Description
Snorri Sturluson proposed that the Norse gods had mortal origin in the lands around the Black Sea. This narrative of the Nordic countries’ exceptional connection with the ancient world, particularly the Biblical and the Classical, has remained attractive both within and outside the North. Cultural texts that look for a Northern heritage outside the Nordic countries allow us to examine what constitutes the North as a space: they propose both an exceptional beginning for Nordic identity outside of the North, but also construct the North as a space of exceptional cultural development.We propose to create a map that visualises how a selection of travel literature, both real and imaginary, constructs an exceptional Northern heritage abroad through the theory of Odin’s migration from the east to the north. The digital map will be hosted on a Lund University server and constructed with the open-source program Leaflet. The map places our project in the field of digital humanities, specifically the application of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) to the study of literary texts. A digital map will allow us to build layers of travel, which can visualise how ideas of Nordic heritage develop over time.
Our project will provide a methodological essay for the ‘Nordic Exceptionalism’ collection. The essay will primarily be concerned with the construction of the map itself and methods of using GIS in literary studies. However, we also plan to exemplify how the map can be used by analysing two selected case studies in relation to Nordic exceptionalism and heritage. We see the map becoming a tool for future critical analyses about the construction of Nordic exceptionalism.
| Period | 2024 Jan 31 |
|---|---|
| Event title | Nordic Exceptionalism – Perspectives from the Outside: Second workshop |
| Event type | Workshop |
| Location | Lund, SwedenShow on map |
UKÄ subject classification
- Humanities