- 04.02.2025
- Kategorie Literaturwissenschaft
„Grey People”? Eastern Europeans in Norwegian Literature. In Conversation with Karolina Drozdowska
von Nordlitt. Skandinavistische Literaturforschung im Gespräch
With Karolina Drozdowska, a Polish guest from NTNU in Trondheim, nordlitt widens its geographical range eastwards. Drawing on a wide array of contemporary and historical texts, from new crime novels to Romantic patriotic poems, we discuss continuities and changes in representations of Polish people and Eastern Europeans in Norwegian literature since the Enlightenment. We learn about the persistence of the Iron Curtain, the demonization of Russia, and we muse about the function of stereotypes and caricatures. We also explore ways of combining and working with large online corpora and close readings, while reflecting on the benefits of working in international, interdisciplinary networks. Dreams of new research projects take shape, accompanied by the reassuring advice: Be not afraid of academia.
Timestamps:
(00:00:00) Introducing Karolina Drozdowska
(00:04:37) Scandinavian Studies in Poland
(00:13:45) Representations of Eastern Europeans in Norwegian Literature
(00:19:18) Method: Building a Corpus
(00:24:45) Work Migration, Exoticization, and the Shadow of the Iron Curtain
(00:32:50) Caricatures and Postcolonial Readings
(00:47: 37) Shifting Images and Imaginations
(00:51:20) Otherness and “Grey People”
(00:58:05) Lithuania and Lithuanians in Norwegian Crime Fiction
(01:07:45) Research Networks
(01:13:00) The Research Project ImagiNation
(01:18:12) Poland in 19th Century Scandinavian Literature
(01:27:26) Comparisons: Representations of Ukrainians and Jewish Migration
(01:34:37) Connecting Research and Translation Work
(01:39:44) Advice to Student Self
Literature:
Drozdowska, Karolina: “A stereotype that deconstructs itself. Representations of Danes and Denmark in Joanna Chmielewska’s crime novels Liebhaberna”. In: Folia Scandinavia, Vol. 34, 2023, pp. 31-44.
Drozdowska, Karolina: “The Others from Across the Sea — Eastern Europeans and Eastern Europe in Modern Norwegian Literature”. In: Archiwum Emigracji,Vol. 28, 2021, pp. 292-305.
Drozdowska, Karolina: “‘Under the stones Poland did moan’. Imagining Poland’s political struggle in Norwegian Poetry 1814-1905.” (Submitted for publication to Nordeuropaforum)
Horst, Jørn Lier: Vinterstengt. Oslo: Gyldendal 2012.
Ragde, Anne Birkefeldt: Liebhaberna. Oslo: Forlaget Oktober 2017. (Part 5 in the Berlinpoplene-serie)
Further Reading:
Bringsværd, Tor Åge: La oss velte hele byen. Oslo: Cappelen Damm 2024.
Drozdowska, Karolina: ”’Ferdig, ja, men ikke ferdig’. Oversettelse av Lars Myttings Hekne-trilogi som operasjon på en levende organisme.” (To be published in Nordisk tidsskrift for oversettelses- og tolkeforskning)
Christensen, Lars Saabye. Modellen. Oslo: Cappelen 2015.
Czapliński, Przemysław: Poruszona mapa. Wyobraźnia geograficzno-kulturowa polskiej literatury przełomu XX i XXI wieku. Kraków: Wydawnictwo Literackie 2016.
Enger, Cecilie: Ett minutts stillhet. Oslo: Gyldendal 2023.
Hofstad Evjemo, Eivind: Ingens herre. Oslo: Cappelen Damm 2024.
Goldschmidt, Meïr Aron: En Jøde. København: Gyldendal 1927 [1845].
Kalmar, Ivan: White but Not Quite: Central Europe’s Illiberal Revolt. Bristol: Bristol University Press 2022.
Klungland, Ida Therese: Jeg angrer ikke på noe. Bergen: Vigmostad Bjørke 2024.
Kuldkepp, Mart: Western Orientalism Targeting Eastern Europe: An Emerging Research Programme. In: Central European journal of international & security studies, Vol.17 (No. 4), 2023, pp. 64–80.
Berlinpoplene-serie:
Ragde, Anne Birkefeldt: Berlinerpoplene. Oslo: Forlaget Oktober 2004.
Ragde, Anne Birkefeldt: Eremittkrepsene. Oslo: Forlaget Oktober 2005.
Ragde, Anne Birkefeldt: Ligge i grønne enger. Oslo: Forlaget Oktober 2007.
Ragde, Anne Birkefeldt: Alltid tilgivelse. Oslo: Forlaget Oktober 2016.
Ragde, Anne Birkefeldt: Datteren. Oslo: Forlaget Oktober 2019.
Said, Edward: Orientalism. New York: Random House 1979.
Sapieżyńska, Ewa: Jeg er ikke polakken din. Oslo: Forlaget Manifest AS 2022.
Sivertson, Sylvester: Udvalgte Digte. Christiania: Trykt hos Jac. Chr. Abelsted 1848, pp. 11–14. (Polonia)
Solstad, Dag. Ellevte roman. Oslo: Forlaget Oktober 1992.
Sveen, Gard. Blod i dans. Bergen: Vigmostad & Bjørke 2016.
Welhaven, Johan Sebastian: Digte. Christiania: I Commisjon hos Johan Dahl 1839, pp. 185–188. (Republikanerne)
Wergeland, Henrik: Digte. Første Ring. Christiania: Trykt og forlagt af Jacob Lehmanns Enke 1829, pp. 104–119. (Napoleon)
Wolff, Larry: Inventing Eastern Europe: The map of civilization on the mind of the Enlightenment. Stanford: Stanford University Press 1994.
Research Networks and Research Projects:
Baltic Peripeties: Narratives of Reformations, Revolutions and Catastrophes
ImagiNation: Mapping the imagined geographies of Norwegian Literature from 1814–1905