, the temporalities, spaces, and cultural un- it did, however, contain several photos of derstandings of biodiversity loss this ex- plants and animals.7 The newspaper art- cess of meaning points towards. I have icles keep many of the numbers from the chosen to study the examples in the news- original press release, but expand the nu- paper articles in three different ways – as merical reasoning with narrative modes of a series, as an individual and as an exem- reasoning. Both Aftenposten and Dagbla- plar – to highlight that examples bring ex- det present the 2015 Norwegian Red List cess of information into the text in several for Species through a combination of different ways. Thereby, I also highlight numbers, photos, interviews with people the ambiguity that is always present with- from non-governmental environmental in the examples themselves. organizations, and examples of species that are on the list (Brustad 2015; Mathis- A Series Is More than its Parts moen 2015). From among the 4,438 species on the In this article, I explore the ways in 2015 Norwegian Red List for Species, the which specific cultural meanings, tem- Dagbladet article mentions a total of five poralities and spatial scales emerge in the species as examples of redlisted species: 192 Marit Ruge Bjærke, Miss Hare Struggles

grouse, walrus, polar bear, mountain hare threatened species. Most of them belong and great yellow bumblebee, as well as a to the Near Threatened category, although mention of “several species of seal”. The the plain dark bee is considered Regional- Aftenposten article mentions seven spe- ly Extinct, while “the big four” are either cies in total: mountain hare, plain dark Critically Endangered (wolf) or Endan- bee, willow grouse, ptarmigan, eider, gered (brown bear, lynx and wolverine). long-tailed duck and common scoter, in What the species used as examples in addition to a mention of “the big four”.8 In the Dagbladet article do have in common, both articles, the species are used in vari- in addition to being on the 2015 Nor- ous combinations, both in the main body wegian Red List for Species, is that they of the texts and in lists, fact boxes and sub- are all species threatened by climate titles under photos. They are obviously change. In the background material for the meant to be serial examples, that is, ex- 2015 Norwegian Red List for Species, cli- amples in the inductive sense (Gelley mate change is listed as a pressure on 87 of 1995:1; Eriksen et al. 2012:12‒13). The the threatened species, while changes in newspaper articles use the examples to land use are a pressure on 2,125 of the gesture outside the numerically construct- threatened species (Henriksen & Hilmo ed Red List, towards reality, the reality in 2015b). The newspaper article mentions this case being that certain more or less that changes in land use are important, but well-known animals are becoming fewer does not provide any examples of animals and fewer. “Dramatic changes in Nor- or plants threatened by such changes in wegian nature: Hare and grouse have the subchapter “The Habitats Disappear”, ended up on the list of endangered ani- where changes in land use are described. mals”, Aftenposten journalist Ole Mathis- As susceptibility to climate change is a moen (2015) starts his article. The Red feature that all the examples have in com- List itself, with its specific criteria and mon, the excess provided by the series of categories, is abstract and largely un- examples offers a new generalization or a known to most readers, but species like new combination of generalizations to re- mountain hare and grouse are well known, place the original one: the species on the and thus common ground. 2015 Norwegian Red List for Species are As the Red List contains species with threatened by extinction because of cli- varying degrees of risk/threat assigned to mate change. Although Dagbladet cites them, one might expect that the examples the Secretary General of the Norwegian were all among the most threatened spe- environmental organization SABIMA9 cies. However, this seems not to be the saying that “climate changes have so far case. Of the five species that are used in had a fairly small impact on the species the Dagbladet article, two belong to the population in Norwegian nature”, the ex- Near Threatened category, which is the amples all point to climate change: lowest category on the Red List, two be- In some places, however, one already sees that a long to the Vulnerable category, while one warmer climate has a negative effect on certain is considered Endangered. Neither are the species. Many mountain birds are doing badly, in- examples in Aftenposten among the most cluding both grouse species. […] Marit Ruge Bjærke, Miss Hare Struggles 193

It is especially the species that are dependent on year’s list. All these are species that are ice that are threatened by climate changes, accord- hunted.” Even though this does not con- ing to WWF. One of these is the walrus. The wal- cern the whole series of species examples, rus needs ice and is adapted to a cold life in the it Arctic. Along with polar bear and several seal spe- concerns enough of them to provide a cies, the walrus is among ice-dependent species generalization that can be added to the one struggling because of climate change (Brustad above: The problem that hunted species 2015). end up on the Red List is increasing. The focus on newcomers also seems to indi- Thus, the new generalization fills the cate to the reader that the changes in the space of interpretation provided by the ex- Red List are going on in nature itself, not amples, turning the article on biodiversity only in the list. loss into a story of climate change. In both newspaper articles, the ex- In Aftenposten, the series of examples amples are rhetorical tools, used in order produces another generalization. They are to point out of the text, towards something all, with one exception (the plain dark both writer and reader are expected to bee), species that are subjected to hunting in Norway: know. This is especially visible when compared to the press release, where the The four large predators have been threatened by Red List seems to be made up almost sole- extinction for years. Nevertheless, they are sys- ly of numbers. In both articles, however, tematically and regularly hunted. But we hunt more threatened animal species in Norway. […] the combination of examples into a series Besides eider, the ducks long-tailed duck and provides excess of meaning, moving the scoter, both of which are endangered, are hunted. interpretation of the examples themselves Long-tailed duck is even threatened with total ex- in certain directions. The series of ex- tinction globally (Mathismoen 2015). amples induces new conceptions of what The article has an interview with the Sec- being on the 2015 Norwegian Red List for retary General of the Norwegian Ornitho- Species is about. In Dagbladet, the story logical Association, saying: “Hunting of the Red List becomes a story of climate threatened species cannot be accepted. It change. In Aftenposten, it becomes a story is not sustainable” (Mathismoen 2015). of hunting. Hunting, or harvesting, is a pressure on only 28 of the 2,125 threatened species on From Series to Individual the 2015 Norwegian Red List for Species. When used inductively, examples depend Still Aftenposten uses the series of ex- upon repetition, and both Dagbladet and amples to turn the story of the Red List Aftenposten base their articles on the pre- into a story of hunting. The new general- sentation of multiple examples. As stated ization provided by the combined excess earlier, however, in both newspaper art- of all the examples is that hunting is the icles the mountain hare (Lepus timidus) reason behind the loss of biodiversity. also function as a single example that In addition, several of the species in Af- stands for many similar cases. In both tenposten are mentioned as newcomers: newspaper articles, a photo of the moun- “Mountain hare, willow grouse, ptar- tain hare is used as the headlining photo, migan and eider are newcomers on this and the species is discussed both in the 194 Marit Ruge Bjærke, Miss Hare Struggles

parts of the texts that refer to the new Red are central in the Norwegian hunting tradition List and in the interviews with experts and (Mathismoen 2015). NGOs. Although the mountain hare is not the The mountain hare exists in northern only animal mentioned in connection with and mountainous parts of Europe and this statement, the photos and headlines Asia, with isolated populations in Japan make it stand out. As part of a series of ex- and the British Isles. The species is not on amples, the article in Aftenposten has so the International Red List (Smith & Johns- far been about the Red List and about ton 2008). It was first placed on the Nor- hunting threatened animals. In this head- wegian Red List for Species in 2015, in the line and quotation, however, a lot of addi- category Near Threatened (Norwegian tional information is given. First, the Biodiversity Information Centre 2015b). mountain hare is a female who is strug- According to the 2015 Norwegian Red gling. Second, it is a “symbol of Nor- List for Species fact sheet, the mountain wegian nature and wilderness”. By this hare inhabits a variety of habitats (forests, means, the example of the mountain hare semi-natural meadows, moors, fields and is situated. The redlisted hare has been cultivated meadows), changes coat from placed in a country (Norway) and it has brown in summer to white in winter in been placed in a certain kind of nature areas where snow is regular, and is subject (wilderness). By being made explicitly to hunting. A number of factors contribute Norwegian, it is artificially detached from to the redlisting of the mountain hare: the fact that it could represent a number of Hunting, competition from local species, spatial levels, from local places to the predation from local species, pathogens/ whole planet. It is also detached from the parasites, climate change and changes in fact that it could represent a diverse num- the mountain hare’s habitat (Norwegian ber of habitats, many of them cultivated Biodiversity Information Centre 2015b). by humans. Third, the mountain hare char- The use of the mountain hare as an ex- acterizes folk tales and art. The common ample that represents many species is ground of the writer and reader is not only most obvious in the Aftenposten article. nature itself, environmental problems or The title of this article is “Hare tider” the natural sciences; the common ground (Hare times), a pun on “hare” and “hard” is Norwegian traditions and culture. The in Norwegian, where the words are pro- newspaper article uses the example of the nounced in the same way (Mathismoen mountain hare to show that not only na- 2015). Under the headline “Miss Hare ture itself is at stake when biodiversity is struggles” and another photo of a hare lost, so are human cultural practices of na- (this time a close-up), Aftenposten pre- tional character. sents the 2015 Norwegian Red List for When placed in the wilderness and Species in this way: termed a species that characterizes folk tales, the mountain hare brings specific But now it is also going badly for species that everyone has a relation to. Species that are sym- tales and images that the readers are famil- bols of Norwegian nature and wilderness, species iar with into the newspaper article by as- that characterize folktales and art. And not least, sociation. Yet the way the newspaper art- Marit Ruge Bjærke, Miss Hare Struggles 195

icle describes the hare also moves these hare threatened by extinction from a num- associations in specific directions. The ber in the press release from the Nor- “Miss Hare” in the newspaper article is wegian Biodiversity Information Centre described as a female who is in trouble. to the narrative of an individual mountain Traditionally, however, in Norwegian hare. The individualization of the hare folk tales, the hare is male, and a lazy and through the example both underscores and stupid fellow at that.10 It is therefore quite changes what being on the Red List is interesting that the article shows the about. The abstract categories “species” mountain hare as female. The female ver- and “Near Threatened” are turned into a sion of the hare might have been chosen young female who risks being shot on her by the journalist due to the fact that na- way to school. tional territory and nature have tradition- ally been presented as female (Ruud Time of Landscape, Time of the 2012). For the Norwegian reader, how- Mountain Hare ever, the mention of “Miss Hare” in the As a series, the examples mainly point to- headline points strongly to a well-known wards climate change and hunting, and children’s song Helene, Miss Hare show very little temporality, except in (Helene Harefrøken) by the Norwegian their role as newcomers on the list. As an author and songwriter Alf Prøysen, al- individual example, however, the moun- though the song itself is not directly men- tain hare turns the loss of biodiversity into tioned by the journalist.11 The song de- a narrative, and through the narrative picts Helene, a little hare-girl, who has re- structure, a temporal dimension opens in cently changed from winter coat to sum- the text: Miss Hare in the Aftenposten art- mer coat. She is on her way to school icle has a cyclical time represented when a hunter comes for her. She runs for through her change of coat, and through her life, gets tired and lies down on the the association with the well-known chil- forest floor. However, since her coat is the dren’s song, also has a life span time and same colour as the brown and grey a generational time. By killing Miss Hare, ground, the hunter does not see her, and the hunter cuts short the exemplary story she survives. of the surviving hare that is able to go to Through such common references school and grow up, thereby also cutting among writer and readers, the example of short her time line, killing her own future the mountain hare is fleshed out. A whole chances of becoming a mother of moun- narrative world is put into play, and the tain hares. Thus, the example indicates mountain hare now has its own lifespan that the consequences of biodiversity loss with a past, present, and future. This are not only in the present, but in the fu- makes it possible to ask what would have ture as well. The loss of a species is irre- happened if Miss Hare had not yet versible. changed from winter coat to summer coat, The mountain hare also contributes to a or if there had still been snow on the temporal dimension in the text through an- ground. With photos and headlines, Aften- other role, namely, that as an exemplar. posten converts the story of the mountain An exemplar is an individual chosen to 196 Marit Ruge Bjærke, Miss Hare Struggles

represent the species, in many ways simi- exemplar that the mountain hare in the lar to the way examples are artificially photo can present us with a discrepancy made to represent a generalization (Kjus between the various temporalities of na- et al. 2011:57). Both in Aftenposten and in ture. Dagbladet large photos of mountain hares In Dagbladet, the photo of the moun- head the articles. The Dagbladet article tain hare represents the traditional global starts with a photo of a hare in white win- warming picture; a white animal with too ter coat against a background of brown little snow or ice around it. This corre- grass and grey stones, while the Aftenpos- sponds well with the fact that the series of ten article starts with a photo of a hare in examples in this article told biodiversity summer coat against a snowy ground. The loss as a story of climate change. Dagbla- hares and the landscape around them are det also presents an interview with the different colours, indicating a discrepancy Secretary General of WWF Norway stat- between the hares and the rest of nature. ing that “Climate change makes it neces- The photos show strongly that cyclic tem- sary for us to take special care in the man- poralities that used to be synchronized are agement of grouse and hare. Several now shifting in relation to each other. places have already introduced restric- In the caption to the photo in Dagbla- tions on hunting” (Brustad 2015). Here, det , this shift is stated explicitly as the the mountain hare is used to establish and cause of the redlisting of the hare: underscore a link between global climate The hare is now for the first time on the red list. change as an already ongoing problem and The hare becomes white in winter, which gives the local and national effects it might good camouflage. But when the snow is absent, have, both on Norwegian biodiversity and the white hare is easily visible and the chance of on local management practices. The being caught will increase, according to WWF mountain hare as exemplar shows that cli- (Brustad 2015). mate change is the reason why nature has Although there is only one mountain hare gone askew, and in stating this, the ex- in the photo, this wrong-coloured hare ample also points towards a future in now represents the whole species. It is not which there will be more climate changes, the individual hare, but the whole species and in which measures might be intro- that is in trouble because of its wrong col- duced in even more places. ouring. This relationship between the spe- In Aftenposten, although the photo con- cies “mountain hare” on the 2015 Nor- veys the same mismatch between land- wegian Red List for Species, the exemplar scape and mountain hare, the colouring is with wrong colouring and the climate- the other way around, with a brown moun- changed surroundings, does, of course, tain hare on a snow-decked ground, and is present a massive simplification. There not directly indicative of climate change are year-to-year variations in the timing of in the form of melting snow/ice. However, snowfalls, and there are individual vari- the photo is just as indicative of a feeling ations among mountain hares as to the of wrongness, due to shifts in temporali- timing and amount of fur coat change.12 It ties between the hare and its surroundings, is therefore only when understood as an something that cannot be explained by the Marit Ruge Bjærke, Miss Hare Struggles 197

hunting story from the series of examples. tion that the mountain hare “doesn’t adapt Thus, when this sense of temporal wrong- fast enough” indicates that climate change ness is addressed, Aftenposten also turns is happening even faster. to climate change. The journalist inter- views the Secretary General of WWF The Exemplary Future and the Local Norway, Nina Jensen, who uses almost Story exactly the same words as in Dagbladet: Although the centre-right newspaper Af- Several birds living in the mountains have got a tenposten focuses mainly on hunting, worse status on the red list, a sign that a negative when presenting the mountain hare as an climate development is going on in the mountains. exemplar, climate change is evoked, in The hare is exposed to the same problem, it this article as well as in Dagbladet, as an doesn’t adapt fast enough to the changes. The cli- additional reason why hunting pressure mate changes make it necessary to take extra care should be reduced. Thus, the temporalities in the management of grouse and hare (Mathis- moen 2015). that are brought into the texts when the mountain hare is presented as an individ- For the Secretary General of WWF Nor- ual example and an exemplar underline a way, the mountain hare is obviously an story of climate change in both news- example of climate change, and of climate papers. Climate change has made the change as the cause of the temporal dis- cyclical temporalities of nature go askew, crepancies in nature. The reason why and the linear temporality brings forth an hunting is a problem is that the mountain individual hare, struggling to survive in a hare is threatened by climate changes. landscape that is changing faster than it Thus, the Aftenposten article, when dis- manages to adapt. cussing the mountain hare as an exemplar, The focus on climate change in the ex- ends up with the same generalization as ample could be seen as a way of visualiz- the Dagbladet article, namely, climate ing that climate change is already part of change. the present, and thus necessitates action. In Aftenposten, the expectation of in- However, the temporalities of biodiversity creasing effects of climate change in the loss embedded in the Red List itself, as future is underlined to an even larger de- well as the individualization of Miss Hare, gree than in Dagbladet. The Red List sta- both contribute to a slight destabilization tus of the birds living in the mountains is of the temporality of the example. The described as “a sign that a negative cli- mountain hare shows climate changes that mate development is going on in the are close to the reader both in place and in mountains”. Thus, although the birds and time. Still, the example never seems to be the mountain hare are examples of the ef- happening exactly here or exactly now: In fects of climate change in the present, they some places (in the mountains or in the are at the same time signs of the future. wilderness) climate change is already Climate change is changing nature fast, present, in some places measures have al- and although the hare is usually con- ready been taken, and sometime soon sidered a very fast animal, the Secretary Miss Hare will probably die. But she is not General of WWF Norway, with her asser- dead yet. She is only categorized as Near 198 Marit Ruge Bjærke, Miss Hare Struggles

Threatened on the 2015 Norwegian Red of species from the 2015 Norwegian Red List for Species, and the Red List is in it- List for Species are presented as local ef- self a prediction of the future. fects of the global problem of climate In an investigation of how newspapers change or as local effects of national hunt- use hurricanes as examples of climate ing practices. change, Kverndokk (2015) has shown that Media coverage of climate change has hurricanes were mostly used as reminders been shown to be systematically higher of what to expect in the future rather than than media coverage of biodiversity loss as present events. Thus, the hurricanes be- in otherwise similar circumstances (Veris- came experiences of future climate simo et al. 2014; Young et al. 2014; Le- change in the present, rather than experi- gagneux et al. 2018). One of the reasons ences of the present itself (Kverndokk proposed for this is that, while climate 2015:251). The shifting temporalities of change is considered a global environ- the mountain hare indicate that, similar to mental problem, biodiversity loss is con- the hurricanes, it can be seen as a future- sidered a local (and thus less important) in-the-present, a story best understood in problem. Through their choice of ex- the light of an expected future, not in the amples the journalists writing about the light of the present itself. 2015 Norwegian Red List for Species wit- On a spatial scale, the examples high- tingly or unwittingly uphold the concep- light a field of tension. In Aftenposten, tion that climate change is global and bio- biodiversity loss is presented as a local or diversity loss is local. national story, with both pressures and consequences placed in Norway, and with Conclusion hunting as “the bad guy”. This story indi- Through three different approaches to ex- cates a close connection between Nor- amples – the examples as a series, the in- wegian art, folk tales and traditions on one dividual example, and the example as ex- hand and Norwegian nature on the other: emplar – I have studied how two of the If the mountain hare goes extinct, one of largest Norwegian newspapers made bio- the bonds between the nation state and na- diversity loss temporally, spatially and ture is severed. In Dagbladet the examples culturally meaningful when presenting the present a global story with local conse- 2015 Norwegian Red List for Species. The quences, the story about the dangers of close reading of the examples in the two global climate change and how these dan- newspaper articles shows that the way ex- gers are now reaching Norway. What amples illustrate and at the same time pull none of the stories do, however, is place the understanding of biodiversity loss in the 2015 Norwegian Red List for Species new directions is especially noticeable within a story of biodiversity loss per se. when many examples are combined and There is no talk of mass extinctions, and presented as a series. In the two newspa- very little of global species loss, interna- pers, the combined series of examples tional agreements, or international Red made biodiversity loss culturally mean- Lists. Instead of underscoring the global ingful in different ways, one by highlight- nature of biodiversity loss, the examples ing climate change as the cause of bio- Marit Ruge Bjærke, Miss Hare Struggles 199

diversity loss, the other by highlighting change carries the cultural authority to re- hunting. This highlighting of one specific tain the plot of both biodiversity loss and cause of biodiversity through a series of hunting within it. examples also served to minimize the im- With its numerous species, each with its portance of other causes of biodiversity own connotations, the 2015 Norwegian loss, such as changes in land use. There Red List for Species provides a rich source are few indications that the journalists ex- of local plots for stories about global bio- pected either the story of hunting or the diversity loss or even mass extinction. story of climate change to be contested by Still, the two main Norwegian newspapers their readers. Rather, the two stories are frame their local plots within the global both acting as common ground. Although story of climate change or within local or Aftenposten approaches controversial po- national stories of hunting. The example litical ground by mentioning the “big of the mountain hare visualizes to the four”, thus referring to four large carni- reader how the effects of climate change vores of which the management and hunt- could be both global, national and local. It ing is actively disputed by Norwegian po- starts as an example of a redlisted species, litical parties, the newspaper draws back but at the same time acts as a warning that from it by omitting to mention the large the effects of climate change are drawing carnivores by species name, choosing the closer in both time and space, even in a much less controversial mountain hare as country that has so far had few of the dis- its main example. advantages and many of the benefits from In his work on medieval exemplum, its production of oil and gas. However, the Larry Scanlon defines the medieval exem- example of the mountain hare does not plum as “a narrative enactment of cultural work the other way around. Biodiversity authority” (Scanlon 1994:33‒34). Al- loss remains a local issue, framed within though the medieval exemplum was much the more culturally authoritative idea of closer to the Platonic ideal than to the in- climate change. Instead of producing two ductive Aristotelian paradeigma, ex- big environmental stories, both global and amples, through the entanglement be- both important to the future of humanity, tween rhetorical illustration and episte- the mountain hare with the white coat on a mological model, still transfer some form ground without snow acts as a local ver- of authority in contemporary texts. While sion of the more generic climate change the authority in medieval texts came from visualization of a polar bear on a melting the past, however, the authority of the Red ice floe. Listed mountain hare lies partly in the fu- ture. The mountain hare becomes a narra- Marit Ruge Bjærke tive enactment of the authority of expect- Postdoctoral researcher ed climate change, although it also retains Department of Archaeology, History, Cul- part of its authority from the past, as the tural Studies and Religion “hero” of Norwegian art and folk tales. University of Bergen P.O. Box 7805 Through a future that is already (and at the N-5020 Bergen same time only almost) present, climate email: [email protected] 200 Marit Ruge Bjærke, Miss Hare Struggles

Notes 10 Some examples of Norwegian folk tales about 1 This work is part of the project “The Future is the hare: More cowardly than the hare (AT Now – Temporality and Exemplarity in Cli- 70), Too cold for hare to build house in winter mate Change Discourses”, supported by the (AT 81), When the hare was married (AT 96), Research Council of Norway under grant Hare and tortoise race: sleeping hare (AT number 268094. I would like to thank Senior 275A), The animals in night quarters (AT Advisor Snorre Henriksen at the Norwegian 130). Numbering follows Hodne (1984). Biodiversity Information Centre for valuable 11 Alf Prøysen lived from 1914 to 1970. He was information on the launching of the 2015 Nor- both author and songwriter, and wrote for wegian Red List for Species. children as well as adults. He also hosted sev- 2 The first IUCN Red List was published in eral children’s radio shows. Internationally he 1964. The first Norwegian Red List for Spe- is best known as the author of the stories of cies based on IUCN criteria was published in “Miss Pepperpot” for children. In 2009, the 2006. However, Norwegian Red Lists based song about Helene Miss Hare was turned into on other sets of criteria than those of IUCN a cartoon along with several of his other chil- have existed since 1984. See Norwegian En- dren’s songs, available at: vironmental Agency, Truede arter (Threat- https://tv.nrk.no/serie/alf-proeysens- ened species). Retrieved from barnesanger/OBUE14005108/sesong-1/ http://www.miljostatus.no/Tema/ episode-5 [Television series episode]. Naturmangfold/ Arter/Truede-arter/. 12 In areas with little or no snow covering (like 3 According to senior advisor Snorre Henrik- the southwestern parts of Norway), mountain sen, the Norwegian Biodiversity Information hares do not turn white in winter, but some in- Centre (personal communication September termediate colour between brown/grey and 2017). white. Mountain hares in such areas are often 4 Norway’s population is about 5.3 million called “blue hares”. people (2020). The largest Norwegian news- paper, VG, did not publish anything on the re- References lease of the red list in 2015 (either on paper or on the web). Adam, Barbara 1998: Timescapes of Modernity. 5 Aftenposten published a very similar, but less The Environment and Invisible Hazards. Lon- extensive article in the printed edition the day don, UK: Routledge. after the Red List was launched. Dagbladet Aristotle. Rhetoric. Translated by W. Rhys did not publish an article on the Red List in its Roberts. Retrieved from printed edition. http://classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/rhetoric.html. 6 According to senior advisor Snorre Henriksen Båtstrand, Sondre 2014: Giving Content to New from the Norwegian Biodiversity Informa- Politics. From Broad Hypothesis to Empirical tion Centre (personal communication Septem- Analysis Using Norwegian Manifesto Data on ber 2017), the website was restructured in Climate Change. Party Politics 20(6), 930‒939. 2016, and this page is no longer accessible Braverman, Irus 2017: Anticipating Endanger- from artsdatabanken.no. ment. The Biopolitics of Threatened Species 7 According to senior advisor Snorre Henriksen Lists. Biosocieties 12(1), 132‒157. from the Norwegian Biodiversity Informa- Brustad, Line 2015, November 18: Ny rødliste tion Centre (personal communication Septem- lanseres i dag: – Hver femte art i fare for å bli ber 2017). utryddet [New Red List Released Today: ‒ One 8 In Norway, these are wolf, brown bear, lynx in Five Species in Danger of Becoming Ex- and wolverine. tinct]. Dagbladet. Retrieved from 9 SABIMA (Samarbeidsorganisasjonen for https://www.Dagbladet.no/nyheter/ny-rod- Biologisk Mangfold) is a Norwegian environ- liste-lanseres-i-dag---hver-femte-art-i-fare- mental organization working for biodiversity. for-a-bli-utryddet/60459851. It is an umbrella organization representing or- Cardinale, B. J., Duffy, J. E., Gonzalez, A., ganizations for different species groups like Hooper, D. U., Perrings, C., Venail, P., ... the Norwegian Ornithological Organization, Naeem, S. 2012: Biodiversity Loss and its Im- the Norwegian Botanical Organization etc. pact on Humanity. Nature 486, 59–67. Marit Ruge Bjærke, Miss Hare Struggles 201

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You could say that the typical local in this village are mainly determined from the perspec- thinks and acts with the car. Even though public tive of centres. From this it follows that transport does exist to a certain, limited degree, I the way sustainability is interpreted often couldn’t imagine […] that people would take the bus to the town if they were about to do some represents urbanized worldviews and may shopping or visit a restaurant (Swedish man, age drastically differ from the perceptions of 45). those living in peripheries and rural areas (Cloke 2003; Wollin Elhouar 2014). The Private driving, for those living in villages conflicts between macro and micro level far from city centres, is such a common understandings of sustainability – be- daily task that it goes almost unrecognized tween regime and local levels – cannot be in the course of daily life. Adjustment to studied only from “above”. The meanings the local environment and to a society that promotes public transportation only in ur- ascribed to sustainability emanate from ban areas makes driving a normal and in- locally-bound everyday life experiences deed compulsory part of daily living that occur within national and global sys- (Hämeenaho 2014; Wollin Elhouar 2014). tems. For this reason, in order to explore However, in our time of increasing debate how sustainability transitions are under- about climate change mitigation, daily stood and responded to in different loci, ways of rural mobility seem disturbing we need a reciprocal view of marginal dai- and contradictory to the social calls for ly living environments and lifestyles in re- more sustainable living. lation to national and global systems (also It has been emphasized that the concen- Sassen 1996; Norgaard 2011; Eriksen 2015; Innerarity 2016). Therefore, in this tration of CO2 in the atmosphere has changed the natural processes that keep ethnological study, we explore how the the globe warm and inhabitable and led to ideals of low-carbon societies are lived anthropogenic global warming that in- and interpreted in peripheral areas in Fin- flicts irreversible changes on nature and land and Sweden. climate (Rockström et al. 2009; Rosa et al. In order to reach an understanding of 2015; Lidskog & Waterton 2016).1 The “peripheral sustainability” we scrutinize single most important source of CO2 is the how globally given ideas of sustainability combustion of fossil fuels, most notably and measures to achieve it clash with local coal and oil. Due to this, the low-carbon ideas and practices at the level of every- goals are firmly aimed at reducing flying day life. How is sustainability understood and driving with their reliance on fossil by people residing in rural areas? How are fuel engines (e.g. EEA 2019). Altering the the ideas of sustainable living given mean- ways of being mobile is also seen as one of ing during the daily life course? We will the main measures that individuals can answer these questions by exploring rural take in order to slow down global warm- residents’ relation to sustainability transi- ing. But how are these ideas met in rural tions, and analyse how their perceptions peripheries with no alternatives for trans- and thinking – emerging in and from the portation? physical environment – reflect their rela- In a globalized world, the objectives tion to the national and global. The chosen and means of climate change mitigation viewpoint illuminates the tensions be-

Ethnologia Scandinavica, Vol. 50, 2020 204 Pilvi Hämeenaho & Elisabeth Wollin, Sustainable Living in a Periphery

tween system-world and life-world in the clashes between the logics of large-scale context of the rural North. systems and local-level orientations. What is considered sustainable from the per- Towards Low-Carbon Living spective of mitigating global warming The increasing awareness among decision may be socially unsustainable from the makers of forthcoming problems related perspective of performing daily tasks and to the rise in the temperature of the globe duties (also Wollin Elhouar 2014). This have stimulated the development of sub- study proceeds from the notion that en- stitutive technologies and the search for vironment and activities of people are in- new solutions to solve problems related to dissolubly linked and the environment al- the mobility of people and objects.2 Fast ways includes the social and cultural di- solutions have often been sought “from mension – the lifestyles, beliefs, ideas and below”. Individuals’ responsibilities have aspirations of people (Häyrynen 2003; been highlighted and lot of attention has Dillon 2015:109; Parra et al. 2018:5). Ad- been devoted to citizen education about dressing the social and cultural dimen- more sustainable lifestyles and consump- sions of the environment is crucial for tion (Stephenson et al. 2010; Evans et al. studies of sustainability transitions, as the 2013; Raippalinna 2019; also Erhardt- pursued changes will occur in the human Martinez et al. 2015). However, it is stated realms, at the micro level of everyday life that despite the policy actions and rapid practices as well as in macro scale politics technological advances that spread to the and technologies. market, progress is too slow to achieve the The cultural perspective that explores goals of limiting global warming (Roberts the meanings and interpretations given to et al. 2018). According to Rosa et al. global or daily issues also needs a nuanced (2015:1) the core problem lies in cultural, definition of sustainability. What is meant social and economic structures that have by sustainability varies between different been left unaddressed and unexplored in actors and depends on the socio-political the required depth. Failures in setting or environment where the interpretations are implementing new policies ensue from made (also Jamison 2001; Sayer 2013). clashing political, economic and ecologi- The concept is also a product of the an- cal motivations and the lack of joint com- thropogenic knowledge regime and im- mitment to environmental goals (Stern manently carries the idea of the objectifi- 2007; Norgaard 2011; Eriksen 2016; cation of nature (Brightman & Lewis Newman et al. 2018). Instead of mutual 2017). In our study, sustainability is not understanding of the issue and ways to used as a referent to environmental actions solve the problems, discussion consists of only but as a wider lens that also encom- competing interests and interpretations of passes the social and cultural aspects of the causes and possible outcomes of en- being in one’s world. This conceptualiza- vironmental changes. tion envisions sustainability from a hu- Thomas Hylland Eriksen (2016:152) man-centred perspective and as a goal that argues, that the incompatibility of goals, strives towards a non-destructive balance discourses and practices is caused by between people and between humans and Pilvi Hämeenaho & Elisabeth Wollin, Sustainable Living in a Periphery 205

the non-human environment (also Pyyk- thinking and doing, as well as normaliza- könen et al. 2009; Murphy & McDonagh tion of actions and ideas now often con- 2016; Parra et al. 2018). sidered alternative (Raippalinna 2019; Häyrynen & Hämeenaho 2020). Accord- Interpretations of Sustainable Living ingly, the development should be studied in Rural Peripheries from a multi-level perspective that takes In recent studies on sustainability transi- account of complex relations of global and tions Geels et al. (2017:466) have argued local systems and the dynamic interaction that sustainability transitions should lead between them (also Eriksen 2015; Geels et to “a new regime, which becomes institu- al. 2017). It should also address the level tionalized and increasingly taken for of mundane daily actions and explore the granted.” This requires new ways of complexity of everyday life choices and

Closed grocery store in the village centre. Photo: P. Hämeenaho. 206 Pilvi Hämeenaho & Elisabeth Wollin, Sustainable Living in a Periphery

practices and their impact on sustainabili- allel with the polarization attached to ty transitions. everyday living. In urbanized societies, The cultural analysis of everyday life rural areas are often interpreted as a site illuminates the ideas and practices of for “bad” and unsustainable everyday liv- people who act locally within the global. It ing. According to stereotypes that picture explores the conflicting values and beliefs urban as normal and modern, rural areas as well as the impact of competing inter- represent “the other”, and are envisioned ests, the complexity of social relations and as a place of backwardness and stagnation unequal resources on people’s choices. It rather than progress (Williams 1985; also recognizes people as active agents, Cloke 2003; Hämeenaho 2018). The vi- who do not only receive influences or car- sions may also be positive and emphasize ry the ideas present in their socio-cultural a “natural” or “traditional” lifestyle that is environment, but actively interpret, alter lost in urban areas but preserved in the and produce culture (Eriksen 2015; Parra countryside. What is common to both in- et al. 2018; Stephenson 2018). However, terpretations is that they understand the capturing “the everyday” is not simple due countryside as an unchanging cultural to its elusiveness. The taken-for-granted space. By connecting the countryside to nature of the everyday hides ideas and its past, these visions question its signifi- motivations underneath daily practices cance as a part of modern, urbanized na- and thus impedes implementing any tions and the way of life pursued there changes that are required or hoped for. (Wollin Elhouar 2014; Hämeenaho 2018). Everyday living as something “taken for granted” also allows multiple interpreta- Research Design tions and conceptualizations occurring si- We pose our research questions on the ba- multaneously without being acknowl- sis of our previous work that we have con- edged (Hämeenaho 2014; Ehn et al. ducted separately yet on highly similar is- 2016). sues and topics and by utilizing a similar Thus, describing how locally formulat- approach and methods. Pilvi Hämeena- ed responses to global or national require- ho’s dissertation study “Everyday Net- ments are interpreted calls for an under- works of Well-Being in Sparsely Populat- standing of the different ways that every- ed Rural Finland” (2014) explored the day life is given meaning to. Mike Mi- everyday life practices and perceptions of chael (2006:23‒28; see also Sandberg subjective well-being and the good life of 2014) has pointed out two different ways mothers living in sparsely populated rural in which everyday life is given meaning: areas. The focus was on daily mobility and the good, which emphasizes the active especially accessing public services as a agency people may have and utilize in part of the experience of everyday their daily living, and the bad, which envi- well-being. The research also unravelled sions everyday life as a locus of repetitive, cultural stereotypes attached to living in unquestioned actions and stagnation. the countryside and how these ideas repre- It is noteworthy that the imaginary po- senting an urban viewpoint were reflected larization between rural and urban is par- and utilized in identity making by rural Pilvi Hämeenaho & Elisabeth Wollin, Sustainable Living in a Periphery 207

residents. In her dissertation “Do We Be- intended to draw attention to uneven long to the Future of Sweden?” (2014) power relations inscribed in rural-urban Elisabeth Wollin Elhouar investigated and centre-periphery distinctions. how social sustainability was constructed, In order to deepen the understanding on experienced, practised and performed in the local level and to expose everyday life the tension between local everyday life as a key factor in sustainability transitions, and political discourses. Empirical themes we revisited our data sets and former ana- included mobility and means of transport, lyses with the keyword “periphery” and work and leisure practices, and experi- Eriksen’s notion about “clashes of scales” ences of time and tempo. The specific area in our minds. With this rereading of our chosen for understanding “the local” was data we aim at contributing to the need for sparsely populated villages in the northern more nuanced and deep-reaching under- inland area of Sweden. The main interest standing of everyday life in the context of was to grasp how political rhetoric about research on sustainability transitions.3 The sustainability made or did not make sense themes studied are mobility in the rural to the experience of local everyday life, environment, sustainable lifestyle adjust- and how sustainability was understood ments and ways of understanding and in- from the local perspective. terpreting periphery in relation to centre. In both studies, everyday actions were We explore thinking and practices re- studied in relation to life experiences and lated to climate change in the Global policy-led rhetoric about well-being and North. The original data of this study thus sustainable development. The analyses fo- consist of two sets of interviews that both cused on sustainability policies, environ- comprise transcribed semi-structured in- mentalism, and their implications (Wollin terviews with people living in, or near, Elhouar) and on the provision of public sparsely populated areas. Both of us made services and on the ways of giving mean- several short visits to the field sites. ing to the home (Hämeenaho) in remote Hämeenaho conducted her fieldwork dur- rural areas. As an outcome both studies ing a period of three months, and visited produced an ethnological description on all the villages separately. Wollin Elhouar lifestyle that is strongly affected and given made two visits to each field site, with meanings from outside but is interpreted some time in between, and stayed in gen- and re-represented by locals in the course eral one week per visit. The fieldwork of daily living. The results also showed method can be seen as an alternative field- clear gaps between policies and experi- work to the classic long field stay, in the ences related to sustainability. In order to sense of being a kind of yo-yo fieldwork highlight the complexities between hege- (see Wulff 2002; Karsten 2019). monic discourses and counter-ways of Hämeenaho conducted fieldwork in meaning making, between centre and peri- 2009 and 2010 in seven villages in three phery, and between policies and lived ex- municipalities in central Finland: Multia, periences, the social dimension of sustain- Pihtipudas and Saarijärvi. Of her 14 in- ability is stressed in our current research formants, 13 were women and their age presented here. This emphasis is mainly ranged from 30 to 55. All informants were 208 Pilvi Hämeenaho & Elisabeth Wollin, Sustainable Living in a Periphery

parents and they had experience of living countryside leads to a situation where dai- in sparsely populated rural areas with ly tasks and duties, such as going to work school-age children. Informants were pri- or school, daily consumption and attend- vate entrepreneurs, worked in the public ing social events requires lengthy travels, sector in social and health care or in because the sites of action are mostly situ- schools, or were staying at home with ated in nearby cities. Due to lack of public their small children at the time of the inter- transportation, daily travel primarily takes views. Most of them had also lived in ur- the form of private driving. The necessity ban areas during their life and five were of private driving was illuminated in rural in-migrants who had been born in cities residents’ accounts of daily mobility. As and moved to rural areas as adults. For all one interviewee said: “These distances, of them, living in the countryside was a you always have to go by car” (Finnish considered choice. The empirical data woman, age 43). used for Wollin Elhouar’s study were col- When exploring social sustainability in lected from two municipalities: Ström- relation to infrastructure and means of sund (in Jämtland County) and Örnskölds- transport, it became clear to us that differ- vik (in Västernorrland County), mainly in ent technologies had different roles to play 2007 and 2008.4 Apart from written mate- in making sustainable experiences. Some rial, the study was based on observations means of transportation managed to tie and interviews. Her thirteen main inform- people together, others to keep them apart. ants – nine women and four men – were all The bus, for example, appeared restrictive living in sparsely populated parts of the and therefore in that sense, a rather un- northern inland of Sweden. The interview- sustainable means of transport. The bus ees’ age ranged between 30 and 73. Sev- was seen as inflexible due to few depar- eral of the interviewees had a long com- tures and long routes, with no viable alter- mute between home and work in common. native. Buses do not always drive to vil- A few worked at home as farmers or near lages and the bus stops were accessible their home place, but had to travel far for only by car or lengthy walks or bike rides, services. All of them thus shared the expe- which was considered impossible because rience of an everyday life marked by long people had to carry groceries or had small distances. children with them. In addition, the bus timetables were unsuitable for the daily Creating Peripheries needs of residents and only served chil- Rural mobility: exclusion from the low- dren going to local schools. carbon society? The nearest bus stop is three kilometres away, and You know, there is a distance of 50 kilometres to during the school year there are two buses to town the store. It’s a long way to go back and forth if in the morning, at seven and at nine. And if you you forgot to buy the milk and have to go back just want to come back by bus, there is one at two or at because of that. And expensive too (Swedish five past four. So those who work until four can woman, age 45). make it to the bus. But then I would still need to have some means of transport to get home from In the rural north, daily life practices are the village centre where the bus stop is (Finnish moulded by long distances. Home in the woman, age 41). Pilvi Hämeenaho & Elisabeth Wollin, Sustainable Living in a Periphery 209

Peacefulness and privacy was considered as a key element of rural living. Photo: P. Hämeenaho.

When buses are not considered as an op- liams 1985; Cloke 2003). Likewise, ideals tion for daily mobility, private driving be- a low-carbon society are mostly estab- comes a norm. In rural areas with long dis- lished from an urban perspective, and only tances, daily scheduling is based on pri- recognize the problems and solutions rele- vate driving (Hämeenaho 2014). One of vant in densely populated areas. From this the interviewees explained: viewpoint, the necessity of private driving I am so used to driving. You can go when you and owning a car turns the countryside need to and you don’t have to wait for the time- into an environment where it is seemingly table, like “Oh my, the bus is coming in five impossible to live according to the current minutes and I’ll miss it”. Yes, it’s easier to use ideals of a sustainable lifestyle. These your own car (Finnish woman, age 36). negative assumptions about the ways of Remoteness may be seen as a key signifier everyday living in rural areas contribute to of periphery, which is understood in re- social remoteness, and the exclusion of ru- lation and as a counterpoint to centre. ral people from urban-led discourses on Centres are hubs for mobility where activ- sustainability (Hämeenaho 2014; Wollin ities and sites of action are concentrated Elhouar 2014). and periphery is the remote other (cf. Wil- Many of the interviewees in the Swe- 210 Pilvi Hämeenaho & Elisabeth Wollin, Sustainable Living in a Periphery

dish material voiced experiences of exclu- When remote location turns to social (and sion from the national community. A man political) exclusion, the value-laden polar- in his fifties who worked as a school bus izations between rural and urban are coordinator said, for example: “We al- strengthened. This kind of attitudes that ways hear this ongoing debate that things intertwine with regional policies create ru- are going well for Sweden. Well, what we ral peripheries, which represent backward then wonder, up here, is whether we really local cultures and stagnation to carbon- do belong to Sweden in that case.” Many based, unsustainable lifestyles. Everyday also pointed to the fact that local infra- actions are thus interpreted as “bad” and structure was disappearing: “The closest local culture only as permanence and thus grocery store is now twenty kilometres as an obstacle in terms of change. How- away. The grocery bus is gone. We used to ever, in order to scrutinize the real dynam- have grocery store, petrol station, post of- ics of change, the “good” interpretations fice. All gone today. One gets a bit bitter” of everyday living must also be taken into (Swedish man, age 65). account. On top of this, in the neo-liberal politi- When we asked rural residents, the idea cal climate the responsibility to change of local culture as stagnant was modified. one’s lifestyle is often laid on local people People we met during our field trips sup- – although cutbacks in public transporta- ported the idea that their living and life- tion and the concentration of services in style differ from urban life. Yet they did centres, for example, are not a result of lo- not accept the idea that their ways of liv- cal actions (Evans et al. 2013; Wollin El- ing are solely unsustainable; they empha- houar 2014; Raippalinna 2019). Accord- sized counter-viewpoints. Driving may ing to our studies, people in rural areas are not be a low-carbon practice, but it was well aware of the contested role that the emphasized that it cannot be understood car plays in their daily living, and, on the only as a choice of individuals. Most of other hand, in national policies on sustain- the people were very careful in planning ability. The absolute necessity of having a vehicle or two is clearly tied to experi- their daily drives. They limited the ences of exclusion from the national com- amount of driving by trying to combine all munity and lack of sense of belonging to the daily tasks and duties in commuter the nation. In several of the interviews a travels (Wollin Elhouar 2014; Hämeena- sense of defending the cars came across ho 2014, 2019). more or less explicitly: And quite often we combine the drives, when we have some hobbies [in the town] we go to grocery I have two cars […] one is a panel truck, a Ber- lingo […] it’s cheaper and more environmentally store at the same time. My husband likes to go jog- friendly. And I can load a lot in it. When I was ging, and in wintertime he goes skiing to town be- renovating the cottage I needed construction cause there are lights. Here [in the village] we do blocks, it was really good, I could load 40 blocks not have any streetlights. So, when we go to the in the truck. You’ll have to buy it 300 kilometres town he goes skiing. Doesn’t have to ski in the away. That’s why we got these types of cars; to dark (Finnish woman, age 42). avoid driving back and forth four times. And I think that must be better for the environment On top of this, the meaning of private (Swedish man, age 60). driving is much more multifaceted than Pilvi Hämeenaho & Elisabeth Wollin, Sustainable Living in a Periphery 211

being just about transportation. From a so- Nobody in the village goes to the store just by her- cial perspective, the car was the most self. We always ask others that are home if they need prominent maker of sustainability for the anything, any groceries. It’s the way of doing it, it locals. A private car cannot be considered comes naturally. To go by yourself, without asking, hardly ever happens (Swedish woman, age 56). only as a tool to be mobile with, but in re- mote areas it also becomes an important On the other hand, a car also serves as a space to spend time with other people and place to rest and as a site of transition be- offer care for them (Wollin Elhouar 2014; tween various daily roles and responsibil- Hämeenaho 2019). Giving rides to family ities. Commuting may thus become a pri- members and other locals formed an im- vate time to think and may provide a portant part of local ways of mobility. Car much-needed break between work and pools and shared rides were common ex- family life. One interviewee, a mother amples of socially sustainable practices with children and a daily job in town, ex- related to mobility (Hämeenaho 2014; plained: Wollin Elhouar 2014). We were told During the drive you have time to put your mind about helping elders and other people un- in a certain mood. When you leave work, you can able to drive. think through work stuff and then move on to do- mestic things. And, of course, the same thing in I consider this as a strength of a village life, that we have this kind of practices. I give her [an elder- the morning (Finnish woman, age 41). ly woman in the neighbourhood] a ride to town A big car also provides shelter and ability when she has a doctors’ appointment, or take her to withstand car accidents due to snow, to shops or something. I may just drive to her house, see if there are lights on and just ask would slippery roads, long distances, road kills she like to join me when I go to town (Finnish and bad visibility, thus making a car syn- woman, age 43). onymous with safety.

The lengthy rural roads. Frost heave 14 kilometres. Photo: P. Hämeenaho. 212 Pilvi Hämeenaho & Elisabeth Wollin, Sustainable Living in a Periphery

Last winter, when our neighbours moved here just areas from the urban norm (Wollin El- before Christmas, they changed their car, bought a houar 2014; Häyrynen & Hämeenaho four-wheel-drive because they just couldn’t get up 2020). The remoteness from urban centres that road (Finnish woman, age 34). thus forms a local environment where pe- You would want a big, real car, you want to have ripheral lifestyle emerges. a safe car, if something happens, so you don’t get We were welcomed [to the village] very warmly, smashed immediately (Swedish man, age 60). there has been such a positive atmosphere every- Overall, the question of daily mobility in where I go here or whichever activity group I want rural areas serves as an example of the to join. It is so different from the city. And overall, all the people here, I think they really are such otherness of rural in relation to urban people, you know what they say about country areas. From the perspective of daily liv- people? They are open and warm (Finnish woman ing in more densely populated areas with age 34). possibilities to use public transportation, The interviews also illuminated how a a private car is often seen as environmen- meaningful life is tantamount to a life in tal villain number one that should be re- the home village and among other locals. placed with other means of mobility. In addition to being a site for habitual From a rural perspective, however, a pri- practices and repetition of mundane ac- vate car is a tool that makes it possible to tions, everyday life appears as a site for participate in society: to go to work, con- active agency, critical thinking about (ur- sume and have a social life outside the ban) norms, resistance and change (see immediate home environment. It makes Michael 2006:22). The persistence of dai- it possible to live in villages and enjoy ly practices is not a matter of stagnation the rural setting (Hämeenaho 2014; Wol- but a culturally sustainable way of adjust- lin Elhouar 2014). ing novelties to established everyday life perceptions and practices (Damsholt & Cultural adjustment and the emerge of Jespersen 2014:27; also Löfgren & Ehn social sustainability 2010). In search of a sustainable life bal- We always help each other here in the village, we ance, adjustment is central and the don’t just think about ourselves, we think of each place-bound lifestyle consists of strategies other, do you know what I mean? For example, if and practices as well as ideas about good someone is going to the store to buy something, he living, which are adjusted to local as well or she always asks the neighbours if they need any- as national and global environment(s). thing, milk or bread or whatever. In the city you Adjustment is not only coping with the don’t do that, right?” (Swedish woman, age 55). challenges or responding to requirements Being remote is not just living far from determined by outside localities, but it is centres and sites of daily activities, but it primarily active being and “living out ru- also encompasses the social and cultural rality” (Hämeenaho 2014; Wollin Elhouar dimensions of local living. Accordingly, 2014). For example, the rural environment periphery is not just about geography but and village life were often considered su- may be understood as a distance from the perior to urban life: “If you have a family ideals and mindscapes that represent the with small children like I do, living in this urban centres, and which exclude rural village is far better than the city, safer for Pilvi Hämeenaho & Elisabeth Wollin, Sustainable Living in a Periphery 213

the kids, more harmonious” (Swedish very much aware of the stereotypes, offer woman, age 32). Interviewees also men- counter-interpretations. tioned the impact of being far from cities Sustainable ways of living are repre- on the ways of consumption. They empha- sented in perceptions of good living. In sized the self-sufficiency of their families, their narratives, people brought up stereo- and many told about how they grew their types that represent their conception of own vegetables, had berry bushes in the rural reality in a positive way. For ex- garden and baked their own bread. ample, lack of jobs is considered as a ma- [Since we moved to live in the country] my life jor problem and a signifier of the decline has changed a lot indeed, living here is so different of rural areas. Though a job was given a from a city flat. I have started to bake bread in the natural meaning in the narratives, other oven, which I have never done before, and we are domains of the everyday were also given building a cellar for potatoes that we are growing a certain meaning, such as home, family, in our back yard. We have changed our way of nature, land, leisure activities and local life, and it has been mostly deliberate (Finnish community (Hämeenaho 2014; Wollin woman, age 34). Elhouar 2014). Especially leisure activi- Lack of shops in the village did not matter, ties played an important role and people because people told how they had learned accepted the situation caused by lack of to live outside consumer (urban) culture. workplaces. One interviewee emphasized as follows If there were enough jobs here, 75 per cent of the the cultural and social distance from the people who once moved would be moving back. lifestyle considered as urban: […] Maybe people who were born here have other hobbies than people in the city. I mean, here it’s all Really, you really do not need so much stuff, may- about nature, hunting, fishing, those kind of be it is no wonder that [city dwellers] spend so things… scooter driving in the wintertime. And you much money, everything is available there all the cannot really do that if you live in the south or in a time. Shops are always crowded. But here, you big city. When I lived in the south I was all right at just realize how you can cope without buying first, it was exciting. But after a while I started to hardly anything. A month may go by, and we only miss the lifestyle up here (Swedish man, age 60). need to buy toilet paper and detergents. Really, that is all (Finnish woman, age 55). A key feature that was brought up both by Swedish and Finnish informants was the Everyday living in a rural environment also rural environment itself, which was con- produces new interpretations of periphery. sidered to offer a living environment supe- The core ideas of the polarizing stereotypes rior to urban areas. “It is so peaceful here, of urban and rural are enduring on the one we have this privacy. When I come home hand yet changing on the other. Raymond after the day at work I can do whatever I Williams (1985:12) has noted how these want, just be here, and no neighbours perceptions are constantly adjusted and re- watching us” (Finnish woman, age 36). interpreted to meet the needs and goals of Besides being peaceful and private, the changing topical discourses. In the age of periphery and the lifestyle it entails has its heated discourses on climate change, the effect on time usage and even more broad- images of rural as a place of developmental ly to the tempo of living. Rural areas form stagnation has been strengthened once their own specific time-space, where en- again. At the same time, rural residents, vironment and geographical distances im- 214 Pilvi Hämeenaho & Elisabeth Wollin, Sustainable Living in a Periphery

pact on daily actions and the ways in movies or hanging around in town make a person which people schedule their lives (Wollin happier? Or shopping, I do not think I would like Elhouar & Hansen 2011; Hämeenaho to spend too much time shopping anyway (Finnish 2014, 2019). Rural time-space also differs woman, age 55). from its urban counterpart, as the means to The urban centres were not considered be mobile are different even if the reasons central in one’s living, as the place called for travelling should be similar. Commut- home and the surrounding local commu- ing or consuming take more time in re- nity were at the heart of everyday life. mote areas. Rural time-space is also con- Remoteness from the major centres sup- nected to the prevailing negative notions ports close social relations with other lo- that rural areas are old-fashioned and cal residents. Collaboration with others slow. These ideas also have an influence and mutual help were an important part on local self-images and practices (Wollin of living in remote areas, as people are Elhouar 2014; Hämeenaho 2014). To ob- bound to similar challenges related to jectify time in narratives, people get a mobility, for example. Living in the rural possibility to reflect on their everyday north leads to a lifestyle that consist of life (Wollin Elhouar 2014). A Swedish ideas, practices and attitudes that are ad- woman (age 50) who had been moving justed both to the local environment and from Stockholm to a small village in the to the conditions established by state northern inland said it took her quite a policies. These components of rural life- while to get used to the calmness she ex- style may be interpreted as a cultural perienced at first due to the hectic urban capital, a local strength that enables rural tempo she was used to: “I just wanted to residents to adjust their living to the ever- sit on a stump in the forest and do nothing, changing political and social environ- hear nothing.” ment (Wollin Elhouar 2014). As one in- The slow pace of rural living is in turn terviewee stated: related to modernity’s focus on speed. In The countryside is a great place to live as long as the narratives, the interviewees tend to you are able to accept the differences [related to distance themselves from urban time and urban living]. A person who expects everything to associate urban speed with disharmony be available right there when you open the door and stress-related issues. Lack of urban fa- cannot live here. Here you cannot expect services cilities, such as shops or services, was not to be available within five minutes, you have to considered significant in terms of every- prioritize, you have to think through what the most day well-being. On the contrary, everyday significant issues in life for you are (Finnish life in rural areas was considered as a ma- woman, age 55). jor source of private well-being. Inform- When seen from the perspective of those ants did not attach much value to the pos- committed to this rural lifestyle, the pe- sibilities that urban areas have to offer, riphery is everything but stagnant or lag- such as places for consumption or more ging behind development. It is also close- options for hobbies and leisure-time activ- ly connected to urban centres as well as ities. the wider environment. The so-called I do not think living in a city would make me hap- local living is attached to national and pier. Like really, does something like going to the global cultural and eco-political spaces. Pilvi Hämeenaho & Elisabeth Wollin, Sustainable Living in a Periphery 215

By taking account of the social and cul- of sustainability and the lifestyle that tural as well as the physical and institu- emerges in a periphery. As pointed out by tional environment, we have learned about Eriksen (2016:3) perceptions related to the gaps between regime-level ideals and global issues, such as climate change, are individual-level actions related to sustain- constructed and represented at the local ability (also Eriksen 2016). The analysis level. In this vein we argue that everyday above also shows how the periphery con- life is a core for transitions towards sus- sists of two dimensions. Firstly, it is at- tainable lifestyles. By emphasizing the tached to geographies and practical ways everyday life practices that differ between of dealing with distances that separate it rural and urban environments, we have from the centres. At the same time, the pe- aimed to draw attention to uneven power riphery occurs in mental landscapes relations inscribed in rural-urban and formed by polarizations and meaning- centre-periphery distinctions. By high- makings (also Norgaard 2011:xix). Local- lighting the often marginalized perspec- ly conducted daily actions, such as using a tive of rural residents, we have shed light private car for commuting, occur in this on the clashes between national and local wider environment and illuminate the dy- thinking, and we have shown how ideas of namic relation of everyday living to sustainability that are posed from an urban macro-scale policies. perspective do not always fit rural realms Everyday rural life is active and people and thus cannot lead to expected outcomes are constantly adjusting and finding novel in people’s behaviour or thought. solutions to address changes, for example, The gaps between ideas and actions in in the service network or in policies that relation to climate change mitigation will affect their living in far-reaching ways, not be bridged solely by educating citi- such as the taxation of fossil fuels. The pe- zens, because daily-level needs and moti- riphery is constantly influenced by centres vations that emerge in certain environ- and regime-level policies, but the out- ments may not equal those of political de- comes may differ from those expected or cision making on a national or global scale intended by policymakers. Accordingly, (also Evans et al. 2013; Raippalinna the periphery should be understood as a 2019). Household recycling, eating more space where values and practices differ vegetables instead of meat or cutting from the urban norm and challenge its down holiday flights is relatively easy ideas of sustainability. At the same time, compared to cutting down one’s private the periphery is a place for active citizens driving, especially in sparsely populated who constantly develop and innovate in- countries like Finland or Sweden. In many stead of just reacting. ways, circumstances other than individual one’s control people’s daily actions. This Conclusions: The Periphery as a can be linked to policies that promote cen- Centre for Sustainable Everyday tralization – in the name of climate, econ- Living omy or services, for example. Based on What we have presented here is an ethno- our studies, we argue that urban time and logical description of rural interpretations tempo can be understood as processes that 216 Pilvi Hämeenaho & Elisabeth Wollin, Sustainable Living in a Periphery

Just as residents, also rural researcher should remember to fuel her car in a nearby city. Photo: P. Hämeenaho.

have colonized everyday lives, also in the but the peripheral lifestyle includes vari- countryside (also Wollin Elhouar 2014). ous ways that are sustainable. According To travel long distances takes time, and to our studies, remoteness as a feature of this is often experienced as unsustainable. rural areas was given positive meanings in When infrastructure in the rural is scaled relation to sustainability by rural resi- down, people have to travel further, which dents. For example, the slowness of liv- is hardly sustainable from any point of ing, manifesting social capital in the utili- view. zation of local networks and consciously Rural areas may be considered remote created distance from consumerism may from the ideals of a low-carbon society, be regarded as positive values linked to Pilvi Hämeenaho & Elisabeth Wollin, Sustainable Living in a Periphery 217

sustainability. Sustainability in ways of daily needs. The sustainable components living was also represented in daily prac- of rural lifestyle have evolved as respons- tices such as the methods of being mobile es to requirements and ideas from the re- and in consumption habits and, in a way, gime level. It is thus crucial to understand how work and leisure were valued. The re- the “mundane” everyday life as a locus of sults reveal the vastness of sustainability, opportunities, active agencies and change how it encompasses social and cultural as (also Michael 2006). well as ecological aspects of daily living Keeping in mind Williams’s (1985:12) (also Parra et al. 2018). notion that rural-urban relations are con- From an urban perspective, however, stantly adjusted and reinterpreted, we con- rural living is sometimes interpreted as a clude by emphasizing the need to rethink failure in reaching the “commonly the ways in which sustainability is under- shared” sustainability goals (i.e. Wollin stood in relation to differing living en- Elhouar 2014). For this reason, people liv- vironments. On top of this, the notion of ing their locally bound life are excluded periphery should also be understood as a from the society that offers solutions to dynamic concept, whose relation to global issues – but only from the narrow centres or urban norm is not monolithic. perspective of urban lifestyles. Our analy- To reach a balance with one’s perception sis of the outcomes of this exclusion illu- of good living and what is good for nature minates the difference in how rural living requires steering different ways of inter- is interpreted at the national and local preting sustainability to meet the hopes level. The gaps between local and national and needs attached to it. Lifestyle adjusted understanding make the straightforward to peripheral conditions has features that implementation of macro-scale ideas at are sustainable in an ecological, social and the grass-roots level of everyday life diffi- cultural sense. When sustainability is cult or even impossible. The implementa- understood holistically and as a human- tion fails due to mismatches in orientation centred goal that strives towards a better – global or national ideas are not adjust- human-nature balance, learning from the able to everyday life practices. lifestyles emerging in rural areas may Based on our research, we argue that benefit us all. sustainability transformation could be promoted by creating a more dynamic and Pilvi Hämeenaho reciprocal relationship between centres PhD, postdoctoral researcher and peripheries. It is noteworthy that the Dept. of History and Ethnology feeling of being different or even excluded PO. Box 35 (H) FI-40014 University of Jyväskylä from society does not lead to stagnation, email: [email protected] but to the creation of locally bound life- style and conceptions that promote the Elisabeth Wollin centrality of a periphery. Locals and local- PhD, senior lecturer in Ethnology ities do not only adjust, react or respond School of History and Contemporary Studies Södertörn University but also create and innovate from their SE-141 89 Huddinge own perspective and based on their own email: [email protected] 218 Pilvi Hämeenaho & Elisabeth Wollin, Sustainable Living in a Periphery

Notes EEA 2019: Climate Change Mitigation. European 1 Also the reports by IPCC, the Intergovern- Environment Agency. mental Panel on Climate Change, launched in https://www.eea.europa.eu/themes/climate/ 1988. intro [visited 16 December 2019] 2 Global knowledge had been spread in the Ehn, Billy, Orvar Löfgren & Richard Wilk 2016: United Nations led annual Climate Summits Exploring Everyday Life. Strategies for Ethnog- raphy and Cultural Analysis. London: Rowman and Climate Change Conferences in 1979, & Littlefield. 1990 and 2015, for example. Erhardt-Martinez, Karen, Juliet B. Schor, Wokje 3 The current study is part of the project “The Abrahamse, Alison Hope Alkon, Jonn Axsen, Frontier of Sustainability Transitions: Cul- Keith Brown, Rachael L. Shwom, Dale Souther- tural Adaptations of Sustainability Policies in ton & Harold Wilhite 2015: Consumption and European Peripheral Regions (Academy of Climate Change. In Climate Change and Socie- Finland 2016‒2019). ty – Sociological Perspectives, ed. Riley E. 4 The data were produced more than ten years Dunlap & Robert J. Brulle, 93–126. Oxford: ago. A lot has changed in relation to the sus- Oxford University Press. tainability debate since then. One major effect Eriksen, Thomas Hylland 2015: Small Places, of that, which is worth mentioning here, is Large Issues. An Introduction to Social and that the concept of sustainability has gained in Cultural Anthropology. 4th edition. London: public awareness and understanding. In 2007 Pluto Press. the majority of the Swedish informants were Eriksen, Thomas Hylland 2016: Overheating. An not aware of the concept of sustainability to Anthropology of Accelerated Change. London: any large extent. Today one can assume that Pluto Press. they are, due to public debates and political Evans, David, Daniel Welch & Joanne Swaffield implementations. 2013: Constructing and Mobilizing “the Con- sumer”. Responsibility, Consumption and the References Politics of Sustainability. Environment and planning A – Economy and space 49(6):1396– Fieldwork 1412. The Finnish data are archived at Keski-Suomen Geels, Frank W., Benjamin K. Sovacool, Tim Muistiarkisto [Memory Archives of Central Fin- Schwanen & Steve Sorrell 2017: The Socio- land]: KSMA CD 09/1-14. Technical of Low-Carbon Transitions. Joule 1: 463–479. The Swedish data are owned by the author. Hämeenaho, Pilvi 2014: Hyvinvoinnin verkostot maaseudulla asuvien äitien arjessa. Etno- Literature loginen tutkimus palvelujen käytöstä ja hyvän arjen rakentumisesta. Tutkimus 129. Brightman, Marc & Jerome Lewis 2017: Anthro- Helsinki: National Institute for Health and pology of Sustainability. Beyond Development Wellbeing. and Progress. New York: Palgrave Macmil- Hämeenaho, Pilvi 2018: Idyllic Living in Rural lan. Surroundings. Perceptions of Finnish Rural Cloke, Paul 2003: Knowing Ruralities? In Coun- Residents of Their Home Environment. In Agri- try Visions, ed. Paul Cloke, pp. 1–13. New culture and Rural Life in Finland and Hungary, York: Pearson. ed. Zsuzsanna Varga & Anssi Halmesvirta, pp. Damsholt, Tine & Astrid Pernille Jespersen 2014: 167–177. Sarka – The Finnish Museum of Ag- Innovation, Resistance or Tinkering. Rearticu- riculture. lating Everyday Life in an Ethnological Per- Hämeenaho, Pilvi 2019: Daily Life on Wheels. spective. Ethnologia Europaea 44(2):17–30. Women’s Mobility and Living in Rural Fin- Dillon, Patrick 2015: Education for Sustainable land. Journal of Finnish Studies 22(1&2):137– Development in a Cultural Ecological Frame. 154. In Schooling for Sustainable Development in Häyrynen, Simo 2003: The Spatial Nature of Cul- Europe, ed. Rolf Jucker & Mathar Reiner, pp. tural Recognition. Constructing Finnish North 109‒120. Zurich: Springer Nature. Karelia in the Centre/Periphery Dimension of Pilvi Hämeenaho & Elisabeth Wollin, Sustainable Living in a Periphery 219

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Williams, Raymond, 1985: The Country and the Wulff, Helena 2002: Yo-yo Fieldwork. Mobility City. London: Hogarth. and Time in a Multi-Local Study of Dance in Wollin Elhouar, Elisabeth 2014: Tillhör vi Sveri- Ireland. Anthropological Journal of European ges framtid? En etnologisk studie av vardag och Cultures 11:117‒136. hållbarhet i norrländsk glesbygd. Stockholm: Stockholms universitet. “Just a Bunch of Cells” The Affordance of Neurons in Neuroscientific Reasoning By Åsa Alftberg, Kristofer Hansson, Markus Idvall

In 2012 the Nobel Prize in Physiology or biomedical researchers a cultural under- Medicine was awarded jointly to John B. standing of their work, but it can also give Gurdon and Shinya Yamanaka for their a more reflexive understanding of how discovery that mature, differentiated cells biomedical knowledge is constitutive of can be reprogrammed to a pluripotent society. Using ethnological theories about stem cell. In medicine this has been seen materiality, this study focuses on how ma- as a paradigm-shifting discovery which ture cells, stem cells, or even brains are a has generated new directions in biomedi- part of organizing and structuring differ- cal research. This kind of discovery can ent ways of knowledge in neuroscience, also be seen as something that changes and how neuroscientists are using these how ethnology may or even should study neurons to tend, mend and defend their materiality (Holmberg & Ideland 2012). scientific perceptions (cf. Frykman 2006; The biomateriality in the laboratory – like Holmberg & Ideland 2012; Wiszmeg the pluripotent stem cell – is no longer 2016; Hansson 2017). We intend to do this fixed, but negotiable and in constant flux. because these scientific perceptions, we In this study it takes, mostly, the form of a argue, in turn organize and structure nar- neuron. Neurons are nerve cells that ratives through which the general public through electric and chemical signals re- understand the neurons, and in the end the ceive, process and transmit information in human brain. In short, we will engage in a network that is the central nervous sys- the anthropologist Joseph Dumit’s call for tem. The central nervous system’s pri- an unpacking of the notions that underlie mary components are the brain as well as theories of the brain and its cultural impli- the spinal cord and the peripheral nervous cations (Dumit 2004). To succeed with system. So, with mature, differentiated this call, we need to develop new cultural cells, today’s biomedical researchers are analytical tools to study this ground- seeking for possibilities to reprogram breaking biomateriality in biomedicine. these cells to pluripotent stem cells that The aim of this article is therefore a cul- can be used to repair broken neurons, and ture-analytical study of how a group of to repair our brains. For ethnologists who neuroscientists perceive this biomateriali- study biomedicine it is central to ask how ty in constant flux and outline a possible this new biomateriality can be studied. theory of materiality. Central questions Moreover, how can ethnology as disci- are: How are neurons described, interpret- pline learn about materiality by looking at ed and understood by a group of neuro- neurons as a form of biomateriality? We scientists? How do neuroscientists reason want to explore a more relational ap- about new bio-scientific perspectives of proach to materiality, and hereby a better this biomateriality? How can this reason- understanding of how biomedicine affects ing be understood and interpreted using contemporary culture, but also how cul- ethnological theories of materiality? ture affects biomedicine. The progress and power of biosciences Ethnology has an important role to play are today well established, including new in relation to emerging biomedical tech- or altered perspectives on human biology. nologies. Not only can ethnology offer the The old Western perspective of the body

Ethnologia Scandinavica, Vol. 50, 2020 222 Åsa Alftberg, Kristofer Hansson, Markus Idvall, “Just a Bunch of Cells”

as an entity is constantly challenged by relational approach to understand how science and the increasing significance of people interact with materiality. It is a molecular levels of the body with its cells term that we borrow from psychology, de- and genes (Rose 2007; Gottweis 2008). fined by psychologist James Gibson in This has been well studied in ethnology 1977 as the properties of materiality that over more than two decades.1 Today, refer to all possible actions that humans modern neuroscience is one of the scien- can use it for (Gibson 1977). Therefore, it tific disciplines that pushes the boundaries is also a term that can say something about for how to look on the human body, or how a user can interact with that specific more specifically the brain, as well as self- materiality. We will here explain how. hood and identity (Vidal 2009; Dumit Even though the material properties are 2012). We are here following the history recognized by each person who encoun- of science scholar Fernando Vidal’s con- ters them, the affordances of that material- cept of brainhood and the growing per- ity are not. Affordances are unique in the sonification of the brain that can be seen in particular ways in which an actor per- today’s society (Vidal 2009). Then, if we ceives materiality (Leonardi 2011). In our as ethnologists turn to a group of neuro- case, focusing on neurons, this materiality scientists and ask them questions about is a form of biomateriality (Holmberg & neurons and the brain, what reasoning Ideland 2012; Wiszmeg 2016). Paul. M. about new biomateriality will they give Leonardi – Professor of Technology Man- us? To answer this question this article agement – developed the concept of af- will introduce the theoretical concept of fordance to pinpoint the need to focus on affordance to better understand the rela- the context where the materiality is per- tional approach that people have when in- ceived. He writes: teracting with materiality. In the follow- Materiality exists independent of people, but af- ing, neuroscientists reasoning about their fordances and constraints do not. Because people research on the brain and the neurons will come to materiality with diverse goals, they per- be elaborated on, by analysing focus ceive a technology as affording distinct possibili- group interviews with neuroscientists.2 ties for action. The perceptions of what functions an artefact affords (or constrains) can change Cultural Analysis of Neurons across different contexts even though the arte- fact’s materiality does not (Leonardi 2013:70). A central method in ethnology has been to study materiality as a shortcut to cultural In our study we are interested in develop- patterns (Löfgren 1990). But, as Jonas ing this kind of affordance to use it as an Frykman has pointed out, these cultural ethnological theory to analyse the neurons patterns are something that ethnologists as biomateriality that can invite to conver- find neither in the user nor in the material- sations between the scientists themselves ity itself (Frykman 2006). Instead, the and between the scientists and the inter- central method is to focus on how culture viewers. We do this by asking: What af- emerges when the user and the materiality fordance do scientists perceive in the ma- meet. This perspective is also found in the terial properties of neurons? Do these concept of affordance, which represents a properties afford different abilities for ac- Åsa Alftberg, Kristofer Hansson, Markus Idvall, “Just a Bunch of Cells” 223

tions and meaning-making, based on the pact of neurocultural discourses, in par- contexts in which they are used (Leonardi ticular the significance for personal iden- 2011)? tity. The view, it seems, is that the brain is With this perspective biomaterialities the only part of the body we as humans are not only shortcuts to cultural patterns, need in order to be ourselves, and that or crucial for culture to emerge (Löfgren brainhood refers to being a brain, rather 1990; Frykman 2006). They are vital than simply having one. Vidal also dis- through their materiality. With a very dif- cusses the personification of the brain, ferent example – the making of string bags which he declares is one of the most – the anthropologist Tim Ingold has ar- powerful mechanisms for maintaining the gued for this, saying that abilities “are de- dominance of the concept of brainhood. veloped through an active exploration of Personification means that it is the brain the possibilities afforded by the environ- that carries human characteristics such as ment, in the choice of materials and struc- decision-making, learning and loving, and tural supports, and of bodily capacities of it is brains rather than persons that under- movement, posture, and prehension” (In- stand each other. Consequently, this leads gold 2011:359). The affordance should in to what Dumit refers to as “studies of this perspective be seen as a methodology brains as if they were persons, and studies that is focused on actors in a specific ma- of persons as if they were brains” (Dumit terial context. Here, this leads to questions 2012:233). of how we as ethnologists can study Brainhood tends to portray the brain as knowledge production in the laboratory: a whole or an entity, and such representa- What kind of possibilities are afforded by tions have similarities to the popular im- the neuroscientific context – for example agination of the brain as a machine, a the laboratory environment and the bio- command centre governing the body (Ma- materiality – to explore new knowledge labou 2008). In recent years, however, about the neurons? What can this knowl- other images have appeared; for example edge say about the perceptions of the dif- the brain as a dynamic and defragmented ferent biomaterialities that the researchers network. In the neuroscience of today, the work with? brain is described as a decentralized sys- Even though we focus on this micro- tem with multiple and adaptable structures scopic materiality, our research is con- formed between different locations of the nected to other ethnological studies that brain (Altermark 2014). Furthermore, have a cultural-analysis perspective on the contrary to ideas of the brain being fixed brain (Andersen 2013; Hagen 2013), a and immutable, plasticity has emerged as field that we have contributed to ourselves the distinctive characteristic, where the (Alftberg & Rosenqvist 2017; Hansson & brain remains malleable during the entire Idvall 2017; Alftberg & Bengtsen 2018; adult life (Rubin 2009). Neuroscientists Idvall 2018; Hansson & Suneson 2018). have argued that thinking may physically As we have seen, Fernando Vidal (2009) change the brain’s structure, which has led has highlighted this research area with the to the neuroplasticity mantra that “neu- term brainhood. He elaborates on the im- rons that fire together wire together” (Lit- 224 Åsa Alftberg, Kristofer Hansson, Markus Idvall, “Just a Bunch of Cells”

tlefield & Johnson 2012:15). Also, there question were performing. The focus was are cultural metaphors grasping the brain on the participants’ perceptions, opinions, as something authentic, metaphors that are beliefs and attitudes concerning their to be found in, for example, popular cul- work. The interviews were performed ture (Bengtsen & Suneson 2017). The within a research project about the differ- body is regarded as just a function, while ent framings of the human brain that influ- the brain is where the embodied mind, i.e. ence neuroscientific work and the connec- your self is, which then is a de-embodied tion to wider cultural interpretations of the self (Lakoff & Johnson 1999). brain (Hansson & Idvall 2017). This kind of new narratives and cultural Four focus group interviews with 3‒5 categorizations of the brain are central participants were conducted, each occa- when we are studying everyday research sion lasting between one and one and a practices and how they are described – half hours. The participants were part of which we do in this article – even though two different research groups that work neuroscience is rarely about studying the with neurons in a laboratory environment whole brain. The research produced rather at the same university, one group mainly concerns fragmented parts and locations growing neurons from embryonic stem of the brain and what they consist of (for cells and the other group studying how to example neurons, glia cells and proteins), re-program cells to become neurons and and how they interconnect – something how neurons communicate with each that has been framed as the atomized body other. Ultimately, the aspiration of their by other humanistic researchers (Liljefors work is to find treatment for neurodegen- et al. 2012). Such circumstances do not erative diseases. make the researchers immune to cultural The participating neuroscientists were beliefs about the brain. Instead, we want research leaders or postdoc researchers to stress that working in the laboratory within this group. There were no PhD stu- also consists of ideas, notions and theories dents in the interviews. The researchers in which layers of metaphors and implicit knew each other well since they had cultural beliefs are embedded in many dif- worked together for many years, and some ferent and changing ways (Knorr Cetina of them had also been PhD colleagues. In 1999; Latour 1999; Dussauge 2008). this way they shared many cultural views with each other. The postdoc researchers Methods and Material mostly came from abroad and intended to This article is based on a series of qualita- stay in Sweden for a couple of years be- tive focus group interviews with neuro- fore moving on to another research group. scientists, conducted between November Quotations from the interviews are pre- 2015 and May 2016, with the aim of un- sented with fictitious names. derstanding the habits and routines of la- The interviews were treated as conver- boratory life (Latour & Woolgar 1979).3 sations where knowledge is co-produced These interviews discussed aspects of by the interviewers and the participants, neuroscientific work, mainly the labora- which meant reflecting upon the inter- tory procedures that the neuroscientists in viewers’ contribution to the conversation Åsa Alftberg, Kristofer Hansson, Markus Idvall, “Just a Bunch of Cells” 225

and the significance of subjectivity – in (Liljefors et al. 2012). The cells of the what Steinar Kvale and Svend Brinkmann brain are of much more interest for the (2009) call reflexive objectivity. Of scientists, and the brain is sometimes course, a group discussion also includes looked upon as a distant, overarching sys- the interaction between the participants, tem for the cells. The participants were and the possibility that the group will aim initially asked to describe what a brain is. their discussions towards agreement ra- One of the participants, David, claims that ther than allowing differences (Gray a brain is “a collection of cells, particular- 2003). This was taken into account by ask- ly neurons. And other cells.” Katherine ing supplementary questions and trying to continues: display a permissive and open atmos- The brain is not working as its own organ. It works phere. through what we see, what we feel, what we taste, An inductive thematic approach was what we smell. And without that kind of input it’s applied to the qualitative analysis process not really; it’s nothing, it’s just a bunch of cells (Riessman 2008). The focus group inter- kind of lying there. (Katherine) views were taken as a whole and scrutin- The brain without a body and external ized repeatedly in order to highlight pat- stimuli is here described as a collection of terns and identify themes. The interpreta- cells. The body is necessary in order to tions made during the analysis featured a see, feel, taste and smell, and the body reflexive consideration as well, where (and brain) require input to do that. Typ- understandings and interpretations were ically, in neuroscientific practice, the critically examined and discussed be- brain’s dependence on and interconnec- tween the co-authors. tions with the body is not in focus. Later In the following, three themes will be on, in the focus group interview, David is discussed to understand how cells and elaborating on this when he highlights neurons are described, interpreted and un- that: “When you get into your job, as a derstood by a group of neuroscientists: neuroscientist, you just forget that there is Perceiving “a bunch of cells” in the brain, a body attached to this organ. […] You’re Neurons as personified and Reprogram- looking at [human] behaviour as one hun- ming cells – authenticity and identity. The dred per cent brain function.” At work in themes revolve around perceptions of the the lab, the brain becomes a separated bio- brain and the neuroscientists’ descrip- materiality, even though everyone is well tions, interpretations and understandings aware of the connection between, for ex- of the cells and neurons they are working ample, body and brain. In a way, it is as on. Katherine says, “just a bunch of cells”. In previous research this approach to Perceiving “a Bunch of Cells” in the the brain has been pointed out as an in- Brain creasing orientation towards cerebral is- As pointed out at the beginning, neuro- sues, transforming all domains of life and scientific practice concerns not so much knowledge production; the way we hu- the whole brain but parts of it on a mo- mans regard ourselves as human beings, lecular level – a form of atomized brain the society around us and our knowledge 226 Åsa Alftberg, Kristofer Hansson, Markus Idvall, “Just a Bunch of Cells”

of the brain (Vidal 2009; Williams, Katz David: You don’t think that anything has to do & Martin 2011; Hansson & Idvall 2017). with, for example, the muscles. You just think that In other words, neuroscientific research- this is the brain doing different things. […] We’re completely ignorant about... for example, when ers like David and Katherine have become you are sick, let’s say like having the flu, you of- part of “an epistemology that both tran- ten also get depressed. So there’s a super-tight scends and reinforces thinking about the connection in your everyday life. And then, as brain and mind” (Littlefield & Johnson soon as you go into the lab you sort of just cut off, 2012:5). According to Nikolas Rose and you cut off the brain and look at it separately. You Joelle Abi-Rached, the brain has emerged just consider the brain function of that aspect and as the essential organ for the existence of then you just take out the brain and look at that. Robert: Yeah, but you’re bound to simplification. a human self, thus making the subject a You can’t study everything you know. “cerebral subject”. This is a neurobio- David: You only consider that the brain is the logical self, created by the brain – regard- thing that controls the behaviour. less of its historical and cultural context, Mary: It’s like impossible to plan an experiment only formed by evolution – and human otherwise, yeah. consciousness and the mind appears to be Katherine: It’s very complicated if you have to an effect of the brain, unable to affect the take into account all the variables... (Scattered laughter among the participants) brain in return (Rose & Abi-Rached 2013). The laughter is of course central because it Neuroscientific practice forms a very says something about the obvious, at least specific epistemological perspective that for the neuroscientists; it is seemingly ab- gives the scientists a certain view o the surd to take into account all possible vari- brain. In the focus group interviews this ables. Or in other words, to take into ac- epistemological reasoning becomes some- count all the different affordances that can thing to unite around, but also, probably, exist in the laboratory. In the focus group something that needs to be explained to interviews, however, the obvious be- outsiders; i.e. to us ethnologists who are comes a perspective needing to be ex- researchers from a different discipline. plained to non-experts. Nevertheless, the The neurons afford different things, for body with its brain is here emerging and is example in the context of the interview, or considered to be a variable, too complex in the context where only neuroscientists to take into account when studying the meet (Leonardi 2013). This means that brain, or rather its neurons. When the par- these neurons have a biomateriality that ticipants talk about the brain, it is de- affords – together with scientific instru- scribed as a collection or bunch of cells, ments – specific kinds of knowledge. This just lying there. This is a way of referring does not mean that the neurons’ material- to the cells as passive entities. The brain ity changes. This is probably the reason cells are studied, disconnected from the why David, in the following discussion, is brain and the rest of the body, in the ab- trying to explain to us ethnologists how stract world of the laboratory. These nar- they work with the “brain” in the laborato- ratives and perspectives have similarities ry, and Robert, Mary and Katherine join with the descriptions by the sociologist the discussion: Karin Knorr Cetina of how researchers in Åsa Alftberg, Kristofer Hansson, Markus Idvall, “Just a Bunch of Cells” 227

laboratories work with biomateriality, or perceived as threatening to the individual rather extractions and purified versions of self by the patients involved. This phe- this materiality, which are decontextual- nomenon has been well described in pre- ized from place and time, i.e. their natural vious ethnological research. Susanne Lun- environment and their natural cycles of din found similar conceptions when she occurrence (Knorr Cetina 1999:27). With interviewed patients with Parkinson’s dis- regard to human cells, in the laboratory ease and patients with diabetes in the the cells appear as pure working material 1990s (Lundin 1999). Her studies con- with no links to a living context of bodies cerned cells that were transplanted or were and persons. They lose all claim to repre- planned to be transplanted from animal to sent individuals and are transformed into humans. In this type of transplantation – chemical biomateriality (Lundin 2012: known as xenotransplantation – there 30). were beliefs that the animal’s characteris- tics could be transferred to the patient. Al- Neurons as Personified so, the xenotransplant researchers them- However, there are other narratives that selves reflected on characteristics – simi- interpret the neurons rather as personified. larities and differences – between the spe- Personified is in particular a public image cies when conducting their animal studies that the scientists come into contact with (Idvall 2003). In the media reports these through different patient contexts, for ex- perspectives were reproduced as funny ample patients who are under treatment anecdotes – for example, whether patients with cell transplantation. Susan expands would be risking a pigtail after transplan- on this in one of the focus group inter- tation of porcine cells (Hansson 2011). views: But it was not simply funny anecdotes: in I think it’s something that some people will ask: the media context the animal cells had an what will it do to my brain if I get someone else’s affordance that created different imagin- cells in there? And then they start thinking about aries. how my brain will function and how these cells At the same time, it is not only the pub- will... […] And in that sense I guess the brain are their thoughts and their minds so they don’t lic or patients’ images that cells are bearer want... they want to get the functioning cured but of inner thoughts, feelings and personali- they don’t want anyone to meddle with their... ty. The participants from the laboratory […] “What are they going to do to my brain, are draw upon this belief as well, once again it they going to be partly you then?” (Susan) is Susan that develops the argument: Robert talks about how patients assume And of course it’s not complete nonsense, we they may receive “someone else’s brain don’t know what these new cells will do. […] information”, and Katherine continues: Probably you will not become a pig if you get “the patients are thinking, ‘Will my some pig cells but... (laughing)… but they trans- thoughts change for instance, because I planted human glial cells into mice, and these mice are smarter. And they call them humanized get other people’s cells?’” Susan adds: mice, and say that they are smarter mice. So, I “And also, ‘Am I going to like something mean it’s not completely out of the question that that I didn’t like before?’” According to they could do something to your brain. But we the participants, another person’s cells are don’t know and we can never measure it so we 228 Åsa Alftberg, Kristofer Hansson, Markus Idvall, “Just a Bunch of Cells”

don’t want to discuss it. Because scientists are not fore, they are perceived as open for comfortable discussing things that they don’t change, and with the expansion of bio- know. (Susan) medical research they are also looked How the neuroscientists perceive the brain upon as experimental biomateriality (Ru- cells is also related to the discourse of the bin 2008). Katherine explains their work atomized body (Liljefors et al. 2012). with stem cells: “We’re actually just fol- Other ethnological studies of biomedical lowing the normal developmental path. research have pointed out that this dis- So, we think, I mean, the cells are authen- course of the atomized body creates a tic as we see them.” A normal develop- fragmented, objectified body when focus- ment seemingly means authenticity; the ing on cells and genes (Holmberg & Ide- transformed stem cells are real and satis- land 2012). We want to highlight that this factory brain cells or neurons. is similar to our study, but there is also an On the other hand, somatic cells are interpretation of the neurons as personi- looked upon as fixed; they are not really fied, having affordances that transcend the designed to be changed. Katherine de- atomized body. While the scientists are scribes the transformation as “kind of not only mapping cells and genes, but also forcing one type of cell to becoming into the processes of neurons, proteins and something it’s not supposed to be, which synapses, an important part is the modern is called reprogramming”. To transform technology that continually develops in somatic cells into neurons is to force them the microscopic units of the body that and perhaps even make them unauthentic. seemingly are disconnected from the body They become something that they were as a whole (Franklin 2006). This modern not destined to be. One of the participants technology also opens up for categoriza- expresses how neurons made from so- tions and ambivalences that may lead in matic cells have been questioned by fel- other directions than objectification; ra- low researchers: ther, towards agency and subjectivity of When we started transforming these somatic cells the body or parts of the body.4 This is into neurons, suddenly there were questions like, something that we will look more closely “Is it a real neuron you have made?” When they at in the final empirical section. Here we differentiated stem cells, people presupposed that want to explore how the scientists can de- it was stem cells. But the reprogramming created a lot of… “How do you know that the cells are velop and change the biomateriality in a neurons?” and then we began to discuss what a manner that also affects the affordance, neuron really is, and what is possible to measure meaning that it is not only the relation that in these cells in order to call them neurons. That’s is central to understand this affordance. the kind of measurements we make, where you look at, not only if they appear as neurons but Reprogramming Cells – Authenticity function as neurons. (Susan) and Identity The reprogramming process leads to ques- The scientists work with both stem cells tions about the authenticity of the trans- and somatic cells in order to make them formed cells. This in turns leads to actions into neurons. Stem cells are cells that can that measure the cells, especially their differentiate5 to specialized cells. There- function. The researchers become part of Åsa Alftberg, Kristofer Hansson, Markus Idvall, “Just a Bunch of Cells” 229

what Tim Ingold would call “an active ex- They [the cells] are not that predetermined. For ploration of the possibilities afforded by” example, a neuron, if you give it dopamine it can the neurons and the environment – the la- just ignore… the information is removed some- how. In nearly all reprogramming you add genes boratory – they were working in (Ingold that control the cell and where it’s going. Basical- 2011:359). A central question then is: ly, nothing can shut down the identity the cell has does the new neuron function as a neuron originally, but the cell does that itself. (Susan) should? The most important function for Going back to affordance, we would argue the cell is to be able to communicate and that the materiality of the cell exists inde- connect with other cells, as Mary points pendently of the participants that are part out: of our study, the neuroscientific research- The cells should send signals to each other, if the ers, but the cells and the neurons afford reprogrammed cells function as ordinary cells. If differently in relation to diverse contexts they can somehow reset the networks and then in the brain… We don’t really know, are they really in the laboratories (Leonardi 2013). as they should be? If we take a somatic cell and “Nothing can shut down” the cell’s identi- turn it into a neuron, will it function as well as an ty – materiality – as Susan points out, only ordinary neuron? Because if it won’t, there is al- the cell itself. In other words, some cells ways a risk; you will end up with side effects and are perceived as having more fleeting so on. (Mary) identities – they afford differently – than A connecting neuron, i.e. a neuron that others. In this way, the neuroscientific re- signals to other cells, is considered to be a searchers not only come to the cells and functioning neuron. The neuroscientific the neurons “with diverse goals” (p. 70), emphasis on cell connection could be but it seems that also the materiality – “the termed connectionism, according to Davi identity the cell has originally” (Susan) – Johnson Thornton (2011), researcher in does something with the way the cells and communication studies. The notion high- neurons are perceived. lights the view of the brain as “an array of Some answers can be given if the focus dynamic processes or signalling distribut- is on how the biomedical researchers talk ed neural pathways” (p. 14). Such a view about the cells’ identity. Identity is a com- also supports notions of the brain’s poten- mon notion in biomedical research, sim- tial with regard to plasticity and flexibili- plistically meaning the predetermined ty. The ability of the brain is dependent on function of different cell types, but as eth- the ability of neurons to connect. But the nologists we interpret identity as also hav- connecting ability is also a way for the sci- ing contextual connotations to the every- entists to categorize the transformed cell day use of the term. Cells with similar and ensure it has become a neuron by the identities (for example cells that belong to way it functions, i.e. connects. comparable body parts or organs) have The participants further discuss how the previously been regarded as easier to re- reprogramming of cells is accomplished program into one another, but according by using genes to control the cell identity. to the participants, their research now in- This is a technology that is now viewed as dicates that this is not always the case: a well-known procedure, but some cells Perhaps one shouldn’t start with similar [cells], are easier than others to transform: but maybe it’s better to start with something com- 230 Åsa Alftberg, Kristofer Hansson, Markus Idvall, “Just a Bunch of Cells”

pletely different. Even though it should be that a predetermined identity and the repro- cell that’s almost steered towards something gramming process forces them to trans- would be easier to steer or control just a little bit form. On the other hand, the cell is the ac- further, rather than a cell that’s completely differ- ent. (Susan) tive materiality that may shut down the original identity and alter into another When talking about reprogramming more form of cell, being able to connect with difficult cells (cells with a more “fixed” other cells and being plastic. The repro- identity), Mary says: “You may have to gramming process seems to change the interfere in its natural course in a rather se- materiality of the cells, from somatic cells vere way to succeed.” It seems that the to neurons, but also in terms of authenti- natural course is given by biology, unin- city. Does the transformed cell have the terrupted by human interventions, while same materiality as a true neuron? Or can the researcher has the ability to interfere the materiality change when the neuro- and create an unnatural or artificial way. scientific researchers are reprogramming As Susanne Lundin puts it: “created cells the cells and adding genes? Can it be that are also alien elements; anomalies whose the authenticity also concerns the tension powers ought to be located beyond the in- between the original cell – created by bi- dividual” (Lundin 2012:33). There is then ology through the body – and the trans- a tension between the (presumed) natural formed cell, created by scientists? These and the (presumed) artificial in biomedi- are central questions when we look more cine, a division that has been well dis- closely to the neuron, and how the cells cussed in ethnology (Lundin 1999; Hans- and the neurons afford differently in rela- son 2011). tion to diverse contexts. Overall, cells are regarded as more mouldable – more plastic – than previous- Conclusion ly thought. Robert explains that, usually, In this article, we have explored how bio- “cells are never seen as plastic or anything materiality that is in constant flux is de- close to plastic” but the reprogramming scribed, interpreted and understood by process has opened up a new field. Kathe- neuroscientists, and their reasoning con- rine continues: cerning new bio-scientific perspectives of Well, we’re more looking at the cell, what’s hap- these materialities. We also wanted to pening in the cell, not so much what’s happening frame this reasoning with ethnological in the brain as a whole but each cell, how does each cell work. And how does, if we change it, theories about materiality. Since material- how does that affect the way it functions. It’s very ity takes many various forms, we have ar- specific. It’s very much on a micro-level…. It’s a gued for a development of new cultural- cellular concept. But it absolutely changed the analytical tools within ethnology. We sug- whole field and the concept of what a cell is and gest that affordance could be such a tool, how you can change a cell. (Katherine) which emphasizes a relational approach to The participants seemingly have an am- understand how people interact with ma- bivalence towards the changing of cells teriality, and which refers to all possible when it comes to agency. The cells are interactions based on how an actor per- sometimes described as passive, having a ceives this materiality. It is a tool that can Åsa Alftberg, Kristofer Hansson, Markus Idvall, “Just a Bunch of Cells” 231

be used to better understand those habits In conclusion, we suggest that the neu- and routines that are part of the laboratory roscientific work in the laboratory is inter- life (Latour & Woolgar 1979). woven with the researchers’ perceptions The materiality of the cell exists inde- of brains, cells and neurons. The practical pendently of the neuroscientific research- dealings with human neuronal cells seem- ers, but the cells and the neurons afford ingly create new knowledge of the brain, differently in relation to diverse contexts but also transform the descriptions and un- in the laboratories, as well as the context derstandings of the brain and its molecular of the focus group interview. At work in components. The cells and neurons are in- the lab, the brain is seen as an object with terpreted in shifting ways; from passive, many cells, and the neurons are fragment- disconnected from brain and body, to ac- ed parts of an objectified body. In contact tive beings with an authentic identity; and with the public or patients, the neurons from an atomized brain to a brain with can be associated with inner thoughts, selfhood and identity. Altogether this cre- feelings and personality. At the same time, ates what Fernando Vidal (2009) calls this is not something that has been de- brainhood, a neurocultural discourse that veloped in this article, which mainly fo- changes how we humans relate to the cuses on everyday life in the laboratory. brain. As ethnologists we can talk about a But it is important to stress that new personification of the brain, not simply knowledge that is produced within the la- having one but being one. boratories also circulates in society at Affordance is a central perspective large and affects people’s cultural views when we follow Joseph Dumit’s call for of what it means to be a human. an unpacking of the different discourses However, the scientists can develop that underlie theories of the brain and its and change the biomateriality in a way implications (Dumit 2004). It gives us eth- that also affects the affordance. Repro- nologists a possibility to explore different grammed cells lead to discussions of au- abilities for meaning-making and actions thenticity and identity; the cells are some- in, for example, the laboratory. But it is times interpreted as passive, at other times also a perspective on biomateriality that as active, altering their forms and being seek to reach further than merely seeing plastic. This is in many ways a new rela- objects as shortcuts to cultural patterns, or tion to how we as ethnologists can see and how they are crucial for culture to emerge. study materiality, and therefore also some- The shifting materiality of the cells and thing that we want to highlight as a new neurons does something with how they are task for our subject. The concept of af- perceived. The concept of affordance may fordance offers a tool to further under- capture the particular interaction that stand the interaction between humans and emerges when materiality is fluctuating. materiality that is mouldable and flowing. In the article, we have shown how the We also need to find out new theoretical neuroscientists talk about brains, cells and and methodological concepts to better un- neurons in different contexts, but this also derstand the changing world within neuro- underlines how the researchers do science science. in the laboratory. Working with cells and 232 Åsa Alftberg, Kristofer Hansson, Markus Idvall, “Just a Bunch of Cells”

neurons – manipulating and transforming 2013; Pickersgill, Martin & Cunningham- them into different shapes, shifting func- Burley 2015). 2 We wish to express our gratitude to all our re- tions and identities – shows the cultural search colleagues for many enthusiastic dis- meaning of affordances. To understand cussions. Such collaborations make it possible how neuroscience produces new knowl- to share in the everyday life of research la- edge about our brain, we ethnologists boratories and clinics. We also thank the two anonymous peer reviewers whose comments need to look further into the emerging pro- were of great help during the revision of the cesses in the laboratory and how the scien- text. tists strive for new perspectives, some- 3 The focus group interviews were conducted thing that will also change our culture and by two of the authors – Kristofer Hansson and Markus Idvall – together with the research as- what assumptions our culture has when re- sistant Ellen Suneson. lating to the organ that is, as Katherine 4 It could be said that subjectivity happens says in the focus group interview, “just a through objectification; i.e. how “objectifying bunch of cells”. technologies affect human beings in various ways, particularly in how they turn an individ- ual into a particular kind of subject” (Ekbia & Åsa Alftberg Nardi 2012:158). Senior Lecturer, PhD in Ethnology 5 Differentiation of stem cells means that they Department of Social Work undergo a progressive developmental change Malmö University to a more specialized form or function (Frank- SE-205 06 Malmö, Sweden lin 2005:63). email: [email protected]

Kristofer Hansson References Senior Lecturer, Associate Professor of Eth- Field material nology Four focus group interviews (November 2015 – Department of Social Work May 2016), 3–5 participants, lasting between Malmö University one and one and a half hours. Conducted by SE-205 06 Malmö, Sweden Kristofer Hansson, Markus Idvall and Ellen email: [email protected] Suneson.

Markus Idvall Senior Lecturer, Associate Professor of Eth- Literature nology Åkesson, Lynn & Lundin, Susanne 1996: Creat- Department of Ethnology, History of Religions ing Life and Exploring Death. Ethnologia Eu- and Gender Studies ropaea 26:1, 37‒49. Stockholm University Alftberg, Åsa & Bengtsen, Peter 2018: The Sci-Fi SE-106 91 Stockholm Brain. Narratives in Neuroscience and Popular email: [email protected] Culture. Culture Unbound 10:1, 11‒30. Alftberg, Åsa & Rosenqvist, Johanna 2017: Meet- ings with Complexity. Dementia and Participa- Notes tion in Art Educational Situations. In Kristofer 1 See also Åkesson & Lundin 1996; Lundin & Hansson & Markus Idvall (eds.), Interpreting Ideland 1997; Lundin & Åkesson 2002; Ide- the Brain in Society. Cultural Reflections on land 2002; Liljefors et al. 2012; Andersen Neuroscientific Practices. Lund: Arkiv Förlag. 2013; Hagen 2013; Wiszmeg 2016. This kind Altermark, Niklas 2014: The Ideology of Neuro- of ethnological research is part of an estab- science and Intellectual Disability. Reconstitut- lished research area concerning the cultural ing the ‘Disordered’ Brain. Disability & Society and social aspects of what can be called bio- 29:9, 1460–1472. sciences (see for example Brown & Webster Andersen, Michael 2013: A Question of Location. 2004; Franklin 2006; Schmitz 2012; Rose Life with Fatigue After Stroke. Copenhagen: Åsa Alftberg, Kristofer Hansson, Markus Idvall, “Just a Bunch of Cells” 233

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Challenge to Western Thought. New York: Ba- with Our Brain? Perspectives in Continental sic Books. Philosophy. New York: Fordham University Latour, Bruno 1999: Pandora’s Hope. Essays on Press. the Reality of Science Studies. Cambridge/Lon- Pickersgill, Martyn, Paul Martin & Sarah Cun- don: Harvard University Press. ningham-Burley 2015: The Changing Brain. Latour, Bruno & Woolgar, Steve 1979: Laborato- Neuroscience and the Enduring Import of ry Life. The Social Construction of Scientific Everyday Experience. Public Understanding of Facts. Beverly Hills: Sage. Science 24:7, 878‒892. Leonardi, Paul M. 2011: When Flexible Routines Riessman, Catherine Kohler 2008: Narrative Meet Flexible Technologies. Affordance, Con- Methods for the Human Sciences. London: straint, and the Imbrication of Human and Ma- Sage Publications. terial Agencies. MIS Quarterly 35:1, 147–167. Rose, Nikolas 2007: The Politics of Life Itself. Leonardi, Paul. M. 2013: Theoretical Foundations Biomedicine, Power, and Subjectivity in the for the Study of Sociomateriality. Information Twenty-first Century. Princeton: Princeton Uni- and Organization 23:2, 59–76. versity Press. Littlefield, Melissa M. & Johnson, Jenell, M. Rose, Nikolas 2013: The Human Sciences in a 2012: Introduction: Theorizing the Neuroscien- Biological Age. Theory, Culture & Society 30: tific Turn – Critical Perspectives on a Transla- 1, 3‒34. tional Discipline. In Melissa M. Littlefield & Rose, Nikolas S. & Abi-Rached, Joelle M. 2013: Jenell M. Johnson (eds.), The Neuroscientific Neuro. The New Brain Sciences and the Man- Turn. Transdisciplinarity in the Age of the agement of the Mind. Princeton/Oxford: Prince- Brain. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan ton University Press. Press. Rubin, Beatrix P. 2008: Therapeutic Promise in Liljefors, Max, Lundin, Susanne & Wiszmeg, An- the Discourse of Human Embryonic Stem Cell dréa (eds.) 2012: The Atomized Body. The Cul- Research. Science as Culture 17:1, 13–27. tural Life of Stem Cells, Genes and Neurons. Lund: Nordic Academic Press. Rubin, Beatrix P. 2009: Changing Brains. The Löfgren, Orvar 1990: Tinget och tidsandan. In Alf Emergence of the Field of Adult Neurogenesis. Arvidsson, Kurt Genrup, Roger Jacobsson, Biosocieties 4, 407–424. Britta Lundgren & Inger Lövkrona (eds.), Schmitz, Sigrid 2012: The Neurotechnological Människor och föremål. Etnologer om materiell Cerebral Subject: Persistence of Implicit and kultur. Stockholm: Carlsson Bokförlag. Explicit Gender Norms in a Network of Lundin, Susanne 1999: The Boundless Body. Change. Neuroethics 5, 261‒274. Cultural Perspectives on Xenotransplantation. Vidal, Fernando 2009: Brainhood, Anthropologi- Ethnos. Journal of Anthropology 64:1, 5‒31. cal Figure of Modernity. History of the Human Lundin, Susanne 2012: Moral Accounting. Ethics Sciences 22:1, 5–36. and Praxis in Biomedical Research. In Max Lil- Williams, Simon J., Katz, Stephen & Martin, Paul jefors, Susanne Lundin & Andréa Wiszmeg 2011: Neuroscience and Medicalisation. Socio- (eds.), The Atomized Body. The Cultural Life of logical Reflections on Memory, Medicine and Stem Cells, Genes and Neurons. Lund: Nordic the Brain. In Martyn Pickersgill & Ira Van Academic Press. Keulen (eds.), Sociological Reflections on the Lundin, Susanne & Ideland, Malin 1997: Gene Neurosciences (Advances in Medical Sociolo- Technology and the Public. Lund: Nordic Aca- gy, Volume 13). Bingley: Emerald Group Pub- demic Press. lishing Limited. Lundin, Susanne & Åkesson, Lynn (eds.) 2002: Wiszmeg, Andréa 2016: Cells in Suspense. Un- Gene Technology and Economy. Lund: Nordic boxing the Negotiations of a Large-scale Cell Academic Press. Transplantation Trial. Ethnologia Scandinavica Malabou, Catherine 2008: What Should We Do 46, 104‒123. 235 Biographical Notes

Kirsti Mathiesen Hjemdahl, Professor in Kristiansand how to understand festivals and show business, methodologically as well as theoretically. De- signed by grownups to amuse the young, they have often been subject to shrewd academic com- ments upon the “real” intent behind the many seemingly artificial displays. As an ethnologist inspired by a phenomenological approach, she engaged a child as her field assistant. Closely fol- lowing in his footsteps, she was able to reveal how the materiality was brought to life through play and interaction, a kind of enchantment that is often lost to the educated mind. This focus upon children and objects became a hallmark for a number of studies and publications where mu- seum and cultural heritage were to be explored. Moving on outside Norway, she started long- term cooperation with colleagues in Croatia and South Africa to study the material manifestations of politicians like Josip Tito and Nelson Mandela. The Norwegian ethnologist Kirsti Mathiesen To be a foreigner in the world of children in many Hjemdahl was appointed Professor at the Faculty regards resembles doing fieldwork in a culture of Fine Arts, University of Agder, at the begin- where you have limited access to language and ning of 2019; seven months afterwards she was history. Together with students from the Univer- hired as CEO of the philanthropy fund of Cultiva. sity of Zagreb, she initiated a project to study the Being one of the major player in the region of “almost” theme park of Kumrovec, Tito’s birth- Agder financing art, cultural and educational in- place – helped by the insights of local ethnolo- stitutions and organizations, the fund contributes gists. Under the theoretical guidance of Mathie- to innovation and development. Here she found sen Hjemdahl, and in cooperation with scholars herself in the pre-eminent position of exercising from the university, they advanced a model for influence over cultural areas that ethnologists fieldworking that turned out to be fruitful, using usually make part of their research and fieldwork. students both as informants and as researchers. The study of innovation and development has Books, publications in international journals, and been one of the leitmotifs through Mathiesen participation in conferences and seminars home Hjemdahl’s academic career, mostly due to the and abroad was the scientific outcome of this manifold projects on tourism she has led from her cooperation, as well as the South-African project. more than a decade long tenure at the research in- Kirsti Mathiesen Hjemdahl is known as a per- stitute of Agderforskning, located in the city of ceptive scholar, always on the lookout for novel Kristiansand. ideas and perspectives. To be head-hunted for the Another such motif was laid out when Mathie- demanding job as CEO of a huge fund with the sen Hjemdahl graduated from the Department of aim of promoting culture and innovation in the Ethnology at Bergen University in 2002. Her dis- region must be seen as a recognition of her cap- sertation dealt with Scandinavian theme parks, acity to manage projects as well as people who published a year later with the title: Tur-retur Te- work on them. mapark. This built upon her seminal approach to Jonas Frykman, Lund

Ethnologia Scandinavica, Vol. 50, 2020 236 Biographical Notes

Lars Kaijser, Professor in Stockholm monograph Musikens ögonblick: En studie av konsertarrangörer (2007) he shows how concert arrangers plan, implement, and value their own activities, and how their work is grounded in di- rectives of cultural policy. The overall aim is to understand why the work of the concert arrangers is organized in a particular way, why their work “looks the way it does”. By following a chamber music society, a rock club for young people, and a café, Lars Kaijser focuses on the organizers’ va- rious practices, and his ethnographic study contri- butes interesting and in-depth analyses of the pro- cesses that have an impact on the different activi- ties. Kaijser’s scholarly works display his strong ethnographic presence and his analytical acuity and profundity. The relationship between popular Lars Kaijser has been affiliated with Stockholm music and history is a prominent theme of his re- University since 1991, where he has, among other search. Several of his publications concern a things, served as director of studies and head of common research question, “how and what is ethnology. Kaijser gained his doctorate in eth- communicated when the history of pop music is nology in 1999, and since 2006 he has been portrayed in different forms”. As a good writer, a lecturer in the Faculty of Humanities, Depart- Kaijser often chooses to publish his research in ment of Ethnology, History of Religions and the form of edited volumes, a genre in which cul- Gender Studies (ERG). His dissertation Lant- tural analysis and ethnographic descriptions can handlare: En etnologisk undersökning av en eko- have more space than in a shorter article format. nomisk verksamhet examined present-day coun- This has been a successful publishing tradition in try shops. This ethnographic study was based on the humanities. Today we can increasingly see in- fieldwork in northern Klarälvsdalen, focusing on ternational elements, and Kaijser’s list of publica- how the work of country shopkeepers is constitut- tions includes two fine contributions to edited ed in a field of competing notions about retail volumes: “Swedish Prog Rock and the Search for trade. a Timeless Utopia” (with Sverker Hyltén-Caval- Since Lars Kaijser gained the title of docent lius) in Holt & Antti-Ville (2017) and “Authen- in 2008, cultural aspects of small business and ticities on Display: Reflections on a Staged Pink economic activities are themes that have con- Floyd Concert” in Brusila, Johnson & Richardson tinued to permeate his research, but he has also (2016). Texts like these contribute to the interna- explored other fields in greater depth and tackled tional development of ethnology. new ones: popular music and historiography, Publications dealing with similar themes are nature and the environment. He has developed “Allsång på Skansen. Reflektioner kring populär- the tradition of ethnography and cultural analysis, musik, tradition och immateriellt kulturarv” in often combined with archival studies and written RIG: Kulturhistorisk tidskrift (2017), “Mångtydi- materials. ga skratt: Om närhet och distans hos Beatles- Lars Kaijser’s research profile contains differ- entreprenörer i Liverpool” in Jönsson & Fredriks- ent perspectives on the relationship between large son (2014), and “Beatlesfragment i rörelse: En and small processes. His goal is to understand guidad bussturs narrativa ordnande av tid och and describe how the global or the national can rum” in Gustafsson Reinius, Habel & Jülich manifest itself in the local and the everyday. He (2013). The latter is an especially good example also has a strong and well-documented interest in of Lars Kaijser’s ethnographic rigour and good understanding how culturally imprinted beliefs presentation skills. constitute various activities and contexts. In the Parts of Lars Kaijser’s ongoing research can be Biographical Notes 237

found in the volume from 2018, Djur: Berörande konsumtionens fält (Gemzöe 2004). His chapter möten och kulturella smärtpunkter, which he on “When the Structures Emerge” focuses on the edited together with Simon Ekström. He applies combination of ethnographic investigations with cultural perspectives to animals and plants, spe- archival and media studies. Here Kaijser reflects cifically how animals and nature are presented in on his own role as an ethnographer in the research public aquariums. How can scientific knowledge process and shows how the ongoing fieldwork in- and entertainment be combined in the aquariums’ volves constant redefinition of positions and how outreach activities? In this volume, eight ethnolo- the policy of a specific activity structures the gists analyse how animals in different ways work of the ethnographer. Kaijser also demon- arouse people’s engagement and emotions. Kaij- strates the difficulty of gaining access to an em- ser’s article focuses on how sharks are displayed pirical field, in this case retail trade. His under- in aquariums, and how they are portrayed in standing of the specific conditions of trade is an words and pictures. These stagings contain ambi- important part of his methodological reflection, valences and contradictions that also concern the and the article is a strong pedagogical contribu- relationship between animals and humans. Other tion to contemporary ethnography. ongoing research proceeds from topical environ- Lars Kaijser is active and well established in mental issues, popular culture, citizens’ research, the scholarly community, making a solid contri- as well as invasive species and the various action bution to the university’s shared development programmes to manage or impede the spread of work. His many years as director of studies have certain species. involved both course development and adminis- Lars Kaijser’s pedagogical qualifications show tration, as well as more general leadership and a highly developed sensitivity to different target implementation of changes. As head of eth- groups and an insight into the importance of vari- nology, Kaijser has broad experience of leader- ation in pedagogical tools and forms of examina- ship at several levels and in different academic tion. An important factor is his ability to commu- contexts. His collaboration with the surrounding nicate research findings to students and col- society is well documented, for example, through leagues, and to society as a whole. The book Kon- the educational collaboration “OpenLab” be- sumtion (2010), for example, written together tween Stockholm University, the Karolinska In- with the business economist Jacob Östberg, func- stitute, Södertörn University, and the Royal Insti- tions as an excellent textbook of different per- tute of Technology. Other merits include sitting spectives on consumerism as a concept and a so- on the board of the Centre for Maritime Studies cial phenomenon. The book problematizes the (CEMAS) and the Music-Focused Interdiscip- role of consumption for individuals and society in linary Research and Analysis Centre (MIRAC), a fascinating way, and Kaijser focuses specifical- which testifies to an interest in long-term and ly on the emergence of the Swedish consumer so- in-depth interaction between the academy and the ciety and the consumption of popular culture in a surrounding society. Lars Kaijser has also been historical context. successful in obtaining external research funding With Magnus Öhlander, Lars Kaijser has also for the subject, allowing long-term investments. edited a textbook on fieldwork, which appeared Lars Kaijser’s collaboration with the University in a second edition in 2011: Etnologisk fältarbe- of Illinois has helped to developed international te: En antologi. Another important pedagogical collaborations in the field of ethology at Stock- contribution is the article on methodology in the holm University. volume Nutida etnografi: Reflektioner från medie- Cecilia Fredriksson, Lund/Helsingborg 238 Biographical Notes

John Ødemark, Professor in Oslo on medical knowledge translation (“from bench to bedside”) which explores the entanglements of epistemological, cultural and textual practices in the transmission of medical research evidence into policy-making and clinical decision-making across the globe. A distinctive feature of Ødemark’s research is its multidimensional character. Ødemark never treats a concept like translation as secluded into one single theoretical space but as a “floating sig- nifier” open to divergent meanings. Moreover, he is not satisfied with applying a theory to empirical material; he simultaneously questions the theory. In this lies a fundamental historical awareness and gaze. A recurring assumption in Ødemark’s texts is that the distinction between an empirical and historically situated reality and a theoretical ap- proach that is general and generic is not analytical- ly fruitful and impossible to maintain. Unlike some of the literary and social science researchers he de- rives his inspiration from, he treats any theoretical concept as a result of complex textual and histori- cal processes. When he draws on theorists such as Latour, Derrida or Viveiros de Castro, it is always John Ødemark was appointed professor of Cul- as texts he considers them, not as emblems of tural History at the University of Oslo in 2018. Ødemark defended his doctoral thesis at the Uni- theoretical “frameworks” or systems. Like the em- versity of Oslo in 2010 and he holds two master pirical texts he analyses ‒ be it indigenous dis- degrees, in Comparative Literature and in Folk- course or medical guidelines ‒ he shows how the lore and Cultural History. He also has a back- theoretical texts he analyses them with contain a ground in anthropology, the history of religion multitude of meanings and are products of com- and intellectual history. This interdisciplinary plex historical processes. This dual approach background is deeply reflected in Ødemark’s re- makes his analyses original and complex, but also search and publications. He is a cultural historian challenging and sometimes difficult to read. Øde- of the theoretical kind. Most of his work has an mark’s research cannot be swallowed easily; you explicit epistemological or historical-epistemol- need to slow down to savour the insights generated ogical purpose and cultural translation is a recur- through his texts. ring topic in his writing. His doctoral dissertation Ødemark is not only a researcher, but also an examined cultural translation and early modern experienced university teacher. He is perhaps not cultural encounters and was highly praised by the the kind of teacher who wins awards for enter- evaluation committee for being “unusually ambi- tainment or for using new and fancy technologies tious” and “a first-class piece of work and an im- in teaching. But he has an exceptional pedagogic- portant contribution to Cultural History”. His al patience and takes a genuine interest in the postdoctoral project was about the Amazon as a thoughts of his students. This attitude, combined topos in cultural theory, ethno-politics and en- with his intellect, has made him a highly valued vironmentalism. role model and a loyal academic mentor for new His research also emphasizes how intercultural generations of intelligent young researchers. translation is intertwined with other translational Ødemark is appointed group leader at the processes such as language, text and knowledge. Centre for Advanced Studies at the Norwegian Not least of all, this characterizes his later work Academy for Science and Letters for the aca- Biographical Notes 239

demic year 2019‒2020. Through the project theoretical book on the topic of cultural context “Body in Translation” he investigates ideas and of health and knowledge translation. practices of translation in medicine and the hu- With his critical and theoretical mindset com- manities with the aim of rethinking the field of bined with his interest in scientific border-cros- the medical humanities as a cross-disciplinary sings, Ødemark represents what I believe are the contact zone between the humanities and medi- best parts of both traditional and “new wave” hu- cine. Ødemark’s work thus has implications be- manities. I am convinced we can look forward to yond cultural history and even the humanities. many innovative contributions from him in the Recently, Ødemark has been appointed a member future. of a WHO expert group commissioned to write a Eivind Engebretsen, Oslo Reviews

New Dissertations was when the author lived there in the 1930s. An ex- tension for the public, with a café, offices, shop, etc., has also been built. The Hamsun Centre opened Presenting Writers and Their Work in 2009. It is located on the island of Hammarøy, Thea Aarbakke, Forfattermuseumsfunksjonene. Mu- Nordland, where Hamsun grew up with his uncle. sealiserte relasjoner mellom liv og litteratur. En stu- The building was designed by the architect Steven die av Hamsunsenteret, Bjerkebæk – Sigrid Undsets Holl and is an interpretation of Hamsun’s literature. hjem og Hauge-senteret. Det humanistiske fakultet, The centre is also responsible for Hamsun’s child- Universitetet i Oslo 2020. 208 pp. Ill. Diss. hood home, the Hamsun farm, but this is not includ- ed in Aarbakke’s study. The centre has few original  Thea Aarbakke’s dissertation is all about how artefacts and has no collection. The Olav H. Hauge knowledge of an author’s life and works is present- Centre, which opened in 2014, is a documentation ed in exhibitions in writers’ museums and writers’ and mediation centre located in Ulvik (in the old centres. The ambition is to investigate the exhibition town hall) in Hardanger. The centre has some ob- space as an alternative way to understand how au- jects left by Hauge, such as private photographs, thors have been received and assessed. This is ac- original letters, and collections of cuttings. It also companied by a focus on exhibition techniques and has Hauge’s book collection (owned by the Hauge means of communication such as showcases, time- Foundation). Furthermore, the centre is part of the lines, texts, objects, and installations. Aarbakke’s museum constellation Nynorsk Kultursentrum (The premise is that this gives a special understanding Ivar Aasen Centre for Language and Written Cul- that differs from other ways of presenting an au- ture), which represents the written language Ny- thor’s work, such as biographies in book form or lit- norsk. erary chronicles. The background is a desire to test Aarbakke provides a meticulous description of the relatively strong position occupied by the author the different institutions and how they are organ- as subject. The dissertation has an important demar- ized. This is important background information, cation: it considers only museums dedicated to a which raises questions about the significance of the single author, not museums or other institutions de- organization for the design of the exhibitions. There voted to national or more general literature. is a detailed discussion of what these institutions The dissertation consists of six chapters. It fol- should be called: poet’s home, writer’s museum, or lows a traditional structure, with an introductory literary centre. Particular attention is paid to the cat- chapter about the subject of the study and previous egory of museum and whether these three author in- research, followed by a chapter on theory and stitutions are or are not museums. Undset’s home method. Then come three empirical chapters and a defines itself as a museum, while the Hamsun concluding chapter. The dissertation is written with Centre more explicitly rejects this term as being too a sure hand, easy to follow and take in. limiting. The Hauge Centre sometimes calls itself a Chapter 1, “Authorship in museums”, deals with museum, but the question does not seem to be as im- the starting points of the study and presents the three portant for them. I also wonder whether this has any institutions where authors’ lives and writings are ex- bearing on Aarbakke’s dissertation, a question that hibited and interpreted. The empirical material con- does not get a clear answer. cerns Sigrid Undset and her home in Bjerkebæk, In the first chapter, the author also describes three then Knut Hamsun and the Hamsun Centre at Ham- research themes that are relevant to the development marøy in Nordland, and finally Olav H. Hauge and of the study. Aarbakke was initially inspired by re- the Hauge Centre in Ulvik. These differ in both con- search that problematizes the significance of an au- tent and character. Sigrid Undset’s home in Bjerke- thor’s biography and how it can be expressed in ex- bæk opened to the public in 2007. It had then been hibitions. In addition, studies of place and identity in state ownership for ten years and the home that creation are important for discussing how the exhi- had been in the family’s possession since the au- bitions relate to the geographical spaces in which thor’s death had then been subjected to inventory, they are located and how they help to pin literature documentation and cataloguing. The museum was to a specific place. Finally, studies of authenticity based on Undset’s belongings and was restored as it and presence have contributed to an understanding

Ethnologia Scandinavica, Vol. 50, 2020 Reviews 241

of how the exhibitions are designed. Texts about au- how author museums and literary centres select an thenticity by Camilla Mordhorst and Sian Jones author’s oeuvre and biography. These three types of have been particularly important. objects have been chosen because they appear in all In chapter 2 of the dissertation, “Relational muse- the exhibitions and they form part of the exhibition ology: About theory and method”, Aarbakke de- where the works and the author’s biography meet. scribes her dissertation as a contribution to the field The starting point is that knowledge and ideas about of museology and what she perceives as an unex- authors and their oeuvre are communicated materi- plored area, namely museums devoted to one per- ally, i.e. not only in text; as objects they are in- son, a category of museums which has become volved in socio-material processes. Windows are much more numerous in recent decades. Inspired by treated as exhibition techniques, desks as installa- the sociologist John Law, Aarbakke views her study tions, and book collections are studied to see how as a contribution to relational museology, which they are used and which exhibition techniques are draws its theoretical inspiration from Actor-Network- employed to make them accessible. Theory (ANT). The starting point is that reality is Chapter 3, “Room with a view: Making a place the result of relationships between human and through windows”, examines the significance of the non-human actors, and an important basic assump- windows in the different exhibition spaces. It shows tion here is that entities are understood on the basis how the placing of the windows, the light they ad- of the relationships of which they are part. Equally mit, and the view they offer also contribute to an un- important is that everything can have materiality (or derstanding of the authors. Through her analysis of agency). It is not only visions that create exhibi- the significance of windows, Aarbakke shows how tions; materials, objects, and exhibition technology the exhibitions interact with the outside world and are also important. Consequently, in this dissertation how they help visitors to understand the authors’ the gaze is directed towards the materiality that can connection to a place, their inspiration and everyday be found in showcases, timelines, artefacts, installa- life. When it comes to windows as an exhibition tions, and texts. technique, Aarbakke takes into account how the To answer the questions outlined at the start, windows in the various exhibition rooms also help Thea Aarbakke chose fieldwork as a method, with a to constitute the exhibitions and how they also add total of eight visits in the field during 2016 and to the narrative. This leads to further discussion 2017. The fieldwork included observations at the about the framing of the exhibitions. She particular- three author institutions, semi-structured interviews ly emphasizes how windows, together with other with people involved in various ways in the activi- things, are significant for understanding place and ties at the three selected sites, and studies of docu- how relations between objects contribute to this. ments about each institution. The empirical data With large windows, the world outside becomes part thus consists of documentation through notes and of the exhibition. But it is not a passive world out- photographs of exhibitions and guided tours, along side. The relational concept of space shows how the with interviews. Aarbakke has used a method that placement and use of windows can give a new un- derives its inspiration from ANT and has searched derstanding of the relationships between place, au- for things that have an effect on the exhibitions and thor, and exhibition. Place here is about belonging that influence how the authors and their works are and everyday life as much as literary inspiration. understood. In ANT terms, one can say that the au- The big windows on the fifth floor of the Hamsun thor has studied exhibitions as networks, where the Centre are associated with Hamsun’s broad perspec- aim has been to identify the actors associated with tives, but also with the ambivalence in the way he is the exhibition and acting in it. Given the knowledge perceived as a person. This is very different from the she seeks to create and the theoretical approach, the case of Undset, where the private aspect is high- method seems well chosen. lighted, how she strove to shut out the outside Thea Aarbakke has singled out three categories world. Hamsun is held up as a world writer, whereas of objects that recur in different ways in the three Bjerkebæk helps to demonstrate the author’s at- exhibitions: window, desk, and book collection. tempts to find somewhere quiet to write. These objects constitute the analytical focus of the Chapter 4, “Desk installations”, draws attention dissertation and help her to answer the question of to how the working methods of Undset, Hamsun, 242 Reviews

and Hauge are displayed in the various exhibitions ises and reaches other parts of the museum such as through the way their desks have been reconstructed libraries and databases. and arranged. Here the desks serve as an entrance to In the final chapter 6 of the dissertation, “The the authors’ working methods but also their lives function of an author’s museum”, the results are and the people they surrounded themselves with. summarized, with particular emphasis on how a Exhibiting a desk is one way in which an exhibition study of exhibition spaces can serve as an alterna- about an author can materialize the actual writing tive way to respond to the authors’ oeuvre and biog- process. This is fascinating and thought-provoking raphy. reading. It is a way to show who the author was and Thea Aarbakke’s dissertation is undoubtedly how the author worked. On this point the three exhi- thought-provoking. The analyses are multi-layered, bitions differ slightly. In the exhibitions about demonstrating how an exhibition contains so much Undset, her desk is on show, while in the other two more than a set of objects presented with accom- exhibitions other forms of desk can be identified. By panying texts. The strength of the dissertation lies in thinking in terms of ANT, Aarbakke shows how the the interpretations of the three selected objects. Here desks come into existence through photographs and Aarbakke elucidates how both an oeuvre and a biog- other things. The things are perceived here, in line raphy can be understood in the respective exhibi- with ANT, not as static objects but as co-creators in tions. She approaches windows as something other the imaginary desks. Here the visitor also becomes a than just light sources, and shows how they interact co-creator, since the observer is an important part of with the exhibitions. She answers questions such as how installations can be perceived depending on which places are made visible, what perspectives it perspective and where in the exhibition space the adds to the author’s works, and how all this interacts viewer is located. with the rest of the exhibitions. Working with win- The last empirical study, chapter 5, “Book col- dows is also a way of approaching the boundary lections”, deals with the books on display in the work that takes place in the studied institutions. museum and the two writers’ centres. Approaching Aarbakke’s aims in the creation of knowledge are the three book collections turns out to be a fruitful both reasonable and justified. At the same time, the approach. There are great large differences be- research problem itself is somewhat vague – not in tween the different exhibitions. Undset’s and the sense that it is unclear what is driving Aarbakke, Hauge’s book collections are huge, containing but the problem itself could have been formulated thousands of books, while the book collection at more precisely, and I would have liked to see more the Hamsun Centre consists of 58 original editions. detailed discussion of the choices made by the au- The accessibility of the different book collections, thor and the consequences of these. The text tends to how they are exhibited, and how far it is possible report more than to discuss the choices of theory, to read them creates different networks and rela- method, and empirical data that were significant for tionships with the outside world. The books in the the implementation of the study. I would have liked collections were either owned or written by the au- to have read in greater depth about the challenges thors. The study focuses on how different versions the author faced when writing the dissertation and of the book collections are made accessible to visi- how she justifies her choice of study objects, tors and how this is linked to the way the book col- method, and theory. It is not that I want a different lections are exhibited. In this chapter, the author study, just a more profound consideration of the draws support not only from ANT but also from choice of problem, the selection of authors and spe- theorists such as Michel Foucault and Roland cific objects. Barthes. The books turn out to be flexible aesthetic The choice of institutions concerning individual objects that connect people, ideas, and things in the authors instead of institutions devoted to national institutions’ buildings, bookshelves, and show- literature or specific periods seems reasonable to cases. Aarbakke demonstrates how museums ex- me, as a way to examine what relations are estab- hibit and treat objects created through relationships lished between literature and life. The choice of au- between documentation managers, exhibition tech- thor institutions is determined by practical consider- niques, and existing collections. In the search for ations, that it must be realistic economically and book collections, she leaves the exhibition prem- geographically. This is perfectly reasonable, but an Reviews 243

important question is whether this also has analyt- also thoroughly scrutinized her empirical data and ical consequences. What is the strength of a national written up her results. It is possible here to conceive demarcation and what difference does it make? of a great variety of networks that shaped the re- What is the consequence of a practical demarcation? search process and how the three objects – window, As far as the empirical foundation is concerned, it desk, and book collection – have been written and seemed meagre to me at first glance, and the field- interpreted. What does the author’s contemplation work was relatively limited, but the important thing, mean for the analysis? Despite the descriptions of of course, is what has been collected and how this the research process, there is something capricious material is then used. Here Aarbakke has been cre- about Aarbakke’s own position. Who is this disser- ative and the collected material is well employed. tation writer who interprets book collections and When it comes to the choice of the three sites to museums? What is the author’s own relationship to investigate, Aarbakke, as mentioned earlier, de- exhibition production, museums, authors, and litera- scribes how the various institutions position them- ture? I am not calling for a more self-absorbed dis- selves in relation to defining themselves as mu- sertation writer, but for a framing of the foundation seums. Here I would have preferred a discussion on which the interpretations have been made. How that takes into account that the study is focused on does she draw the boundaries around the network exhibitions, one or more of which are found in mu- she studies? What is noted and ascribed agency, and seums. It would be interesting, then, to discuss what is ignored? An example of this is how the stud- whether the institutional framework of a museum or ied objects acquire their status. This is relevant, for a writer’s centre has any effect on the design of the example, in the definition of what a desk is. In the exhibition and, above all, the knowledge conveyed case of Hauge it is the dining table that is defined as about the authors and their works. Such a discussion a desk, and here the author could have reflected on would also have been in line with the ANT-influ- her own naming practice. Does the analysis collapse enced approach and the discussion of the import- if it is allowed to be a dining table instead of being ance of naming as boundary work. In what way does identified as a desk? There is no in-depth discussion the definition as a museum give materiality to the of the researcher’s own significance for the interpre- presentation of an author’s biography and oeuvre? tations and understandings of what the exhibitions This is something that could well have been taken communicate. Are there alternative interpretations up in the concluding discussion. here, and would they have affected the validity of The way Aarbakke has chosen to achieve her aim the results? is original. The three objects – window, desk, book To continue along the same lines. One of the rea- collection – are well chosen and lead to interesting sons that Aarbakke chose to use ANT ‒ as I under- reasoning and insights. But I am curious about how stand it – is that it enables more narratives, that it is these items were selected. It is possible to perceive possible to think new thoughts about how to under- the selection of study objects as being, if not hap- stand the authors and their works. Here we are hazard, then at least arbitrary. We are told, for ex- obliged to follow Aarbakke’s reading. It would be ample, that Aarbakke was inspired by a window that interesting to see other possible interpretations. Are was on display at the Dickens Museum in London. there alternative narratives and, if so, what are they? Did she consider any other items? Was there any- Aarbakke has chosen to avoid the visitors’ experi- thing in these objects that also seemed to capture the ences, which is a reasonable demarcation based on more general impressions of visits to the three the empirical data. But how are the exhibitions con- places? How did Aarbakke go about searching stituted in relation to visitors? What effect do they through the materialities that shaped the exhibi- have? While it is certainly possible to think of Aar- tions? bakke as a potential visitor, a possible approach Thea Aarbakke’s theoretical starting points raise would have been to do more detailed ethnography, questions about the researcher’s own position in the i.e. describe how the exhibitions are actually used, network that is studied and the consequences this in relation to Aarbakke’s interpretations of them, has for the results of the study. The author has alter- both to test her own interpretations and to catch nated between being in exhibitions, searching in da- sight of other potential perspectives. There is no rea- tabases, and studying the contents of books; she has son to distrust the interpretations presented in the 244 Reviews

dissertation, but the argument would have been rein- ducted at one recruitment event, along with written forced if there had been room for alternative narra- sources such as political defence agreements and tives as well. recruitment materials. Sløk-Andersen’s theoretical A discussion of the validity of the results would inspiration comes primarily from the writings of have been one way to tackle the questions raised Donna Haraway, Judith Butler and Sarah Ahmed. above – for example, in relation to the issue of the As Sløk-Andersen argues, the conscripts are situ- position of the dissertation author and potential in- ated in the military borderland between being young terpretations. The reason for visiting three institu- adult citizens eligible for military service and “real” tions was to show that there are different ways of soldiers. The notion of Borderland is used in order exhibiting an author’s oeuvre. Is it even interesting to stress the ambivalence of the definition of this to compare the different institutions, and on what particular sphere, in which “the good soldier” is basis can such comparisons be made? How can the constructed and negotiated. This position makes the different interpretations of desks, windows, and notion of soldier open and contested, thus relevant book collections be reconciled for the different au- to focus in a study of the becoming of “good sol- thor institutions? Do they reinforce each other? Can diers”. As clearly argued by Sløk-Andersen, there is the interpretations of these objects be said to be in- not one, singular definition of the good soldier; ra- dicative of how the institutions treat their respective ther it is a multiple, open-ended process of becom- authors, or could they be perceived as some form of ing. Becoming is conceptualized in a performative, counter-narratives? material-semiotic sense, which emphasizes becom- Overall, Thea Aarbakke’s dissertation is a cre- ing as a process coordinated with other actors, in- ative and original study. As I have pointed out, it cluding non-human ones. raises questions about demarcations and choices of The analytical part of the dissertation consists of interpretation. Having said that, there is a great deal four articles. “Researching the Body – The Body in to be gained from the dissertation. It displays play- Research: Reflections on a Participatory Fieldwork fulness as regards the interpretative framework and in the Danish Army” focuses on the (gendered) the way of approaching museums in general and ex- body as a tool in ethnographic fieldwork. Doing hibitions in particular. It demonstrates the potential what conscripts do, it is argued, resulted in meth- to understand how things and spaces interact in ex- odological insights. Drills, physical exercise and ex- hibitions and how this affects presentations of haustion, marching, and rifle maintenance, among writers and their work as a whole. other military routines, did not leave much room or Lars Kaijser, Stockholm time for taking notes. However, Sløk-Andersen ar- gues, what might have been “lacking in notes […] I made up in embodied experience and memories of Becoming Good Danish Soldiers conversations muttered among conscripts lined up Beate Sløk-Andersen, The Becoming of Good Sol- for inspection”. Sløk-Andersen uses one of the first diers. An Ethnographic Exploration of Gender and bodily practices the conscripts were taught – stand- Other Obstacles in the Military Borderland. Univer- ing at ease and standing to attention – as an example sity of Copenhagen, Faculty of Humanities, The of the gain embodied fieldwork represents. Accord- Saxo Institute. 235 pp. Ill. Diss. ing to Sløk-Andersen, being among the conscripts while such mundane scenarios unfolded “gave in-  The aim of The Becoming of Good Soldiers, a sights into the disciplinary mechanisms working compilation dissertation, is to investigate how being among conscripts”. It positioned her in places and a good soldier is performed in the everyday lives of situations that she otherwise would have been ex- conscripted soldiers, and how particular understand- cluded from and enabled “the experience of em- ings of “good” affect the embodied becoming of sol- bodying military ideals”. Discussing how to march diers. The dissertation is primarily based on ethno- properly, she even became “so enrolled” in military graphic fieldwork during the initial training of con- norms and ideology that she eagerly wanted to per- scripts in contemporary Denmark. The fieldwork form the role of the good soldier. The latter is de- also include interviews with conscripted soldiers, fined as a valuable analytical insight: Sløk-Ander- sergeants and officers, as well as observations con- sen argues that it is impossible to keep a degree of Reviews 245

detachment in a context that requires ideological upon a phenomenon that has rarely been subject to commitment from its members. The article delivers nuanced empirical analysis: the salience of humour a convincing analysis of the ways in which em- in military cultures. Informed particularly by schol- bodied routines constitute the military system, the arship on moods and affect, the article offers a new significance of horizontal as well as hierarchical dis- interpretation of the ways in which engagement in cipline, and how implicit norms of gender and banter and the use of humour is an important idiom able-bodiedness structure the possibilities of becom- through which a wider ongoing assessment of col- ing a “good soldier”. lective attunement operates. The article argues that Article two, “Vomit over tears. The performance while being able to take a joke is a central part of be- of will among conscripted soldiers” contributes new ing recognized as a potential good soldier, not being knowledge on the cultural complexity of will. in the mood for humour is felt as a breach of such Sløk-Andersen argues that will is a material-discur- wider collective emotional attunement. The article sive phenomenon that needs to be performed in cer- further points to how much humour is entangled tain ways for soldiers to become recognizable as with performances of heterosexual potency, which willing. This approach sheds new light on “will”, as is thereby reiterated as a recognizable dimension of most previous research understands will as an inher- good soldiering. The article insightfully details how ent or individual quality. From a performative per- the construction of particular moods and emotional spective, being a good, willing soldier is not seen as choreographies serves to structure the recognition of a representation of pre-existing skills, competences, a good soldier. or conditions. Instead the focus is on the “continu- The theoretical frame, and the multi-ethnograph- ous practices that make being good or willing recog- ic approach, makes it possible for Sløk-Andersen to nizable to oneself as well as others”. Understanding produce new knowledge on, among other things: will as a material-discursive phenomenon that needs methodology; the cultural complexity of will; the to be performed fuels a critical question regarding agency of the uniform; and humour and laughter as gender and disabilities. Within the dominant dis- important cultural elements in processes of becom- course of will, all conscripts are assumed to have an ing. One of the most impressive things about the equal opportunity to perform as willing, but the art- thesis is the engagement with a wide range of differ- icle demonstrates that some conscripts experience ent disciplinary literature, from feminist science and more obstacles than others in being recognized as technology studies, through critical military studies, good, willing soldiers. to ethnographies of everyday life. The literature re- Article three, “The Materiality of Military Be- view is well structured and demonstrates an under- coming”, explores the significance of particular as- standing of a wide range of theoretical material, as pects of material culture, and specifically the collec- well as an appreciation of some of the various limi- tive doing of uniforms, for the continuous valuing of tations of these diverse areas of scholarship. A broad good soldiers. Through an emphasis upon the subtle conceptual and analytic vocabulary is organized into ways in which personal clothing becomes a collec- a coherent and productive theoretical framework. tive space for action, control and micro-correction, Each of the articles offers a detailed perspective on a but also highlighting the ways in which uniforms particular dimension of the contingent, multiple and enable particular judgements of distinction to be unfinished nature of ongoing recognition as a “good drawn, the article offers new analytic perspectives soldier”. Some minor problems or questions do upon a fundamental dimension of everyday military however surface as one advances in the terrain of life. The analysis of how hierarchy, authority and the dissertation. discipline become entangled with materiality is nu- Auto-ethnography stands out as an important anced, original and convincing. The article also method and the author’s narrative performance of highlights some of the specific ways in which, far the method is intriguing: “My body was a vessel for from covering over and undoing the significance of gathering empirical material, picking up affective gender, uniforms themselves materialize and make experiences along the way”; “I have performatively gendered difference salient. explored this phenomenon by submerging myself in Article four, “The Affective Powers of Attune- the military setting”. Being submerged seems to ment: The Fear of Being a Killjoy”, sheds new light have resulted in analytical surprises and valuable 246 Reviews

methodological insights: “Ideas of ethnographic of music. Dankić is led to this framework by intro- consciousness or detachment from the embodied ex- ducing the sociologist Max Weber’s old concept of perience turned out not to grasp the entanglement of ideal types into her research field, which quickly mind and body that the field configured, yet it en- establishes itself as perhaps the leading analytical abled me to see some of the mechanisms that work tool in the whole effort. The other main analytical in and through the bodies of soldiers”. One can concept of the thesis is hiphop musicking, the latter wonder why Sløk-Andersen was surprised, and if word a noun derived of course from the word music the surprise in itself was a result of a strategic de- which emphasizes music and music making as a tachment from the military setting. Furthermore, de- process in contrast to music as an object or a fin- spite being caught up and submerged, Sløk-Ander- ished product. This term was coined by the music- sen produced 15 notebooks full of observations. ologist Christopher Small, it is a close relative to the How was it possible to disentangle the mind from anthropologist Ruth Finnegan’s concept of music- the bodily experiences as the notes were scribbled making. down? Finally, the dissertation without a doubt pre- The ideal type of hiphop musicking (and also of a sents new knowledge to the transdisciplinary field hiphop musician) is seen as a constant in the con- of military research. However, one cannot help tinuous flow which is this urban, often quite tough longing for a more elaborate discussion concerning and hard music. From the point of view of the white the dissertation’s contribution to Ethnology: Does middle class in a country such as Sweden, hiphop is the dissertation, while focusing on the military set- often regarded with some scepticism or maybe even ting, provide theoretical/methodological knowledge in some cases with disrespect. But the hiphop scene to Ethnology? These questions, and some others, re- at large is one developed in the United States in the main partly unanswered. Beate Sløk-Andersen’s 1970s, emerging in troubled inner-city areas such as dissertation is nonetheless theoretically sophisticat- The Bronx in New York and other similar boroughs ed, methodologically thorough and very well organ- in big cities such as Philadelphia, Detroit, Chicago ized and written. Several analyses are developed of and Los Angeles. It was and it is a music with roots, diverse material-discursive phenomena and multiple a hereditary frame in the Afro-American diaspora, dimensions of becoming a “good soldier”. The ana- and not least a strong connection to the Caribbean lysis is grounded in rich ethnographic detail. In islands, above all Jamaica and its older musical other words, it is a dissertation that signals the be- genres such as reggae and dancehall. Of course, coming of a very promising ethnologist. r&b, funk and jazz are also important predecessors Fredrik Nilsson, Åbo (Turku) of this kind of music making. The fact that these rap musicians were troubled males, often with a crim- inal record, led to the early genre of rap and hiphop Doing Swedish Hiphop (with graffiti being its most important artistic sib- Andrea Dankić, Att göra hiphop. En studie av ling, from a more general artistic genre point of musikpraktiker och sociala positioner. Institutionen view) being called gangsterrap or gangstarap. From för etnologi, religionshistoria och genusvetenskap, the beginning it mainly had a subcultural resonance, Stockholms universitet. Universus Academic Press, leading – as is usual with new popular cultural Malmö 2019. 205 pp. Diss. ISBN978-91-87439- forms – to a certain form of moral panic in the main- 59-9. stream. In America and later also in other western countries the white mainstream initially took quite a  There is a profound paradox at the heart of this moralistic view of the new genre. And incidentally new and quite interesting dissertation about what its this kind of view has resurfaced in the way a famous author Andrea Dankić calls hiphop musicking. The African-American jazz musician and cultural figure, research carried out is embedded in a strong effort to Wynton Marsalis, sees the form. Marsalis has not show how people in Sweden involved in various much good to say about the form. In his view it is types of rap and hiphop making – the two terms rap musically derivative and reproduces quite a nega- and hiphop are partly analogous, partly different as tive, mythological stereotype of the African-Ameri- to their scope – are all the time negotiating the can male as a pimp, a gangster and a drug dealer. “true” or “real” or authentic way of doing this kind An interesting thing, which Dankić fails to tackle Reviews 247

in her thesis, is the close interrelation between the hiphop and not-hiphop is, the researchers maintain, ascent of the rap/hiphop scene and these strong strong and rarely crossed. Within its bounds, it is a opinions or antipathies, of its dangerous and trans- relatively boundless world, as genres mix fluidly, gressive nature, views cultivated in mainstream so- with little discernible internal sub-cultural differen- ciety, views which of course earlier on were applied tiation. to forms such as the blues, rock’n’roll, rhythm & These findings could be said to corroborate the blues and soul music. Evidently, and at the same general presumptions Dankić makes about the time paradoxically, this was part of the appeal of strong pull of the ideal typical position as a constant this music, and what drove it into the mainstream. of hiphop musicking also in the Swedish context. The newness of the rhythms, the ways of saying But one lingering research question not answered by things differently, with a vocabulary which might Dankić is the one about how the concept of the ideal have seemed simple, crude and rudimentary from a typical position is organized in the first place. more established musical and/or literary point of Where does it draw its analytical potential from, view, instead came to be seen as more contempor- what are the logics of this concept and how can it be ary, more relevant to what society looked like, with analysed? Being a strictly theoretical, non-empirical modernity regarded as a motor for its restless flow model, there is always slack between the concept forward. and that which is the focus of this study, the reality But, as has become quite clear in the first decades of making hiphop music in different cultural milieus of this new millennium, the cultural significance of in Sweden in the 2010s. hiphop and rap is today very much the opposite of At the same time, it is not at all clear what the re- what it was when it all started in the Bronx and other lationship of this ideal type position is to two other similar places in the ’70s. Today hiphop and rap is a important concepts used in the study. The first one major popular musical force to be reckoned with, is stereotype and the second one authenticity. seen from both the angle of what sells records and It is not difficult to see that the semantic field of how it is perceived by the critics. The leading Swe- Weber’s ideal type (or Dankić’s ideal type position) dish popular music critic Andres Lokko recently is not far from that which also designates it as a cul- wrote in Svenska Dagbladet, citing the American tural stereotype. But there is no discussion about the artist and activist Arthur Jafa, that all rock’n’roll is closeness/distance between these two concepts, black and that the 2010s was the decade when a which really is a shame because such an omission whole world came to understand this. This under- makes the whole research project run the risk of be- standing also implies that hiphop is a central part of ing too self-contained and redundant in its own ana- what Lokko calls black music. lytical framework, and in this way provide less of In a study from 2016 on how musicians in Janu- the analytical explanation it is intended to carry. ary 2007 sorted themselves according to genre the This problem is also related to the second of the researchers Daniel Silver, Monica Lee and C. Clay- critical analytical tools used in the study. This one is ton Childress were able to conclude, by looking at about authenticity and authenticity constructions, musician profiles on MySpace.com, that there are which are seen from the point of view of that which three distinct genre worlds today. These genres are we would have liked to understand more about, hiphop, rock and niche genres (those which are nei- namely the ideal typical position of the rapper and ther rock nor hiphop). the hiphopper (male, black, from an urban, or in the And whereas the rock world is a complex of mul- Swedish case a suburban, background, troubled, tiple interpenetrating sub-communities, surrounded with a penchant for strong, sub-culturally oriented by a strong external boundary with genre mixing and transgressive language), a person/position across distinct sub-communities being common working towards a recognition of one’s own man- (genre mixing beyond the limit of the rock world is hood, often stigmatized by mainstream society. rare), hiphop largely resides in its own musical When the concepts of ideal typical hiphop musick- world, they note. Hiphop bands are extremely likely ing and attitude are juxtaposed to the concept of to describe their music with only other hiphop authenticity, a sense of redundancy and aporia genres; they are, like rock musicians, rather unlikely emerges. Authenticity is quite a double-edged sword to transcend their musical world. The line between in cultural analysis, with its strong sense of self-ref- 248 Reviews

erentiality or a swerve between subjective and cul- As it stands, the most rewarding thing about this tural referentialities. In the thesis a feedback loop is study is its rich empirical field, described in highly established in which the two concepts of ideal typi- illuminating detail. But at the same time this also cal position and authenticity are meant to explain points towards its aporias, its blind spots: the rather one another, but in the process they only tend to re- uncritical use of key concepts and the weak imple- produce and reinforce their own received meaning. mentation of the intersectional approach. There is a The concept of authenticity tends to collapse into strong pull towards an implied critique of the ideal the overarching notion of ideal typical position in typical position of hiphop, coming to the surface hiphop. both in the study on the so-called battlerap scene in And it does not get much better when the concep- a Swedish context and also, and perhaps even more tual tool of intersectionality is introduced into the strongly, in the case of young females introduced analytical framework. This mode of thinking, which into the world of making hiphop music. But the cri- is a way of viewing power relations and formations tique tends to stop before it becomes strong enough and normative intersections of various cultural des- to undermine the whole field as it were. For in- ignations, is used as a way to deconstruct the subor- stance, the problem of drugs associated with the dinations taking place in society. The most common American form of this musical field is not addressed designations applied in intersectional analysis are at all. race, sex/gender, ethnicity, age and place, and these The case of the female side of the Swedish are also namechecked here. An interesting thing hiphop scene consists of analyses of three music about hiphop and intersectionality is that the two camps for teenage girls, two of which are more cultural phenomena were made relevant at about the long-lasting (Popkollo and one of the Femtastic same time in history on the eastern seaboard of the Camps), and one (also of the Femtastic Camp type) United States. Those proposing the first one, hiphop, performed in a shorter and more focused way. This were black male Americans and those advancing the bifurcation points to a dilemma which might be seen second one, intersectionality, were black female and as internal to the Swedish hiphop scene; the longer- lesbian Americans, which from a sociological point lasting camp being more suited to white middle- of view might point towards a certain parallelism class girls and the shorter one more fit for those girls concerning socio-cultural forces and their under- coming from what from an ideal typical hiphop standing and explanation, and certain artistic articu- point of view are its main target group in the female lations taking place, which can be traced back to a side of this musical culture: the girls from some- turn towards identity politics and a strong penchant thing called Orten, or the suburban milieu mostly for situatedness/positionality, or as the literary made up of immigrants. scholar David Simpson has described it in a book- It is when the notion of modernist American mu- length study: “Why we keep saying where we’re sic of this kind hits the shores of Sweden with its coming from.” own brand of modernity, which in many ways dif- But the way Dankić applies the intersectional fers from the American kind, that an interesting op- mode into her study does not do enough work in ex- position emerges, something Dankić is aware of. plaining the varying factors and their relative weight The Swedish context values ideas of equality, com- in the actual cases and situations she is researching, munality, a rich tradition of associations and not which makes the intersectionality of the study more least a view of the nation of Sweden as being a ma- of a gesture than an active working tool. To be able jor cultural player in the global production of popu- to use an intersectional methodological approach lar music (“the Swedish pop miracle”). The discrep- one would have to take into account the different ancy between these two forms of modernity, the cultural and social levels involved in the analysis, American and the Swedish one, is one of the focal e.g. in storytelling constructing place, position and a points which generates most new insights in this sense of belonging, such as the one Floya Anthias study, despite the fact that it is performed in a rather has used in her studies of these kinds of “narratives general and cursory way. But it points towards the of location”, often without a beginning, a plot or an need for further studies of this particular aspect of ending and with a place in the textual whole which the research field in question. might be surprising and even oxymoronic. Another important feature which Dankić brings Reviews 249

up is the one about the need for more critique, more unique livelihood in a global context. The bulk of critical work on change in Swedish hiphop, from the the dissertation consists of four articles which have point of view of a need for justice and equality. This previously been published between 2013 and 2018 is a line of thinking which has a paradoxical relation as chapters in four different edited volumes, one in to the emphasis on identity in today’s world, a de- Norway and three internationally in London and velopment building up so much of the cultural ener- New York. One of the articles is thus in Norwegian gy nowadays with all these crises of identity and and the other three in English. In this compilation identity politics which we are witnessing, and which thesis the articles are printed without any changes. is quite prominent also in this hiphop study. The This means that there are some repetitions of facts question of a need for pedagogy applied to hiphop and discussions. The opening introduction and the culture is one of the most interesting ideas put for- closing chapter are newly written (pp. 7–59 and ward by the researcher. It reminds this reviewer of 175–191 respectively). the important work done by the cultural analyst and The author works at the Norwegian Institute for philosopher Jacques Rancière, who has been both Cultural Heritage Research, NIKU. Key research advocating and practising this kind of emancipatory topics there concern how cultural heritage is per- work for a long time in France, often with a histori- ceived, managed, and used. One of the main objec- cal bent towards cultural empowerment performed tives of the thesis has been to study what the new in nineteenth-century France among workers and status as a World Heritage site has meant for the lo- craftsmen. Since an important part of Dankić’s cal environment on these islands. Before 2004, the study discusses the aspect of skills required in archipelago was characterized by stagnation, emi- hiphop-making, the notion of pedagogy is of course gration, and a decline in the eider down harvesting. an implied one in the conception of the field, some- Everyday life is at the heart of the thesis. Human- thing which also can be seen as another potentially animal relations are another important aspect, as is fruitful way of continuing and expanding this kind the increasing cultural tourism. The author’s own of research. So finally, despite the reservations here, fieldwork, in the form of interviews conducted dur- this study is still a promising one and a pioneering ing the years 2008–2009, is the primary source ma- work in the field of Swedish hiphop studies, paving terial. A total of 16 women and 23 men were inter- the way for more research into this particular field. viewed. The interviews yielded information about Lastly, the work done by the researcher is com- the informants’ experiences and values. Written mendable when it comes to the empirical side of the sources consist of administrative documents from study. As already indicated, the thesis has been pro- Norwegian authorities and UNESCO, as well as the duced with care and with a strong heart for this kind World Heritage Committee. of music. As regards the theoretical foundation, the author Sven-Erik Klinkmann, Vasa links to international cultural heritage studies and discourse analysis, with the emphasis on a dominant research trend of critical heritage studies. Laurajane World Heritage Sites in Northern Norway Smith’s book Uses of Heritage from 2006 and Iain Knut Fageraas, Verdensarv på Vega – mellom in- Robertson’s Heritage from Below from 2012 have ternasjonale konvensjoner, nasjonal politikk og lo- been important sources of inspiration for the au- kale praksiser i et nordnorsk øysamfunn. Det huma- thor’s focus on “everyday heritage”. Given that the nistiske fakultet, Universitetet i Oslo, Oslo 2019. study concerns human relations with birds, in this 226 pp. Ill. Diss. case eider ducks, international animal studies or hu- man-animal studies have been important reference  The Norwegian cultural scholar Knut Fageraas points. These studies explore how humans under- has presented a doctoral dissertation in Oslo about stand and interact with animals. The eider down har- the Vega Archipelago in northern Norway, which vesting can be seen as an interplay between culture became a World Heritage site in 2004. One reason and nature, although the World Heritage status of for inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage List the Vega Archipelago attaches the main importance was that the women in the fishing community have to culture. traditionally collected the down of eider ducks – a The first paper (pp. 61–113), “Verdensarvens 250 Reviews

forandringer på Vega” (Changes in the World Heri- Vega there are fishing villages in the north and tage on Vega), was published in 2013 by Novus for- farms in the south. Agriculture has been successful, lag, Oslo. It concentrates on the impact of World and the interviewed farmers expressed their satisfac- Heritage status at the local level. What changes have tion that World Heritage status has improved Vega’s arisen on these islands in terms of lifeways and reputation. It means that more of the inhabitants ideas? One noticeable effect has been that the down want to stay and develop agriculture, combined with harvesting has been revitalized, having previously the increasing tourism. Fishing, on the other hand, been in decline. It has attained a higher status in the has been on the decline, and the interviewed fisher- local community alongside fishing and agriculture, men said they were dissatisfied that eider down har- which used to dominate. In 2016 there were eight- vesting had gained a higher status than fishing as a een people collecting eider down, as against only six result of World Heritage status. They saw no new in 2000. Homes, boathouses, and jetties have also possibilities for fishing through this new status ac- been renovated. Optimism has replaced the previous quired by the Vega Islands. sense of marginalization. Tourism has been given a In the closing chapter (pp. 175–191) the author noticeable boost and is viewed as a positive resource sums up the overall findings of the four previously among the locals. Together with the trade in eider published papers. He has laid the foundation by ex- down, it has helped to strengthen the position of ploring the significance of newly acquired World women. Heritage status for a local community. In the ana- The second paper (pp. 115–137), entitled “Every- lyses the author combines theoretical discussions of day Heritage”, was published in 2016 by Ashgate, cultural heritage and animal studies in a fruitful way London. It demonstrates the importance and value with the empirical interview material he collected in that down harvesting has acquired for the women the period 2008–2009. A follow-up field study who do it. It is a labour-intensive occupation that is could be valuable to see how the situation developed pursued at the outer edge of the archipelago. Small until the late 2010s, at a greater distance in time nesting houses are built, usually of wood. The eider from when the archipelago was inscribed on the ducks can take refuge in these and lay eggs and World Heritage List in 2004. That would make for down during the breeding period. This is a time an interesting processual study of any changes that when the women do not want too many tourists may have occurred between 2008 and 2018. around, so that the birds will not be frightened. Anders Gustavsson, University of Oslo, Norway/ About 3,000 nesting houses are put in order every Henån, Sweden year. The third paper (pp. 139–158), “Housing Eiders – Making Heritage” from 2016, was published by Various Meanings of Gentrification Routledge, London & New York. It examines how Sara Kohne, Gentrifiseringens flertydighet. En kul- World Heritage status has affected the relationship turvitenskapelig studie av endringer i to byområder i between humans and animals through the growing Berlin og Oslo. Institutt for arkeologi, historie, kul- eider down trade. Close human–animal relationships tur- og religionsvitenskap, Universitetet i Bergen arise, hinting at anthropomorphic perceptions. 2020. 281 pp. Diss. The fourth paper (pp. 161–173), entitled “World Heritage and Cultural Sustainability”, was published  Sara Kohne has taken her doctorate in Cultural by Routledge, London & New York, in 2018. Co- Science with a dissertation concerning gentrification written with Karoline Daugstad, it elucidates the processes, using case studies from Berlin and Oslo. question of how World Heritage status has affected Her ambition is to give a more nuanced analysis the practitioners of the main livelihoods – fishing than earlier scholars’ results, which she criticizes as and agriculture – in the Vega Archipelago. How can being either too negative or too positive regarding this newly acquired status contribute to the sustain- the physical and social effects of gentrification. able economic development of the islands? The au- Kohne has made observations and interviews during thor discusses the concept of cultural sustainability the years 2014 and 2015, with the aim of investigat- based on the book The Fourth Pillar of Sustainabili- ing how local citizens have experienced gentrifica- ty by John Hawkes in 2001. On the main island of tion in urban areas. The first fieldwork started in Reviews 251

Berlin in a part of Kreuzberg called SO36. She met Even though there are many similarities in the several people and conducted semi-structured inter- multi-ethnic districts Kohne has studied in Berlin views with thirteen persons who have lived or and Oslo, her informants in Grønland and Tøyen do worked there for many years, two of whom own not talk about their neighbourhood in the same way small shops. Most of the informants have some kind as they do in Kreuzberg. Kohne brings up the con- of migration background, which also reflects the cept of Gesellschaft in an analysis of attitude differ- multi-ethnicity of this neighbourhood. Kreuzberg is ences in Grønland and Tøyen. The community is an old working-class area, which expanded in the more diverse, with fewer contacts between different nineteenth century, like the districts of Grønland and groups. One reason may be that some of her inform- Tøyen in central Oslo. These are also areas where ants could be categorized as victims of gentrifica- many immigrants have settled down and Kohne has tion, while others directly or indirectly are partici- interviewed thirteen persons, Norwegians and pants in the gentrification. In other words, they have people with other backgrounds, who have lived or moved to the area because of the ongoing gentrifica- worked there either a few years or up to a quarter of tion process. a century. Kohne writes that her purpose was not to make a In the comparison between Kreuzberg and Grøn- strict comparison between Kreuzberg and Grønland land & Tøyen it is obvious that the gentrification & Tøyen. However, this turns out to be the weak- processes to some extent can be related to the same ness of her thesis. The group of informants is more kind of developments. For example, social changes, homogeneous in Berlin than in Oslo. There is a lack when the working-class population cannot afford to of informants who have moved to Kreuzberg during live in the new exclusive houses and renovated the last few years and are involved in gentrification dwellings with high rents. Commercial gentrifica- themselves. It is astonishing that she did not try to tion is also notable in the both environments. Old reach this group during her second fieldwork period, small enterprises, pubs and handicraft stores are after she had finished the first fieldwork in Oslo and closing down and trendy cafes and restaurants are obtained the narratives there. It is also remarkable opening instead, which the new middle-class inhab- that her second periods of fieldwork in Berlin and itants appreciate. In Kreuzberg, the so-called tour- Oslo lasted only one week each. The first periods ism gentrification has also increased more and more were 6–8 weeks long, but it is obvious that she in recent years. Several new restaurants, clubs and would have been more aware of the empirical weak- shops have been established, and when many tour- nesses from the first fieldwork before she returned. ists visit the place the atmosphere changes. Some in- Why did Kohne chose to study gentrification? habitants are annoyed about the noise tourist crowds What was her personal agenda for this investiga- make during the nights and complain about how dif- tion? Reflexivity is not properly discussed concern- ficult it is to find the locals when there are so many ing her motivation. She only writes about her back- pubs to choose between. In the past, when the pubs ground and her up growing in Prenzlauer Berg, were fewer, it was easier to meet each other by which belonged to East Berlin, and her observations chance and experience the feeling of belonging to a of gentrification in this neighbourhood. She also local community. Anyhow, the informants point out confesses that she did not know very much about that they still are living in a good neighbourhood Grønland and Tøyen before she started her research where they want to stay. Kohne uses the concept of there. It seems that she had a hidden agenda about Gemeinschaft to characterize the social networks what she would find in Kreuzberg and was too and the sense of recognition that manifests the in- quickly satisfied with the empirical findings. In habitants’ local identity. Grønland and Tøyen she was more open-minded Grønland and Tøyen have not yet been exposed and obtained more results that are contradictory. to any tourism gentrification. However, Kohne dis- From the fieldwork notebook she has selected cusses the consequences of moving the Munch Mu- some thick descriptions of the settings, which are seum from Tøyen to the district of Bjørvika near the very helpful for readers who are not familiar with sea. What kind of loss will it be for the local com- these areas before. Nevertheless, it would even have munity in the future? The impact of gentrification been better to have more illustrations of this kind in from the field of art and culture might decrease. the text, as well as a larger number of pictures. Then 252 Reviews

the readers could more easily imagine what the European Border Practices areas looked like at the time of the investigations. It Marlene Paulin Kristensen, Relocating Europe. is also tricky to get to know the informants because Border Officials and their Everyday Attempts to the information about them is very restrictive. The Stabilise Borders. Faculty of Humanities, The Saxo reading would have been more interesting if some Institute, University of Copenhagen. 208 pp. Ill. kind of contextualized portraits were provided, Diss. which would simplify the understanding of the in- formants’ narratives – not only their experiences,  Relocating Europe: Border Officials and their but also their motivations to discuss gentrification Everyday Attempts to Stabilise Borders explores with a researcher. how mundane practices of border work perform, lo- The structure of this thesis is very well con- cate, stabilize, transform, and justify Europe and its sidered. Kohne has an ambitious way of presenting borders in complex ways. The overarching argu- quotations from the informants and she makes com- ment is that border officials’ practices of bordering ments after each about the contents, integrating ref- entail ongoing processes of connecting and discon- erences to other scholars’ works. In total, she covers necting different spatial and temporal entities, there- a great number of different aspects of gentrification. by continuously defining, locating, and relocating She shows that she has acquired a broad knowledge Europe’s borders. Kristensen focuses on border offi- of the research field of gentrification and especially cials at three different border sites: Copenhagen Air- research from Anglo-Saxon contexts. Some refer- port, the border between Germany and Denmark, ences are connected to Norwegian circumstances and the European Union Border Assistance Mission but astonishingly few from Germany and German to Moldova and Ukraine (EUBAM). According to ethnologists’ works about gentrification in Berlin. Kristensen, the choice of sites and interlocutors For example, Tanja Marquardt, who has written a makes an “arbitrary Europe” where the sites shed very interesting thesis, but is not well known among light on each other and jointly make up a particular Scandinavian researchers yet. Even though Kohne analytical field with no claims to representing Eu- mentions many British and American scholars, she rope in any entirety. seldom writes more than a few sentences about each Kristensen positions the dissertation in relation to of them. It would have been more instructive if she the development of the Schengen Agreement (which had been more rigorous about the scholars she high- abolished border control between member states of lights. This would have enabled her to deepen the the EU), and the Dublin Agreement. The latter discussion about why and how these scholars have stipulates that migrants seeking asylum must be contributed to this research field. There are also very registered and dealt with in the first country of en- few features to indicate Sara Kohne’s own opinions try. Through these agreements, an important distinc- of gentrification. Hardly any statements give readers tion between the EU’s external and internal borders a clue about her own position. Her main finding is emerged. In relation to this, Kristensen argues for nevertheless that there are many different aspects the need to study the state (or the EU) not as a fixed and that gentrification does not follow a strict pat- background, but as mundane and shifting practices tern with one specific phase succeeding another. and thus a site for hope and transformation as well How gentrification develops in one place or another as a site where the “banality of exclusion” plays out. depends on different circumstances. And it is not The analysis is presented in four chapters. “EU unusual that diverse phenomena of gentrification are borders for peacetime only? Bridging gaps and mak- ongoing as parallel processes. With the case studies ing-same as border strategies” focuses on the Mol- in Berlin and Oslo, Kohne has pointed out both as- dovan-Ukrainian (and Transnistria) border where pects of similarity and specific features which are EUBAM promotes a particular border method to en- of great interest for everyone who is working with sure a good quality border. Kristensen describes city renewal and preservation for the future. The how an imperative of cooperation made actors on ei- strength of this thesis is the importance of nuanced ther side of the border perceive the border in the research about gentrification with local inhabitants same way, but also how critical events (the Ukrain- in focus. ian-Russian crisis and the European refugee crisis) Kerstin Gunnemark, Gothenburg unsettled this sameness and made room for a mili- Reviews 253

taristic border approach. Thus the chapter questions anthropology of global connections, on ambiguous whether the EUBAM performance of EU borders is and relative locations, and on composite, incomplete for peacetime only and discusses aberrations from geographies provides a stimulating contribution to the good border at the edges of Europe. the study of bordering. The dissertation also high- “In search of excellence: Holding together the lights that ethnology offers an important contribu- ‘borders of Europe’” engages with Frontex and is tion to this field of study. primarily based on interviews with Danish border Some elements of the work, however, could have officials working towards “excellence” by teaching been elaborated more. The fieldwork was situated in and implementing Frontex practices. These prac- three seemingly disparate places that are as incoher- tices are meant to harmonize border practices across ent as the continent itself, as implied in the notion of Europe on the basis of human rights. The chapter the “arbitrary Europe”. One wonders how Kris- analyses how the idea of the “the good border” is tensen critically assesses the “arbitrariness” of field- open and somewhat contested, rather than a fixed, work; how do the sources and materials from those unrealizable ideal. sites add to the strength of the findings? The disser- In “‘Never enough resources’: In search of the tation would also have benefited from a more sus- sealable border” Kristensen focuses on what is re- tained methodological reflection on Kristensen’s ferred to as the fantasy of the sealable border and the own participation in the making of borders through responses to this fantasy – mainly by way of re- arbitrary fieldwork. What, if anything, is the norma- source allocation or complaints about wasted re- tive project that Kristensen is engaged in? Further, sources. Building on Navaro-Yashin’s work, Kris- the title of the dissertation indicates that Europe (in tensen argues that by discussing the porosity of the all its locations) is a centre of gravity. Nonetheless, border in terms of (lacking or wasted) resources, the the use of the notion of Europe appears strangely border officials reinforce the fantasy of the sealable under-analysed throughout. When the notion of Eu- border. rope is used it seems to be conflated with the work “Re-establishing ‘peace and order’: Reintroducing and institutions of the EU. One wonders in what border control at the Danish border”, describes the ways, then, the dissertation is in fact about the re-lo- re-introduction of border control at the German- cation of Europe, as stated in the title. Further, the Danish border in response to the refugee crisis in so-called refugee crisis is a vantage point for the dis- 2015/2016. A notion of restoring peace and order is sertation. The migrants who arrived were to be of- explored as a means to complicate fixed ideas about fered help and protection in the recipient country. crisis and normalcy. The chapter compellingly juxta- This was not just based on EU regulations, but also poses the drama of the crisis with the actual emptiness on what is sometimes referred to as the moral im- and absence of refugees experienced by the deployed perative of hospitality: The migrants were guests, border guards, who engage in speculations about the and the EU their host. Even though Kristensen’s am- future and about Denmark’s relative location within bition is to critically examine the banality of exclu- the EU and the moral geography of Europe. sion, little is made of the moral and cultural ele- Relocating Europe: Border Officials and their ments of hospitality. Finally, the politics of the dis- Everyday Attempts to Stabilise Borders provides sertation remains slightly vague. In the Introduction, new insights into contemporary bordering processes the author states that “the decision to locate my and the making of European borders. The disserta- study within the infrastructures of border thus bal- tion draws on a wide range of theoretical and analyt- ances between the potential hope for other ways of ical resources, and yet manages to craft an argument doing things, and a warning against becoming blind of its own, which is thoroughly discussed and well to politics disguised as technicalities”. This ambi- presented. Kristensen is very well versed in the field tion seems to evaporate along the way. What hopes of migration and border studies, and convincingly does Kristensen have for change? Studying the supplements existing analyses by engaging with ac- “banality of exclusion” (and the connotations of tors who are often absent from the literature within Nazi regime professionalism that phrase evokes) the field, namely the border police, guards and could potentially be a hurtful matter; some theor- agents working in the service of states and/or of the etical thoughts on “ethnology that hurts” would EU. Kristensen’s productive use of literature on the have been interesting. 254 Reviews

Despite these critical questions, Kristensen’s dis- through the first decade of the twenty-first century. sertation contributes vitally to the field of border One of the theorists was the American economist studies and analyses of European identities con- Richard Florida and his ideas of “Creative Cities”, stantly in the making. A major strength is the way where he claimed that future enterprises would have Kristensen brings forth trouble, inconsistency and to rely on “the creative class” to succeed. To achieve incompleteness, and further shows how unexpected this, they would have to make the cities attractive and often overlooked agents contribute to the mak- for precisely this kind of innovative and creative ing the borders of Europe through mundane yet people, through Florida’s famous three Ts: Technol- complex border practices. The dissertation demon- ogy, Tolerance, and Talent. This would give places strates solid scholarship in its thorough engagement “creative capital” as a prime source of future devel- with relevant literature, its firm and knowledgeable opment. Other important proponents of the idea of grasp of historical and political shifts in Europe, and linking cultural creativity with economic develop- not least through the well-conceived analyses of ment were of course the American economists B. J. fieldwork experiences, which are combined and dis- Pine and J. H. Gilmore, who with their book The Ex- cussed in a convincing manner. perience Economy: Work Is Theater and Every Fredrik Nilsson, Åbo (Turku) Business a Stage from 1999 established the concept of experience economy as the flowering future of businesses. This was something only attainable through a combination of cultural creativity, art, and Cultural Events from a Dramaturgical Per- commodification, so that enjoying the commodity spective became one unique experience for the consumers. Anne Meek, Kultursatsing og stedsutvikling. En dra- Anne Meek, from a theatrical point of view, criti- maturgisk analyse av kultursatsinger i tre norske cizes the Pine/Gilmore simplistic understanding and kommuner. Det historisk-filosofiske fakultet, Insti- use of theatre metaphors. She is also critical of how tutt for arkeologi, historie, kultur- og religionsviten- these dramaturgical understandings later influenced skap, Universitetet i Bergen 2018. 213 pp. Ill. Diss. other Scandinavian economists and marketing the- orists. With support in Barbara Kirshenblatt-  The title of this dissertation from the Culture Gimblett, she suggests that culture theory should not Studies milieu at the University of Bergen could be understand stagings, disseminations, and perform- roughly translated into English as “Cultural event ances from the classical European or Aristotelian making and place development: A dramaturgical knowledge of dramaturgy. Instead, they should look analysis of culture projects in three Norwegian mu- to dramaturgical theories opposing the text-based, nicipalities”. The author of the dissertation, Anne mimetic aesthetics known from classic European Meek, has her background in Culture Studies, but theatre, be inspired by for example Brecht’s non- also in Theatre Studies. This is one of the reasons Aristotelian theatre, eastern forms of non-mimetic for the dissertation’s interesting use of theories from theatre, or modern, contemporary and experimental both these academic subjects, leading to a very fruit- theatre like Hans-Thies Lehmann’s ideas of “post- ful interdisciplinary combination of these two fields, dramatic theatre”. New forms of dramaturgy are as I will illustrate in this review. processual, post-mimetic and intercultural, and The cultural events presented and analysed here more engaged with relational understandings. can all in some respect be related to the politics of Meek finds that these newer and innovative ideas place development, where the idea was to bring new of the theatre and its dramaturgy also communicate energy to a place or an area through culture and art. better with contemporary theories of place and place The motivation was that this would eventually also development. She builds on a relational understand- bring with it other activities and businesses, contrib- ing of place. Following Doreen Massey’s ideas of uting to economic growth in the area. Some of the places as networks of relations and interactions, that ideas for place development at the turn of the mil- several aspects of a place are at play simultaneously, lennium came from optimistic economic and mar- and that the construction of a place is always an on- keting literature, inspiring culture workers, econo- going process. In this sense, places are characterized mists, and local politicians in many countries best as “throwntogetherness”, and narratives emerg- Reviews 255

ing from a complex of relations and performances even by public boat traffic. There was not much in- through time. frastructure left on the island for tourist use after the The author uses three different empirical ex- film team had left. In addition, and most important, amples to discuss her understanding of a new drama- there was no trace of the colourful inhabitants that turgical turn in culture studies of place development. had been portrayed in the series. Therefore, it was Each of these examples is broadly contextualized not possible any more to create a new and similar and discussed, and highlights different aspects as narrative which tourists would recognize from the well as possibilities and failures in their strivings to TV series. In short, neither the narrative, the actors, succeed as culturally innovative places. She pursues nor the dramaturgy from the popular TV series three levels in her description of each of these ex- could be re-created as a tourism product. amples: the material level, the narrative level, and The Træna Festival, on the other hand, seems to the performative level. be Anne Meek’s favourite example, and quite close The first example Meek discusses concerns the to her own model for how a cultural event should be attempts to transform the city of Larvik from an in- staged, narrated, and performed. Although the island dustrial place to a cultural city. It all started very op- of Træna is located far out in the sea, and certainly timistically, and even Richard Florida himself visit- not easy to reach by any public transportation, the ed the city and gave advice at a seminar. With the annual festival has become widely known, visited city’s long industrial heritage, the project at first by famous musicians, and has a large number of tried to connect to this history. The vast industrial participants. Meek herself participated as a volun- spaces were opened up for new use as working teer one year at this festival, and was in that way spaces for artists and performing theatres. However, able to have an “insider’s” view of the festival’s di- the city’s history of deep economic and social divi- verse activities. On the whole, participation and be- sions soon surfaced. The old industrial owners of the ing a part of the island community plays a central buildings found the cultural activities of little profit. role during the days of the festival. This is some- The newly rebuilt and reconstructed industrial areas thing that brings local inhabitants, organizers, vol- soon became too expensive for the artists and cre- unteers, performers, and audiences together in a ative people, who now had to move out as the rents common project. This is done in the way different increased. The alliance between artists and property stages are set up, but also through the narratives that developers was not possible, and the old narratives are communicated to the festival’s participants. of a divided city, with conflicts between industrial These narratives are connected to local myths and owners and workers only had its new version. The newly invented stories, to the common past of the work to establish and construct a new culture palace islanders, and to contemporary life on the island. turns out to benefit the former industrial owners, and Through the intense days of the festival, this creates neither the culture workers nor the local population a unique sense of belonging to the place. This is the of the city had much to gain. case not only for the people living all year round on Another example discusses the attempts to de- the island of Træna, but also among the people visit- velop the small island of Ylvingen on the coast of ing. The multi-voiced narratives, and the simultan- Helgeland in northern Norway into a tourist destina- eous and relational dramaturgies operating in tion after the screening in 2008‒2010 of the TV se- Træna, give new possibilities for participation as ries Himmelblå (Sky Blue), where the island was the well as interpretation. prime location. The series was loosely based on the It is certainly nothing new that metaphors from 2001‒2003 BBC series Two Thousand Acres of Sky, the theatre and dramaturgy are used in social science and became very popular in Norway. The popularity studies and in cultural research, ever since Erving was partly due to images of the beautiful scenery, Goffman’s influential writings. However, Anne but even more so to its colourful gallery of local in- Meek’s use of recent theatre theory represents a new habitants, and the portraits of these characters. Turn- and fresh approach, proceeding from traditional uses ing the filming location into a tourist destination, of drama metaphors that emerged from an Aristo- however, turned out to be much more complicated telian and unilineal narrative model. Taking Doreen than expected. In the first place the island was far Massey’s theories of place into account, and com- off the ordinary tourist tracks, and difficult to reach bining them with newer and more complex under- 256 Reviews

standings of dramaturgy, opens up new possibilities suited to the perspective of cultural history that the for cultural research. The dramaturgic analysis of dissertation lays down. three examples along these lines of inquiry gives an The dissertation starts its empirical chapters with opportunity to pose new questions in cultural the passing of the law in 1891, when older people studies. The analysis also challenges the traditional for the first time were made into a specific social use of dramaturgy, both as a metaphor and as a tool and legal category. Using the parliamentary debates in theories of the experience economy. about the bill and the particular formulations of the Stein R. Mathisen, UiT The Arctic University of law, the author shows how worthiness became a Norway, Campus Alta central concept in creating old age. The law was di- rected to those in need of support (financial or hous- ing support) but to a particular group of people, citi- A Worthy Old Age zens who had been productive, independent and willing to support themselves and were thus worthy Anders Møller, De værdige gamle: Om alderdoms- konfigurerende praksisser i Danmark omkring år and deserving. The moral aspects of the law derived 1900. The Saxo Institute, European Ethnology, Fac- from previous poverty investigations, a growing ulty of Humanities, Copenhagen University 2018. phenomenon in the increasing industrial and urban- 285 pp. Ill. English Summary. Diss. ized landscape of North Western Europe of that time.  This dissertation by Anders Møller examines the The dissertation continues by examining how the configuration of old age through socio-political, sci- configured category is “populated”. The empiric entific and public practices in Denmark around the material is the application forms that older people year 1900. The point of departure is the Danish law sent to the municipality and the assessment of the from 1891, the Law on old age relief for those applications. As the author points out, the practices worthily in need outside of the poverty sector. The established by the administrative work highlight the law concerned citizens aged 60 or more who were constitution of old age in the intersection of lives, acknowledged as entitled to support but not com- law and administration. This requires attention di- prised in the poverty legislation. The context of the rected towards the content of the documents as well law as well as its effects involve the construction of as what the documents do as practices configuring old age, a construction made by multiple practices old age. There are many actors involved – the appli- which are scrutinized in this dissertation. cants, the forms and their sections to be filled in, the The dissertation takes a broad approach to the information held up as important knowledge about subject: to describe old age as an evolving historical the applicants’ situation and other documents, the phenomenon. Old age is a social and cultural pro- municipal staff who managed the applications, and cess as much as a biological one, and around 1900 the assessments: was the applicant worthy enough? political and scientific engagement – power and The analysis shows how this process took place, em- knowledge – participated and cooperated in estab- bedded in documents, staff, facilities, meetings and lishing old age as a concept. Thus, old age became protocols. something society could create knowledge of and The next chapter looks at old age as a scientific interfere in. object. In connection with the evaluations of the law Initially, the author introduces Michel Foucault from 1891, older people came into sight as a popula- and his theories of politics and genealogy as the tion that could be examined through statistics. This framework of the dissertation. Other Foucauldian is in line with the development in many forthcoming concepts that are used in the analysis are, for ex- welfare states; an overall fusion between the growth ample, problematization and heterotopia. Theories of social policy and a developing social science, us- are also retrieved from scholars such as Stephen ing statistics as an established method. The empiri- Katz, researcher in critical gerontology who drew on cal material consists of evaluations and reviews of Foucault, and Ian Hacking’s concept the Looping the law and its effects, here regarded as scientific Effect. The dissertation is therefore grounded in dif- productions and analysed as practices in the config- ferent but well-connected theories, with power and uration of old age. Also, statistical yearbooks have categorization as cornerstones. The theories are well been used. Reviews 257

The scientific knowledge produced old age as a as a problem and a category with a specific popula- category and a social problem, separated from other tion. This was a process without a ready answer; it social problems. The knowledge, however, was not was not given how old age should be defined and definitive; the author shows how it was negotiated understood and what kind of persons should belong in a constant process. Moreover, during the process to the category. This complexity, and uncertainty, is of negotiation concerning who was worthy enough distinctly described and analysed throughout the to receive support and thus belonging to the cat- text. Different practices are held forth, but there is egory, the law also normalized the receipt of public no question of how they all are interwoven. support. I agree with Anders Møller that the dissertation The final empirical chapter draws on documenta- promotes perspectives of studying the relation be- tion of two housing projects that were arranged for tween social policy and citizenship. The configuring older people in Copenhagen around 1900. This is of old age as a social problem is particularly inter- another set of configuring practices that circulate esting since the formulation of social problems in around what kind of institution an older people’s that period and context (the industrialization and ur- home or nursing home should be and for whom, and banization of North-Western Europe) originated what “the good life” in old age is supposed to be. from concerns of poverty and poverty legislation. The relational quality is emphasized, where the con- As the author shows, older people are distinguished cept of institution is defined as a material relation from poverty aid as a new category and population, between the residents and society. The institution defined by moral notions of work and citizenship. both reflected and reformulated the visions and real- But the dissertation is also a contribution to the ity of the society. study of old age in a historical context. Unlike many Ensuring separation from poverty housing was other studies of old age, the medical perspective and central in the planning and execution of the housing its importance in the period is not prominent in the projects. Nevertheless, the author illustrates how the text. This is a deliberate choice by the author, which poor house was simultaneously point of departure, works well. The focus on materiality, in particular inspiration for and deviation from the old people’s related to older bodies in the final empirical chapter, home. Additionally, the housing projects demon- highlights the cultural in the cultural history per- strate how older people were not regarded as a ho- spective. As a reader, one wants more of this; in mogeneous group, but gender, age, health status and depth in this specific chapter and perhaps broadly need of care were important aspects that created re- throughout the text. Still, the overall impression is strictions, manifested in the physical environment of that this is an ambitious and elaborated dissertation, the old people’s homes. well worth reading. Regardless of differences in gender, age and Åsa Alftberg, Malmö health, the concept of worthiness was vital. A place at the home was only give to those deserving and worthy enough. The aspect of worthiness continued Contemporary Collecting to be strong even as a resident, since there were Elin Nystrand von Unge, Samla samtid. Insam- strict regulations to follow, which included an em- lingspraktiker och temporalitet på kulturhistoriska phasis on cleanliness and hygiene. museer i Sverige. Department of Ethnology, History Correspondingly, the architecture was construct- of Religion and Gender Studies, Stockholm Univer- ed according to the necessity of light, cleanliness sity 2019. 259 pp. Ill. English summary. Diss. ISBN and hygiene, and the author makes a point of the 978-91-89059-30-6. material aspects as part of configuring practices. The architecture also reflected care for the older  Samla samtid, or “Collecting Contemporary” is people’s bodies through built-in facilities; ramps, an empirically based study of contemporary collect- lifts, loggias and gardens that were part of the ing in Swedish museums of cultural history from the houses. This displays the expected activities for the 1970s to the present day. Instead of trying to pro- residents, connected to “a good old age”. vide a concerted historical survey of the field, Elin In conclusion, the dissertation demonstrates the Nystrand von Unge has structured her dissertation diverse but assembled practices that created old age around three case studies, which facilitates a more 258 Reviews

problem-focused approach. The dissertation tackles The background material from museum history is a tripartite problem which is followed throughout presented in Chapter 2 of the dissertation. The inten- the analyses. The first concerns how the present day tion is to demonstrate how the drive for contem- is collected, the second asks how the work of col- porary documentation from the 1970s onward grew lecting is arranged, and the third deals with the out of older practices at the cultural history mu- knowledge processes in this work. seums, while also representing something new and At the centre of the study is the network and or- original. This was partly related to the fact that the ganization Samdok, which was founded in the relics of the old agrarian society that the museums 1970s. The name was an abbreviation of Swedish had long been busy rescuing were now disappearing words beginning with sam- which capture the main for good. Equally important, however, was a new activities and goals, namely samordning (coordina- way of thinking about the place of the museum in tion), samtid (contemporary), and samarbete (co- society, the museums’ responses to the new political operation), combined with documentation. The jus- and social ideals of the sixties and seventies. It be- tification for this emphasis is the great significance came important to document the cultural forms that that Samdok has had in Swedish museum practice the museums had hitherto overlooked: industrial and and thinking since its inception in the 1970s. Today working-class culture, women’s culture, and the Samdok is still the natural point of reference for this present day. In addition, the work on contemporary type of museum activity, although the network was documentation was part of the professionalization of terminated ten years ago and many of today’s mu- the museum system. The key elements of Samdok, seum people are partly critical of the way Samdok the division of labour, the cooperation, the network- worked. ing, and the deliberate methodological development, The three case studies, which comprise separate were important elements of this professionalization. chapters, concern, first of all, the collectors (i.e. The chapter on the collectors, which is the first Samdok’s actors), and then a concrete project direct- case study, deals with the actors’ own understanding ed by Samdok in 1979 whereby a family home in a of Samdok and the work that was done through this Stockholm suburb was documented. The third and network. The specific starting point is Samdok’s last final case is an analysis of the museum documenta- major network meeting in autumn 2011. At this tion of reactions to the terror attack in Stockholm on time, the network secretariat at the Nordic Museum 7 April 2017. The central players here were the was about to be closed. The work was to continue in Stockholm City Museum and Stockholm County the form of the looser DOSS network. The analysis Museum. All three cases are based on extensive concentrates on how the regular meetings served to fieldwork consisting of interviews, observations, order both the activities and the participants in it. and “fieldwork in the archives”. In concrete terms This in turn was an important contribution to the this involves observation at meetings of Samdok professional museum development that Samdok and its successor DOSS in the years 2011–2017, represented. study of archival material from the Home Survey, The next case is an in-depth study of a particular preserved in the Nordic Museum Archives, and fi- Samdok project from 1979, in which a family home nally material from the documentation of the reac- was documented in its entirety through a substantial tions to the terror attack in 2017. effort by eleven Samdok representatives. The inter- While the cases make it possible to examine dif- ior of one of the rooms in the home was also ac- ferent themes in depth, they are held together at an quired by the Nordic Museum. This project has overall level by the use of actor-network theory since attained almost iconic status in the understand- (ANT), as developed by Bruno Latour and more ing of Samdok, for both the method and the organi- specifically by John Law. To start with, Hans Ulrich zation. The analysis emphasizes how the Samdok Gumbrech’s theories of presence and Jan and Aleida work served to organize things: the objects that were Assman’s work on cultural memory are presented, found in the documented home, those acquired by with particular emphasis on the relationship be- the museum, and the objects that the actual work of tween the concepts of canon and archive. Together documentation created in the form of archive cards, this constitutes the theoretical framework of the dis- photographs, reports, and notes. This extensive sertation. work was not done to answer any specific question, Reviews 259

but with a view to future research. The chapter high- eously allowing diversions to other perspectives that lights the tension between the strong sense of pres- are relevant to the particular case. ence that some of the material evokes – for example The greatest unreleased potential of the disserta- a box containing a child’s milk teeth – and on the tion lies in the concept of “contemporary”, which is other hand, the objectifying techniques used in the central both in the title and in the studied problem, work, when all the elements in the documented and which dominates the text throughout. In spite of home were treated as equally important. This meth- this, the dissertation refrains from looking closely at odology arose in turn from the principle that all what “contemporary” is, and how the collecting Samdok projects should follow the same template, practices that are so thoroughly examined contribute so that future researchers could treat material from to “producing” the contemporary as a museum cate- many different studies as basically comparable. gory and shaping the understanding of both the mu- The third and final case starts as an in-depth seums and the public. The author points out that for study of the documentation and collecting that was the informants, the contemporary is primarily an done in the aftermath of the terrorist attack in Drott- empirical category, as it also remains for most of the ninggatan in Stockholm on 7 April 2017. Here the dissertation. It is not until the final chapter that she museums were collecting in real time. In that way discusses the concept in more detail, but without they had a dual role, simultaneously becoming ac- utilizing the full analytical potential. The theoretical tors in the mourning and memory processes that apparatus of the dissertation and the methodical ap- took place after the attack. This in turn required new proach in the form of ANT, with its focus on how methods and new reflection on the museum work. knowledge is created through concrete practices, The analysis emphasizes the differences that the ought to have been very well suited to this analysis. museum actors see between their own work and Assman’s theories of cultural memory could also what they perceive as “classic Samdok work”: a have provided good support for these analyses, but much greater problem orientation with more empha- they have not been used to the full. sis on being an actor in society here and now, and a All in all, the dissertation is nevertheless a solid correspondingly weaker belief that the work should piece of work. It provides an important and valu- primarily serve as a reservoir for future research. able addition to a field in museology about which In terms of theory, this analysis particularly links there has hitherto been a shortage of research- up with Aleida Assman’s concepts of canon and ar- based knowledge. The analyses are grounded in chive, as designations for the two main forms of so- comprehensive and thorough fieldwork that has re- ciety’s shared cultural heritage. Whereas the canon sulted in a rich array of source material. Through is the active and often elevated cultural memory, the the case-based approach, the dissertation succeeds archive denotes the passive reservoir of society’s well in its in-depth examination of selected prob- memory. The dissertation argues that the work car- lems that are highly relevant to the overall goal of ried out by the museums and the material that result- the study. ed from it do not entirely correspond to either of Anne Eriksen, Oslo Assman’s concepts, but at the same time it triggers a kind of circular motion between them. Furthermore, the author identifies two basic ideas for the mu- Cultural and Social Dimensions of a seum’s contemporary documentation. What she calls “Us studies” can be traced back to the older Clinical Intervention ethnological disciplinary tradition, with the empha- Marie Haulund Otto, Aldringsførsøg. Kliniske in- sis on documenting ordinary people’s lives and terventioner, aldrende kroppe og hverdagslivets do- work. “Them studies”, by contrast, derive from cur- mesticeringer. Avdelningen for Etnologi, SAXO-in- rents in recent research that are critical of power and stituttet, Humanistisk Fakultet, Københavns Univer- ideology, involving democracy, minorities, and under- sitet, København 2019. 236 pp. Diss. represented groups. All three cases offer interesting reading and a  There is often talk in the media and the social de- great many wise and good observations. The theor- bate today about the ageing population as a growing etical framework functions well, while simultan- problem. Who is going to take care of the people 260 Reviews

who will live longer, and how much can it cost? In which is also coloured by overall bio-political initia- parallel with this political and economic concern for tives in the sphere of the elderly, by research in cul- society as a whole, each individual is given increas- tural gerontology, and not least of all, by ethnologi- ing responsibility to satisfy the conditions that make cal studies such as Otto’s dissertation. it possible to go on living in their own home and The overall purpose of the thesis is to show how avoid the ailments and diseases that old age brings. all these ongoing ageing-related scientific trials There are many research projects aimed at influenc- crisscross each other through medical, social, mate- ing the lifestyle of the elderly, and it is one of these rial, everyday, and ethnological management and that is investigated by the ethnologist Marie Hau- production of specific bodies, subjectivities, and lund Otto in this dissertation, the title of which standardized ageing processes. By highlighting the means “Ageing trials: Clinical interventions, ageing complexity and analytical potential of everyday life, bodies, and the domestication of everyday life”. Otto shows that ageing can include and be under- Otto participated as a Ph.D. student in the project, stood as so much more than a chronologically deter- which was called CALM (Counteracting Age-relat- mined stage in life. ed Loss of Skeletal Muscle mass), an interdiscip- The dissertation is divided into seven chapters linary project seeking to explore the possibilities of along with an introduction and a conclusion. The countering the continuous age-related loss of muscle outline is well considered and the reading is facili- mass, skeletal muscle quality, and muscle function. tated by a brief introduction and summary in each Through increased physical activity and a high-pro- chapter. The text is reader-friendly and absorbing. tein diet, the aim was to prevent health problems In the introduction, Otto positions her dissertation in and make it possible to go on living at home as long the research field, specifying Science and Technolo- as possible. gy Studies (STS), recent materiality studies, per- The contribution of the ethnological researchers formativity, and ethnological studies of everyday was to study the cultural and social dimensions of life as a starting point for her work. She also de- the clinical intervention, which consisted of special scribes the political agenda for public health and training programmes and the introduction of a pro- ageing in Denmark. Chapter 1 examines the theor- tein drink (the dairy company Arla was one of the etical perspectives in greater depth, and clarifies the project’s sponsors) for selected people over the age indispensable role of ethnology in projects like of 65. This was done through extensive ethnograph- CALM. Chapter 2 presents the ethnographical field- ic fieldwork and an ethnological analysis of how work and especially the empirical material, meth- ageing processes and elderly people’s lives are pro- odological considerations, and ethical dilemmas. duced and practised as multifaceted objects of The next five chapters depict the ongoing work of knowledge and intervention. Otto followed the re- the project, the participants’ experiences, and the sults and the practical implementation of the re- encounter between the everyday work of the clinical search project, and more specifically how the every- researchers and the domestic conditions and every- day lives of the participants and already ongoing day lives of the elderly. The analytical emphasis is ageing studies were related to CALM and vice ver- on what the trial population actually consisted of, sa. The dissertation shows how everyday practices how the ageing bodies were handled, how ageing it- and clinical practices co-produce each other. An im- self was created, the role played by mealtime rou- portant insight resulting from the fieldwork was that tines, and the significance of the home and the mak- the ageing bodies recruited as subjects could not be ing of “home”. The conclusion sums up the discus- separated from the everyday life in which they lived sion that has been conducted throughout the disser- outside the clinical trials. And it proved equally tation, using the concept of ageing trials (to which I wrong to regard the everyday life of participants as a return below), who produces ageing and how re- stable and autonomous background to the clinical search-based interventions relate to the ongoing intervention. Domestication, a central concept in the ways of doing old age in everyday life. dissertation, is used to capture the ways in which An important act of positioning involves the clinical research-based intervention and the every- choice to work with theories that include analyses of day life of the elderly subjects constantly co-created materiality and relationships between human and each other in a mutual and unfinished process, non-human actors. The author does not just want to Reviews 261

reproduce and analyse narratives about what it is One of the main strengths of the dissertation is like to grow old. By examining how bodies are de- the empirical material and the ethnographical ap- scribed, managed, and measured, materiality – such proach, along with the high methodological ambi- as intervention protocols, syringes, muscle samples, tion that is displayed in the close link between the- and nutritional drinks – can be understood as inter- ory and empirical data. A detailed and interesting ventions in the subjects’ own ongoing ageing trials discussion about how the field material was ac- and can thus be used as a means to nuance biomedi- quired and the author’s own role in the CALM pro- cal understandings of ageing. This perspective, Otto ject provides insights that are useful far beyond this argues, has so far been absent in ethnological studies specific study. The empirical material is large in of different ageing-related scientific trials. quantity, qualitatively varied, and full of ideas The concept of domestication plays an important thanks to different collection techniques such as re- role in the analysis and in the conclusion. The term current life-history interviews over a long period of refers to collective, distributed, and relational prac- time, ethnographical observation, and informal con- tices of acquisition and taming (as opposed to a versations in the subjects’ homes, in the research more phenomenological understanding where the laboratory, and in the gym – all captured in illustra- focus is on the individual’s relationship to concrete tive field notes and reflections. changes in the home). Domestication can take sev- The methodology chapter also contains an inter- eral courses; it can involve ideological and discur- esting discussion of the difference between lifestyle sive aspects and both human and non-human actors. interviews (as formulated in the original application It is not just a matter of one-way taming or un- for funding for the CALM project) and life-history equivocal disciplining – several examples of how interviews. The latter is an established collection the subjects avoid or modify certain exercises, diet- technique in ethnology, further developed and crit- ary recommendations, and rules in their own way ically scrutinized, and the dissertation gives ex- are given in the book. But although resistance ap- amples of this through a qualified discussion of the pears in unexpected places, the dominant narrative interview as a method. of domestication has the strength to arrange and The text includes many illustrative quotations neutralize the world as a defining and powerful epis- which show that Otto has an ability to detect mean- temology. Domestication should be investigated as ingful elements and important themes and symbol- processes that do not have a given outcome. They ically charged expressions in a large volume of text. can function as a possible mutual opening towards The quotations are skilfully selected, showing a something else. Clinical intervention practices can good balance between letting readers draw conclu- very well help to shape ageing bodies and biomedi- sions for themselves from what is quoted, and pro- cal and political standard values, but ageing bodies viding the author’s analysis of the quotations. It is and routines can also domesticate clinical practices. an advantage that the quotations from interviews The concept is given a solid foundation in other and field notes are allowed to be long, underlining cited studies but is used here in an innovative way. Otto’s skill as an interviewer who can gain trust and However, it is ascribed a heavy explanatory value create good conversations. which can be difficult to live up to. It may be hoped Positive, interesting and important for the reli- that the concept will give inspiration and be tested in ability of the whole dissertation is the fact that both future studies. the staff of the CALM project and those targeted by The theory chapter provides an interesting over- the interventions are studied. However, life-history view of research in cultural and social gerontology, interviews were conducted only with the trial sub- but the dissertation’s positioning in relation to the jects, not the researchers, which is a pity. Were their emerging field of critical age studies could have previous practices and experiences of no value for been demonstrated with greater clarity. the everyday life and forms of practice developed The well-known line of life-mode analysis in within the project? Danish ethnology can be glimpsed here and there in Otto convinces the reader through her well- the text, especially in the notes, but it is not used to wrought analysis of the close link between physio- the full. Otto says that it “could serve as an en- logical ageing and cultural, historical, and social un- trance” but mostly she refrains from using it. derstandings of what ageing should and must mean. 262 Reviews

The author is critical of dividing the life course into the time, on many different levels, and certainly not different phases, such as the “third” and the “fourth” exclusively in medical trials. Biomedical interven- age. Instead, she wants to talk about continuous age- tions can change the everyday life of individuals and ing, or continuous life courses. Ageing can always turn it into politics by linking it to different norms, be understood as unpredictable, open, and produc- expectations, and controversies – but it is important tive attempts to do old age. The term aldringsforsøg to remember that different everyday lives can react or ageing trial is employed to designate the continu- differently and unpredictably to the same interven- ous experimentation with old age in a series of co- tions. A crucial point is that everyday life – as hap- filtered practices. This is a fruitful and sympathetic pens in many clinical intervention studies – should outlook, but sometimes it is not entirely clear to the not be regarded as a separate, autonomous, and reader when, where, and how “ageing” takes place. stable field. On the contrary, it is essential to show Does ageing as a process begin at birth, or after a how everyday norms, practices, routines, and certain chronological age? Should the reader under- rhythms continuously produce and are produced in stand ageing trials as a set of performative practic- ongoing ageing trials. We are shown a long series of es by which to “do” age, or as conscious and ex- good examples of unexpected factors that can affect plicit trials referring to certain normative ways of how faithfully the exercise programmes are per- ageing? formed; for example, one woman does not want to The dissertation discusses and demonstrates in a train when her husband is watching because she credible way how the success of similar clinical in- feels that she looks silly. This information may tervention projects depends on a particular type of seem banal, but in fact it gives important knowledge subject registering their interest in participating. The as to why certain elements of the intervention pro- older person should be active and self-intervening in ject are not followed as they should be. relation to his or her own life situation and should be It is the ethnographic investigation that captures positively disposed to the imperative of active age- the fact that certain bodies are not considered to fit ing. Otto carries on a penetrating discussion of the the trial and are sorted out as being either too de- importance of a discursive unknown “other” elderly crepit or overactive. There is no room for these “de- person who is a constant contrast to the bio-citizen viations” in protocols and questionnaires, but they that the CALM project – like many other similar ini- can be seen in participant observations and inter- tiatives – seeks to shape. She makes good use of an views. This can help to make it clear that one specif- established anthropological and ethnological discus- sion about the construction of “the Other” so that it ic type of ageing trial is encouraged while others are also concerns the construction of a “we” who do rejected. The nuances of healthy and active ageing what is expected of us as elderly citizens. can be highlighted to give us a deeper understanding One of the main points of the dissertation is to ac- of a fixed ideal of desirable ageing. knowledge the involvement of ethnologists in re- One of the main merits of the dissertation is the search into various ageing trials. It is not only the compelling justification for why, and in what way, clinically oriented scientists but also cultural and so- ethnologists should have a given role in clinical in- cial science researchers who contribute to an ontolo- tervention projects like the CALM project. By gy of ageing. It is pleasing that Otto equates differ- demonstrating a good all-round understanding of the ent kinds of knowledge production (clinical prac- long and extensive experience that ethnological re- tices, old people’s everyday lives, and ethnology) to search has of problematizing and theorizing the show how ageing is configured as a multifaceted ob- complexity and analytical potential of everyday life, ject of knowledge and intervention. But do these dif- Otto demonstrates that ethnology is indispensable ferent types of knowledge and practices have the both in clinical medical trials and in broader politi- same possibility to be heard, the same right of inter- cal initiatives. Through a constructive and generally pretation, and the same influence and power? critical analysis of the CALM project, future pro- Ethnology and the study of everyday life is an jects can be designed differently, and ultimately the important resource, sometimes as a scrutinizing and policy concerning ageing and the living conditions critical voice in medically oriented interventions. A of elderly people can be improved. key conclusion is that ageing trials are going on all Karin Salomonsson, Lund Reviews 263

Tradition in Questionnaires and partly by the Scottish social anthropologist and Åmund Norum Resløkken, “Ein lut av det nære le- folklorist James George Frazer. The aim of the dis- vande livet.” Tradisjon, tradisjonselementer og tra- sertation is to demonstrate how the concept of tradi- disjonsforskere. En studie av spørrelistserien Ord og tion was perceived, and how “tradition objects” sed 1933‒1947. Department of Culture Studies, were constructed in the surveys. Through such per- University of Oslo 2018. 203 pp. Ill. Diss. spectives Resløkken succeeds in demonstrating new aspects in the history of folklore studies.  In May 2018 Åmund Norum Resløkken defended Resløkken’s academic skills are well demonstrat- his doctoral dissertation at the University of Oslo. ed in the problem formulation and research ques- The thesis discusses “classical” folkloristic concepts tions which are clearly formulated and focused. The such as folk belief and tradition, and his dissertation application of the empirical investigation is well is an ambitious and valuable contribution to the his- done, and the organization of the thesis is carefully tory of folklore studies, using contemporary re- considered. The analysis of the sources is rich in de- search methods inspired by ANT (Actor Network tails and insights, demonstrating that the writer has a Theory) and narratology. comprehensive knowledge of the material. The ana- The specific theme of the dissertation is to inves- lytical focus is on how “tradition objects” are cre- tigate the construction of concepts like “folk cul- ated and formulated in the questionnaires conceived ture”, “folk belief” and “objects of tradition” as they as “texts”. were expressed and understood in the questionnaires Theoretically and methodically ANT is an inspi- distributed to a large number of informants through ration for the empirical analyses. The objects of re- Ord og sed during the period 1934–1947. Ord og search in the surveys are considered as actants in a sed was inspired by Wilhelm Mannhardt’s collec- network, and perspectives from ANT are connected tion from 1860 of customs related to farming. to concepts and perspectives in narratology. This Resløkken demonstrates how Nils Lid, professor of connection is partly taken as self-evident in the the- ethnology (folkelivsgransking), formulated the the- sis – explicit justification for this is missing – and so oretical foundation of the surveys, and how the is a clarification of the function of concepts such as questionnaires in various ways became an important “actants”, “actor”, and “narrative”. Other concepts factor in the construction of the folklore and the folk central in the thesis, but not so well-known, such as belief the researchers wanted to collect in line with “focalization” (fokalisering), “worldling” (verdens- their theoretical principles. Resløkken’s purpose is liggjøring) and “limit objects” (grenseobjekter) to demonstrate how “folklore” was constructed could profitably have been more clearly and peda- through the ways the questions were constructed, gogically explained. Their theoretical and analytical rather than by the answers that were collected. role is not always self-explanatory, and in some The writer unites aspects of research history, es- parts it makes the text inaccessible. pecially developed in the first three chapters, with a In spite of this critique, a consistent theoretical, more theoretically founded investigation of the tex- methodological and compositional grasp gives the tual construction of categories like “folk belief”, and thesis a solid framework, but it may also contribute the material and immaterial objects presented in the to restricting the perspective and discarding certain surveys. The empirical material is principally the aspects of the empirical material. The thesis takes a texts collected through the surveys and introduc- “deep-dive” into one part of a broader communica- tions and questions addressed to the informants. A tion process or a more comprehensive circulation major question in Resløkken’s study is “what makes (the questionnaires), and the reasons for this are certain objects (and not others) into ‘objects of tradi- well clarified. However, one objection to such a tion’?” perspective is that the thesis in a way closes in on Further, Resløkken demonstrates that the theor- itself. As a reader one becomes curious about what etical and academic frames for this type of academic the respondents really answered and said, and work were not nationally defined in a narrow way, where the examples and narratives used in the but were based on broad ideas about “folk belief” as questionnaires stemmed from. There must have an evolutionistic and anthropological category influ- been some intertextual relations in these formula- enced by the German professor Wilhelm Mannhardt tions that are now cut off. Yet another question is 264 Reviews

to what extent this material has been used by other ferent modes of primary production and rural coast- researchers, since Resløkken seems to conclude al communities in general. However, similar devel- that this material was not “scalable” for other pur- opment and decline processes, causes and effects, poses: it was not usable for other researchers with but also knowledge-related environmental disputes other theoretical assumptions and problem formu- can also be found in many other kinds of communi- lations. It is unclear what the concept scale and ties working with farming and animal husbandry in scaling imply in the thesis. However, in spite of rural contexts. The analysis also includes compari- such objections, this thesis is a valuable contribu- sons with protection policies and discourses regard- tion to modern folklore studies and discussions of ing the great land animals in rural areas worldwide. central concepts within this field. A similar kind of environmental-knowledge dilem- Torunn Selberg, University of Bergen ma can be found in the disputes related to the impact of predation by grey seals and great cormorants on the coastal fishing livelihood. Based on these simi- larities, Sonck-Rautio boldly links her findings con- Challenged Fishing of the Archipelago cerning the historical processes and developments Sea of small-scale fisheries of the Archipelago Sea of Kirsi Sonck-Rautio, The Fishers of the Archipelago Finland to broader, even global, contexts and com- Sea. Resilience, Sustainability, Knowledge and parisons, including the impacts of climate change, Agency. Turun yliopiston julkaisuja – Annales Uni- nature conservation and overall economic develop- versitatis Turkuensis. Sarja – Ser. B, Osa – Tom. ment and urbanization on the traditional livelihoods 493 | Humaniora | Turku 2019. Ill. Diss. ISBN and communities. 978-951-29-7824-3. The objective of the research is well formulated, as is the logic of her specific research questions.  Kirsi Sonck-Rautio’s dissertation for the degree Links to the specific research articles are also clear- of PhD in ethnology at the University of Turku is a ly presented, and the conclusion nicely sums up the compilation thesis based on four peer-reviewed re- key research results and answers to her research search articles, three of which were published and questions. Generally, the summary part and the re- one accepted for publishing at the time of the public search articles show Kirsi Sonck-Rautio’s aptitude defence on 23 November 2019. One of the articles is for a professional academic career. Her develop- co-authored, but in a separate statement Sonck-Rau- ment as a researcher can be seen in the published re- tio explains the division of labour and her contribu- search articles. The first one, published in 2017 and tion to this specific research. A summary section with a particular focus on the animal agency, is the gives a relatively broad introduction to her theme least convincing of the research papers. The concept and proceeds with a somewhat revised analysis of of agency and especially the agency of fish (e.g. her materials compared to her original research art- herring, pike-perch) feels like a forced and artificial icles. To sum up, the thesis is an original and coher- addition to a topic where the researcher’s own re- ent contribution to political ecology and maritime search material is much more clearly about the prob- social sciences, with an emphasis on analysing the lems of the agency of small-scale fishermen. How- overall problematic of cultural change in the fishing ever, in the summary part of dissertation, the con- livelihood and way of life in the Archipelago Sea of cept of agency is used in a much better and more co- Finland, and especially in the fishing community of herent way, and in particular it is much more Rymättylä. Key concepts in the analysis are marine convincingly tied to her own research and materials. socio-ecological systems, local ecological knowl- By contrast, the next two papers, published in 2018, edge and resilience. The thesis particularly empha- are solid professional contributions presenting new sizes the perspectives of professional coastal small- results and perspectives. The second article focuses scale fishermen. on the cultural sustainability of coastal small-scale Sonck-Rautio’s dissertation is important and fishing communities and the third one gives valu- timely both nationally and internationally. It con- able insights into the tacit and often ignored knowl- cerns the rapid cultural, economic and environmen- edge and roles of women in fishing communities tal changes of rural areas worldwide related to dif- and professional fisheries in general. In addition, the Reviews 265

last research article, published in December 2019 in more on definitions in other sciences than the defini- the journal Ethnologia Fennica, “The endangered tions originating in ethnology and other related hu- coastal fishers in the coast of the Archipelago Sea: manistic disciplines, such as cultural anthropology. The environmental conflict in policy-making”, is a Again, however, it must be emphasized that this mature research contribution and strongest in rela- comment is related to a general problem in the hu- tion to ethnology as a field of scholarship and in re- man sciences, not just the present dissertation. We lation to Sonck-Rautio’s own ethnographic research have struggled with similar tensions in my home materials. It nicely sums up the whole dissertation university with every compilation thesis that I have process. supervised myself. The main point is that there The dissertation acknowledges previous research should be more discussion about when compilation related to her theme and she positions her own re- theses are suitable in the humanities and how to search contribution well among the relevant national evaluate them compared to traditional monographs. and international maritime and fishing-related re- In many countries compilation theses are rather search traditions. However, the research and publi- rarely found in humanistic disciplines, and for good cation forums to do with fisheries are often multi- reason. For example, ethnographic contents and de- disciplinary and cross-disciplinary, even with trans- tails are very limited in compilation theses, but this disciplinary ambitions, but sometimes dominated by kind of background is often essential so that the natural sciences, and this combination poses some reader can follow the analysis of a specific temporal, challenges for Sonck-Rautio’s dissertation. A lot of spatial and cultural complex. In addition, in com- the concepts she uses have their roots in technical pilation theses there is very limited space to cite ex- and natural sciences that have a tendency to dom- amples from original materials, such as interviews inate the discourses, and when this is combined in a and field notes, and here the voice of research sub- compilation thesis, where every published paper jects especially suffers, and the reader has rather must stand on its own, some problems are obvious. little opportunity for reflexive reading, instead hav- Firstly, it results in a lot of repetitions between the ing to trust in the author’s interpretations. In this articles and the summary. Secondly, research art- dissertation the reader mostly has to track down ex- icles have a tendency to live a life of their own, and amples of ethnographic materials from the attached finally published papers in a particular journal or research papers. edited volume may be more connected to the ambi- Anyhow, the major weaknesses in Sonck-Rau- tions of editors, the aims of the edited volumes, and tio’s dissertation can be traced back to these general also the emphases of certain peer reviewers, rather problems of compilation theses in the human sci- than to the original intentions and needs of an indi- ences and publishing in multidisciplinary journals, vidual dissertation. In the world of “publish or per- which, taken together, easily results in an abundance ish” this easily results an abundance of theoretical of theoretical concepts and overlapping, and at times concepts and the utilization of overlapping and even confusing definitions that vary between published competing definitions, when authors try to get their research papers in different publication forums. research published by revising their papers accord- Even though Sonck-Rautio has done great work in ing to instructions received. This easily weakens the clarifying her conceptual background in the summa- coherency, particularly of a compilation thesis as a ry, there is still some overlapping, for example in whole. Naturally, this is general problem and there the definitions of adaptation, adaptation capacity, should be more academic discussions of the con- socio-ecological system and concepts of resilience texts in which compilation theses are suitable, espe- and sustainability. Another serious question is why cially in the humanities where traditionally a holistic the author ended up emphasizing definitions of pre- understanding and the coherency of the written out- vious concepts in other sciences than, for example, come tend to be emphasized. in ethnology. It is revealing that even the definition This tension and the resulting variation in pub- of culture emphasizes recent definitions in other lished papers can also be found in Kirsi Sonck-Rau- sciences, although the applied definition reminds the tio’s research articles, but on the other hand, she reader of the function-emphasizing definition of cul- successfully limits the conceptual apparatus in her ture that was put forward by the scholars that repre- summary part, although with a tendency to lean sented the “Stewardian” school of cultural ecology 266 Reviews

in the mid-twentieth century in ethnology, anthro- sure to discuss with multiple fields of science and at pology and geography. times, also to apply definitions originating in other As regards methodology, Sonck-Rautio’s disser- sciences even though her own “home” discipline tation is mature piece of research and the assembled could have offered equally good alternatives. As a research material is very convincing, comprising in- humanist myself, I would have expected somewhat terviews, field visits and notes, participatory obser- more reflexive and transparent thinking about the vations in local communities, but also in public researcher’s own position and treatment of the policy-related meetings, and additionally following whole research process, although I admit that the traditional and social media discussions. Unfortu- summary is much longer (65 pages) than the instruc- nately, in a compilation thesis there is very limited tions of the University of Turku recommend (40 space for presenting interesting ethnographic field pages). Anyhow, it would have been interesting for materials, but from the attached research papers the the reader to understand better the reasons that led to reader gets a much better understanding of specific certain choices, concepts and definitions, and why ethnographic histories and processes in the studied the selected ones fitted better than, for example, areas. Naturally, a problem for reader is that reveal- more traditional ones in the humanistic sciences. ing photographs and interview quotations are scat- Also, some sort of feedback discussion vis-à-vis the tered in different articles, but at least it is possible, human sciences would have increased the value of with some effort, to find evocative visualizations, the dissertation in regenerating humanistic traditions interlocutors’ voices and definitions in her own and comparing these with processes in other fields words. of science. Now the results and discussion are aimed Sonck-Rautio presents her main results system- more at having an impact on applied sciences and atically and emphasizes particularly findings rele- forums of environmental management. For ex- vant to policy, which strengthens the impression that ample, the dissertation results include an interesting she is especially concerned that her research can and and novel message to contribute to gender studies should have an impact and potentially benefit the because they also touch on women’s tacit and often studied communities, which is a brave and encour- ignored roles in fishing communities, a finding that aging aim. Her results emphasize especially the im- resonates with multiple previous studies of tradi- portance of local environmental knowledge and its tional livelihoods and rural communities worldwide. essential role in developing the fishery management. In general, I can recommend Sonck-Rautio’s disser- On the other hand, ethical considerations and reflex- tation to anyone interested in traditional livelihoods, ive assessments of her own research are modest, but human-environment relations and environmental probably limited, again, by the compilation thesis policies related to everyday practices. format, which does not give much option because of Hannu I. Heikkinen, Oulu the limited space available. A salient point is that Sonck-Raitio’s main results are discussed more in terms of applied forums and fishery management A Finnish Industrial Community than participating in academic discussions for ex- Maria Vanha-Similä, Yhtiöön, yhtiöön! Lapsiper- ample in ethnology and other humanistic research. heiden arki Forssan tehdasyhteisössä 1950‒1970-lu- This strengthens the impression that she is now aim- vuilla. (English abstract: Everyday life of families ing more at a professional research career in applied among the textile industrial community.) Kansa- sciences and environmental management than in tieteellinen arkisto 58. Suomen muinaismuistoyh- academia, which is a respectable choice and a good distys, Helsinki 2017. 248 pp. Ill. Diss. ISBN 978- option for a young scholar to consider. 952-6655-05-5. To conclude, Sonck-Rautio’s dissertation is criti- cal, original and ambitious, and despite all the criti-  Maria Vanha-Similä’s dissertation focuses on the cism presented here, it is a coherent piece of re- textile industrial community in the small town of search, the weaknesses of which derive from the Forssa in the south of Finland. It looks especially at general problems of the compilation thesis format the everyday life of families tied to this community, and publication in highly varying multidisciplinary irrespective of which work position they had in the forums. This research setting probably created pres- factory. It was fairly common that both parents Reviews 267

worked in the textile factory, particularly those company in a particular time frame. Finnish society working in production. The period that the thesis was recovering from the Second World War and covers is mainly from the 1950s to the 1970s. This building the social democratic welfare state; this is was a time when Finlayson-Forssa Oy, like other the background to the research. While the textile in- companies in that period, had a paternal workforce dustry has undergone great changes, from being a policy. This meant that companies were interested in thriving industry that needed quite a large work- providing social benefits and leisure activities to the force, to deindustrialization and the dismantling of employees in order to produce a good, happy and the structures of the industrial community. The fo- loyal workforce for its factories. For example, Fin- cus is on the everyday life of two-parent families layson-Forssa Oy had organized childcare and hous- with children, but the study also touches on other ing for some, as well as hobby and sport clubs. The modes of living, for instance young people without company also had common saunas and laundry fa- families, divorced and single-parent families. A cilities for the workers to use in a time when not all characteristic feature of Vanha-Similä’s research apartments had washing amenities. Thus the compa- and writing style is that she highlights a variety of ny had a great impact on the everyday life of the em- experiences and ways people lived and negotiated ployees that was not only limited to the time spent at their lives while dealing with the issues like child- the workplace. care and housing, but also leisure time and heavy in- Vanha-Similä examines how class and gender de- dustrial labour. Thus the research succeeds in paint- fined people’s lives in the industrial community, ing a complex picture of life in a community of where the jobs involved both lower and higher people from different backgrounds. skills, with textile machines, printing, dyeing, plas- The research is mainly based on interview mate- tic finishing and spinning mills in the factory halls, rial assembled by the author as an oral history pro- in addition to the administrative and sales jobs. She ject of the Forssa museum about working life in the asks how everyday life differed for men and women. textile mill. However, she has also had a great var- What kind of life did workers live in the factory iety of other source material in order to answer the houses and when taking part in the factory’s organ- research questions. For example, she has used oral ized leisure activities, and what was the role of the history interviews gathered from Forssa back in the fathers in family life? Vanha-Similä shows, for ex- 1980s by a workers’ history project, and she has ample, that fathers in some cases did the traditional also had the opportunity to use a selection of docu- women’s housework, such as cooking, when both ments, pictures and fabric samples gathered from parents were working different shifts in order to the already closed textile factory. Furthermore, she make end meet. On the other hand, women were ex- has had the opportunity to study a wide selection of pected to take care of the homes and children while pictures taken by a variety of people about their men were more free to take part in hobby clubs and lives in Forssa. The pictures run through the thesis fishing in their spare time. The community was also and are intended mainly to illustrate. The interview hierarchically organized along the lines of the posi- quotations selected for the book also serve mainly as tions people had in the company. For example, some illustration or examples. The thesis has quite a long of the leisure clubs were mainly meant for the separate chapter that goes through all the research people working in higher positions in the company. material; this could have been edited somewhat to The housing was also organized so that people lived reduce the methodological considerations. On the in different areas depending on the position they had other hand, this chapter could serve a pedagogical in the company. We also see that sometimes there purpose in teaching methodological reflexivity. were subtle differences within one class position, so The book has ten chapters. The book starts with a that different occupations and positions on the same description of the context, the research task and the production line were valued differently, which then research design, followed by a description of the re- affected the possibilities and resources offered to search material and eight empirical chapters. These workers in their everyday life. deal with the experiences of getting a job, as well as The dissertation can be read as a social or cultural the everyday life and hierarchies inside the factory, historical take on the lives of people in an industrial moving on to how life was organized outside work, community organized around a particular textile dealing with the housing provided by the company 268 Reviews

and ending with childcare, which was provided ei- her dissertation follows the outline of the book, with ther by mothers, relatives, or the childcare organized a mixture of content description and analysis. by the factory. At the end of the thesis Vanha-Similä The reader’s interest is nicely aroused by the in- writes about social benefits, which included for ex- troduction to the phenomenon or object that is the ample financial help on sick days as well as material focal point of the study: stem cells extracted from benefits such as access to cheaper fabric produced in aborted foetuses. The reader is then introduced to a the factory, which had a high value in the wider multifaceted and multidisciplinary field that has community. She also touches upon the influence of emerged, relating in different ways to the bio-object the workers’ union. Furthermore she writes about that the cells can be viewed as. “Bio-object” is a the company’s different clubs, trips and sports activ- term used to understand biological artefacts that ities, which were understood to contribute to a challenge our perceptions of nature/culture, living/ healthy and happy worker. Some of the empirical dead, created/found, and so on. The meaning of chapters tend to overlap and this creates a sense of bio-object is fluid, and knowledge about it is chang- repetition throughout the book. This could have ing. It acts as a kind of medium between a wide been avoided with more careful editing. However, range of different spheres of society and science. the reason for the repetitions could be that the dis- Because the cells have regenerative properties and sertation seems to have been written to make it agency, this also challenges our ideas about what is easier to read only parts of the book that give infor- part and what is whole in a thought-provoking and mation about an area in which the reader is most in- fascinating way. Not least of all, these objects raise terested. a number of ethical questions. With her choice of While the dissertation is not very theoretical in focus in the dissertation, Wiszmeg has developed a the sense that, for example, theories of class and new way of pursuing research about culture based gender could have been applied more in the empiri- on the gaps which can be found everywhere but cal analysis. It is nevertheless visible throughout the which are often ignored. Not only does she use a thesis that a wide variety of contextual literature has mobile searchlight, she also conducts a study of been read and used in discussing the empirical find- movement and change. The dissertation is not only ings. This thesis is an important addition to ethno- about a cultural phenomenon, but also generates an logical studies of working life and work communi- understanding of how knowledge comes into being. ties in Finland, while providing empirically oriented The aim of the dissertation is to use cultural analysis research-based knowledge to other interested parties as an aid in studying the transformation of embry- about the grass-roots life of people living in a textile onic cells into therapeutic methods, and how mean- industry community in the mid-twentieth century. ing and knowledge arise in that process. Jenni Rinne, Helsinki The theories used in the study concern – and were created to tackle – transformation, flexibility, and endurance in different ways. The focus is on bound- The Culture of Bio-Objects aries, coming into being, and what happens in be- Andréa Wiszmeg, Cells in Culture, Cells in Sus- tween. Bio-objects are a kind of boundary objects. pense. Practices of Cultural Production in Foetal Wiszmeg displays her mature understanding of epis- Cell Research. Department of Arts and Cultural temology and her critical independence by not fol- Sciences, Lund University 2019. 210 pp. Ill. Diss. lowing any school, instead demonstrating a well-de- ISBN 978-91-983690-8-3. veloped ability to work eclectically in the true eth- nological spirit. The empirical material for the dis-  I am a great believer in monographs, so let me sertation was collected using classical ethnological start the review with those words. I much prefer the fieldwork methods: interviews (both semi-struc- somewhat longer cohesive scholarly format that is tured and focus groups) and observations. Laborato- now being abandoned at an alarming rate in favour ry staff, patients, and relatives have been inter- of shorter articles. I am concerned about that devel- viewed and observed. Other material consists of opment. But if you are going to write a compilation documents and guidelines from Sweden and the EU, dissertation, you should do it in the exemplary style 250 pages of field notes from observations of work that Andréa Wiszmeg has achieved. This review of in laboratories and at meetings of various kinds, and Reviews 269

transcriptions of interviews with researchers who shows here how the uncertainty that this research in- work with the stem cells (or bio-objects). The choice evitably has to deal with, because it is breaking new of both theory and method reveals a well-developed ground, has led to the development of a kind of ability to work in a multidisciplinary way, and by choreography that helps to coordinate the actors focusing on boundaries and what happens in be- among whom the new knowledge emerges. The tween, the author creates an understanding of both third article is entitled “Transforming trash to treas- the possibilities and the limitations of science and of ure: Cultural ambiguity in foetal cell research”. Here the topic under study. Wiszmeg uses the word “crys- the focus is on the researchers’ different ways of tallization” to describe her way of working, and I dealing with ethical dilemmas raised by working think she succeeds in her ambition to elucidate the with aborted foetuses and patients with serious neu- inherent differences and diversity of knowledge. In- rological diseases, dilemmas which must be tackled spired by Donna Haraway and Karen Barad, Wisz- on a daily basis in the actual situations where they meg has developed a diffractive approach, created in arise. The scientists who handle the cellular material order to capture diversity and describe the openness act in a kind of liminal in-between space, which af- of the processes by which knowledge is created. The fects the knowledge that is necessarily based on method is described using an apt metaphor: it is like consensus in practice but at the same time gives rise finding your way in a dark room with the help of a to cultural ambivalence. Article 4, “Diffractions of cane that you alternately hold with a firm and a the foetal cell suspension: Scientific knowledge and loose grip. After the presentation of theory and value in laboratory work”, examines different ways method there is a section entitled “Ethnographic in- of working with biomaterial. Wiszmeg creates an terlude”. Here the author opens the door to the la- understanding of how scientific knowledge arises in boratory world and gives us an informative descrip- the context of a laboratory by starting from a dif- tion – with both words and pictures – of the work fractive perspective instead of a reflective perspec- that is carried out there. After that, she surveys pre- tive. It is a matter of not taking difference for grant- vious research, both international and Swedish. ed, but of examining how and which differences are Wiszmeg shows here that she is well read and cap- taken into account and which are ignored in the able of moving between different scientific disci- knowledge practice of science. The point is that a re- plines, yet never losing touch with ethnology, which searcher with this perspective is involved as a sub- is the subject in which the dissertation was present- ject in the knowledge process in a completely differ- ed. ent way than if knowledge is regarded as something The articles are then presented briefly, but they passive waiting to be discovered. are also reproduced in their entirely later in the The dissertation ends with a section where the au- book. Article 1 is entitled “Medical need, ethical thor reflects on what the dissertation contributes to skepticism: Clashing views on the use of foetuses in knowledge. This is well worth reading, even for Parkinson’s disease research”. It deals with ethical someone who has not read the rest of the book or dilemmas associated with the handling of aborted any of the articles. And this, I think, is what demon- foetuses. Here Wiszmeg introduces the concept of strates the strength of the dissertation. Wiszmeg has “gut-feeling ethics”, which is the result of analyses not only passed her driving test in research, but also of conversations in different focus groups about the demonstrated creative ability and craft skills by pre- ethical dilemmas that the subject gives rise to. It senting, in a lucid, pedagogical, and well-written turns out that the researchers, who are not personally manner, a thorough piece of work filled with im- affected, proceed from their gut feeling when they portant and valuable knowledge, not only about the think about ethics, more so than the patients who work with foetal cells materials in the lab, but also have the disease. Article 2, “Cells in suspense: Un- about the prerequisites for knowledge production in boxing the negotiations of a large-scale cell trans- general. With her method and her way of writing plant trial”, focuses on understanding lab culture and analysing ethnographic material, Wiszmeg ex- and how it affects knowledge of the cellular mater- poses the tacit knowledge and the taken-for-granted ial. It analyses the creation of knowledge and its things that affect all research and all cultural con- character of a negotiation between a great many dif- texts. The perspective applied in the dissertation ferent actors, both human and non-human. Wiszmeg gives a better understanding of where and how mis- 270 Reviews

understandings in the communication of knowledge tural change and knowledge production between dif- can arise and how an understanding of science in ferent actors and between academia and society, general can be developed, and also how the prob- which means that there are no categorical claims lems that often arise in interdisciplinary projects can that need to be examined. The knowledge conveyed be better solved, which is particularly necessary in in the dissertation is of a more open and searching the wake of COVID-19. Knowledge of culture and nature, which is exactly what is needed to under- the ability to deal with diversity and complexity, stand and learn how to deal with the complex and along with the understanding of changes demon- rapidly changing world in which we live. I therefore strated by Wiszmeg in her dissertation, are intellec- see no reason to search for errors and omissions just tual qualities that build society and promote sustain- for the sake of it. In my view the dissertation is very ability, and thus deserve to be spread beyond the solid, more than satisfying what can reasonably be discipline of ethnology. demanded of a doctoral student. Wiszmeg moreover I have tried to find something to criticize, and reminds us of how useful and important ethno- there are no doubt things that could have been done logical competence is, both in the academic world better (as there always are), but Cells in Culture, and in the society and culture that we all share and Cells in Suspense, as I read it, is not a dissertation are part of. which claims that research definitely proves some- Eddy Nehls, Lerum thing. It is instead a study of the conditions for cul- Book Reviews sion broadcasts began with the men’s Swedish championship finals, with the women’s finals add- ing a new dimension to Swedish bandy in 1973 (IK A Game that Refuses to Die Göta vs. Katrineholms SK). Torbjörn Andersson, Den döende bandyn? En sär- The foundation of the Federation of International egen historia om svensk natur, nationalism och nos- Bandy (FIB) in 1955 and the entry of the Soviet talgi. Arx Förlag, Malmö 2019. 279 pp. Ill. ISBN Union into the international bandy community gave 978-91-8889-309-3. birth to the Men’s World Cup in 1957. The World Cup was long attended by the traditional founding  Bandy has been pronounced dead in Sweden for countries of the International Hockey League: Fin- almost a hundred years. However, the bandy has land, Sweden, Norway and the Soviet Union. In the survived all the pitfalls. Not even Ice hockey or 1980s, the United States became the fifth country to floorball have succeeded in displacing it. Nor has join. In 1991 the Netherlands, Hungary and Canada the game been destroyed by frost conditions or cli- joined. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, mate change. In the course of this millennium, the Russia and Kazakhstan have participated in the tour- whole of bandy culture has changed. The game has nament. moved from natural ice to indoor halls in a short The third era is post-modern. Since 2004 bandy time. has moved to indoor arenas. According to Anders- The elements of this story are Swedish nature, son, a major cultural change took place in 2013 nationalism, nostalgia, which have tied Swedish when the finals were played indoors in Stockholm. bandy finals together for over 100 years. The reader The venue added the familiar elements of ice is not only reminded of the finals, but is also given hockey: music and the fast cycle of the game. The an interesting snapshot of Swedish bandy culture, author claims that something traditional was killed supporters and teams. The point of the book is how when the supporters became customers. The change bandy has been modernized while preserving tradi- saw the Americanization of sport, where everything tions. has been modernized and commercialized. How- Torbjörn Andersson’s research is the story of ever, the 2013 final commemorates the 25,000 bandy and its relation to Swedish sports culture. The Hammarby supporters who travelled to Stockholm, author (born 1963) is a historian. He has a PhD from resulting in the largest single gathering of fans of the Lund University in 2002 on Swedish football cul- same team in Swedish sports history. ture from the late nineteenth century to the 1950s. Women’s bandy was not taken seriously in Swe- Today he is Assistant Professor of Exercise Science den until the 2000s, even though the Swedish Cham- at the University of Malmö. pionship had been played since the 1970s. The The book is divided into three identifiable periods. women’s finals were featured on television and the The pioneering phase (1895─1955) is dominated by FIB included women in the World Championships the emergence of modern sport, which involves the in 2004. Sweden has the highest number of cham- development of rules, conditions and equipment. pionships, Russia has regularly been the runner-up Until the 1950s, a brief season was played on nat- and Finland and Norway have won an equal share of ural ice. The game was played with a rope ball and bronze medals. the other equipment was still in development . The According to Andersson, bandy has strengthened hallmark of the players was a club hat, a culture the Swedish community, bringing together different which moved to the stands. As with other major classes of society. The finals gave a nationalist di- sporting events, the finals were broadcast on radio. mension to the game, where the special features of Bandy was a major competitor in Sweden in the different provinces combined to create a strong na- 1920s, when ice hockey was breaking into the pub- tional unity. The Swedish culture of bandy was born lic awareness. out of the urban environment, but now the focus has The most significant change in the modern era shifted to small towns and the countryside. Unlike (1956─2003) was the transition to artificial ice, most other sports, the culmination of Sweden’s na- which significantly extended the season. Other inno- tional bandy is the national finals and not the World vations included a plastic ball and helmet. Televi- Cup. One explanation for this is that only a handful

Ethnologia Scandinavica, Vol. 50, 2020 272 Reviews

of countries play bandy at a high level: Sweden, history or history in images? This question faces the Russia, Finland, Norway and Kazakhstan. reader from the start, or more specifically: in what The national appeal of bandy is guaranteed by the order are the articles supposed to be read? The loud crowds of supporters who, from the early twen- strictly symmetrical design of the book, with one tieth century onwards, have filled the stands on and part being History in Images and the other Images in off the road. Fans have been loyal to their teams. Of History, makes it impossible to answer this question course, in the cold stands, the alcohol tastes good. in any simple, definite way. The editors of the book For example, after the 1951 final (Örebro SK vs. have constructed it in a way that makes the choice Bollnäs GIF), about 6,000 empty bottles were col- random, more or less. My guess is that most readers lected from the gallery. Indeed, it seems that the of the volume will start with Images in History, the 1950s was a golden time for bandy, with an average one with a quite striking illustration of a naked giant of about 24,000 people attending the finals. Nostal- bent forward, a sketch by the sixteenth-century gia has long been a hallmark of bandy. Mannerist painter Bastianino (Bastiano Filippi) Andersson examines Swedish bandy culture from from Ferrara. The other back/front of the book, the the perspective of ethnology, mainly through the fi- one called History in Images, has another quite ar- nals. They have been played since 1907 and that resting picture as its frontispiece, of African-Ameri- match has retained its status as Sweden’s oldest ma- can refugees in the wake of the Civil War in the jor annual sporting event, in which fan culture plays United States in the nineteenth century. an important role. Even football has not been able to This is at least the order in which I read the book, compete with the number of fans travelling long dis- starting with Images in History. The underlying as- tances. The author cleverly links how bandy as a sumption in this case was that the Images in History sport has constantly navigated between tradition and part looks more textual, more traditionally “academ- the present. The book conveys the feeling that An- ic”, whilst the History in Images part has a more dersson is romanticizing his subjects. “artistic”, more pictorial emphasis, or a more ex- Andersson’s most important source is newspaper perimental one. This way of reading the book is coverage, backed up by club histories. The research based on the assumption that this is the better way of thematically focuses on the annual finals. This raises opening up the book as to its theoretical and prac- the question of how well the true essence of bandy tical implications than the other way round. Whether can be portrayed through the finals. this is actually so is of course impossible to judge Jari Kanerva, Helsinki after reading it this way. One has to stick with the choice one makes, since the book leaves this entirely up to the reader. For starters, useful introductions are offered for Image and Image-Making In and Out of both parts of the volume, on Images in History by History the historian Peter Aronsson and the ethnologist Bir- Images in History / History in Images. Towards an gitta Svensson and on History in Images by the his- (AUDIO)VISUAL Historiography. Peter Aronsson, torian Andrej Slávik. And then there might still be Andrej Slávik & Birgitta Svensson (eds.). Konfe- another reason for choosing Images in History first: renser 99. Kungl. Vitterhets Historie och Antikvitets the book has a clear inspirational figure, or maybe Akademien, Stockholm 2020. 277 pp. Ill. ISBN two, but one more famous in cultural analysis and 978-91-88-763-07-5. history writing, namely Carlo Ginzburg, the eminent cultural critic and professor emeritus from the Uni-  Reading the edited volume Images in History / versity of Pisa and the University of California, still History in Images: Towards an (AUDIO)VISUAL actively writing and lecturing as an octogenarian, Historiography, a strong hesitation grips this re- and also one of the contributors to this book’s viewer right from the beginning, already here even Images in History part. The other inspirational voice in trying to name the book and the international and in the book, whose ideas are also important for the interdisciplinary conference it is based on, held in book as a whole, is Professor Ariella Azoulay, who Stockholm in April 2017. It is the old question about is a curator, filmmaker and theorist of photography, the chicken and the egg, which came first: images in from Brown University. Reviews 273

An odd, short piece called “Imaginary History”, on as part of a historical understanding of how so- written by one of the editors of the volume, Andrej ciety and its cultural and intellectual elite in the ear- Slávik, even offers a reading of these two contribu- ly twentieth century viewed progress and decay in tors, Ginzburg and Azoulay, as representing some- an urban built environment and also how that which thing he calls, by way of a mathematical parable, was thought to be modern in the 1940s now might imaginary history. He states that they both operate, be understood when looked upon with a temporal Ginzburg with his microhistory and Azoulay with lens almost 80 years later. What is now showing is a her potential history, somewhere between the ration- certain anachronistic edge to these modernistic as- al and the irrational, comprehension and the incom- pirations of that time, both the “wild” city planning prehensible, restraint and excess. As an exercise in of Halmstad in the early twentieth century and the abstract thinking connected to mathematics, the later, more modern or modernistic approach which piece by Slávik is in itself quite interesting. As to its from our point of view might look both a bit “nostal- explanatory value concerning the historical studies gic” and laden with strong sentimental values. by these two contributors, it might be of slightly less Another contribution within a Swedish context is value. the art historian and curator Louise Wolthers’ piece The next question that pops up is what these two “Displaying science: Photography, ethnography and titles actually imply and how they differ, if at all, national history”, which deals with the question of from one other. The introduction in the History of racism and exoticization in depictions of ethnicity, Images section by Andrej Slávik states that Images or more precisely photographs of Sami people in the in History approaches the question from the angle of northern parts of Sweden in the nineteenth century. how pictorial, especially photographic, representa- Wolthers focuses especially on a couple of photo- tions can be and have been understood either as his- graphs by the famous “mountain photographer” torical artefacts or as sources of knowledge about Emil Ragnar Borg Mesch, both of a young Sami the past, while History in Images would try to ex- girl, Maria Huuva, showing how the object of the plain how pictorial, especially photographs, rep- photograph is exoticized by the photographer and on resentations can themselves be used to convey a the other hand how the subject of the pictures her- new and different understanding of the past. self indicates by her gaze a certain non-compliance The strictly symmetrical construction of the book or maybe even a cautious opposition or uninterest in as a collection with some twenty contributors and a the procedure taking place. Borg Mesch’s pictures theme that is as wide as this double-edged idea of were part of an international photographic exhibi- images in history/history in images makes it a tion in Gothenburg in 1929. Wolthers also shows daunting task to try to come to grips with the con- convincingly how the installation images from the tents and the ideas presented in the dense volume, scientific section of the exhibition served as an ex- not least trying to state what in the book might be of ample of the photographic visualization of ethnogra- special interest in a review in Ethnologia Scandina- phy and history. This is possible because photo- vica (I would say that there is an over-abundance of graphs were also taken of how the curators worked those possible points of interest!). Although this is a with their material in the exhibition. Since no details Swedish production, the Swedish content of the of any textual foundation for the images was provid- book is rather subdued (although a majority of the ed in this section of the exhibition, an ethnograph- contributors are from Sweden). There are only a ical and photographic polysemy allowed allusions to handful of texts which deal more directly with a primitive exoticism camouflaged as objective sci- Swedish cases. One is a description of how the ence, Wolthers notes. Swedish scholar, Börje Hanssen, as part of a project The lesson to be learned from this essay is one led by the art historian Gregor Paulsson surveying which holds true for the book as a whole: a photo- the modernization of Sweden, in 1943 took a series graph – or may one add an image of almost any kind of photographs in the city of Halmstad. He was – is through its reproducibility prone to travel and above all interested in how the old and the new circulate in various contexts, acquiring meaning Halmstad as he saw it played out in his pictures. The from these contexts, just as it performs as context text by the ethnologist Karin Gustavsson shows how and offers meaning to other texts. Its various tem- Hanssen’s pictures and text are interesting to ponder porary anchorages are part of the dense context of 274 Reviews

the unstable, photographic source, Wolthers states, any basis for action, negotiation, listening to and and adds that the historical potentials of a photo- telling stories. graph are almost incomprehensible in so far as its What this volume can teach someone interested reproducibility allows it to migrate, engage and ex- in trying to understand the dynamics of images, pic- change historical meanings with new networks. I torial presentations and representations from a his- think this is one of the central lessons of this collec- torical point of view (which of course is always con- tion, and the lesson is varied in different ways all nected to some now-point or some other plausible through the materials showcased in the book: the temporal point of entry) is the value of practices as- question of the migration of images. Another ex- sociated with these kinds of phenomena. Practices ample of this – or rather the difficulties of migration discussed in the volume are above all those of curat- in this case – is highlighted in another piece with ing and editing, both exemplified in several of the Swedish underpinnings, when a young girl in Tensta contributions. in 2014 borrowed her mother’s smartphone and took One striking example is the artist, writer and an- a photograph of a peculiar cloud in the sky which thropologist Marcus Banks’ research into the world- was interpreted by the girl’s mother as an apparition views of people in the western Indian city of Jam- of the Virgin Mary. A few days later, when thou- nagar, more specifically people belonging to the sands of people were gathered in the local Syrian Jain religious tradition, a denomination contempor- Orthodox Church, the church of St Mary, the audi- ary with Buddhism though perhaps less well known ence witnessed a second apparition of St Mary, this and with fewer adherents than that tradition. Banks time of images in the church windows, as reported is interested in discussing some photographs he took in the Swedish daily Dagens Nyheter. in the 1980s of members of the group and also of But what the author and artist Magnus Bärtås in- some older pictures of the city from the time of a dicates in his analysis as maybe the most interesting ruler named Ranjiitsihnji, a ruler in the early twenti- variation in conjunction with these apparitions is the eth century, who was seen by the British as corrupt fact that the buzz around them, frequent though they and not particularly interested in the modernization might have been on social media up to a certain of the city. To Banks’s surprise the pictures of some point, when seen as a part of something more “offi- old buildings raised in this earlier era, an era before cial” or general in Swedish contemporary history most of his respondents were even born, were more writing is quite non-existent or without a wider reso- interesting to the interviewees than pictures where nance. The whole episode is firmly put under the ra- they themselves were presented. Banks starts from dar of Swedish public discourse, the only exception an assumption made by Ariella Azoulay of what she being the report in the Swedish daily. Bärtås con- calls the social contract between the photographer cludes that the unwillingness and inability to intern- and the photographed person, that there is nothing alize the story of the apparent miracles in Tensta in that binds the photographed person to the photog- the Swedish context says something about how rapher. Rather the case is, as she notes, that all “sig- questions of micro- and macrohistory are bound to natories” to the photographic act can produce various perspectives and contexts. What in the his- images of each other and can contribute to the in- tory-writing of the Syrian Orthodox church now be- vention of images available to all parties. This state- longs to a category of important moments in history ment is one that the volume illustrates and verifies is effectively non-existent even as an event in the in a most striking way in several of the contribu- history of Sweden. Bärtås concludes by stating that tions. the gap or tension between the life of narratives One such piece is by the ethnologist and museum points to questions of coexistence (or should that be curator Helene Larsson Pousette, who presents the rephrased as questions of non-coexistence!?) in di- ideas from her own experience of contemporary col- verse societies: to live in a society where theoria lecting, working mainly from events involving (the word used in classical Greek to indicate a report strong pressures morally, ethically and politically, given of important events, such as the Olympics) is such as layoffs in a Swedish company, the war in deprived of its potential symbolic or metaphoric Serbia, and questions of ethics concerning work in meaning in society, is according to Bärtås also to Sweden for a mining company from South Africa live in a society in which theoria is unable to form during the apartheid era, and also the controversial Reviews 275

EU summit held in Gothenburg in 2001. What Lars- values most highly sought after in these texts and son Pousette is able to show is that certain artefacts, expositions? If it is some form of scientific truth, objects or even gestures, and indeed the soil itself, then what are its contents? Might that which binds might be loaded with extreme iconic power and in this collection together have something to do with this way can be used as a powerful lens to view the questions of fairness and equality, even largesse, history of these events. This is an interesting case friendship, trust, brother/sisterhood, things which leaning towards some earlier attempts by Swedish we often take for granted but which are, as the vol- ethnologists trying to understand the value of what ume voices so strongly, often ill-respected or not re- they have called “sensitive objects”, a way of look- spected at all. So, in a way, this is a rather paradoxi- ing at things in history from a phenomenological or cal situation: a “high-value” professional enterprise, even existential point of view, not an easy task but indeed a royal one – the volume and conference was surely an important one. organized by the Royal Swedish Academy of Let- Curating and editing are at the forefront of sev- ters, History and Antiquities (Kungliga Svenska Vit- eral of the most intriguing pieces in this remarkable terhets Historie och Antikvitets Akademien) – is collection. The space here allows me to only refer- concerned with the poor and the downtrodden, with ence them, which by no means is any indication of war victims, slaves and more generally people and their lesser value in relation to the texts discussed individuals put under extreme stress and pressure. here. These are contributions by the curator and They are what history so easily might silence: the cinema scholar Sylvie Rollet – “The historical un- subaltern, the people in exile, refugees, and the conscious made visible: Traces or symptoms of ‘the rights and the dignity of all these people. This is, as missing People’ (around three films by Sergei far as I can see, the driving force of the volume. But Lonitsa)”, by the cinema scholar Jaimie Barron – at the same time questions of aesthetics, of meta- “Christopher Harris’s experimental audiovisual his- phor, of the movement and the stasis of the images toriography”, by the cinema scholar Malin Wahl- are under scrutiny here, highlighted not least in the berg – “Memory, history and forgetting: Knowledge papers by Carlo Ginzburg, Ariella Acoulay and, in a production and commemoration in the films of Su- more existential turn, by the philosopher Marcia Sá sana de Sousa Dias”, a monologue by the filmmaker Cavalcante Schuback. Peter Watkins, and four expositions of stills, by the What Ginzburg in his paper “On small differ- artist and filmmaker Deimantas Narkevičius, Mag- ences: Ekphrasis and connoisseurship” is concerned nus Bärtås (see above), the artists Lina Selander & with is the line drawn between image and text and Oscar Mangione, and Andrej Slávik, all executed in the ways in which this line or limit is pushed aside a most fascinating and thought-provoking way. when different actors, in this case art connoisseurs To complete the list of contributions to this vol- and art historians, engage in their interpretation ume: the text written by the artist, curator and writer practices, which here starts from a sketch made by Maria Lantz ponders on the phenomenon of so- the Mannerist painter Bastianino and lands by way called mugshots (photographs of persons made by of a digression into the different ways of writing and the police after their arrest), while the visual essay thinking by these connoisseurs under scrutiny right “From the plazas and beyond” by the educator, artist through to a paradox, namely this one: “Words me- and researcher Michelle Teran, discusses the use of diate between painting and experience: visual expe- ultra-effective imagery (including superheroes) in a riences, social experiences of all kind. We speak political campaign with female candidates in Spain about paintings; they resist words; we insist, we (Madrid and Barcelona) recently. Both these texts speak again. Parler peinture, as the French say, is a are especially valuable for anyone thinking about never-ending activity”. iconicity, a problematics which this otherwise quite If Ginzburg stresses the movement of images diverse collection of texts is not particularly inter- Azoulay in her text (the longest in the collection) fo- ested in exploring. cuses on their arrest, their stasis, in the practices of A question lingering in my mind when reading archives, those which may not always even be work- the volume and seeing all the hard work put into ing with images per se, but with identities, which these kinds of research is a simple one, but also at surely more often than not are connected to images. the same time quite a difficult one. Which are the Her text is, as Andrej Slávik rightly emphasizes, a 276 Reviews

contribution which throws down the gauntlet to the directional insofar as different times and places are historical profession at large. Slávik reads her text as always exposed to each other, superposed on each a full-scale attack on the archive as a societal institu- other, running together even in different speeds and tion. Azoulay regards the archive as a fundamental intensities. She ends her essay by saying that the ur- component of an “imperial regime” wrecking havoc gency is to learn to unlearn, to force existence to on the cultural worlds that came in the way of what strong figurations and to discover the possibility of she calls “the relentless pursuit of the new”. In this a-figural images. This statement can be read as an way her essay concerning not least the slave trade aporia of sorts which can form a kind of, if not a and the exile of marginalized groups in imperial re- conclusion, then a starting point for further research gimes is a strong reminder of the value of multitude, into the important and difficult field of image and polysemy, roots, cultures of different ages and val- image-making in and out of history. ues, and indeed of difference itself. This is of course Sven-Erik Klinkmann, Vasa also something that could be said of the entire oeuvre of Carlo Ginzburg, right from The Cheese and the Worms through readings of Bertillon, Conan Gender in the Museum Doyle and Freud, and all those traces left behind in Kjønn på museum. Brita Brenna & Marit Anne history, in a history writing which is so deeply per- Hauan (eds.). Museumsforlaget, Trondheim 2018. sonal and at the same time so (what would be the 228 pp. Ill. ISBN 978-82-8305-060-8. right word?) eminently human in its aspirations. The philosophical take by Marcia Sá Cavalcante  This edited volume on “Gender in the Museum” Schuback on the migration of images is radical in its begins with the observation that gender is every- way of paralleling the movement of the image with where in museums – in the stores and the exhibi- the movement of the refugee, something which she tions, in the archives and the communication strate- reads as happening between the visible and the in- gies – yet at the same time it is difficult to detect it. visible, the being and the non-being. This text is a It takes work to catch sight of how gender operates wake-up call in our era of image saturation, which in museums, according to the editors, and it is the also can be viewed as an era when, as she says, ambition of this book to open up museums and exhi- everything appears in images and nothing seems to bitions in order to see how gender is presented and exist without an image. What once was invisible and constructed. The volume explores two issues: What unseen can now be made visible and exposed for the do we find when we try to identify gender and gen- screen of the world. But on the other hand every im- dered practices in museums and exhibitions? Can age becomes the site of manipulation, exploitation, we find anything that might change not only our and simulation. Thus, the same image serves as both perception of what museums are, but also of what evidence and concealment of truth. Her conclusion, museums can become? The editors declare that early on in the text, is quite striking: “If during past there is a shortage of research and perspectives that centuries, images have had the double task to render can make us understand better how museums are present the absent and to render visible the present, gendered, and therefore they have asked people as- today images render the present void of presence sociated with museums to tell us, from their own and the exposed visible invisible to itself. Too much starting point in the museum, about what they have imagery of what is being and happening serves to found. Further questions that come in the individual make us blind and eyeless to what is happening.” chapters in the book are: What patterns emerge? And then she makes the move from the image to the What pops up? How can we understand the research refugee and in a way makes them parallel “figures”. objects and the day-to-day activities in new ways by So, the experience of the image in the situation of asking how we – and they – do gender? migration and exile reveals the image as migration Besides the editors’ introduction, the book con- not between realms and worlds but between the vis- tains ten chapters in which a number of scholars ex- ible and the invisible, the touchable and the un- plore different aspects of how gender is done in mu- touchable, between being and non-being. And this seums. Almost all the authors are in one way or an- migration, according to Sá Cavalcante Schuback, is other way associated with Tromsø Museum, but never sequential but rather simultaneous and pluri- they represent different fields of knowledge. Reviews 277

In the introductory chapter, Brita Brenna and perspectives are to be squeezed into the traditional Marit Anne Hauan point out that museums have the linear narrative of progress, it will be overcrowded, power to define norms, but they also observe that and therefore museums need to change their prac- this power has very little immediate effect, because tices fundamentally to find new types of narratives, the work of museums rarely has a direct impact on and that is what the chapter explores and discusses. political decisions and economic profits. That is Some chapters focus on research practices. Mari- why many museum workers, according to Brenna anne Skander examines how the museums produce and Hauan, welcome the serious criticism that has new knowledge about Norway’s prehistory in ar- been levelled at museums from the 1980s onwards, chaeological reports. What is interesting about this because this criticism confirms that museums are in- is that they contain two different layers of gendering stitutions of power. From that premise, the editors practices. On the one hand, it is a matter of how ar- argue that this power can be used to challenge chaeological material is interpreted based on present- norms and present other realities. day values and norms. On the other hand, it depends Referring to Wera Grahn (2007), Brenna and on who the archaeologist is, what the gender balance Hauan note that we have women’s studies, equality looks like in the team, and who the excavation studies, feminist studies, queer studies, masculinity leader is. These two layers are bound together in re- studies, and intersectional studies. They emphasize ports characterized by traditions that determine, for that what all these perspectives have in common is example, the type of pictures that are shown of the that they aim the searchlight at how gender is linked excavation site. to power, oppression, and marginalization, and they From an ethnobotanical point of view, Torbjørn argue that the concepts and theories that can be used Alm investigates, among other things, how the col- are governed by what is to be achieved. In this way, lection of plants and information about them is the editors point out that the authors of the book steered by the gender of the collector and the in- were free to tackle their material using the perspec- formant. Sveinulf Hegstad explores the possibility tives and tools they regarded as most suitable for of searching for gender in digitized archives. Both “the work of catching sight of gender”. these chapters are interesting and highly readable. Before I started reading, I glanced at the table of Several chapters discuss ethnicity and the cre- contents and saw some headings that seemed to fall ation of “the Other”. The life of the South Sami within the framework of what can be expected of a woman Margarete Kreutz is examined by Cathrine book like this, such as “Where were the women?” Baglo from the standpoints of gender, ethnicity, and and “Looking for gender”. Other headings are of a race in several layers of history as well as in older more challenging kind, arousing the reader’s curios- and recent exhibition productions, and the article ity, such as “See the cod – as she or he?” and “Roald challenges previous research presenting the Sami as Amundsen – the housewifely polar hero”. passive victims. Instead, Baglo highlights Kreutz’s Having read all the chapters, however, I can con- agency and energetic activity, which enabled her, clude that although the headings do not all arouse as for example, to travel and experience places during much curiosity, each chapter presents its own inter- a time when most people were unable to go on long esting new angle on some type of material. The au- journeys. thors’ analyses cover several different layers of how Proceeding from the question “Where were the gender is done, both in museum practices and in re- women?” Trude Fonneland reflects on different search practices. ways of staging gender and Sami religion in a com- In the chapter “One-sided exhibitions, straight parison between two exhibitions from two different lines, and packed perspectives”, Brita Brenna times. Hanne Hammer Stein examines how Russian stresses that we have long known about the striking sailors are portrayed in an exhibition, and concludes lack of women’s lives in collections, research, and that the traditional gender roles are challenged, exhibitions, and when museums today work with which she believes may have to do with the fact that gender it involves, more that anything else, levelling Russian sailors may be perceived as “the Others”. the imbalance in power and visibility between Discussions about masculinity are also the focus women and men, and the lack of female perspec- of a couple of other chapters dealing with exhibi- tives. She notes, however, that if all the different tions about polar travel. Lena Aarekol observes that 278 Reviews

the Norwegian national icon Roald Amundsen is think I can see through all the chapters in the book, portrayed in three different exhibitions as an undis- with greater or lesser clarity. Many of the authors puted alpha male. Based on her own studies of ex- also cast the net wider to include references to other tant material, Aarekol disputes that image, arguing relevant theories and concepts. But there are also instead that the reason why Roald Amundsen suc- some chapters where the authors would have gained ceeded in his expedition to the South Pole was that from a broader range of research in both museum he had “housewifely” qualities. Polar expeditions studies and gender studies. are also discussed by Marit Anne Hauan, who In conclusion, to return to the introduction to the stresses that they were largely made possible by book, where the editors ask what patterns emerge women’s work, which is hidden in the history books and what pops up when one asks how we – and they and exhibition narratives. – do gender, my conclusion is that the individual The chapter that perhaps takes the “strangest” chapters offer many interesting answers that are step “in the work of searching for gender” is about worth exploring. It has been a voyage of discovery the gender of cod. Anita Maurstad ponders on how and a great pleasure to read this book, and it gives the exhibition “See the Cod!” could have been im- many new ideas about what the museum and its nar- proved by seeing the cod as a number of individuals ratives can become in the future. with gender. Maurstad uncovers several layers of Annika Bünz, Gothenburg contexts where gender is significant in research, na- ture, and culture. This article is interesting because it points to the neo-materialistic and post-humanist Landscape Change and Power Analysis in world view, which is becoming more and more common today in museums. a Multidimensional Manor Culture Kjønn på museum is an easily read book, and al- Palle O. Christiansen, En egn bliver til. Magt og though I am not so accustomed to reading Nor- mennesker i et sjællandsk godsområde fra 1700- wegian, I have had no problem following the au- tallet til i dag. Forlaget Hovedland, Gjern 2019. 262 thors’ reasoning and their work of making gender pp. Ill. ISBN 978-87-7070-656-8. visible. What bothers me a little, however, is that the references to literature are rather vaguely stated in  A quarter of a century ago, Palle Ove Chris- some of the chapters, some reference lists are not in tiansen completed his major work on the history of alphabetical order, and they are not always com- the large estate of Giesegaard in Sjælland and how it plete. In one article, several books are missing from changed from the eighteenth to the twentieth centu- the reference list. Finally, one of the authors is ry. A Manorial World: Lord, Peasants and Cultural omitted from the presentation of the authors. This Distinctions on a Danish Estate, 1750–1980, was gives a somewhat careless impression, and in sev- the title of the book he published in English in 1996, eral places I was unable to follow up a book that I based on the weighty doctoral dissertation that thought sounded interesting, because the only infor- Christiansen defended in the mid-1990s. Now he mation that existed was the surname and the year. has issued this in abbreviated form in Danish. We Having said that, my opinion is that, despite these have here a much more concentrated account which flaws, the book is definitely worth reading, and what allows Danes with an interest in local history to is lacking in academic accuracy is compensated by learn how an estate landscape was shaped and an abundance of engagement and ingenuity in find- changed, from the perspective of those who worked ing new ways to discuss gender in museums. The the land and the conditions in which they lived. It strength of the book lies in its many and creative ap- took time to write the six-hundred-page dissertation, proaches that stimulate new thoughts about how and the fieldwork on which both the dissertation and gender is done. this book are based was performed by the author Several of the contributions in this book clearly half a century ago. But he describes this as an ad- show how important it is to discuss men in terms of vantage in the opening reflection on the value of his gender, justified with reference to Wera Grahn’s ob- fieldwork. Having gone from house to house back servation that men are also subject to gendering. The then in the early 1970s, learning how to see all the connection to Grahn is a shared framework that I differences in the landscape, he now sees the things Reviews 279

he only noticed very slowly: the historical dynamics are often hidden in historical accounts by showing behind the everyday life he experienced. In many us the people who actually farmed the land. He de- ways it is not just a cultural landscape but also a so- scribes it as depicting the man-made differences that cial landscape, created by the people who used it. exist in the landscape. Power relations based on dif- He wants to give a voice to those who inhabited this ferences were what tied people together in the old landscape by seizing on things that have often been manorial landscape. There was always someone hidden in the archives. The focus is on how a manor above you and below you in the hierarchy. This landscape changes through the social conditions that local power hierarchy played a role in controlling lead to changes in the workforce. The corvée obliga- others and in gaining advantages. tions of freehold farmers (gårdmandshoveri) gave The book is divided into three main parts, the way to the work of dependent tenant cottagers first describing the old world and the villages in the (fæstehusmændene), after which short-term tenant eighteenth century. Then the landscape was divided cottagers (lejehusmændene) and then state small- into the large contiguous lands of the manor itself holders or tenants (statshusmænd, statsfæstere) gave and the peasants’ diversity of small strips of unen- the manor landscape its character. closed land. The story begins with a description of Christiansen did not understand at the time how the differences in the eighteenth century between unique this material would turn out to be, in that he life in the villages and the life of the aristocracy. then had the opportunity to collect narratives from There are detailed accounts of all the farms that those who had personal experience of a kind of man- were subject to the manor and, not least of all, the orial life that has now completely vanished. During people who lived their everyday lives here. A com- the fieldwork he had the chance to meet the last gen- plex system of obligations and rights between peas- eration of the old kind of estate people. Today, their ant and lord is described in detail. Power was not a houses have completely different inhabitants. simple top-down relationship. There were also op- The book does not contain any theoretical or portunities for individual peasants to get help, as it methodological reasoning. It is only through a few was in the interests of the count to keep the estate notes that the author reveals that the analysis is strong. However, the peasants also had to do corvée based on microhistory in the spirit of David Sabean on the manor lands. There were many differences and Carlo Ginzburg, while Clifford Geertz guided between farms, not least in terms of size, but also him in his fieldwork descriptions and Tuan in terms between the rich and prosperous farmers and those of place and space, and Börje Hanssen and Marc who were sick or weak. The most interesting thing Bloch appear to be ever-present. about the way Christiansen describes life here is that Good maps, sketches, diagrams, and images in he distinguishes between the go-ahead peasants and the form of photographs as well as paintings and the fatalists. The descriptions are constantly guided drawings accompany the text, and sections in a dif- by this distinction. One way to see who was most ferent colour provide graphic in-depth descriptions successful and best placed in the hierarchy was to of the different life-worlds at Giesegaard. look at who was asked to be godfather at children’s While the book only covers the time up to the christenings. The richest peasants with the biggest fieldwork in the 1970s, today’s landscape is visible buildings were those who were most often chosen. in several ways. Among other things, pictures show They were considered most go-ahead people, the how the landscape has become less open since the “strivers”. The fatalists, on the other hand, those 1970s. Christiansen also describes how quiet it has who were considered lazy, those who sat in the tav- become in the estate landscape, as not so many ern or liked to get into fights, could even lose their people live there today. The people living in the farms if the estate manager considered them work- houses have also changed from smallholders to shy. There was also a third group that the author commuting engineers and the like. calls “quiet” or “merry”. They have left only faint The book is, on the one hand, a piece of highly traces in the archival evidence and mostly re- detailed local history, but on the other hand, it also sembled the fatalist group. There were plenty of an- gives an interesting understanding of landscape tagonisms in the villages, as is clear from the court change and an analysis of local environments in records. The go-ahead people acquired land or let general. The aim is to give a voice to all those who their pigs into neighbours’ fields. They also had 280 Reviews

support from above, unlike the quiet ones or the cation as when they were established in 1835. The fatalists. But the go-ahead peasants also tended to conditions for work on the manor became harsher pay their dues and discharge their obligations to a than they were for the tenant farmers doing corvée. greater extent in order to be less indebted to the Nyvang would later become a place for smallhold- manor and to be able to fend for themselves to a ers and part-time forestry workers, developing a so- greater extent, while the fatalists became more de- ciocultural form all of its own. pendent on the manor and its involvement. They The next step in the method by which the manor were also much more difficult for the manor to ad- ensured a workforce was to provide houses for em- minister. The peasants could certainly be different, ployees, known as tyendehus or servant cottages. but they still stood above the unpropertied people in The cottagers were replaced by a new kind of la- the same way that the nobility were above the peas- bourer between 1850 and 1900. These were hired ants. farmhands who lived in long terraces, usually with With the land apportionment reforms around dwellings for eight families. The dwelling was a sig- 1800 the landscape was rearranged, houses were nificant part of the wages and that was also why moved out of the villages into the fields, and the many ended up staying in this work. And although state began to interfere in the activities of the the conditions were similar to those of the old cot- manors and the farmers. Population growth and food tagers, they were now perceived as more independ- exports made great demands for better land use. The ent when the dependence was labelled “free hous- reforms meant not only new ways of cultivating the ing”. The lack of freedom was seen as more indirect. land and new locations for the farms, but also These houses became a new feature of the land- changes in relationships between the people who scape, located far away, out of sight of the manor. A farmed and inhabited the landscape. Everyday life new patriarchal relationship began. Now it was the created a new person. The landscape was reshaped steward who had to supervise these workers, who and more and more of the soil was cultivated, up to actually took little interest in their work. The agri- the point that in the 1960s there was virtually no cultural labourers’ union regarded this as a kind of land in eastern Denmark that was not cultivated, slave contract and fought for its abolition, but it which gave rise to the description of the area as a nevertheless felt more secure for the labourers to ac- garden landscape. cept it rather than engage in conflict. Eventually, The second part of the book, which depicts how however, the farm labourers also ended up living in the landscape changed from the mid-nineteenth cen- small houses in surrounding villages which, unlike tury to the early twentieth century, shows how the peasant villages, were called manor villages. Both state tried in vain to curtail corvée at the beginning the emergence of villages like this and the changes of the nineteenth century, but this only happened a in working life are described in great detail. The quarter of a century later. By then the farmers had steward governed by means of strict division of la- the opportunity to pay for the freedom to escape this bour and rigid discipline. He made sure that the pace duty. Instead, there was still a form of compulsory was high and that people did not chat during the tenant labour on the estate. work. One labourer described it as having to run like When corvée was abolished, a new division of la- cockroaches. At the same time, people did no more bour was established to ensure that the necessary than they were instructed to do. There was no way work was done on the manor farm. A distinction to influence one’s work situation. Well into the was made between fæstehusmænd (dependent tenant twentieth century, according to Christiansen, the la- cottagers) and lejehusmænd (short-term tenant cot- bourers on the estates lived far from the world in tagers) where the work done by the former replaced which the freehold farmers lived. He paints a very the corvée previously done by the freehold farmers. dark picture of how, for example, the children of The latter represented a new, less well-known type these families grew up adapting to what he calls a of labour organized by the manor; these lejehus- social jungle where violence and drunkenness were mænd were housed in groups of cottages with a little common in the home. But there were also those who land to farm, but so little that they were obliged to were more competent, finding extra jobs, abstaining work on the manor. The system is still visible today from spirits, and acquiring a couple of pigs and in Nyvang, where the houses remain in the same lo- some hens. Here we get to meet some families who Reviews 281

did well for themselves in the 1950s and were able land according to ideals of equality. The smallholder to find a better house with some land where they movement developed very efficiently, but this was could grow their own food. But they could still lose for a short time between the 1920s and the 1950s, everything if the man of the house died. Interesting- and in 2003 the organization was discontinued. By ly, the workers who were most loyal to the estate or- then it was no longer possible to make a living on a ganization were also those who were active in the small farm in Denmark. The towns needed industrial labour movement and social democracy. They were workers, and that was where the workforce went. thus in opposition to the estate while still remaining The estate constantly developed new working re- loyal to its organization and relations. This section lationships. But what they all had in common was a ends with the blunt observation that technology and patron-client relationship, whereby the client re- economies of scale have meant that a great deal has ceived protection but also accepted the dependency happened in recent years. Today the whole estate is that came with it. run with just five people and one manager. In the final chapter Christiansen reflects on old In the third part of the book we are taken back to features surviving in today’s Denmark. the middle of the nineteenth century when old One can of course wonder who will read this groupings liberated themselves from the manor, and book. In the first place, I believe that it is intended the state’s modernization policy helped free farmers as local history. Those who have some connection to to develop into efficient small producers, which the area will find here a treasure trove of knowledge. turned Denmark into a farming country. But even Danes in general can learn something It was the hard-working farmers who were pro- more about how their agricultural landscape was moted and became independent farm owners after created. Unfortunately, however, the book is very 1860. It later became possible for tenant farmers to Danish, as there are no comparative explanations of buy their farms, and together with the collective the different forms of labour. What about the rest of ownership of dairies and slaughterhouses run as co- us? I see the book as a kind of classical ethnology operatives, farmers had the opportunity to earn good that not many ethnologists today are familiar with. money, which also allowed agriculture to develop to The long lines of history give a deeper knowledge the point that two-thirds of the produce could be ex- and understanding of what can be seen in the land- ported at the end of the nineteenth century. But the scape. Here we are reminded of Börje Hanssen’s im- farmers also became dependent on imports of things portance in ethnology, with his tenacious structures like fertilizer and breeding stock. Around 1900, al- and his distinction between townspeople and farm- most all the farmers were freeholders and the farm- ers. Here we learn of the Annales School with its ers’ movement had given them strong self-esteem. insistence that the analysis must include both con- For a long time, life on the farm revolved around the tinuity and change. Without the one we cannot see family and was also dependent on the family. But the other. But we can also learn something about they had also started to hire servants, and as they be- what the mass of people at the local level, the small came more prosperous they also built an extra cot- perspective, can tell us about the big people. The hu- tage so that the family could eat separately from the man landscape contains not one story but many dif- servants. The peasants became cultured and learned ferent ones, depending on how you point the search- self-discipline, duty, and independence, while sim- light. Cultural encounters take place here at different ultaneously displaying their new position as increas- levels. Small markers and visual expressions can be ingly bourgeois through cultural profiling. They just as important to consider as broad class perspec- wallpapered the rooms, sent the children to study at tives, conflicts, and political manifestations. Finally, college, and wore town clothes. we learn that the tenacious structures in the form of During the nineteenth century the number of old landscape types reflect a continuity that has only smallholders tripled. While the manorial estates and been made possible by historical watersheds and in- the large farms wanted them as labourers, the small- cremental changes. The external forms may persist, holders tried to make a living as small farmers by but the content changes. The present always consists combining in local associations. A radical govern- of a number of historical features that we use to un- ment at the beginning of the twentieth century cre- derstand our everyday lives. ated the conditions for a land reform that distributed Birgitta Svensson, Stockholm 282 Reviews

Integrating Research and Teaching derstand and value research–teaching integration. Videnskabelse på universitetet. Veje til integration Here they develop the methodology and concepts of af forskning og undervisning. Tine Damsholt, the project. On the basis of an extensive investiga- Hanne Nexø Jensen & Camilla Østerberg Rump tion of attitudes towards integration of research in (eds.). Samfundslitteratur, København 2018. 241 teaching among students in natural sciences and the pp. ISBN 978-87-593-3047-0. humanities, undertaken by the authors and students in the Department of Ethnology, they analyse differ-  The book addresses the question of research- ences in students’ motivation for studying. The au- based teaching in the university and what it may im- thors conceptualize the patterns of motivations they ply in practice. The diversity of discipline, subject find in the material as “rationales”, i.e., ideal types matter, level of study etc. means that there cannot be that describe differences regarding motivations for a common recipe for teaching based on research that evaluating integration of research in teaching. They suits all teaching situations. Videnskabelse på uni- identify four different “rationales” among students: versitetet takes a wider perspective and discusses (a) they may value progress in the research field what the authors call “integration of research and they study and see their own role as contributing to teaching”. They show some of the variation in the it; (b) they may be job-oriented and therefore inter- forms that such integration can have, in order to the- ested in acquiring the subject’s competence; (c) matize existing practices and the ways participants their motivation may be to acquire the competence understand them, and to investigate further possibil- necessary to successfully practice their subject in ities. In a period when the conditions for university the service of society; or (d) their intention may be work are rapidly changing, those who care for Hum- to become members of a given profession (pp. 34f.). boldt’s ideal of university education and research Based on their orientation, they will value research should read and use this book. It is useful both in or- elements in the teaching activities differently. As der to increase one’s consciousness about what re- ideal types, these concepts do not describe catego- search-based teaching can be, about the different ries of students, but are rather analytical concepts needs of students in teaching situations, and as a suitable for understanding differences in students’ methodological inspiration to make similar investiga- attitudes to given forms of teaching. Their develop- tions in one’s own institution. Not least important is ment is based on the broad empirical material col- the approach to understanding the diverse attitudes lected in the project. and motivations students have towards education. It is important to remind ourselves as teachers The book is the result of a research project at the that there will be different rationales among the stu- University of Copenhagen where the researchers dents in the classroom. Damsholt and Sandberg (coming from different faculties and disciplines) point out that university education is generally studied teaching practices which incorporated re- structured with an “implicit ideal student” in mind; a search in various ways. They observed teaching ac- student who values research-based teaching the tivities and interviewed students and teachers, or same way as teachers do. To meet the expectations collected information on student opinions by con- of all students, however, the teaching must also be ducting surveys. Some of the investigations also in- meaningful to those with other motivations. volved students in research activities. Theoretical The authors also construct different rationales inspiration was drawn from international literature among teachers. With a similar procedure as in the on research-based education. But the conceptual analysis of students’ motivations, and based on in- framework used throughout the presented chapters terviews with teaching personnel, four rationales in is developed on the basis of the material collected relation to integration of research in teaching are by the project itself. By this procedure an empirical- identified: (a) research and teaching are different ly based understanding of the barriers and possibili- practices, an attitude which prevents such integra- ties in bringing together teaching and research is tion; (b) the two are part of the same whole; (c) the constructed. two are linked in such a way that teaching is a Two chapters (written by the ethnologists Tine means to achieve research ends; (d) the students’ Damsholt and Marie Sandberg of the Saxo Institute) learning is the end, and research is less important or present analyses of how students and teachers un- only a means to this end (p. 62). The perspectives Reviews 283

and motivations of teachers are investigated as a Larsen Reeh discusses “talent development” as a means to understand different approaches to the in- form of research-teaching integration on the basis of tegration of research, which is then discussed in re- three cases at the Faculty of Theology. The idea is lation to students’ rationales. that a group of students is selected to participate in Again, these are ideal types developed for analyt- courses tightly integrated with the teachers’ research ical purposes. They do not describe what teachers projects. She evaluates problems and positive ef- do, only preferences for certain forms of teaching. fects. Hanne Nexø Jensen analyses the potential for These forms of teaching may also be abstracted as integration of research in group supervision. She ideal types, and the authors do this with respect to views the collective processes taking place in such what is exchanged with students during teaching. groups as a parallel to the research processes of re- These (four) exchange forms range from the case search groups, and finds that students benefit greatly where the teacher presents his/her own research to in the form of understanding of and training in re- the case where the teacher and the students work on search processes. Perhaps there is also potential for a joint project which includes research elements. more involvement, and for more effects on teachers’ Armed with the three sets of concepts, the benefits research. But this depends on which rationale they and barriers to research–teaching integration are dis- activate. Teachers tend to see group supervision cussed in different settings, such as diversity of sub- solely as teaching. Lastly, Sebastian Horst discusses ject, study level, the size of student groups etc. The the possibilities and problems in establishing re- given examples show that even if the conditions for views for students’ research publications. The moti- integrating research in teaching differ widely, there vation for this initiative was, among other things, to are many ways of doing it, also in courses which fo- stimulate students to take part in research processes cus on factual knowledge (such as basic textbook through writing, editing and peer reviewing, and knowledge in a natural science or language skills) thereby stimulate their involvement in research, and at beginner’s level. which would contribute to the researcher education. The rest of the chapters are case studies discuss- The many arguments for this idea are compelling, ing different teaching settings. Pernille Götz ana- but the many barriers make it very difficult to imple- lyses problems in integrating research in skill- ment in practice, is his conclusion. oriented courses like grammar learning or law, The book also includes short “inspirations”, where the appropriation of the knowledge content in which describe teaching courses, forms of teaching time for the exam is imperative for (most) students, or supervising or research methods used in the re- irrespective of rationales. Introducing open ques- search project, such as “ethnoraids” ‒ a form of tions may be counterproductive by producing uncer- fieldwork carried out by big teams, including stu- tainty. Götz shows that elements from ongoing re- dents. Here readers who want to carry out similar in- search may still have a positive effect on learning, vestigations may be inspired by practical tips. by breaking up the monotony of the textbook, and The case studies offer insights into different as- by giving a better understanding of the discipline as pects of research–teaching integration. Depending based on research. One lesson is that insight into re- on their relations to teaching situations, the different search may function as a motivation to memorize studies may be more or less relevant for readers. But the curriculum. Another case is Dorte Christiansen a strength of the book is that all the chapters are in- Elmeskov and Camilla Østerberg Rump’s study of a formed by the conceptual framework constructed in group of newly started students of landscape archi- the first chapters. This contributes to the coherence tecture who were integrated in a research project to of the book. It presents a project that is broadly de- observe the changing colours in trees during the signed, with extensive source material, and empir- year. This was an open project which promised im- ically based concepts which are then used in the portant results useful for the profession, but practi- analyses of practical teaching processes. In this it cal and organizational details posed problems that gives an exemplary presentation of a research pro- reduced the benefit that students felt they gained ject. And it gives material for reflection on teaching from it. situations which will probably be valuable for teach- Other cases concern teaching forms where the re- ers of various university disciplines. search element is more central. Tine Ravnsted- Hans-Jakob Ågotnes, Bergen 284 Reviews

Hospitality in the Öresund Region oddly they fail to note the actual gender distribution Fika, Hygge and Hospitality: The Cultural Com- of their subjects. However, drawing on web-derived plexity of Service Organisation in the Öresund material and a limited number of Copenhagen-based Region. Christer Eldh & Fredrik Nilsson (eds.). interviews, they examine two comparatively new Centre for Oresund Region Studies 39. Makadam phenomena of the ‘collaborative economy’. These förlag, Göteborg/Stockholm in cooperation with are the private letting of temporary accommodation Centrum för Öresundsstudier, Lunds universitet via websites such as Airbnb. And, secondly, the 2019. 180 pp. Ill. ISBN 978-91-7061-302-9. ‘free’ city guiding of tourists, typically in areas a bit off the beaten track, by persons who, none the less,  Locked down, by government order, alone in my expect, and engage in various strategies to maxi- house in Wales, because of coronavirus, I have mise, their tips. never written a review in stranger – or more ironic Two key forms of conflict are discussed. The circumstances. For Fika, Hygge and Hospitality: first emerges from a blurring of the boundary be- The Cultural Complexity of Service Organisation in tween private and public life. ‘Guests’ are the Öresund Region, deals with activities presently strangers, but like friends, enter what would other- forbidden to me and many others, some of which wise be private homes – although ones which the may remain impossible in their ‘normal’ form for majority of ‘owners’ have at least temporarily several years to come. The specific kinds of ‘hospi- vacated. But as importantly, distinctions between tality’ the volume deals with in its nine chapters private-time and work-time also erode. Hosts, to range widely. But its main focus is on that oriented maintain their ratings, must continually be on call towards an economic return. Private, reciprocal hos- to answer questions, deal with problems and en- pitality between family and friends isn’t directly courage their visitors to write the good reviews considered, although it sometimes provides a kind which will enable them to attain economically con- of reference point. vertible, reputational capital as a ‘super host’. Re- The opening chapter by Christer Eldh and Fred- views by guests of hosts and vice versa also act as rik Nilsson adopts the volume’s title. It summar- an important trust-establishing instrument in a situ- ises some of the recent moves, made in the wake of ation of transactions between strangers. Similar traditional industries’ decline, to integrate and difficulties face the tour guides, many of whom are brand Copenhagen, Malmö and their hinterlands as in fact relative newcomers to the city, working as an economically flourishing, transnational, region. independent mini- entrepreneurs for the umbrella These include capitalizing on the Öresund bridge organization Copenhagen Free Walking Tours. as a symbol of interconnectivity and the Danish They too must spend off-duty time promoting their concept of hygge and Swedish practice of fika to offerings. And may see ‘opening up’ aspects of market the area as an attractive, world class, tourist themselves to their ‘clients’ and extending tours destination with a friendly and welcoming Scandi- into periods of informal socialization, as ways to navian vibe. However, their short ‘outline of the engender empathy – and increase their rewards. volume’ also highlights issues of conflict and ex- They are partly selling their personalities and clusion, and they themselves note how the estab- glimpses of their private lives. For guides and lishment of ‘a system of [paid for] accommodation hosts there is conflict between nurturing and pro- possibilities’ in medieval Northern Europe, was moting their ‘micro enterprises’ and maintaining triggered by the need to prevent aristocratic their sense of self. The other arena of discord can ‘gate-crashing’ and free-loading. They suggest that be between members of the local community and even where theoretically advocated, the idea of the visitors anxious to have a real local experience. ‘unconditional hospitality’ is always, in practice, With Airbnb hosts often absent, Meged and Zil- problematic. linger describe how non-hosting local residents, Conflict is a key theme of Meged and Zillinger’s neighbours and shop-keepers have to pick up the ‘Hostessing Tourists as Temporary Locals’. They slack. Tensions in other major cities with a large use a gendered term in their title to signify the activ- Airbnb presence are briefly mentioned. But not the ities they depict involve the ‘emotional labour’ typi- major distortions of the rented housing market cally associated with the female role. Although, caused by entrepreneurs buying up multiple ‘do- Reviews 285

mestic’ properties to let out to visitors under regu- ine local ingredients,’ from the ovens which can be latory regimes less strict than those in the tradition- glimpsed behind the counter. Both shops offer cus- al accommodation sector. In many places [but per- tomers a ‘stage’ on which they can acquire and dis- haps not Copenhagen?] ‘real locals’ find it increas- play erudition about the goods on display, and par- ingly hard to remain in their own districts. ticipate in the construction of the hospitality experi- ‘Wonderful Copenhagen’s promotional litera- ence, through interacting with each other in the ture for the city, suggests that visitors can become slow-moving queues. Such places are somewhere to ‘temporary locals’, which raises a further theme – buy distinctive and expensive life-style items in authenticity – shared with other articles. I agree contrast to everyday supermarket goods. They are with Meged and Zillinger that ‘temporary local’ is carefully designed to look special and often as if a contradiction in terms, given real local knowl- they have been in the same location for generations edge takes considerable time to acquire. But I ‒ ‘when the bakery opened it already looked as if it query their suggestion that in trying to feel at home had always been there’. Whether the economics of while they are away, the Airbnb-ers and ‘free’ tour such an enterprise mean it is likely to have a long fu- goers are no longer seeking the ‘Other’. Rather it ture, remains undiscussed. seems they want to find, and then become it, for a The issue of the authenticity, in this case of wel- while. And their quest is nothing new. There have come, is central to one of the hotel-related chapters always been those hoping to distinguish them- – Eldh’s ‘‘Must be in their DNA’: Audition, Person- selves by attempting to understand and merge into ality and Creating Meaning of Service Representa- the ‘real’ lives of strangers. Though they have of- tions in the Hotel Industry’. This examines how ten called themselves travelers [or anthropologists] contemporary hotels and hotel chains in the Öresund rather than tourists. What may be new, is the extent region’s ‘mature market’, attempt to establish dis- of those with this aspiration for a more immersive, tinct ‘brands’ to favourably distinguish themselves ‘authentic’ and thus ‘distinctive’ experience [pref- from their competitors. In doing so they haven’t em- erably somewhere bordering a standard tourist phasised the facilities on which the standard hotel zone]. And their belief that it can be achieved with- rating systems are based. Instead they try to evoke out a long period of effort. This chapter shows that, the distinctive quality of their customer service. Al- at best, what would be ‘temporary locals’ are get- though some might think that the Nordic Choice ting, is ‘touristic verisimilitude’. Or, we could say, Hotel chain’s promise of ‘Active service’, Radis- a real tourist experience presented as an original, son’s of ‘Helpful service, Elite Hotels of Sweden’s authentic non-tourist one. of ‘Polite service’ and First Scandic’s ‘Customised ‘Authenticity’ both as ‘commodity’ and as not service’ vision, all sound a little similar. Nonethe- quite what it seems, also features in Sjöholm’s ‘The less we learn that in some instances, customer-fac- Significance of Hospitality in Experience-Based ing staff are trained, along American lines, to follow shops’. She documents a bakery and a seller of centrally-designed scripts in their dealings with hand-made chocolates in a provincial southern guests. But that, given such pre-determined efforts Swedish town. This promotes its centre as contain- are often recognized as such, and seen as insincere ing shops which treat their customers as guests – a and inauthentic, many hotels emphasising the quali- suggested elision of the commercial and the more ty of their service, now seek to ‘audition’ for staff personal that also resonates with Meged and who can, within limits, act on their own initiative. Zillinger’s material. Sjöholm’s shops are producing One HR manager interviewed was designated ‘Pas- an ‘experience’ to consume, as much as loaves and sion Manager’, presumably to indicate the enthusi- confectionery. The intriguingly hard-to-find, praline asm with which employees were to embrace their emporium has a feeling of formality, as gloved roles of serving customers – it ‘must be in their salespeople pick out purchaser’s items in front of DNA’. What these staff seem to be offering their the glass pane protecting the white coated staff mak- employers is their supposedly innate personality ing the products. In the, in fact newly-established, rather other skills which, if necessary, can be taught bakery, employees with well-worn, flour-covered on the job. But this appearance may need unpack- aprons, create the illusion of a time gone by as they ing. Eldh [along with Meged and Zillinger, and Sjö- collect traditional artisanal bread, made from ‘genu- holm] briefly mentions Goffman – an eminently 286 Reviews

relevant resource for analysing this kind of context. once again, we can wonder whether factors such as However, surprisingly, none of them mention his age and career stage affect participants’ susceptibili- concept of role distance and the related possibility ty to such legitimizing endeavours. Nonetheless, that people may not internally identify with a role Cederholm and Hall convincingly describe how the they play. Eld’s ‘passionate’ hotel staff may not be more formal sessions of Innovation Week are inter- following a formal script, but do we know whether laced or elide with opportunities for informal ‘min- they are always authentically concerned that guests gling’ and networking. They interestingly suggest should receive the best possible experience? Per- that this ‘grey zone between work and leisure’ haps they are sometimes just ‘feigning’ that they are. serves both to facilitate the creation of new net- Seeming to comply with management demands [in works and connections and to sustain faith in their this case for enthusiasm] with enthusiasm, has al- importance. For, in a curious elision, new organiza- ways been one alternative to overt opposition in the tional structures as means to enable innovation, tend workplace. And I’d be surprised if no one ever pur- to become ends in themselves. The supposedly sued this strategy here. The structuring of hotel prime goal of encouraging the development of new staffs’ roles – and their relative remuneration, could material products and technologies, becomes subor- be relevant in this context. Interestingly we do learn dinated to the generation of the kinds of the clusters that chefs are reluctant to place customer opinion and networks ostensibly designed to facilitate this. first, preferring to seek validation from fellow chefs. Clusters which also serve to gain EU regional and But what about chambermaids and other lowly and other funding. We learn that ‘the absence of physi- probably poorly remunerated staff? It’s possibly cal expressions or examples of concrete products or easier to be internally committed and not just exter- service innovations stands out. The speakers adver- nally conforming to one’s role if it’s a relatively se- tised will not talk about a new, specific innovation cure and well paid one. but rather their career choice or life journey. They ‘Vagueness’, ‘ambivalence’ or ‘blurring’, and the are presented as ‘interesting personalities’.’ There is issue of commitment are also central to Cederholm a further, related, dysfunctional side to such events and Hall’s ‘The Seduction of an Event: Hospitality the authors note. They may ‘exclude the actors who in the Regional Innovation System’. Their discus- work with innovations in a more tangible manner, sion focuses on Skåne’s Innovation Week. This rather than with the organizational conditions for hopes to support the area becoming ‘the most inno- them’, because they ‘may not be able to identify vative region in Europe – perhaps the world’, by with the event’s spatial symbolism and interactive bringing together ‘to talk to each other for real’, practice’. Perhaps we are meant to think of the ob- lively minds from a range of sources. Particularly ject-oriented research scientist who finds it difficult including the oddly named ‘Triple Helix’ of govern- to interact with strangers. Despite their hospitable ment agencies, industry and higher education. Such emphasis, these events exclude as well as welcome. increasingly popular events are typically held in As with the majority of articles in this volume, Ce- re-purposed, off-beat premises, an ‘old factory in an derholm and Hall discuss a phenomenon which they industrial area’, a ‘refurbished railway station’ or, in present as both contemporary and novel. However, Malmö, an ex-furniture shop. Such places suggest they do briefly suggest that what they have de- novel opportunities, particularly when they already scribed can be compared with an earlier system of ‘harbour’ representatives of ‘the new post-industrial Swedish ‘meetings, conferences and various forms and diverse knowledge sectors’. Mobilising Vic of events’, which actually exhibited concrete tech- Turner’s analysis of ritual [another useful tool for nological developments in industry and engineering. hospitality researchers] the authors argue these in- Two further contributions take a more sustained his- novation events create a space beyond the everyday. torical approach. Within this liminal setting, boundaries can be Thus Monhardt’s ‘The Öresund Region as a des- blurred, hierarchies downplayed and, in their height- tination: a reflection from an insider’, divides the ened atmosphere, belief in the efficacy of these post-World War Two era into four separate periods, kinds of gatherings collectively reinforced. ‘In order documenting some of the key developments in the to create legitimacy, the participants must believe in hotel industry. Entirely devoid of theoretical preten- the innovation system’, say the authors – although, sion, it nonetheless shows how changes in the wider Reviews 287

international context, not least the growth in avia- ing’s earliest days were expected to have both medi- tion, and rise of the conference market, have par- cal training and preferably three foreign languages. ticularly impacted on both the number of visitors us- In line with culturally-given gender roles, airhost- ing the business-orientated hotel sector and its exter- esses continued to be required to be both glamour- nal and internal structuring. It thus provides useful ous and caring – and also unmarried. Regulation by background contextualization for Eldh’s earlier national states [running their own prestige-confer- mentioned contribution, and for many hotels’ recent ring carriers] and institutions like the International shift from an ‘industrial business’ to ‘service-fo- Air Transport Association [IATA], contributed to cused’ model. It notes ‘the failure of American holding back competition and maintaining the ele- brands to become established on both sides of the vated prices associated with well-heeled passengers. Öresund’, possibly because of their more centralized I enjoyed learning about the ‘smørrebrød dispute’ corporate culture, and Scandinavia’s higher labour caused by American airlines’ complaints that offer- costs. It also suggests that Danish/Swedish cultural ing this Scandinavian delicacy to economy passen- differences have slowed the establishing of a single gers, breached IATA prohibition on serving them organizational model within the region. The reader proper meals. These claims about unfair competition learning of the 1990s ‘crisis’ for the hotel sector, were ingeniously resolved by ruling that, for this following the Swedish banking and property crash, category of fliers, toppings shouldn’t touch the cor- and the travel bans international firms introduced ners of the bread! Deregulation in the 1980s ‘in line following the US invasion of Iraq, can only wonder with the international neo-liberal agenda’, ended whether the impact of corona virus will bring an- such manoeuvering. The concomitant arrival of tour other restructuring in its wake. operators running charter flights, sometimes in con- Meanwhile, Jan Henrik Nilsson’s equally pre- junction with their own hotels, then opened up a pandemic ‘Dining in the Skies: a historical account new customer base, putting pressure on the estab- of hospitality in aviation’, has a straightforward but lished providers, who had already begun offering effective ‘conceptual’ underpinning. It argues that cheaper ‘tourist class’ tickets in the 1950s. This ‘technology, institutions, economic conditions, cul- democratizing trend was next fueled by the growth ture and society have together’ over the past hun- of non-charter, low-cost, no frills carriers with their dred years or so, ‘shaped a material culture which is quite ordinary cabin crew, who now have to sell very particular to aviation’. Thus the character and products rather than serve free, in-flight catering. the cost of air travel is shown to be related to techni- Though standard carriers attempt to maintain an ele- cal changes affecting the size of air vehicles [we ment of distinction in their first or business class of- have never returned to the spaciousness of the fer of better food and more leg room, for most of to- short-lived airship], maximum distancing between day’s travelers, flying, as Nilsson puts it, ‘in many refueling, speed and also altitude. Pressurized respects….[now] resembles bus travel’. cabins now allow for swifter flight at higher, less Ferry trips between Denmark and Sweden, sug- turbulent levels – with implications for both passen- gests Raissova, in ‘Visually Impaired Customers ger comfort and catering. Initially only affordable and [In]hospitable Places’, once also symbolised by business travelers and wealthy individuals, air- happy breaks from everyday reality. Now, since related travel, in the skies and on the ground, was the Öresund bridge opened, they are viewed with originally associated with luxury and ‘class’. Not nostalgia, as only the Helsingborg‒Helsingør least this was manifest in high-end catering. Despite crossing remains. However, it is not the experience the difficulties of serving food [generally cooked of this last ferry’s ‘ordinary’ customers that is her elsewhere] in-flight, Nilsson mentions travelers in concern. In line with the opening chapter’s injunc- aviation’s ‘golden age’ [1930s -50s] enjoying ‘elab- tion to ‘critically reflect on who are invited and orate dishes based on exclusive ingredients and who are excluded’, her focus of interest is the blind served with fine wines’. This fits with Monhardt’s and visually impaired [VIPs]. Thus she provides reference to the ‘Escoffier-esque army of kitchen some not particularly surprising observations, soldiers’ preparing food in SAS’s Royal Hotel Co- wrapped in the carapace of a ‘time-geography penhagen in the 1950s. This was still a period when model [framework]’ about how her subjects ex- high demands were made of cabin crew, who in fly- pend time-consuming effort, and mobilise a range 288 Reviews

of strategies and tactics, to work around the phys- control and discipline as well as help’. This is some- ical and interactional ’constraints’ they face. I thing that earlier chapters have also revealed in the would have preferred less theoretical rephrasing of far less extreme circumstances of Airbnb providers the VIP’s real difficulties, and more concrete indi- subjected to the control of on-line reputation man- cation of how they might be eased. I’d also wel- agement and the Innovation Week’s participants try- come some systematic consideration of how crew ing to shape their collaborative efforts to fit with EU cope with the uncertainties and ambiguities in- guidelines. volved in dealing with such passengers, when they So, I’ll conclude by arguing that the apparently may not know how much help they need, nor their disparate examples presented in this book reveal attitude to being offered it. many more overlapping themes than the opening The volume’s final chapter, ‘Yet, they are still chapter suggests. And I’ll also observe that our humans in need of help’, sits a little uneasily with present peculiar circumstances bring certain issues the rest, by taking the issue of who is not fully wel- to the fore. The first is the centrality to all hospital- come to a new level. Here Fredrik Nilsson begins by ity, of [now often forbidden] co-presence and close briefly mentioning the 2015 ‘refugee crisis’ when physical proximity. The role of queues and con- 100,000 migrants arrived in Southern Sweden. After fined spaces in creating the atmosphere of the ex- considerable debate, stricter border controls were perience-based shops suddenly stands out, as do imposed, which, he suggests, challenged the ‘moral Cederhom and Hall’s many references to ‘min- imperative of hospitality, to offer help and shelter to gling’ at the innovation events, where people con- strangers in distress’. Presumably it is the contem- tinually bump into each other on the crowded porary Swedish understanding of moral imperative floor. And what now happens to Raissova’s visual- that he refers to here, for, as he has already shown in ly impaired respondents when touch becomes a the book’s introduction, the demand to extend obli- danger rather than a resource? Secondly, the con- gation beyond in-group members is culturally-spe- tinuing significance of national policies and cific. Old and New Testament views on the subject, boundaries becomes increasingly apparent. How for example, differ. The recent ‘crisis’ however is has Öresund regional co-operation been affected only a framing device for the core of his investiga- by very different Danish and Swedish responses to tion – the humanitarian ‘White Bus’ operation, locking-down their populations? Finally, the im- which from March to May 1945 transported around portance of hospitality in people’s lives is greatly 20,000 liberated concentration camp prisoners to underlined when it can no longer be taken for Sweden. Arguing that Sweden’s humanitarian ef- granted. For many, being unable to engage in the forts were partly motivated by the desire ‘to appear ‘private’ hospitality of visiting, or being visited by, as a responsible collaborator after its precarious, friends and relations, feels like the denial of an es- pro-German position at the start of the war’, he sential and identity-confirming right. The opening documents the considerable ambiguity that accom- chapter’s claim that powerfulness of ‘the tourism panied the mission. In his retrospective depictions, industry’ makes it ‘almost impossible to talk about the head of operations, Arnoldsson, stressed the ex- hospitality in anything other than a commercial cellence of co-operation with the Allies, and British context’, now seems more wrong than ever. Un- praise for Swedish organization, equipment and ac- derlining the continuing importance of private hos- tivity – foreshadowing the post war presentation of pitality, however, isn’t to deny the significance of Swedes as morally superior good Samaritans. How- its commercial counterpart. The economic centrali- ever, Arnoldsson’s reports at the time, depict a more ty of this sector [disappointingly only hinted at confused situation and a distinct, possibly racist, rather than detailed in this volume] is underlined ambivalence towards those he was tasked to help. by the daily news reports of how many hospitality- He worried about refugees bringing disease to Swe- related enterprises now face collapse and how den, and whether it would be possible, eventually, to many of its workers will lose their jobs. A follow- get them to return home. At one point he mooted up volume investigating ‘the cultural complexity taking them to separate facilities in Germany rather of service organisation’ in an age of global pan- than bringing them to Sweden. Nilsson suggests his demic would make an interesting read! case material ‘reminds us that hospitality comprises Hilary Stanworth, Swansea University Reviews 289

A Reissued Ethnological Classic covering to our mutual surprise that the book had Jonas Frykman & Orvar Löfgren, Den kultiverade been translated into Chinese! For these Chinese stu- människan. Gleerups Utbildning, Malmö 2019. dents as for their Danish peers, the book became a Second Edition. 262 pp. Ill. ISBN 978-91-511- key to unlocking their understanding of the way our 0196-5. pre-industrial society’s system of values and ideas has transformed and become the foundation of the  Is it really necessary to review the second edition present one. The book continues to engage students of a book in the same journal just thirty-eight years on topics like rural servants and workers, even in a later, one might wonder? When it comes to Den kul- context where the contemporary problems that drive tiverade människan, the answer is a resounding yes. student interest, such as migration, subcultures, and First, the book is an undisputed classic, at least in gender troubles, might make the nineteenth-century the field of Scandinavian ethnology. Second, it of- countryside seem irrelevant. fers the opportunity to reflect upon how we ap- So, although Den kultiverade människan is clear- proach our field of study – everyday life – not only ly a classic today, and its style and subject matter in 1979 when the book was first published, but also fundamental to our understanding of everyday life today, forty years later, as the authors revisit their in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the situ- work, improving its meaning and strengthening its ation was somewhat different in 1981 when the Nor- argument. I am convinced the decision to publish a wegian professor emerita Brit Berggreen reviewed second edition was the right one, and rereading the the book for the first time in this journal. In her re- book yet again has been both thrilling and comfort- view, Berggreen wrote, “Both thematically and ing, reaffirming my interest in my field of study, in- methodologically, the book breaks with prevailing spiring me in my own research and writing, and style in ethnology. Formalistic critics will be able to demonstrating the value of a well-written, easy-to- find more than enough to latch on to, from misprints read text. What more could one ask? to a lack of discussion of concepts and explicit lines An anecdote from my own teaching further un- of demarcation. The book will probably also be pro- derscores the importance of this book. For the past vocative because it gets right to the point in men- several years, I have been teaching a course in cul- tioning taboo areas such as sexuality and bodily tural history within a Danish and European context, functions. Certain topics have not been ‘research- covering almost 200 years of people’s everyday able’ and will give the reader a shock who sees lives from the beginning of the nineteenth century to ‘dirty words’ printed in a scholarly dissertation” the present day. Divided into twenty-eight lectures, (Berggreen 1981:158). As it happens, Berggreen the course presents the period’s main historical herself followed Löfgren and Frykman’s lead ten events, the structures within which Danes in their years later with the publication of Da kulturen kom various social groups lived their everyday lives, did til Norge (1989), as did many others, in particular their daily chores, fought for their political rights, those informed by scholars linked to the French built their families, and defined their values and journal Annales: Économies, sociétés, civilisations. ideologies. Like decades of Scandinavian ethnolo- Likewise, in Denmark, Palle Ove Christiansen was gists before them, I ask my students to read Den kul- influenced like Löfgren and Frykman in his pursuit tiverade människan. Last year, two Chinese ex- of the ethnologist Börje Hanssen’s question regard- change students took the course as part of their ing the changes in everyday life, as well as whether two-year programme in Danish culture, sent by their peasants were determined by nature, or if they could country to learn the language and to gain an under- become “cultured”. As Christiansen’s work shows standing of our history and culture. When asked to (in particular the article “Peasant Adaptation to read the Swedish edition of Den kultiverade männi- Bourgeois Culture? Class Formation and Cultural skan (as we Danes do) their otherwise enthusiastic Redefinition in the Danish Countryside”, printed in eagerness was sorely challenged by the thought of Ethnologia Scandinavica 1978), and as the work having to learn yet one more Scandinavian lan- presented in Den kultiverade människan would guage. But their smiles were brighter a few days show, this transformation was complex, and was not later when they asked permission to read Den kulti- necessarily happening via a single process of ho- verade människan in their native tongue, after dis- mogenization into one middle-class social group. 290 Reviews

But whereas Christiansen insist on questioning this Knowledge Production and Tradition transformation (note the question mark in Chris- Archives tiansen’s title), along with its implicit adoption by Visions and Traditions. Knowledge Production and and meaning for peasant society at the end of the Tradition Archives. Lauri Harvilahti, Audun Kjus, nineteenth century, Den kultiverade människan Clíona O’Carroll, Susanne Österlund-Pötzsch, Fred- would describe the process as if it happened, and in rik Skott & Rita Treija (eds.). Academia Scientia- a cogent, pedagogical style explain the before and rum Fennica, Helsinki 1918. 384 pp. Ill. ISBN 978- after, often as a dichotomy, emphasizing the trans- 951-41-1126-6. formations themselves instead of questioning the way they were negotiated. In both the books first  Visions and Traditions. Knowledge Production and its second editions, we learn how the civilizing and Tradition Archives is a very apt title for this process that cultured man during the Victorian (in book, which explores the practices – past, present Sweden, the “Oscarian”) era meant learning and and future – of tradition archives and academics in adapting to a new sense of time, of nature, of the the fields of folklore, ethnology and related disci- family, domestic life, cleanliness, and sexuality. plines in constituting their collections and objects of New rules of conduct are enforced through disci- study as fields and forms of knowledge. With Clío- pline, orderliness and obedience. The authors claim na O’Carroll’s introduction setting the tone, several that this transformation is based on a game of contributors implicitly or explicitly emphasize the power, and as they are explicitly influenced by the unique character of tradition archives, encapsulated French thinker Michel Foucault, power is under- in their endeavour to document, preserve and share stood here as omnipresent, an arena for conflicts be- unofficial culture and experience, nowadays in all tween previous and rising hierarchies and patterns its living messiness. As Maryna Chernyavska ob- of culture. Although the industrialization of society serves in her contribution, this is what makes to- caused people’s work and production to become dif- day’s tradition archives an odd bird in relation to ferentiated and specialized, the way they lived and other archives such as historical ones, which tend to the things they aspired to became more similar. focus on elites and already “dead” material; ours To return to my initial question – why review the tends to live on even when we are not there to docu- second edition of the book Den kultiverade männi- ment it. skan? – there is also a third reason. The new edition While the contemporary ambition might be to appears to have been extended by its revision. produce and share knowledge of the lived experi- ence of many different groups, this has not, as we all Twenty-two pages have been added, and even the know, always been the case. The study objects of cover art has been transformed. The naked man folkloristics and ethnology, and the kinds of knowl- shaped and posing in ways informed by his culture edge about them that were produced have changed has himself been transformed: into a postcard over time. In the section “Bringing the Harvest pinned to the wall, another kind of statement regard- Home – Insights from Past Collection Practice”, ac- ing the book’s revision. In short, the second edition counts of past archival and research practices in Es- not only offers the reader an updated writing style, tonia, Sweden and Norway drive this point home but more importantly, a more transparent and invit- well. Yet what really strikes me in reading a number ing approach to what ethnology is: the study of the of the articles in this section, is how the archival col- everyday, whose purpose is to research and commu- lections were shaped not only by the scientific ideol- nicate the patterns and characteristics of the every- ogies of the time or even the idiosyncrasies of indi- day in both the past and the present. vidual collectors, which have been highlighted in The parts that provoked readers in 1979 may many earlier studies, but also by the everyday seem significantly less provocative today, but it is micropractices involved in communicating with re- no less important that new and coming scholars in spondents. our field continue to read Den kultiverade männi- When interaction between archivists and re- skan, which in this second edition has cemented its spondents has been examined before, such as in Ag- place as a classic among ethnology texts. neta Lilja’s many excellent publications on this Marie Riegels Melchior, Copenhagen topic, a distinctly top-down practice is described Reviews 291

where the archivists more or less disciplined re- land and Ireland, where folklore collection was tied spondents into becoming good contributors. In Mar- to a desire to promote the Finnish and Irish languag- leen Metslaid’s article, it becomes clear that re- es respectively constituting the common ground on spondents to the Estonian National Museum’s ar- which the article is based. Despite some similarities chive, while receiving their share of admonitions, in this fundamental respect, there were also obvious also managed to change some of the practices of the differences in how these ambitions played out, espe- institution through the feedback they gave; disci- cially in terms of publication policy. Hämäläinen plining could work both ways. Susanne Nylund discusses a body of material that was simply buried Skog discusses another process, that of turning per- in the archive and never used: Elias Lönnrot’s pa- sonal letters into archival records, and hence into pers related to a new edition of the Kanteletar. It re- objects of knowledge, in Karl Gösta Gilstring’s vast mained uncompleted at the time of his death and has collection, and she shows that this could be a dia- not been studied, let alone published. Fitzgerald de- lectical process where the final form of the record scribes the opposite process in Ireland, where Con- was co-produced with the respondent. radh na Gaeilge (The Gaelic League) focused on Åmund Norum Resløkken examines how the publishing folkloric material in the Irish language Norwegian Christmas goat was turned into a unified and less on documenting oral tradition and preserv- research object in the 1930s and 1940s, whereby di- ing it in archives. Lauri Harvilahti’s article which vergent phenomena (a mumming tradition, the dis- follows, supplies both the prehistory and the sequel guise used in it, and a Christmas cake) were linked to Hämäläinen’s case, outlining the process leading and construed as part of the same whole, partly due up to the establishment of the Folklore Archives of to the use of the word “goat” to name all of them, the Finnish Literature Society as an independent partly – and more implicitly – based on connections unit in 1937. proposed in Mannhardtian theories of the goat as a Konrad J. Kuhn discusses how Swiss Volks- grain daemon. Resløkken demonstrates that these kunde officially positioned itself in opposition to the theories profoundly informed the questionnaires ideologized discipline in other German-speaking compiled on the topic in this period, especially in countries in the 1930s and 1940s, illustrating how establishing connections to wedding customs that Swiss Volkskunde reaffirmed the importance of cul- few respondents could recognize from their lived tural diversity in Switzerland at this time. However, experience, and sometimes amounting to verbatim Kuhn demonstrates that Swiss Volkskunde in this quotations from research literature. Although con- period – studied through the lens of the work of temporary questionnaires are theory-driven too in a Richard Weiss – still had its own ideological under- similar respect, few of us quote our own publica- pinnings, a crucial element of which was the notion tions in constructing them. of the Alps as a highly symbolic cultural field. Pro- The politics of documentation, archiving and re- ducing knowledge about life in the Swiss Alps was search is discussed in more detail in several contri- the focus of most research projects until the 1960s, butions. Ave Goršič outlines the suppression of folk and Kuhn examines how this knowledge was pro- belief research in Estonia under Communism, Agne- duced in practice in Weiss’s fieldwork: in letters, fil- ta Lilja examines the shift in the 1960s and 1970s ing cards and books. The training of students was an from a retrospective methodology to an emergent integral part of this practice, in which “city kids” focus on dispersion and diversity at the Institute of could experience the rite de passage of fieldwork Dialect Research in Uppsala, and Alf Arvidsson beyond the pale of civilization. Rituals of masculini- ponders on the implications, ethical and otherwise, ty intertwine with the production of the symbolic of introducing jazz music as a tradition archive heartland of the Swiss nation. topic. These three papers form a bridge to the next The final section of the book is entitled “Seeds section, entitled “Field of Cultural Identity – Arch- for Future Practice — Recent and Future Challenges ival and National Policies”, which scrutinizes the for the Tradition Archives”. The challenges ad- birth of folklore archives in Finland and Ireland and dressed are multifarious, though many of them re- the production of knowledge in Switzerland. late to the use, present and future, of information In a jointly authored piece, Kelly Fitzgerald and technology in the archive. Eldar Heide begins with a Niina Hämäläinen compare developments in Fin- plea for the continued value of the old archival col- 292 Reviews

lections, and points to the difficulties for researchers the long format of oral history interviews which of interested in them in locating material when few are course provides a context for the smaller chunks. On intimately familiar with these collections anymore. the other, she is concerned that the understanding of He advances digitization, of a simpler or more ad- the oral history interview as a form will be lost, and vanced sort, as a way of improving access to them, that interviewees will avoid certain topics if outside even – and more especially – to those aspects that access is to be instant, free and totally open. Then are underrepresented, such as context, performance some aspects of human experience will likely no and “sensitive” topics. Laura Jiga Iliescu ties in with longer be documented. However, using her experi- a discussion of just such sensitive topics in Roma- ences at the Cork Folklore Project, she discusses nia, namely stories of supernatural encounters under possible ways of circumventing these problems Communist rule and in a contemporaneous religious while providing a window into the archive’s collec- setting. She analyses the archival documents pro- tions. duced, the metadata cards in particular, and suggests Closing the book, Audun Kjus presents recent that also those who are reading and interpreting work with digitization at Norwegian Ethnological these documents should add their own layer of Research, including the online platform minner.no metadata to be filed with the recordings and original and its Swedish counterpart minnen.se. When the metadata cards: an interesting suggestion. chapter was written, the platform had not yet been Sanita Reinsone initiates the suite of chapters launched, but from my own experience I know it is dealing more explicitly with digitization. She de- now up and running. It illustrates one of Kjus’s ba- scribes the successful campaigns of the Archives of sic tenets for successful digitization, namely multi- Latvian Folklore to crowdsource folklore manu- institutional collaboration. Like O’Carroll, he also script transcription, but she also argues that folk- emphasizes the importance of rich contextualiza- lorists have actually been working with participa- tion, preferably reuniting the bits and pieces from tory culture and crowdsourcing, now presented as the same project that have been scattered in different very new practices, for a long time: it is how the col- departments of the archive. Finally, Kjus highlights lection of folklore has been carried out in many the problems related to the present Norwegian re- countries since the late nineteenth century, with gime of research ethics, where material that should people volunteering to contribute to the archives. have been kept has been deleted despite the consent Catherine Ryan and Críostóir Mac Cárthaigh con- of the contributors to preserving it. He envisions a sider the digitization of the National Folklore Col- near future where people will be able to access and lection in Ireland, especially the development of a regulate the use of their contributions themselves, a thesaurus (controlled vocabulary) based on Seán Ó situation the current regime is not prepared for but Súilleabháin’s Handbook of Folklore from 1937. one that would chime well with the current democ- The construction of the thesaurus and how it was ratization of the archives. adapted to folklore content is then outlined. In this review I have opted to do something I oth- Fredrik Skott and Clíona O’Carroll both touch on erwise seldom do with an edited volume, namely the ethical challenges involved in the digitization of give an account of all contributions to the book. folklore collections. Skott does so from the point of However, Visions and Traditions is unusually cohe- view of protecting the integrity of contributors and sive in this regard, and the chapters truly speak to third parties vs the hazard of repeating the “white- each other in interesting ways. One of them fre- washing” for which we accuse earlier generations of quently begins where another ends, and struggles scholars and archivists. He tentatively proposes a with similar issues at different archives are cast into more comprehensive publication of such material on sharper relief when they recur in different chapters. the internet, also explaining how and why the mater- A common emphasis is not to be swept away by ial was collected and not only what was collected. “the digital goldrush” as Clíona O’Carroll calls it, O’Carroll similarly points to the problems involved but to consider our steps prudently and to preserve in mass publication on the internet when the mater- the unique characteristics of the material we as folk- ial is oral history interviews. On the one hand, she lorists and ethnologists are the only ones to collect. I problematizes the increasing tendency to access ma- could not agree more. terial in small chunks, which does not do justice to Camilla Asplund Ingemark, Visby Reviews 293

Borders and Border Crossings in Cultural to a far more vivid and multidimensional under- Studies standing of people’s lives than just observing and/or interviewing. Rajaamatta. Etnologisia keskusteluja [Crossing Following the introductory article the book is Borders. Ethnological Conversations]. Hanneleena Hieta, Aila Nieminen, Maija Mäki, Katriina Siivo- divided into three topical sections so that the art- nen & Timo J. Virtanen (eds.). Ethnos ry, Helsinki icles in the first one talk about the production and 2017. 483 pp. Ill. ISBN 978-952-68509-2-4. construction of research data and its analysis within cultural studies. Pia Olsson looks at the mechan- isms through which differences were created and  The North forms one of the main focus points in kept up within the construction of ethnological Professor Helena Ruotsala’s research career, and questionnaires and the following analysis of the data especially interesting is her way of applying a par- ticular northern gaze instead of looking at northern gathered over four decades starting in the 1950s. regions and communities from outside. This gaze The questionnaires were planned in a manner that and ways of crossing borders materially, socially, focused on finding social, cultural, ethnic and lin- symbolically, mentally and scientifically are at the guistic differences between the Finns, namely the core of the book Rajaamatta (Crossing Borders). peasants, and those who are not peasants, and such The title of the book, authored by Helena’s col- naturalized classifications were not critically evalu- leagues in Finland and abroad, refers to borders and ated in an academic context until much later. Hanna border crossings as concrete materialities but also as Snellman’s article talks about imagined reality as a entities which are transparent or dismantled and form of cultural knowledge, namely knowledge need to be discussed and contemplated over and based on assumptions, which are taken as the truth over again in different temporal and spatial contexts. and acted on accordingly. Snellman examines the The idea of a border can also be understood as one idea of “border” as an ethnological paradigm by of the main aspects or starting points for many eth- looking at the project Migrationen Finland-Sverige nological studies, let alone being the basis of the which was initiated by the Nordic Museum in whole discipline in many ways. Despite their exist- Stockholm and was built upon research material ence, borders, as they have been pondered and re- gathered in the 1970s, mainly among the Finns who flected on in this book, are not seen as something di- had migrated to Sweden. The interview material was viding people and cultures but rather presenting the constructed based on older Finnish ethnological re- multi-sited and multi-temporal qualities of ethno- search, which did not especially reflect the lives of logical and ethnographic research. The book in- the younger Finns living in urban Sweden which cludes articles both in Finnish and in English, which was a clear sign of a gradual paradigm change hav- is one kind of border crossing applied in the process ing started to take place in ethnological research. of compiling the volume. The third article in this section, written by Zsuzsa The book starts with Johanna Rolshoven’s and Szarvas, explores the fragments of rural Hungarian Justin Winkler’s letter to Helena, focusing on the Jewish culture and its relation to – mainly its ab- life of a herdswoman having left the city for a life in sence in – Hungarian ethnographical research. Provence. Through the life story of a woman named The writings in the second part revolve around Roé, the chapter discusses many relevant topics in borders of different worlds. Matti Kamppinen dis- ethnological research, such as migration, rural-ur- cusses ubiquitous ethnography and the description ban relations, gender roles, livelihoods, human-ani- of cultural scenes through the works of Durkheim, mal interaction as well as issues relating to time and Malinowski and Evans-Pritchard and within Ama- place. Methodologically the chapter draws attention zonian folk tradition. In the next article, Pirjo Kor- to the practice of experimenting with special cir- kiakangas explores multi-sited experiences, above cumstances for ethnographic interviews, which is a all departures and arrivals, of the children sent from special interest the authors have shared with Helena Finland to Sweden during the Second World War over the years. Instead of seeing themselves as do- based on their personal stories and memories. In ing participant observation, they use the term “fol- Marja-Liisa Honkasalo’s article different worlds are lowing” instead, referring to accompanying people studied by analysing the borders and divisions be- in their daily activities, which may lead a researcher tween folk medicine and modern medicine. At times 294 Reviews

they have come closer to understanding each other’s The third section of the book, focusing on identi- approaches while at other times the separation has ties and symbols of identities, begins with Anna been stricter and folk medicine has clearly been de- Sivula’s study of cultural heritage conflict battle as a fined as the “other” from the perspective of clinical battle over who has the ownership of cultural mem- medicine. The second part of the book covers quite ory and gets to decide whose memories count as cul- a variety of topics despite a loosely given common tural heritage. Based on debates concerning the theme, which makes it somewhat challenging to plans for a civil war memorial monument, Sivula read at times, let alone summarize the chapters in a analyses the dynamic of negative cultural heritage short review. work, namely such a cultural heritage process, The book continues with Art Leete’s article on which keeps conflicts alive inherent in a communi- animism, the forest and Komi identity, arguing that ty’s cultural memory. The Finnish border with Rus- Komi animism is a product of elaborated hunting sia, particularly the meaning of the border of the practice. As a basis for this argument Leete states ceded Karelia to the Soviet people, is the topic of that northern conditions have contributed signifi- Pekka Hankamies’s article followed by Ullrich cantly to the survival of Komi hunting and further- Kockel’s writing on building, dwelling and thinking more, the persistence of animistic views even future heritages of a Nordic Scotland. Anna-Maria against the powerful intrusion of Christian faith and Åström reflects on how borders have been made, values. Hunting is also in focus in the next article, in kept up, talked about and studied in urban environ- which Teppo Korhonen writes about early forms of ments. She discusses the question of borders in rela- civil disobedience in the hunting of large predators tion to historical processes, as markers distinguish- and the regulation of hunting practices in Finland. ing the centre and the periphery or areas understood The notion of border or boundary is an important as urban and those not categorized as urban, borders but simultaneously a controversial and heavily dis- separating areas based on their residents’ social sta- puted concept within the Udmurt worldview. Tatia- tus as well as changes taking place across borders or na Minniyakhmetova’s analysis shows that the within certain areas. Ildikó Lehtinen’s article is availability of a number of definitions for the con- about the question of making distinctions between cept of boundary illustrates its heterogeneity, uncer- national costumes and folk costumes or actually tainty and abstractness at the same time. The power more about whether this kind of categorization is and capability of boundary are huge, due to its depth possible, let alone relevant. The book ends with Ta- of experience in the micro- and macro-cosmoses mara Molotova’s writing on a popular holiday of the and reflected through people’s behaviour. The Vir- Mari people, the Semyk, which combined the joy of gin from the borderland of separate worlds is the arriving summer, a celebration of life and the vener- topic of Outi Fingerroos’s article on the Guadalupe ation of death. Virgin Mary, which came to be when the old world Besides covering a wide array of topics in tempo- rally, spatially and socially varying contexts, the art- and the new world met. Guadalupe stands on the icles in the book stretch geographically from Lapland borderland in many ways, acting as a protector of to Mari villages and through rural Provence to Mexi- Indians and mestizos as well as being a symbol of co, but most of all, while discussing borders and bor- Catholic faith, struggles for independence and revo- der crossings, they actually show relations and con- lution. The cult based on the revelations of Virgin nections between people, places, ideas and cultures. Mary is an integral part of Mexican culture and its Tiina-Riitta Lappi, Turku power in people’s daily lives is tremendous, no mat- ter whether people are religious or not. In the cult of Guadalupe it is possible to see the continuation of the dual nature inherent in the Indian world view, Jørgen Moe and Folksong where perfection is understood as two-dimensional Ørnulf Hodne, Jørgen Moe og folkevisene. Novus with a feminine and a masculine side. In that vein, forlag, Oslo 2019. 420 pp. Ill. ISBN 978-82-8390- Guadalupe is a strong symbol of womanhood, and 014-9. as the first mother she balances the otherwise mas- culine Latino culture with a total credibility and in-  The term “Asbjørnsen & Moe” is firmly estab- dependence. lished as a unit in the literature on folktales. This Reviews 295

can be broken down into Per Christen Asbjørnsen The second section of the book deals with the and Jørgen Moe – editors of the classic collection of folksongs (viser) recorded by Jørgen Moe, arranged Norwegian folktales, Norske folkeeventyr 1–3 according to genre by Hodne, with the ballad and its (1841–1844), to which the term actually refers. The sub-genres as the obvious classification principle. two men collected, edited, and published a large “With a couple of exceptions, all the ballads pre- number of tales and legends. Their collection was sented in this book are previously made fair copies epoch-making, planting a number of folktales in the of his [Moe’s] own originals,” writes Hodne (p. public consciousness. Moreover, by incorporating 241), which I interpret to refer to parts of the base- elements of dialect, it was also significant for the ment find. Many ballad texts, by the way, have been formation of a Norwegian written language. previously printed, several of them two or three As a folklore collector, the clergyman Jørgen times. Other genres are “Stev” (single-verse songs), Moe (1813–1882) took an interest in more than the “Other types of folksongs”, and “More modern folk- folktale tradition. He also collected folksongs, that songs of mixed content”, the latter two being re- is to say, he recorded the lyrics, but as far as we markably imprecise categories in a scholarly edi- know he never noted the tunes of the songs. In 1840 tion. he published Samling af sange, folkeviser og stev i After the texts of the ballads come the editor’s norske allmuedialekter, a collection of songs in comments, song by song, expertly executed. Some peasant dialect, but this does not contain very many remarks are drawn from the fair copies of the ori- “real” folksongs. The folklorist Ørnulf Hodne has ginal recordings, but only those which, according to now written a book about Jørgen Moe as a collector the editor, “are most important” (p. 241). The ar- and publisher of folksongs. Hodne took his doctor- chive class mark and, in the case of the ballads, the ate in 1976 with a dissertation about Moe and folk- TSB number as well, is systematically stated. Some tales, and he has returned to this important figure summary ballad narratives are directly translated over the years. Hodne, in short, knows his topic. from TSB, The Types of the Scandinavian Medieval The book is the result of a remarkable event. In Ballad (1978). Oddly enough, the songs are num- the spring of 2018 a find was made in the basement bered in the commentary, but not in the main text, of the Department of Folklore at the University of which makes it unnecessarily difficult to move from Oslo, a collection of fair copies of material from a comment to the text of the song in question. The what was then Norsk Folkminnesamling, the folk- opposite path also gives the reader some annoying lore collection founded in 1914. The material had extra work, although all the songs are listed in the been recorded by all the famous Norwegian collec- table of contents. tors, but also by a great many others. Among the The ballad texts as worded by Moe are inter- documents were folksongs recorded by Jørgen Moe spersed with a dozen works of art inspired by bal- in the 1840s, which was thus the incentive for this lads, the oldest from the first years of the twentieth book by Hodne. century, the latest from the 1950s. The illustrations This substantial and sumptuously designed book show, among other things, how significant folk- actually consists of three sections. The first one con- songs have been as motifs in contemporary Nor- tains Hodne’s insightful account of Moe and his wegian art. times, his collecting trips, and some of his main in- The third section of the book contains Jørgen formants who have long been well-known names. Moe’s published texts about folksongs. There are Jørgen Moe was out collecting ballads in Hardanger six pieces, reproduced in facsimile from Moe’s in 1846 and in Telemark and Setesdal in 1847. Samlede skrifter from 1877: the introduction to the Hodne describes the journeys in detail, but with too 1840 edition of the ballads, the accounts of the col- many and too long quotations for my taste. The por- lecting journeys in 1846 and 1847, an article about traits of the singers are especially worth reading. “Hemingsvisene”, a portrait of the informant Hodne’s descriptions are mainly based on the Swe- Blind-Anna, and the article “Visit to a Peasant Wed- dish ballad scholar Bengt R. Jonsson’s posthumous- ding”. Once again, the editor has made it laborious ly published study, Vil du meg lyde: Balladsångare i to find one’s way in the book, because the table of Telemark på 1800-talet (2011). It is just a pity that contents does not specify the individual contribu- Hodne has not proofread his Swedish quotations. tions, stating only that the section contains Moe’s 296 Reviews

published works on folksongs. Bewilderingly, the one often heard from the House of Commons, to section begins with the table of contents in Moe’s give way, which is an expression which underlines collected writings, but the reader is not told which the duty of someone speaking to let other voices be of the listed articles are reproduced in this book. heard. That is also a form of meaning which this Today Jørgen Moe’s texts about folksongs are title might be alluding to. To give way is then a form primarily of historiographic interest. The greatest of generosity, a largess, in this case, so to speak, on benefit for a present-day reader comes from Moe’s behalf of the Swedish majority population, as it description of his meeting with the informant lives up to its ethos of inclusiveness, fairness and a Blind-Anna (Anna Ivarsdatter Oppedal) from Oppe- general democratic impetus steering not only the dal in Hardanger. Through Moe’s account we learn political process as such but also the state apparatus something about how her rich repertoire of songs with all its officials at different levels of the govern- and stories was documented. We can also read about ment, often at the regional or local level in these what she was like as a person. Since the songs were cases, noting the needs and interests of these minor- for a long time considered more interesting than the ities. Sweden is, as Kirsten Hastrup, the Danish an- singers, Moe’s portrait of Blind-Anna is unusual for thropologist, has written in her extremely useful and its time. thoughtful book on culture (Kultur: Den flexibla ge- With his book, Ørnulf Hodne has erected a monu- menskapen), an example of the Nordic way of think- ment to Jørgen Moe as a collector of folksong texts. ing about oneself, seeing oneself collectively, from Having access to this reference work it is easy both the vantage point of the people, the common man to survey Moe’s contribution as a whole and to find and woman. This is also and not least valid in the particular details in the material he collected. An in- case of heritage studies, of which this particular re- dex of persons and songs would have made the book port is an example, dealing as it does with questions even more useful. both of material and also to a considerable extent in- Gunnar Ternhag, Falun tangible cultural heritage concerning these minor- ities. And who are these minorities? The five national Giving Place to National Minorities minorities in Sweden are the Roma, the Sami, the Att ge plats. Kulturarvssektorn och de nationella Swedish Finns, the Tornedalers and the Jews. This minoriteternas platser. Ingrid Martins Holmberg, could be compared to the national minorities in the Katarina Saltzman & Sarah Andersson. Makadam neighbouring Nordic countries. In Norway there are Förlag, Göteborg/Stockholm & University of Goth- five national minorities: the Jews, the Roma, the enburg, 2018. 97 pp. ISBN 978-91- 7061-282-4. Romani people, the Kvens/Norwegian Finns and the Forest Finns. In Finland there are six minorities: the  This is an intriguing report, starting with the title Sami, the Roma, the Jews, the Finland-Swedes, the of the small book which reads as: “To give place”, Tatars and the Old Russians. In Denmark there is with a subtitle describing the report more unambigu- only one minority, the Germans of Southern Jutland, ously as the heritage sector and the places of the na- but there are of course also the Greenlanders and the tional minorities (in Sweden). I ponder on the title a Faroe Islanders who are not national minorities per bit: what does it actually mean to give place? My se but still form some kind of minorities/marginali- first thought would be to think about the expression ties in a general Danish context. And the compari- to give voice to someone. This might have been in son with Sweden is more complicated than this short the researchers’ mind when they gave their book a list implies. In Norway there are two national lan- title. To give voice or place is to let someone with- guages, Norwegian and Sami. The Sami are also out a voice or a place get one. It is a kind of rescue given status as Indigenous people, something they operation, and that is surely what this report – writ- don’t have in Sweden or Finland. And in Finland the ten collectively by heritage scholars Ingrid Martins situation of the Finland-Swedes is a peculiar one, Holmberg and Katarina Saltzman, with Sarah An- Swedish being alongside Finnish one of the two na- dersson functioning as research secretary – tries to tional languages in that country. In this context, undertake in less than 100 pages with all the refer- then, both the Sami in Norway and the Finland- ences. The other connotation the title gives me is the Swedes in Finland are something of an oddity; the Reviews 297

group is a national minority but at the same time the how the Swedish discourse on minority and margin- language they mostly speak is a national language, ality in questions of ethnic historical groups is seen theoretically on par with the dominating language. from the point of view of both the researching field The case of the Finland-Swedes is also in the (the two researchers are from the Department of context of Sweden quite an interesting one (which is Conservation at Gothenburg University) and more not mentioned in this report at all). Their organiza- generally the Swedish state. One indication which tion FRIS (The Finland-Swedes in Sweden) have can be picked up from the report is that the question been pushing to make the group (some 60,000 indi- of which places these minorities might claim to be viduals in a very rough estimate) into a national mi- of central value to themselves from a historical point nority of Sweden, since their culture and back- of view is far from easy to put into a formula. This ground in certain ways differ from that of main- of course has to do with the starkly different posi- stream Swedish culture and they, just like the other tions of the minorities and their status in the larger minorities in Sweden, have their own historical Swedish context. For instance the case of Sami places, meeting places and so on with a history of proves that a rather small minority (20,000‒35,000 their own. But the Swedish parliament voted in people) still has a strong position from a cultural 2017 that the minority can’t be given national mi- heritage point of view. Their visibility is strong and nority status. The reason for the decision was that this applies also to some extent to questions of poli- this minority is too young historically to qualify, the tics/policy. On the other hand, the places which are expert in question arguing that the minority of Fin- important to this group might not be that easy to in- land-Swedes originally came into being only in the vestigate, partly because the more general cultural 1910s in Finland and thus can’t qualify for minority and indeed mythological subtexts of these sites and status in Sweden. But since Sweden and Finland places might be complicated by the fact the Sami in parted ways after the war in 1808‒1809 there was of some cases do not want these places to be known at course, already in the nineteenth century a Swedish- all. There might be bad psychic energy associated speaking minority in Finland distinct both from the with certain places, e.g. some mountains, and other Finns in Finland and from the Swedes in Sweden. places might not be well served as regards the liveli- But since the group which in the 1910s started to hood of the Sami if they are overexposed. call themselves finlandssvenskar (which can be In the case of the Tornedalers and a group which translated as either Finland-Swedes or Swedish- is named just once but not explained at all in the re- speaking Finns) speaks Swedish, one supposes this port ‒ the group called Lantalaiset ‒ other quite in- is the real explanation for the denial of national mi- triguing questions are raised. The Tornedalers do nority status to this group in Sweden, They are not have many specific places geographically to re- simply not marginal enough to be reckoned as a na- port, but of course they have a kind of “homeland” tional minority. or home region in the Torneå river basin, the border What is interesting to note in the report is that the region between Sweden and Finland, and they have four minorities discussed (the Roma have been sub- a language, meänkieli, which in Finland has been ject of earlier, more thorough research) are quite dif- seen as a Finnish dialect, but which the Tornedalers ferent as to their inner workings and subject posi- themselves see as a unique language, a kind of lin- tions in Swedish society. The study was done as a guistic cousin to Finnish (and the two are of course survey with officials in the national heritage sector, on the whole mutually understandable). And then on a regional but also in some cases a local level, the question of the Kvens is, as the report also notes, and also with representatives of the minorities them- one which further complicates the cultural and lin- selves, mostly done as telephone interviews with guistic map up north (this being the case both in some additional e-mailing taking place. Sweden and Norway and to a certain extent also in Concerning a rather short survey of this kind the Finland). The Kvens are a group of people in these end result must of necessity, as the researchers also northern regions speaking a form of Finnish, related note themselves, be rather meagre, general and ab- to the one spoken in Tornedalen. So, to make this stract as to their findings. But this does not mean picture more distinct, there would be a case for an that the report is uninteresting, actually quite the excursus on the Lantalaiset, and the region Lanta- contrary. It is an intriguing piece of “evidence” as to maa in the upper parts of northern Norrland around 298 Reviews

Jukkasjärvi and Kiruna. The Lantalaiset are also a ostracized in the history of Sweden. Their points of group with a Finnish core, but obviously more of the view might not always be easy to put alongside a Kven variety than the Tornedalers. And to compli- modernist Swedish viewpoint. And the lesson which cate this geographical and cultural map further, in resonates most strongly in this research field is that these same areas in which these Fenno-Ugric groups these questions can never be answered to the full. are located, the Sami have also a strong presence, as Any such attempt fails to do full justice to the task in the researchers note. But what to my mind is miss- the first place. There is a kind of algebra here, the ing from the survey, in which this situation up north researchers maintain, an equation which is stated as: is the most pressing one when the aim is to obtain place = space + meaning. But the question of what is more information and understanding concerning the worth considering a heritage and what is not will peoples there, is the simple fact that the whole re- never be neutral. It will always be up for negotia- gion north of the Lule river was, at the time when tion, since the question of cultural memory and of the Finnish war was lost by the Swedish-Finnish culture as such is, as Kirsten Hastrup has noted, al- army in 1809, culturally and linguistically Finnish ways one involving strong ethical urges. We are fi- and Sami. Obviously it was this painful loss which nally back to the question of home, of feeling at started the Swedification in earnest of this whole re- home and of feelings of homelessness, feelings of gion, something which had repercussions for how nostalgia, questions of repression, of openings and these minorities were treated by the majority, per- closings of the cultural mindset itself. haps to a certain point even down to this day. This report is well written and, as already noted, Flagrant racism and intense Swedification were a at the same time somewhat tentative as to the results direct result of these policies. By engaging in further it offers, with perhaps more questions than answers, studies of the complicated relations between these which is just fine since the field is such a difficult groups which seem to be dispersed rather like an ar- one. It also works as a strong case for more extend- chipelago in the majority sea, and also concerning ed research on these matters. their claims for dignity in the world today there Sven-Erik Klinkmann, Vasa would be a need for further study on these matters. This also holds for the other groups considered in the report. Both the Forest Finns in Värmland, Dalarna The Dream of the Cabin and Jämtland, who up till now have been rather neg- Marianne E. Lien & Simone Abram, Hytta. Fire lected as to their cultural heritage, and the Jews who vegger rundt en drøm. Kagge Forlag, Oslo 2019. have quite a different position in the eography, both 205 pp. Ill. ISBN 978-82-489-2328-2. imaginary and real, would be well served by further research. The Jews of Sweden are largely an urban  The social anthropologists Marianne E. Lien and population. The question of religion seems to be a Simone Abram, who work at Oslo University, have more central concern for them than the question of published a rich and beautifully illustrated contem- language, though a small group of the Jews still speak porary study of life in cabins and ideas about cabins, Yiddish, the language dominant in the Ashkenazi scattered from north to south in Norway. The study is Jewish world of Eastern Europe before the deluge an outcome of the research project: “Materializations caused by the Nazis. Their places are thus mainly as- of Kinship: The Life Cycle in Norwegian Cabins”. sociated with religious observance, but not wholly. The construction of cabins gained momentum in the Since Jews also have made a strong impact on busi- 1960s and 1970s as a result of new laws on paid holi- ness and trade there are other places and sites of inter- days, and because the Norwegian economy had re- est, also architectural ones. covered after the downturn caused by the German oc- The researchers state that at this point the ques- cupation. It now became possible to acquire a car of tion of knowledge is the central one, to acquire more one’s own when the rationing of cars ceased in Nor- knowledge of these heredity places, questions of way in 1960. That was when “the cabin became which, what, who, why in connection with these everyman’s property and Norwegians became cabin places. At the same time the research must be made people” (p. 18). Almost half of the Norwegian popu- with the utmost sensitivity since this is a highly con- lation have access to at least one cabin. There are now tested field. These minorities have been victimized, nearly half a million cabins in Norway. They have Reviews 299

been considered not only from the point of view of porary contribution to the research on Nordic tourism social community, but also from a national aspect, that has intensified in recent years. It led in 2015 to with the feeling that they are typically Norwegian. the formation of the Nordic Network for the History The word rendered here as “cabin”, hytte, is difficult of Tourism and in 2018 to the publication of the to convey in other languages. It is like a weekend cot- edited volume Turismhistoria i Norden, published by tage, a summer home, similar to the Swedish stuga the historian Wiebke Kolbe in collaboration with my- and the Danish sommerhus. self. The book reviewed here is written as popular The fieldwork has involved visits by the authors, scholarship and can therefore be recommended to a with their observations of cabins along with the pho- broad audience not only in Norway but throughout tographer Haakon Harriss. Interviews have been Scandinavia. Cabin owners can read about how other conducted with the owners and users of cabins in families live in and feel about their cabins. different generations. An important source in the Anders Gustavsson, University of Oslo/Henån documentation of life in the cabins is the “cabin books” that people have kept. These books are emo- tionally important to current owners, keeping alive Girls’ Races and Gender Equality the memories of life in the cabin in previous years. Karin S. Lindelöf & Annie Woube, I tjejers spår – för The people and their memories, rather than the framtids segrar. Om tjejlopp och villkor för tjejers mo- buildings themselves, are the main interest in the tionsidrottande. Makadam förlag, Göteborg/Stock- survey. Cabins play a major role in the families, holm 2019. 253 pp. Ill. ISBN 978-91-7061-287-9. used for recreation and for unifying the family, but inheritance disputes can also arise when a younger  Why are there keep-fit races specifically for generation takes over the ownership after the par- women? How were they established and why are they ents. Then the symbolic and sentimental value of the so popular? Are girls’ races good or bad if the goal is cabin, its social significance, is clearly seen in addi- greater equality in sport? With this book, Karin S. Lin- tion to the economic value. One possibility that is delöf and Annie Woube (both ethnologists working at exploited in many cases is co-ownership between the Centre for Gender Studies, Uppsala University) different families. Then the larger kin can be held shed new light on girls’ races and their participants. together over several generations. People can draw The history of sport shows how women have up fixed rules for the cabin, for example, concerning been excluded from major keep-fit events for pater- refuse collection and the distribution of practical nalistic, sexist, and downright idiotic reasons. The tasks in the form of painting, mowing the lawn, and pictures of Kathrine Switzer, who was forced to de- so on, and sharing the overheads and maintenance fend herself against an attack by a functionary to be costs. Almost half of today’s cabins have been able to finish the Boston Marathon in 1967, are passed on from one generation to the next. Cabins iconic. In Sweden we have several examples of are also lent to relatives. On the other hand, only six women who defied the ban on participating in the per cent say that they rent out their cabins. There are Vasaloppet ski race. Girls’ races (tjejlopp) should be also examples of inheritance disputes that have led understood in the light of this historical heritage – siblings to become enemies for life. they are a response to exclusion mechanisms that Many cabin owners want to mark the difference were at first highly concrete, but they have addition- in comfort between the home and the cabin. The ally had a more subtle impact on the culture of older generation did not want to install running wa- keep-fit sporting events. Here, as in sport in general, ter or electricity, but nowadays this is more com- men have often been the norm. In the girls’ races, it mon. Among today’s cabin owners there are many is the other way around. As Lindelöf and Woube who reject novelties such as television and broad- ably demonstrate, this entails both a liberating ele- band. To be able to relax and enjoy freedom, they ment and a limiting image of women doing sports. I feel a need to shield themselves from the technical shall return to this ambivalence at the end of the re- facilities of modern society. Being close to nature is view. perceived as important. The introduction describes the methodology, the Through its solid empirical foundation and its ana- theory, and the empirical data. The aim is to study lytical reasoning, the book is an important contem- women’s keep-fit races as a cultural phenomenon, 300 Reviews

both historically and in the present. Four races – Lindelöf and Woube, races like Tjejvasan and Tjej- Tjejvasan, Tjejvättern, Tjejmilen, and Vårruset – are vättern have played an important role in getting analysed with material that is both rich and varied. more women to participate in keep-fit races. In that Participants’ narratives, observations, auto-ethnog- way the races have had an emancipatory function, raphy, archival material, newspaper cuttings, and by gradually changing the gender coding of events interviews are just some examples. The sources of like Vasaloppet and Vätternrundan and paving the theoretical inspiration include Michel Foucault, way for increased female participation in the ori- Chantal Mouffe, and Ernesto Laclau. In the authors’ ginal races as well. At the same time, in some cases own words, the framework is “discourse theoretical, the girls’ races have had a slightly stereotypical im- post-structuralist, and feminist” (p. 21), which does age of their target audience, where classically fe- not prevent them from also referring to relevant male attributes are highlighted and the serious com- sports research. petition and training are toned down in favour of The first of the seven chapters focuses on the par- participation as a goal in itself (p. 68). ticipants in the girls’ races. Who are they? Where do Chapter 5 highlights the girls’ races as an arena they come from? It soon emerges that the women in for community, both on a small scale, with friends the races are largely white Swedish middle-class from or workmates, and on a large scale, as a community the metropolitan regions, an imbalance that recurs in comprising all the participants in the race. There is other high-profile keep-fit races. Health is often cited also the new community that can arise in the actual as the motive for participating, and the race acts as a race, such as being part of a cluster in Tjejvättern. stimulus to train during the rest of the year. This too As in team sports like football, which largely served can be recognized from gender-mixed keep-fit races. as an outlet for already existing social communities Chapter 2 examines the history of girls’ races. in factories and other workplaces, the girls’ races Several of the races studied here were established in have served as an arena for existing social commu- the 1980s, in parallel with the jogging trend and the nities (mother and daughter, groups of friends, col- increasing individualization in society, which was leagues, and the like). Here, however, it is not en- also reflected in sport. Why was there no room in tirely clear how these motives and practices differ the existing events for the growing numbers of from those of male counterparts, although refer- women interested in recreational sports? According ences to previous research suggest that women at- to Lindelöf and Woube (p. 98), part of the explana- tach a greater value to social aspects (p. 182). tion can be found in the lack of equality in society, The sixth chapter analyses the names of the girls’ where women’s opportunities are restricted by their races. The word for girl, tjej, “signals that one is disproportionate responsibility for children, the youthful, active, independent, and modern” (p. 199). home, and social relations, and this in turn is reflect- When linked to the girls’ races, the word tjej is rela- ed in the training opportunities. tively age-neutral – all the women who participate Chapter 3 deals with the format of the races. Here are in some sense girls. The ambivalence seen in the girls’ races clearly differ from other races by vir- previous chapters recurs, among both the partici- tue of their stronger emphasis on the event, the fes- pants in the races and the authors of this book. On tivity, and the “girliness”. Participation becomes a the one hand, the girls’ races signal a playfulness kind of manifestation of responsibility for one’s that undermines the seriousness of the participants own health, often packaged in a stereotypical way and takes the emphasis away from their sporting that risks concealing the empowering potential of performance. On the other hand, it is precisely this the physical performance (pp. 128–129). playfulness that can challenge established (male) The fourth chapter analyses the girls’ races as a norms and structures dictating how keep-fit sports gateway to other (often longer and more male-domi- should be practised. nated) keep-fit races. The girls’ races thus seem to The seventh and last chapter summarizes the re- function in recreational sport in much the same way sults. Lindelöf and Woube clearly show how idealis- as cannabis does in the drug scene, although the tic motives about gender equality and public health comparison stops there. At the same time, this im- have been combined with more commercial pur- age risks reinforcing the view of girl’s races as a poses. This could be contradictory, but in fact this “chicken” variant of the original (p. 234). As I read development fits well in a broader analysis of how Reviews 301

sport has changed over time. The sportification popularity of major events, and not least of all Lin- model, with its criteria for the development of sport, delöf’s and Woube’s own research, suggests that holds up specialization, for instance, as a central women are increasingly visible in mixed races. That feature. The girls’ races can be regarded as ex- is not to say that equality has been achieved. As amples of this: by adapting the distances and the Öxabäck’s May Lindgren put it when she was asked framing to suit different target groups, more people in 1975 whether there was greater equality in sport? can be enticed to take part. I would have liked to see “Yes, definitely. But it’s still not good.” the authors elaborate on how the intrinsic logic of Can the “pink” framing of the girls’ races risk re- sport affects the girls’ races – and vice versa. inforcing the image that men need to train seriously The gender division is interesting in relation to for serious tests of strength, while women are most- the Swedish Sports Federation, which has refused to ly expected just to reach the finish and have a good admit the Sami sports federation on the grounds it is time? I view this as one of the book’s central ques- only open to ethnic Sami. This rule is regarded as a tions. Lindelöf and Woube have made an important breach of the Federation’s principle that sport contribution to sports research by showing how should be open to everyone. The girls’ races, with women’s races can function both as an instrument their explicit exclusion of male participants, for achieving equality and as a way to cement tradi- challenge a fundamental principle in Swedish sport tional notions of men’s and women’s sports. The – the right of everyone to take part. At the same crucial factor is which part of the events is empha- time, this idea has clearly not been put into practice, sized. If the focus is on the social community and as women were excluded from a wide range of the nice framing, it disarms the political potential sporting events, and indeed from certain sports, for and the participants risk being reduced to passive much of the twentieth century. And in competitive consumers of a traditionally packaged experience. sport, the traditional gender separation has been But if the physical effort is at the centre, it challeng- maintained as a central principle, as evidenced by es classic ideas about gender and femininity (p. the ongoing dispute about female athletes with high 234). A woman doing sport then stands out as a sub- testosterone levels. ject, and the aesthetic aspect is subordinate to the Returning to the reasoning in chapter 2 about the performance. In this way the image of the girls’ girls’ races as a response to the unequal allocation of races can change, being acknowledged as more of a training time between men and women, I think that physical achievement, which is what the participants this is a relatively good measure of the zeitgeist and themselves demand. Could this acknowledgement yet another example of how sport can give new per- lead to shifts in the valuation not only of keep-fit spectives on larger phenomena in society. Women races but also of training in general? It may sound who want and demand time for serious and purpose- naive, but in that case sport could contribute to in- ful training have helped to redefine the gender cod- creased equality, one hour of training at a time. Re- ing in several sports, such as football, where players gardless of such hopes, this book exposes the duali- ty of girls’ races in a lucid and well-grounded man- on the pioneering Öxabäck team in the early 1970s ner, providing a better foundation of knowledge for had to explain to the press that their husbands could the effort to achieve greater inclusion in tomorrow’s actually take care of the children while the women’s (keep-fit) sport. team was engaged in matches and training sessions. Daniel Svensson, Gothenburg It is no coincidence, according to the authors, that it is in running that women have taken their place because, in comparison with skiing and cycling, it is a more efficient use of time and requires less in Materiality and Learning terms of equipment and technology (that too a clas- Materialitet og læring. Marie Martinussen & Kris- sic male domain). It is a convincing argument, but tian Larsen (eds.). Hans Reitzels forlag, København the claim that “conditions for women’s and men’s 2018. 338 pp. Ill. ISBN 978-87-41270-41-8. keep-fit sport, and the everyday conditions that regulate and determine them, have not changed  Materiality in the late twentieth and early twenty- much” (p. 98) would require more empirical evi- first century has become a research field that has ex- dence than is presented here. In fact, the increasing panded the perception of people’s relationship with 302 Reviews

their surroundings and the impact of the surround- help to illuminate the same phenomena in different ings on people. In several different disciplines, ma- ways, such as how architecture and space affect a teriality is now emerging both as an analytical con- teaching situation. This also clearly shows the im- cept and as a research field of its own. In this edited portance of theoretical approaches for the resulting volume on “Materiality and Learning”, the concept knowledge, which makes the book useful in teach- of materiality and its implications for learning pro- ing the importance of scholarly theories. cesses is explored by researchers from different sub- The various articles present current research on jects in the humanities and social sciences, including several important areas of society, such as children’s ethnology, psychology, anthropology, education, preschool environments, the spatial organization of and sociology. In twelve chapters, a total of sixteen hospitals, and the right to influence planning and authors, all working at Danish universities, analyse construction processes. Although the case studies various aspects of how learning in a broad sense – are based on Danish situations, the articles are high- socialization, assimilation, knowledge production, ly relevant to many other countries. All the authors and knowledge communication – are related to the in the book demonstrate the importance of humanist material environment. The book is divided into four research and the perspective of the humanities in thematic sections with three chapters each, where areas which are otherwise dominated by technical the different themes are based on the authors’ theor- perspectives and quantitative methods. etical standpoints. This book can be used for teaching in a wide The case studies on which the chapters draw range of disciplines and can also serve as inspiration come from different settings in Denmark, both pub- for further research in many fields. The studies pre- lic institutions (such as schools, kindergartens, uni- sented in the book are all of a contemporary charac- versities, and hospitals) and private companies – and ter, in that none of them attempt any comparison even a fishing boat. Materiality is defined both as with phenomena in the distant past. The opening art- objects that are handled by people and as spaces, icle on the topic of “Offices of the Future” is based whether rooms or city spaces. The premise that on fieldwork conducted shortly after the turn of the holds the book together is that materiality affects millennium, and in another study, on physical and people and is thus an instrument of power that can temporal breaks in the school setting, the author has be handled in different ways, but that people also af- done two periods of fieldwork with six years in be- fect how objects and spaces are shaped and used. tween. What would be interesting would be a study The studies in the book are mostly based on field- with an even greater time span, where the import- work, and the authors have used different methods to ance of materiality over time is analysed. Would it investigate their respective problem areas. Qualitative be possible to understand socialization and learning methods are employed throughout, linked to field- in the past, with a focus on materiality, and changes work practices such as interviews and participant ob- in these processes over time? Some of the articles servation. One author claims to be a “non- observing contain images, which not only serve as illustrations participant” in a study of how socialization and learn- of the text but also present content that the authors analyse. The book has an index of the subjects and ing to become a fisherman takes place, with a case people mentioned in the various texts, which further study conducted aboard a Danish trawler. The clear increases its usefulness. descriptions of methods in each chapter display a wide Karin Gustavsson, Lund range of ethnographical approaches. Both those who seek inspiration for teaching ethnographic methods and those who wish to development their own re- search methods have much to gain from the book. A Method Cookbook Similarly, the theoretical breadth is impressive, Metodekogebogen: 130 analysemetoder fra hu- and it is on the basis of the theoretical perspectives maniora og samfundsvidenskab. Mie Femø Nielsen that the editors have sorted the studies into four & Svend Skriver (eds.). U Press, København 2019. themes, instead of grouping them according to the 440 pp. ISBN 978-87-9306-081-4. studied topic, which would also have been a possi- bility. This way of arranging the articles in the book  “The Method Cookbook: 130 Methods of Analy- demonstrates how different theoretical angles can sis from the Humanities and Social Sciences” is an Reviews 303

interesting experiment. The editors’ aim has been to jacket format, in order to facilitate the readers’ use provide a systematically formatted presentation of a of the book. Consequently, each entry contains the wide range of analytical methods relevant for the same sections: What constitutes the method? Who humanities and social sciences. Their point of de- developed it? Ingredients (or what are you supposed parture is that “method” is “a systematic way of ap- to put into the analytical model?); To do, step by proaching something in order to achieve something” step; What can the method achieve, and for what is (p. 11), and the focus of their collection of methods it unfit? Examples of uses; What other methods can will be on how you can actually work, step by step, this method be combined with? Disagreements in order to get an overview of, or discern patterns or about the method (what does its critics have to connections in, a particular set or sample of mater- say?), and, finally, Further reading. In addition, each ial. The editors state in the preface that the task of method is marked on two scales: how time-consum- collecting material is covered very well in teaching, ing is it, and how difficult? but when it comes to actually working with the ma- The methods included in chapters 1‒6 display a terial, students are often at a loss. The book intends palpable variation as to scope and ambitions. Some to mend this gap by presenting various methods of stand out as particular large-scale enterprises, such analysis in a practical, hands-on perspective. as Ethnographic analysis (pp. 53‒55) and Cultural There are 12 chapters in the book, covering 130 analysis (pp. 63‒67). The step-by-step description entries, or descriptions of particular methods. Each of the first of these two includes as its first three chapter presents methods that are suitable for deal- steps actions that are actually preparatory: decide ing with a particular area or phenomenon. Their what you would like to know, and why; get ac- connections to various academic disciplines are de- quainted with previous research; get access – and, as liberately under-communicated, and in the same step no. 4, perform the fieldwork (by observing, in- vein they are not presented as tied up with particular terviewing, and reflecting). No doubt this is an ade- categories of empirical material (such as novels or quate description of an ethnographer’s initial work. interviews, cf. p. 12). The ambition, on the contrary, But it is at odds with the collection’s ambition of fo- is to isolate methods as procedures in their own right cussing of how one can actually work with a collec- and make the reader aware of a wide variety of op- tion of material. As step no. 8 in the description of tions. ethnographic analysis, we find the task “analyse According to the editors, the chapters are present- your data” – by means of e.g. discourse analysis or ed in an order ranging from “analysis of larger so- the hermeneutical circle, described in other parts of cial structures” to “analysis of materiality and the the book. In a similar vein, cultural analysis is agency of the body” (p. 12). In my impression, described as a field of research requiring several though, the chapters seem also to be divided into methods, including, among others, ethnographic two parts based on quite different categories of analysis. At the opposite end of the scale, we find topics. Chapters 1‒6 focus on theoretical themes or approaches and procedures that are considerably concepts, such as strategies and activities (1), social narrower, such as the Goffman-Garfinkel-inspired systems and cultures (2), processes, development method of analysing norms and routines through and change (3), behaviour (4), identity (5) and inter- breaching experiments (pp. 116‒117), or the method action (6). Chapters 7‒11, on the other hand, deal “Ask why five times” (pp. 118‒119), which consists with generic categories of material, such as large of not ceasing to ask why (in a polite and kind man- sets of data (7), text in context (8), texts (9), ner) until no new information comes up. (As for this in-depth analysis of texts (10), and the pictures, method, no disagreement is reported, and the stated sound and video (11). reason for this is that it is so insignificant that it does The last chapter addresses the analysis of space, not provoke any criticism.) Other methods may be place and materiality, and one might wonder why it more multifaceted, but with a restricted scope, such has been located at the end of the book, and not in as e.g. Wardrobe Studies, intended to understand the conjunction with the first set of six. meaning of personal style and dressing (pp. Seventy-six authors have been involved in the 174‒176). Wardrobe Studies is presented in the production of the book. All of them were given in- chapter dealing with methods of analysing identity, structions to write their short texts in a similar strait- which seems very reasonable. A little harder to un- 304 Reviews

derstand, for this reader, is the location in the same buted to the ancient Greek playwright Euripides. In chapter of the next entry, which deals with a set of this book entitled, in translation “Consumer Cul- psycho-physiological methods for registering psy- ture: Meanings and Practices”, we meet many chological processes by measuring physiological friends of Professor Emerita Helen Brembeck, to activities (e.g. activities in the brain, or electrical whom the volume is dedicated. The writers are all activity in the skin). However interesting these colleagues and friends who, in their own studies in methods are, it is not clear how they contribute to the field of consumer culture, have been inspired the understanding of identity. by Brembeck’s research career. And what a career! As the example above indicates, the logic of the The book spans a wide range of subjects linked to internal composition of the chapters is not always consumer culture and the practices surrounding easy to understand. But since the book, no doubt, is consumption today. The 14 papers discuss and not intended to be read from beginning to end, this problematize topics from luxury ice creams and is not a very big problem. Worse, to this reader’s gender, crafts, flea markets, cosy Fridays, and mind, is that far from all entries get as much other food consumption, to lifestyle blogs that “hands-on” as the preface has promised. Many of shape markets for domestic life, alternative shop- them have a considerably larger scope than one ping places, garden plants, homes and furnishings could have expected after reading the preface, and of various kinds. The reader also becomes ac- as a rule then, when it comes to the step “analyse quainted with the discussion about the function and your material”, the reader is referred to methods de- shape of women’s football outfits, thoughts about scribed elsewhere in the book. sustainability, how homeowners create contempor- To my mind, the volume is at its best when the ary history through their purchases, and the mar- entries focus on methods of a more restricted kind. keting of in-store music. This solid package is “Ask why five times” could be an apt example framed by a preface, an introduction that shows the (though one might ponder whether “why” is always breadth of Brembeck’s research, and a conclusion the best word to use). There is also a text about that ties the previous contributions together and measuring (pp. 129‒134) that may be very instruc- points the way forward. tive, at least to those of us who are not very much Helen Brembeck has been head of the Centre for into measuring, and the entry Source Criticism (pp. Consumer Studies at the University of Gothenburg 268‒270) seems valuable as well – to mention just and professor of ethnology. During her long career two of many entries that might be of interest to read- she has been active in a number of different projects ers of this journal. In the preface, the editors foresee related to consumption. With a broad interest in con- that they will amend the volume in the years to sumer culture, she has immersed herself in several come, in dialogue with their readers. Based on the aspects of what it means to be a consumer and she reflections above, I would suggest that they shrink has elaborated a great variety of ways to approach the scope rather than expand it, and concentrate en- the subject as a researcher. Through her many re- tirely on methods on the narrow edge of the scale. search projects, Brembeck has broadened our under- Barbro Blehr, Stockholm standing of the concept of consumption to include more than just the purchase of a commodity. She has also shown, for instance, how consumption fol- lows us through all stages of life and thus is a part of Meanings and Practices of Consumer everyday existence for young and old alike. It is Culture from the results of these many research projects that Konsumtionskultur. Innebörder och praktiker. En the authors of the articles proceed, all in their own vänbok till Helene Brembeck. Magdalena Petersson way. Most of the contributors are ethnologists, but McIntyre, Barbro Johansson & Niklas Sörum (eds.). the volume also includes essays by scholars in sub- Makadam förlag, Göteborg/Stockholm 2019. 279 jects such as domestic science, marketing, econom- pp. Ill. 978-91-7061-301-2. ics, and business administration. The background of the authors in different disciplines shows how broad  “Tell me who your friends are, and I’ll tell you Brembeck’s research work is and how she has in- who you are.” This is one version of a saying attri- spired others by successfully combining different Reviews 305

perspectives. Because of my own background as a and established among staff and customers alike. historian, I especially looked for other historians in The article is a concrete illustration of how new the list of authors, but there were none. However, forms of consumer culture require new practices. some of the articles describe changes over time, Ideas about sustainability are also included in the which a reader with an interest in history can seize informants’ narratives in Cecilia Fredriksson’s art- on. For example, Kerstin Gunnemark, in her essay icle about the trade in used goods in physical char- about new inhabitants of the old residential block of ity shops. This article sticks out because it is illus- Ekebo in Gothenburg, highlights differences be- trated with watercolours that fit the topic, and Ce- tween how we view the residents today and a hun- cilia Fredriksson is also responsible for the fine dred years ago. Similarly, Barbara Czarniawska, in cover picture. her article on hoarding, compares and intertwines The varying backgrounds of the authors influ- past and present. Czarniawska is the only author ence their choice of materials, methods, and the- here who compares Sweden with another country to ories. Several of the articles are based on material any extent; in the other texts the focus is mainly on collected for other projects, and on research that Swedish conditions. The importance of a historical has been carried out over a long period of time. For perspective and the importance of analyses of instance, Viveka Torell, who has studied how changes over time is also highlighted by Orvar Löf- clothes have been used in women’s football to gren in the final chapter. create an image for the sport, conducted her inter- The subtitle of the book, “Meanings and Prac- views with informants who were active in the top tices”, illustrates the questions that the authors have national division of Swedish women’s football ten chosen to answer. Practices are examined, for in- years ago. Interviews are also used by Olle Sten- stance, in Maria Fuente’s article where, by analys- bäck, who discusses how, if at all, in-store music ing posts in two of Sweden’s biggest lifestyle blogs, can affect customers, but also how customers can she shows how these create and shape markets for choose to be affected by the music. Other contribu- home life. Practices are also considered in the article tions are based on close-up reading of different by Katarina Saltzman and Carina Sjöholm about the texts, websites, and questionnaire responses, as sharing economy in the garden. The essay problem- well as ethnographic observations. We also find atizes the sharing of garden plants with friends and analyses of advertisements, in the form of Magda- acquaintances, an intrinsically everyday act. The au- lena Petersson McIntyre’s informative article thors claim that gardeners who give their plants to about how luxury has been portrayed in a number others simultaneously create different values and re- of advertising campaigns for Magnum ice cream. lationships. I found the article about garden plants During her time as an active researcher Helen particularly fascinating, partly because of the (for Brembeck has studied consumers of different ages, me) somewhat unexpected choice of topic, partly and this is also reflected in the essays in the book. because of the authors’ ability to study an everyday Lena Hansson, Ulrika Holmberg, and Anna Post, for act and place it in a broader context. example, analyse possibilities and limitations in Another rewarding article was Karin Salomons- older people’s grocery purchases, and the actors and son’s, in which she wonders what is what in a col- networks this involves. One of their questions con- laborative consumer culture where libraries, banks, cerns digitization; although this offers new oppor- and shops have merged together. Sustainability is tunities, one may wonder how well older food an increasingly important key word today, and as a buyers have embraced innovation and what prac- result new forms of consumption have seen the tices their shopping follows. We meet younger con- light of day. When new forms of commodity circu- sumers in Sandra Hillén’s article on families with lation arise, for example in the form of leisure children as cultural consumers in museums of cul- banks and lending shops, these must be organized tural history. Her aim is to analyse museums as an in practice. Salomonsson approaches this new way alternative for these families’ cultural consumption, of circulating goods from the point of view of both in competition with places like zoos or fairgrounds, customers and staff, and shows how these arrive by examining how different families have reasoned discussion at the rules to apply to loans and swaps. about their choices. Children are also at the centre in The name of the activity also has to be approved Barbro Johansson’s interesting article about chil- 306 Reviews

dren’s food consumption and their participation in but has become part of everyday life for both young decisions about food. and old. At the same time, the conditions for our The expansion of the concept of consumption has consumption are constantly changing, and new had the consequence that there is a considerable times present us with new challenges and possibili- amount of research on different aspects of the sub- ties. It therefore seems natural to pay attention to the ject. Yet there is room for more, and this book gives subject of consumer culture in many disciplines. Ac- the reader many new insights into everyday phe- cording to the blurb, the book Konsumtionskultur: nomena and problematizes things that we often take Innebörder och praktiker can benefit the scholarly for granted. The example studied in Susanna Rolfs- community but can also be read by interested gen- dotter Eliasson’s article is a holiday home and the eral readers. I can only agree. The content is so strategies that the owners of the house use to broad that any reader can recognize themselves or achieve what they want with their consumption, people around them in one way or another, and gain both dreams and concrete objects. Concrete objects greater insight into their own and other people’s are also included in Anneli Palmsköld’s article consumption. Since this is an edited volume, the about craft practitioners as consumers. Palmsköld texts are freestanding, but there is plenty of good discusses contemporary knitting culture and the dis- reading because the variety of subject matter and cussions of consumption that take place in a digital perspectives means that all the articles contribute meeting place devoted to knitting. The craft enthusi- something new to the whole. The book could also be asts who meet on this website engage in a special used in teaching, as the various essays together act form of consumption, “prosumption”. Through their as an introduction to the research field. The editors knitting, they consume and produce at the same have done a good job in the arrangement of the time. book, and the different perspectives follow nicely on The individual contributions are bookended by each other. Many other topics could have been ad- articles which place them in the general context of dressed on the basis of Helen Brembeck’s diverse Helen Brembeck’s research, and unite the various research. Yet this approach feels very well balanced questions into a larger whole. The preface is written and sufficiently comprehensive. Some, but far from by Ulla Ericsson-Zetterqvist, and it is followed by all, of the articles are illustrated with photographs or an introduction by Magdalena Petersson McIntyre, illustrations appropriate to the theme. The result is Barbro Johansson, and Niklas Sörum, who also an informative book that stimulates many new edited the volume. The final article is by Orvar Löf- thoughts and illuminates the theme of consumption gren. The introduction relates the different essays to from several different perspectives. The reader Brembeck’s previous research in the field of con- comes away with a better understanding of how sumer culture, while Löfgren in the concluding art- broad the subject of consumption culture today can icle entitled “What Can Consumption Be?” also be, and an awareness of the challenges facing to- day’s consumers. The book adds a great deal both to looks forward and reflects on what can still be done those who are already familiar with the research in research on consumer culture. In this way, the done by Helen Brembeck and her friends, but also final chapter has an important role for the volume as for those who wish to learn more about current re- a whole, not just because it gathers together the search on consumer culture, or simply want to read threads discussed in the other texts, but it also points something thought-provoking. to new challenges and opportunities. Today, for ex- Anna Sundelin, Åbo (Turku) ample, sustainability is a very topical theme, which gives us a greater interest in the life span and life story of objects. A focus on sustainability also broadens our understanding of the concept of con- Highly Educated Migrants in Sweden sumption so that it is not only a matter of buying or Högutbildade migranter i Sverige. Maja Povrzano- consuming, but also of swapping, borrowing, and vic Frykman & Magnus Ölander (eds.). Arkiv för- sharing. lag, Lund 2018. 231 pp. ISBN 978-91-7924-308-1. The attitude towards consumption and ownership has varied considerably in different times. Con-  This collection of studies on the theme of “Highly sumption is not just about luxury and abundance, educated migrants in Sweden” is edited by Maja Reviews 307

Povrzanovic Frykman and Magnus Ölander. The book seeks to discuss the encounter of highly edu- central topics are “cultural encounters” and “inter- cated migrants with Sweden, not only in terms of cultural relations”. The aim of the book is to provide economy, the labour market, and working life, but a more comprehensive picture of ongoing research also taking cultural aspects into account. in the field of migration studies and cultural encoun- The authors distinguish between highly educated ters. The authors range from recent graduates to and poorly educated migrants and their challenges more well-established researchers in the field of cul- with integration and working life in Sweden, and ture. The book is meant to be read by people other here it is the highly educated migrants they discuss. than researchers, for example, students, journalists, They point out, however, that it may also be prob- politicians, and anyone with an interest in the field. lematic to make this distinction. What one faces as Many of the research findings have previously been an immigrant has more to do with migration and the presented in English, but this is the first time they majority society and less to do with the level of edu- have appeared in Swedish. About half of the authors cation. And, as the authors state, the highly educated are migrants themselves, which makes the book es- are not a homogeneous group. This is an important pecially relevant at this time. In addition, the topic is point, and because the authors draw attention to it, highly skilled migrants, who do not belong to the readers can accept the choices that the authors make group that gets most attention in the news media in relation to the arguments they have for writing a when the subject is migration and the challenges book about highly educated migrants. that many see that it can entail. We have here, thus, There is a wide range of topics: policies on labour a new voice in the debate on migration. migration, a survey of the representation of highly Some of the concepts which are discussed in the educated migrants on the Swedish labour market, book and which the authors try to nuance, are Swedish integration policy, intercultural communi- “refugees” (flyktingar) and “immigrants” (invand- cation between foreign doctors and Swedish pa- rare, immigranter). These concepts are often used tients, the importance of having friends, and the mi- synonymously in the public debate, and in the indi- grants’ experience of having to adapt to Sweden, on vidual chapters they try to identify how the shades both a professional and a personal level. of meaning differ between these terms, pointing The book is an important contribution to the dis- out why it is important to distinguish between cussion that is taking place in Sweden and other them. The book suggests the word “migrant” as a countries about integration, intercultural processes, more neutral term that can include the other con- cepts and designations. Therefore, the term “mi- and the everyday life of migrants. Many of the chal- grant” is used in the title. However, the notion of lenges facing migrants are similar, and both highly migrant can also be understood as something educated and low-skilled migrants have much the which is associated, in politics and in the media, same experiences here, as the authors of the book with challenges and problems, and therefore it is point out, with a measure of self-criticism for con- further modified by the description “highly edu- centrating on highly educated people. Nevertheless, cated” to capture the specific group with which the it makes sense to write specifically about highly ed- studies here are concerned. ucated migrants, because, besides being immigrants, The reason the authors have found it relevant to they also have different experiences from the write a book about highly educated migrants is that low-skilled (and vice versa), and the many articles the international labour market is increasingly com- in this book provide a multifaceted discussion of ex- peting for highly skilled people. It is argued that the periences, often from the migrants’ point of view, as availability of a well-educated workforce can be many of the studies use a qualitative method. crucial for maintaining the welfare system and the The book is a successful contribution to the dis- economy of Sweden (and other Scandinavian coun- cussion of migration, and it will be relevant for tries). Highly educated migrants are often viewed as teaching purposes in high school and tertiary educa- an unproblematic group as regards economy and in- tion. It will also be relevant for readers with a gener- tegration, but research shows that they also have al interest in the migration debate, as well as for special social and career challenges as a conse- journalists, opinion formers, and politicians. quence of having a non-Swedish background. The Vibeke Andersson, Aalborg 308 Reviews

Remembering the Deceased peace, to demonstrate what happened to those who Å minnes de døde. Døden og de døde efter refor- did not fulfil the demands. masjonen [Remembering the Deceased. Death and The content of the book is arranged according to the Deceased after the Reformation]. Tarald Ras- the social classes in Norwegian society. The higher mussen (ed.) Cappelen Damm akademisk, Oslo the rank of people in society when they passed 2019. 263 pp. Ill. ISBN 978-82-02-51549-2. away, the more detailed were the prescriptions and regulations for what was accepted, rejected or even  When the Nordic countries embraced Lutheran- demanded at their funeral. The structure of these ism in the sixteenth century, old vessels were only chapters is very clear, which makes it easy to see the partly filled with new wine. Only gradually did difference between the time before and after the “pure” Lutheranism dominate along with the grow- Reformation. The correct way to remember the king ing custom of sending students of theology abroad, starts the series. The king was regarded as represent- above all to Wittenberg, Saxony, in order to partici- ing both mundane and celestial power. After the pate in higher education at the local university. royal people come the noble men and women, who This book concentrates on how the ceremonies are said to take the place of the Catholic saints. In around the belief in death changed from the ruling every respect they were supposed to live as models Catholic belief in the efficiency of requiem masses, for the people. Even more closely observed was the indulgences, purgatory, penance, and personal ac- priest, for he had, so to speak, one foot in the world tions for a successful death and a good afterlife into and the other one in the sacred regions. In Lutheran a piety centred around individual belief only. The effigies the priest carried a book, a link to one of book consists of several articles in which the authors Martin Luther’s main thoughts, i.e., that the word regard the Reformation as a cultural process. The and the belief in this word should be crucial in experts represent church history, art history, and Christianity. In the images the priest is often sur- cultural history, particularly folkloristics. The inves- rounded by his wife and children, both alive and tigations are based on contemporary theological lit- dead members. This demonstrates what an import- erature, administrative regulations, legal records, fu- ant role the family played in Luther’s theology. neral sermons, images, sepulchral tablets, and grave It is clear that the predominant difference be- texts. The eleven chapters concern Norwegian mate- tween men and women is that the men are said to rial but also touch on Danish sources, for until 1814 having brought about something, whereas the the two countries were a united monarchy. women were “this and that”, i.e., the texts describe It turns out that dying is not easy. There were the women’s characters whereas they tell about the particular conditions for both the dying persons men’s actions. It would probably be fruitful to ana- and the people around them to fulfil. The ars mo- lyse the concept of fidelity, which is central in Lu- riendi (art of dying) was something everybody al- theranism, in the contexts of gender. Perhaps the ways had to bear in mind and constantly repeat in concept does not mean the same thing for men and order to live in the right way and then die properly. women. To the women faithfulness was, without Handbooks in how to die correctly helped humans doubt, directed to her family. to see that everybody had to take the step from life There is comparatively little evidence left con- into death and that they should adjust to their indi- cerning the lower classes of society, such as farmers vidual future. The dance of death painted on and poor people. However, the authors of these art- church walls, also in the Nordic countries, illus- icles are extremely skilful in finding details that trate how death reaches all social groups. How- make the reading of these chapters very fascinating. ever, Lutherans and Catholics, and of course other A separate chapter is devoted to women – how they people, cannot lead their lives uninfluenced by sin, grieved and how others mourned for dead women – as the articles very clearly demonstrate. The only and it is obvious that the particularly feminine death way to a peaceful afterlife, according to Lutheran- in childbirth was regarded as a virtue. Probably this ism, is a firm belief in God. No actions whatsoever interpretation was created to console her husband. are efficient. This was made clear by the Reforma- Fortunately, this way of thinking was erased in tion. Here I miss some short paragraphs from folk- modern times. Also, children and people without lore about the destiny of the deceased without reputation are the subject of entire and detailed por- Reviews 309

tions in this book. It is clear that, until the end of the Havebyn, or The Garden City, can be said to be eighteenth century, Lutheran belief from the time of an effect of the Arts and Crafts movement in Eng- the Reformation in Denmark–Norway was strict, land, which spread quickly to the rest of Europe and austere, and abstract in comparison to Catholicism. came to Denmark in the early twentieth century. Today, when the assortment of belief is huge, This movement, or these currents, came as a reac- even fewer people stick to Lutheranism. Conse- tion to the overcrowded, filthy, and unhealthy cities quently, I recommend this book as an important in- of England, which had grown as a result of the in- troduction to Lutheran belief, particularly the belief dustrial revolution. In Sweden the term we use is in death. I do so not only because it gives a good trädgårdsstaden. overview of the issue, but also because it is a func- Ravn and Dragsbo’s book begins with a presenta- tional model for how to compare systems of belief. tion of the English social debater Ebenezer Howard, Moreover, Lutheran believers would also do well to who outlined his ideas about the garden city in read it in order to refresh forgotten knowledge, but To-morrow, A Peaceful Path To Real Reform also as a repetition of how to deal with an issue that (1898), best known under its later title, Garden affects all of us. Norwegians in former times knew Cities of To-morrow. He wanted to create an inde- how to show their tribulations, virtues, and hope for pendent and self-sufficient city outside the city. It life after death in various ways. Corresponding vital would be cheap to live there, there would be jobs, conditions also touch modern humans. cultural attractions, and good access to both nature The contributors to this book are Arne Bugge and culture. In this way, the best of the city and the Amundsen, Eivor Andersen Oftestad, Tarald Ras- countryside could be combined, and common mussen and Kristin Bliksrud Aavitsland. ownership would do away with land speculation. Ulrika Wolf-Knuts, Åbo (Turku) Ravn and Dragsbo describe the history of garden cities in Denmark through 25 Danish examples. They do so by first describing how Howard’s idea of Garden Cities in Denmark the garden city was expressed in Denmark and then Helle Ravn & Peter Dragsbo, Havebyen. Havebyer very briefly describe how the same thing happened i Danmark, England og Tyskland før, nu – og i in the other Nordic countries. Much of the book is fremtiden? Historika, Copenhagen 2017. 304 pp. Ill. devoted to the history of the 25 Danish garden ISBN 978-87-93229-69-3. cities, beginning in 1911 with Grøndalsvænge in Copenhagen. Then almost as many pages are de-  Helle Ravn has served as curator at Langeland voted to garden cities in England and Germany, be- Museum and has done considerable research on the fore the final discussion of similarities and differ- cultural history of gardens. Her findings have served ences and reflections on what we can learn from as a basis for museum exhibitions, but she has also these narratives. written articles and books on the history of residen- It is a large, heavy book, richly illustrated with tial gardens, for example, Havetid: den almindelige recent photographs and historical images, along danske have – kulturhistoriskt set (2000), Gulerød- with original drawings and some maps. It is a popu- der, græs eller granit: danske parcelhushaver lar survey that can be read by anyone who is not yet 1950‒2008 (2011). Together with Peter Dragsbo, familiar with havebyer, garden cities, Gartenstädte, also an ethnologist and previously working at Mu- or trädgårdsstäder. The authors believe that rela- seum Sønderjylland, Ravn tackled the task of filling tively few Danes know about this, in contrast to a gap in research on the history of Danish gardens. people in England, Germany, and Sweden, and they They believe they have now accomplished this with show in the text how these political and social re- the publication in 2017 of this book, the title of forms and currents took shape in the Danish garden which means “The garden city: Garden cities in cities. Denmark, England, and Germany past, present – The book is described as a debating piece in that and in the future?” Here they have complemented it makes comparisons between past and present, and each other by combining Ravn’s expertise in garden through this the authors want to make people think history with Dragsbo’s knowledge of urban and ar- about what we can learn from the ambitions that ex- chitectural matters. isted in the past so that we can create future cities 310 Reviews

where green is acknowledged as important. What emphasizing the value of green spaces and generally can we learn from past ideas? Can they be used as trying to create more long-term living environments models for green urban construction? There is a where the crucial adjectives were social, green, and newfound interest in the traditional neighbourhood sustainable. It is certainly no coincidence that Ravn structure, as the ideas about the garden city were and Dragsbo felt the need to fill what they saw as a formulated, but also because in recent boom years knowledge gap in Denmark, and in Sweden too we we have been faced with the development of large can now see a renewed interest in bygone ideas and completely new areas on the outskirts of cities. about urban development, such as those expounded According to the Swedish National Board of by Jane Jacobs in the now classic The Death and Housing, Building and Planning, most of Sweden’s Life of Great American Cities from 1961 (published population in 2050 will live in the four metropolitan in Swedish in 2005 as Den amerikanska storstadens regions, especially in the Öresund region (Boverket liv och förfall). 2012). Segregation is a serious risk. How can we Carina Sjöholm, Lund work to end that today? Ravn and Dragsbo note, for example, that the people living in the houses of gar- den cities belong to a different category from the The Magic Mirror group they were built for. Leif Runefelt, Den magiska spegeln: Kvinnan och According to Statistics Sweden (scb.se), the varan i pressens annoncer 1870‒1914. Nordic Aca- green spaces in Swedish cities have not become demic Press, Lund 2019. 352 pp. Ill. ISBN 978-91- more numerous or larger even though the number of 88661-89-0. buildings and people has grown. Nowadays there is a great deal of talk about the importance of green:  Anyone who has ever looked at women’s maga- green creates structure, different kinds of values, zines from the turn of the 20th century has without identity, it embodies cultural heritage, it compen- doubt noticed the black and white advertisements sates for climate change, it is a land resource, it representing women and the various consumer stands for biodiversity in some cases, and it pro- goods considered of interest to them (sewing ma- vides a space for people to live and meet. If these chines, soap, shoe polish, toothpaste, underwear, discussions are linked to those about the densifica- gloves, hats, etc.). These magazines were filled with tion of cities and experiences of urban space, then it such advertisements, crammed into pages already is yet another important reason for discussing packed with text in very tiny print; one may well thoughts about our living environments and the way wonder how men and women were able to read and they are used. But this should not be done uncritical- absorb the content of these pages at all without a ly. The cities’ green spaces are often portrayed as magnifying glass. However, it is the deeper meaning harmonious and uncontroversial meeting places. of these images and their commercial aims that Leif This is an image that is too seldom problematized, Runefelt has chosen to explore in The Magic Mir- although it is difficult to argue against it. In official ror. His work has resulted in a fascinating book that documents, but also in research about the import- examines this segment of the visual culture of com- ance of green spaces, there is an agenda highlighting modity goods through the lens of a historian of the function of green spaces for health and recre- ideas. The book offers an insightful analysis chal- ation, making it appear almost morally irreproach- lenging the general perception of capitalist ideology, able. Who has access to the city’s green spaces? the ideology of domesticity, and the role of women There are often more or less explicit rules for who in the period in question. can or may use them, but also how they are used. Runefelt has based his extensive analysis on As a debating piece, the book Havebyen is even more than 10,000 advertisements in newspapers, more interesting. There are, quite simply, many ar- weekly journals and women’s magazines drawn guments in the original ideas of the garden city that from Swedish publications such as Aftonbladet, Da- may be important to relate to today: we need to den- gens Nyheter, Svenska Dagbladet, Stockholms-Tid- sify, and over a hundred years ago density was an ningen, Kalmar, Norrköpings Tidning, Göteborgs argument for sustainable construction, as was Aftonblad, Arbetet, Dagny, Idun, Svensk Damtid- small-scale building, mixing different functions, ning, Hvar 8 dag, Allers Familj-Journal, Svalan, Reviews 311

Svea, Victoria, Hemmet, and Mitt hem. Two charac- since the masses hold greater potential for increased teristics informed the selection and interpretation of sales and profits. By this time, both the bourgeois the advertisements under study: they should contain woman of status as well as those aspiring to join the images (drawings or photographs) of women, and middle class were recognized as the ideal con- they should be read as producers of ideology. In sumers. By contrast, commodity producers and their other words, Runefelt is interested neither in the marketers realised that the ideology of domesticity marketing perspective of the advertisements, nor in was anti-consumerist and not conducive to develop- the economic history of the consumer goods them- ing their target audience. The domestic values of selves. Rather, the analysis seeks to develop an un- thrift, do-it-yourself and moderation that represent- derstanding of the meaning of these advertisements ed a civilized way of living in control stood in oppo- with respect to how those who viewed and read sition to the desire to consume. This confrontation them may have been affected by what they saw. of ideologies is identified in the visual composition The book is divided into five chapters, reflecting of the advertisements, which evolved from repre- what Runefelt identifies as the key topics across the senting servants and housewives to depicting (and vast numbers of advertisements he has studied. A addressing) the modern woman working outside the reader looking for a thorough discussion of theories home, in order to demonstrate how the consumer of consumption or consumption critique is likely to market ought to expand. be disappointed, however. Runefelt writes frankly Chapter Three looks in particular at advertise- that the reader seeking analysis of news media ad- ments for the beauty industry. Here, we see how the vertisements in the light of consumer critics such as chemical industry presents its innovations via visual Marx, Simmel, Freud, Benjamin, Adorno, Baudril- culture to sell female beauty in service of male en- lard, Bourdieu and Baumann, “has to write their joyment. The advertisements depict the bourgeois own book” (p. 30). Unfortunately, the motivation housewife as the ideal, and her beauty as among her behind this rather eyebrow-raising comment is not best assets on the marriage market. further explained. Nevertheless, it was refreshing to In Chapters Four and Five, the focus turns to ad- be able to forgo the consumption critique canon and vertisements from the fashion industry. Chapter proceed directly to reading the empirical material Four shows how fashion contributes to the rep- and placing it in its context of Swedish commodity resentation of the conventional bourgeois woman. and visual culture. Beginning at the turn of the 20th century, however, Chapter One articulates the empirical background advertisements seek to democratize this look to in- for reading the advertisements. The reader learns clude the majority of women, with a view to ex- about the history of these mass produced images and panding the markets of the products for sale. how this history is entangled with that of women Runefelt argues that it is the market – that is, cap- and modern consumer culture. It is argued that mass italist ideology – that drives the democratization of production is a consequence of the developments of fashion during this period, and not the dress re- consumer culture, and not the other way around. formers of the time (e.g. activists in the health and Chapter Two examines how the targets of the ad- women’s movements), as has been contended in vertisements change over time. At first they are popular discourse. aimed at the bourgeois woman building and manag- Chapter Five looks specifically at the corset, tell- ing her family home: specifically, a home in which ing the story of how an unseen object could be trans- she must manage household servants in a so-called formed into both a fashion item and a consumer two-class family society (the bourgeois family and good, visually represented in the public and an indi- their servants) ruled by the ideology of domesticity. cator of the heterosexual, binary sexism built into Later, they are aimed at a much broader range of capitalist ideology. The corseted woman in adver- bourgeois women and their families, now including tisements aimed at women is an eroticized woman, those without servants and even those with a paid presented via the male gaze. The images Runefelt job outside the home. The point Runefelt makes in highlights show women made confident through the this chapter is that around 1900, one can see in the wearing of modern underwear and the knowledge advertisements under study how the ideology of do- that they are therefore attractive to and loveable by a mesticity comes under attack by capitalist ideology, man. In other words, these advertisements were in- 312 Reviews

tended to be seen by women, but were created as if the scholarly author and his or her analysis. Here they were targeting men. The visual culture of mod- things are not that clear, though it seems to me that ern consumerism is a culture in which the privilege Runefelt uses an analysis of power to drive his argu- of looking belongs to men. ment, suggesting hereby a belief in a kind of Fou- In reading this book, it becomes clear how adver- cauldian idea about the omnipresent power that tisements are a medium of capitalism and how cap- structures life, daily activities and practices. That italist ideology forms the ideal middle-class con- said, the book’s frank tone makes it all the more fun sumer and consumer culture. The values embedded to read. Runefelt brings the reader straight to the in capitalist ideology are enacted when consuming empirical material in order to embark upon the jour- and hereby make a confession to consumer culture. ney of its analysis. The transparency lies at another What Runefelt makes clear is that the spending level. In the course of the analysis, Runefelt weaves woman is among the ideals of capitalist ideology, in present-day discourses and shows how his inter- one that originated around the turn of the century ests and analytical tendencies are informed by the and contributed to creating the consumer culture of influences and thoughts he confronts at the begin- today. By that time, women were addressed both as ning of the 21st century, as a scholar with an expan- consumers and as objects of consumption in the ad- sive body of work about Swedish elites in the early vertisements the book scrutinizes. Runefelt hereby modern period that enables him to reflect about draws attention to the fact that not much has these advertisements in a broader historical con- changed with respect to visual culture in advertise- text. ments between then and now. Advertisements pro- Marie Riegels Melchior, Copenhagen claim the law of the middle class and teach people what the good middle-class life should look like. This makes perfect sense in the historical context of The Cultural Meaning of Ownership the period, in which a growing number of people Mitt och ditt. Etnologiska perspektiv på ägandets were becoming part of and identifying with the kulturella betydelse. Karin Salomonsson (ed.). so-called middle class. Clearly, the middle class is Lund Studies in Arts and Cultural Sciences 17. the most attractive target group if the goal is to Lund University 2019. 236 pp. Ill. ISBN 978-91- expand the market for certain consumer goods, 983690-5-2. whether household appliances or fashion. Even to- day, the middle class is still where the money is!  When I was young, I felt extremely uneasy when And, even today, Runefelt concludes somewhat de- my parents told people trespassing on our family pressingly, as they live out their roles as female con- farm to respect their private ownership of the land sumers trying to live the good life as defined by cap- by not crossing fields and forest areas except in the italist ideology, many women continue to reinforce designated areas accessible to the public under their subordinate position with respect to men via Danish law. Seven years ago, I became the owner of their consumption and committed aspiration to that farm, and I find myself acting just like my par- membership in the middle class. ents, protecting and caring for the property I own. The ‘magic mirror’ of the book’s title refers to Now I am the one communicating – whether in per- the way advertisements allow the viewer to look at son, on signs, on websites, or in the local newspaper the ideal middle class life produced by capitalist – the rules and regulations regarding my property, ideology. Runefelt’s book is a valuable contribution the land I own! This peculiar psychological and cul- to the fields of consumption history, fashion history, tural transformation has been given new salience for and even Swedish cultural history due to the speci- me by reading Karin Salomonsson’s edited book ficity of his source material from Swedish newspa- Mitt och ditt: Etnologiska perspektiv på ägandets pers and women’s magazines. The book’s frank and kulturella betydelse. It has been a welcome oppor- subjective style is both provocative and refreshing, tunity to reflect on the topic of ownership, which is challenging the genre of the academic book as well so central to Western history and everyday life – as as the idea of theoretical transparency. By the first a right, a pleasure and a struggle. or second chapter, the reader of an academic book Salomonsson has selected contributions that sur- typically knows what values and worldviews inform vey the cultural meaning of ownership, or, as the Reviews 313

title would have it, what is mine and what is yours. what is yours. Ownership has become part of our This concept can of course be interpreted in various DNA, as Salomonsson writes. subjective ways and depends on elusive boundaries Following the introduction, Orvar Löfgren writes blurred by emotions and personal ideas. in the first chapter about the moral economy of the The book comprises ten contributions from eth- home, and how we learn as part of a household to nologists from the universities of Lund, Malmö and manage and negotiate what is mine or yours, and Gothenburg. The contributions encompass a good what has become ours, over the course of time. In selection of areas under this broad theme, but also particular, Löfgren highlights the tension between leave room for further studies for those who might what is mine and ours, and how difficult this tension be interested. The essays shed light on ownership in can be in light of the way our modern Western so- private homes, when eating family meals, donating ciety praises the individual. The chapter makes for organs, ownership of bodies, ownership in situations stimulating reading, pointing to existing Swedish of divorce, and what ownership means in the context and international literature on the topic, and show- of a garden, where plants and seeds disseminate casing how a cultural analysis of the topic could be naturally and do not respect the legal boundaries be- developed through the observations he has made tween properties. over a lifetime of research and cultural analysis. The study of ethnology can be said to be the The subsequent chapter by Katarina Saltzman study of both the routines and practices of everyday and Carina Sjöholm, about biosocial border negotia- life and the legal, societal premises for that everyday tions in suburbia, implicitly demonstrates how es- life. Keeping a balance between those two dimen- sential an awareness of one’s ownership is. The sions – often framed as the actions and the structures chapter is about how plants and gardening material- – in ethnological studies is not an easy task. In the ize and challenge ownership and the sense of what is book’s introductory chapter, Karin Salomonsson mine or yours. Many lives are lived in people’s front discusses the premises and context for understand- and back yards, and much time is spent in the gar- ing the cultural meaning of ownership. She points to den with neighbours around, but time is also spent substantial elements of ownership – owning and demarcating and negotiating ownership of both the wanting to own through small actions (personalizing people and the plants domesticating the garden area. a bicycle basket and the like). These practices and In chapter four, the theme is meals, and how shar- feelings of ownership are necessary in order to de- ing a meal together is a high priority for most sire to own from a cultural perspective. Salomons- people, despite a growing tendency towards both son also introduces the tendency not to own, but in- single-person households and an increasing indi- stead to share, including the phenomenon of the viduality in household activities. According to Hå- sharing economy, popularized in mainly urban con- kan Jönsson, sharing meals is still prioritized be- texts as a way to become involved in changing soci- cause it is seen as placing a high cultural value on etal norms and finding collective ways to consume the communion of family life. and own. She points to the American scholar Rus- Gabriella Nilsson changes the subject somewhat sell Belk’s idea that the old saying, “you are what in her chapter, focusing on the female body and the you own” is changing to “you are what you share”. question of who “owns” it, especially with respect to According to Belk, we are presently living in a so- the illegal use of power in cases of rape. ciety that is increasingly characterized by post- In chapter six, Kristofer Hansson looks at divorce ownership; however, many of the studies in the and the challenges involved as the individual comes book would seem to indicate that although lots of us to terms with a new extended “we” while negotiat- want to share with others, most are not ready to sup- ing their new distinct identity. port it entirely, and the cultural importance of own- Markus Idvall contributes a chapter on organ do- ership persists. This is very interesting to read and nation, looking at how body parts change ownership makes it clear how essential ownership and private and are installed in new identities; and, in the case economy are to our current capitalist society, and of a live donor, how the former identity of the self- how changes to societal norms have wider conse- less gift-giver may need to be accommodated as quences than merely the money involved, since they well. New medical solutions are forcing us to con- influence the moral standards of what is mine and front new situations and feelings about bodies and 314 Reviews

ownership. In the same vein is Åsa Alfberg’s study, associated with it are not presented in the book as in chapter eight, about elderly people’s use of and being universal. In point of fact, the book has a very access to medicine, and how their bodily rights are local scope, with ownership situated in explicitly diminished and changed when they are no longer Swedish contexts, which is both a strength and a deemed capable of handling themselves. weakness. The cases described might seem trivial, As a whole, these chapters all demonstrate how but the authors’ ways of putting their analyses from ownership is a transformative process, creating and pen to paper help the reader reflect more deeply re-creating meaning and values. about the emotions and cultural norms surrounding But the nature of sharing and the so-called “shar- ownership. ing economy” is what Karin Salomonsson writes More insights about the context and legal frame- about in her own chapter nine. The idea that you works for understanding ownership, both historical- don’t need to own in order to share seems to be what ly and in the present, could have informed the case will propel the future of the sharing economy, even studies better and expanded the cultural analysis in as it may also have the strongest impact on the posi- ways that might have stimulated further critical re- tive cultural meaning of ownership. flection. The final chapter, by Jonas Frykman, reminds us Having said this, Salomonsson’s edited book is an how inheritance often projects the emotions of those important ethnological contribution at a time when involved. He compares the situation of taking over a both the sharing economy and consumer society are property in the early 1900s and in the modern social expanding rapidly, and we are owning and experienc- democratic welfare state almost a century later. Here ing the feeling of ownership as never before. it should be noted that ownership and the feelings Marie Riegels Melchior, Copenhagen Ethnologia Scandinavica A JOURNAL FOR NORDIC ETHNOLOGY ISSN 0348-9698

Published by THE ROYAL GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS ACADEMY FOR SWEDISH FOLK CULTURE Instructions for submission of manu- Balle-Pedersen, Margaretha 1981: The Holy scripts to Ethnologia Scandinavica Danes. Ethnologia Scandinavica 11. Editorial office: Division of Ethnology, Department of Arts and Cultural Sciences Frykman, Jonas 1988: Dansbaneeländet. Ungdo- Lund University, Box 192, SE-221 00 Lund, Sweden. Articles should be sent by e-mail. Manuscripts men, populärkulturen och opinionen. Stock- should preferably be in English, although German www.kgaa.nu/tidskrifter.php holm: Natur och Kultur. may be accepted; language will be reviewed and Löfgren, Orvar 1992: Landskapet. In Den nordiske Editor: Lars-Eric Jönsson, Lund edited by the journal. Articles will undergo peer verden I, ed. Kirsten Hastrup. København: E-mail: [email protected] review. We reserve the right to revise and cut the Gyldendal. texts, and to ask authors to make revisions. Assistant editor: Margareta Tellenbach, Bjärred Articles should not be longer than about 20 Reviews of new dissertations and other books of E-mail: [email protected] pages of typewritten text with l.5 line spacing, broad general interest should be 4–5 A4 pages long Editorial board: Marie Riegels Melchior, Copenhagen, [email protected] approx. 50,000 characters. Please aim for with 1.5 line spacing, 8,000–10,000 characters. clear, concise language, remembering that you Birgitta Svensson, Stockholm, [email protected] A review should consist of a brief presentation are writing for a non-Scandinavian audience. of the content and method of the work, followed Pia Olsson, Helsinki, pia.olsson@helsinki.fi Quotations should not be too numerous nor too by a comparison with similar significant works, Tove Fjell, Bergen, [email protected] long. and ending with a personal evaluation. Valdimar Hafstein, Reykjavik, [email protected] Legends should be written on a separate Reviews of other ethnological and closely paper and clearly numbered. The illustrations related works should present the content and – photographs, drawings, and tables – should method and a personal appraisal. The length © 2020 The authors and The Royal Gustavus Adolphus Academy for be clearly numbered. Credits (archives, photog- should be 1-2 A4 pages with 1.5 line spacing, Swedish Folk Culture raphers, etc.) should be stated at the end of the approx. 5,000 characters. legend. Figures should be referred to by their Reviews written in English or German should number, not “the table below” or “the photograph Photo illustration from rural areas of Central Finland in 2020. be submitted by e-mail. above”. The placing of the figures in relation to When in doubt, check the format of previous Photo: Pilvi Hämeenaho. the text should be clearly marked. Figures should issues of Ethnologia Scandinavica. be submitted along with the manuscript. Notes should be avoided as far as possible. Ethnologia Scandinavica is printed with the support of the Nordic Publications The author will have an opportunity to proofread. References to authors or book titles should be Translations and proofs should be returned Committee for Humanist Periodicals. The journal publishes peer reviewed papers included in parentheses at the relevant point in to the editor as quickly as possible. The deadline in English and German based on all branches of material and social culture, and the text. Notes should only be used for clarifica- for manuscripts, at present l November, must be tion or discussion. in reviews, biographical notes and reports reflects ethnological contributions and observed. The list of References should include field and Authors of articles receive two copies of the activities in the Scandinavian countries. One volume of Ethnologia Scandinavica archive material as well as books referred to in journal. comprises approx 250 pages, published in one issue yearly. Subscription price for the text. Literature references should be presented as follows: volume 2020 is SEK 350:–. Postage is included. Orders should be sent to www.eddy.se

Ethnologia Scandinavica Ethnologia Scandinavica This is the 50th volume of Ethnologia Scandinavica. In this issue we find articles on various empirical topics, such as heritage, medical science, nationalism and borders, understood and analysed through concepts such as rituals, emotions, materiality, and of course everyday life and practices. The breadth and depth of ethnology and folkloristics is particularly visible in the reviews section, which is as rich and interesting as always.

2020 Ethnologia Scandinavica A JOURNAL FOR NORDIC ETHNOLOGY Printed in Sweden Textgruppen i Uppsala AB 2020 ISSN 0348-9698 VOLUME 50 • 2020