The emigration from Sweden as a borderline event

Description

More than one million Swedes emigrated between 1840 and 1920. The emigration can be defined as a borderline event, meaning a profound change for the nation as well as the people who left Sweden, not knowing if they would ever return. My questions concern the way in which the emigrants gave this borderline event some meaning. Which expectations did they express? How do they make sense of their new circumstances? What kind of narratives are expressed in the letters they wrote
to people at home? The questions are answered by an analysis of the Swedish emigrants’ letters according to the history philosopher Jörn Rüsen’s four different types of narratives: traditional, exemplary, critical and genetical.

Period	2024 May 11
Event title	Society for the Advancement of Scandinavian Studies 2024: Movement
Event type	Conference
Location	Seattle, United StatesShow on map
Degree of Recognition	International