SCAND 511 A: Books in Scandinavian Studies

Course Description:

Remembering fascism in Nordic literature

With the emergence of 21^st-century autocratic rulers along side right-wing and populist movements in Europe and the Americas, historians and cultural critics have recently warned of the lessons of the 20^th-century, particularly those of the Second World War and the Holocaust. One such example is Timothy Snyder's book, On Tyranny – Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century (2017) - check out the graphic version!  Presently, it seems that we are living in an era that might suggest historical parallels to the infamous dictatorships, military conflicts and humanitarian crimes of the 20^th century.   In this seminar, I propose we explore how fascism is remembered or represented in Nordic literature, ie how the experience of Nazi occupation and German (as well as Soviet) military aggressions are constructed in wartime, postwar and recent literary and cultural productions.  Thus, the seminar seeks to explore an "archive" (literature related to World War II in Nordic region)  within the broader theoretical context of cultural memory studies and to place it in relation to current scholarship and teaching of “the canon" in Scandinavian Studies.

As the seminar focuses on “Books,” we will focus on literary and textual productions.  As the course is a graduate seminar in the interdisciplinary field of Scandinavian Studies, it is expected that students will read the original texts in modern Scandinavian languages (Danish, Norwegian and Swedish), and that Finnish and modern Icelandic texts will be read in translation (unless these are the student’s target languages).

The geographic and historical context for the selected literary productions is the Nordic region during the Second World War (1939 - 1945) as well as postwar or contemporary “remembering” of this period. Although it might seem that the northern periphery of Europe fell outside the path of the European theater of war, the Nordic region was in fact clenched between two belligerent powers: the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany and it also experienced Allied interventions.  While Finland resisted Soviet aggression from the East, Denmark and Norway suffered military occupations by Germany.  Sandwiched in between two warring powers, Sweden avoided occupation by an armed neutrality (and concessions to the Axis powers) while also serving as a refugee haven for persecuted peoples. The Sápmi region was profoundly affected by the war, particularly by the German occupation of Norway and the wars in Finland that caused the displacement of many Sámi peoples and destruction of homelands. In the North Atlantic, Iceland and the Faeroe Islands were occupied by the Western Allies (the UK and USA) and Greenland fell under the US strategic sphere of interest.   

In order to contextualize literary publications, we will examine the distinct fates of the Nordic nations and territories.  The differing circumstances of the five Nordic nations are laid out by contemporary historians in the opening chapters of Nordic War Stories (posted on Canvas as eBook), useful context for studying literary fiction and memoirs that depict this pivotal historical era.  We will investigate how texts represent the war experience and whether they are a “remembering of fascism.”  Several of the selected literary texts are written by canonical writers of the war era, such as Karen Blixen [Isak Dinesen]; Tove Ditlevsen, Pär Lagerkvist, Väinö Linna, Knut Hamsun and Sigrid Undset.   We will also read Sjón’s recent book, Red Milk and discuss how distinct national memories shape the representations of WWII experience in recent 21st-century literature. In order to lay a some critical foundation, we will read a few influential pieces in cultural theory and criticism, for example short selections by Aleida Assmann, Hannah Arendt, Marianne Hirsch, Michael Rothberg, and Timothy Snyder and put these readings into conversation with the literary texts. In this manner, the seminar emphasizes the methods and practices of scholarly inquiry and some of the current predominant critical approaches to literary and cultural studies. 

Required reading:  Selected texts are posted on CANVAS page, under MODULES, for each weekly seminar meeting.  Students read in advance and are prepared to discuss the texts in the seminar. 

BOOKS required (available at U-Bookstore and in UW libraries).  

1. Knut Hamsun, Paa gjengrodde stier [1948], translated by Sverre Lyngstad as On Overgrown Paths.
2. Väinö Linna, Unknown Soldiers [1954], translated by Liesl Yamaguchi. Penguin Modern Classics, 2015.  (ISBN: 978-0-141-39365-0)
3. Pär Lagerkvist, Dvärgen [1944] translated by Alexandra Dick as The Dwarf (1945).
4. Sjón, Korngult hár, grá augu [2019], translated by Victoria Cribb as Red Milk. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2021.

eBook (on Canvas or download via UW libraries): Marianne Stecher-Hansen, ed. Nordic War Stories:  World War II as History, Fiction, Media and Memory. Berghahn Books, 2021 (ISBN 978-1-78920-962-4).

 Student Learning Objectives:

1. Gain additional familiarity with relevant approaches in critical theory, that foreground literary and cultural studies. Identify current approaches and methods in Scandinavian Studies. 
2. Build intellectual community by gaining greater fluency in the “canon” of Scandinavian literary and cultural studies. Develop a greater familiarity with recent and current scholarship in Scandinavian Studies. 
3. Conceptualize and complete a scholarly research paper. This principle assignment will result in at least one of the following accomplishments by the end of the quarter:

• Produce an original 10-15 page “seminar paper” (which might later form a part of a chapter in the Master’s thesis or PhD dissertation).
• Submit a scholarly article for consideration by Scandinavian Studies (or another peer-reviewed journal), adhering to the journal’s submission guidelines.
• Complete a 20 – 30 page PhD dissertation chapter (as delineated in the PhC student’s dissertation prospectus)

Assignments and evaluation (papers are submitted on CANVAS on dates indicated in “Assignments”; each assignment will be “peer-reviewed” by the professor and two peers:

• “Abstract” (250-word] with annotated bibliography                      (20%)
• 2 short, critical response papers (ca. 500 words each)                  (20%)
• Seminar participation (including serving as “discussant”)              (10%)
• Final seminar research paper (10 – 15 pages)                                 (50%)

Discussant:  Each student volunteers to serve as the discussion leader for at least (part of) one of weekly seminars.  This role involves:  a) preparing 2 – 3 key questions in advance about the readings that will facilitate our discussion b) proposing (at start of quarter) one critical reading/scholarly article that will be assigned reading for that seminar.

Research - Getting Started:  Please familiarize yourself with the Scandinavian Studies research guide: https://guides.lib.uw.edu/research/scandinavianLinks to an external site.. and the research guide for SCAND 445 may also be helpful: http://guides.lib.uw.edu/research/scand445.  Set up an appointment with our Nordic Collections Specialist, Dan Mandeville https://cal.lib.uw.edu/appointments/dcman or (dcman@uw.edu), asap.

Abstract and annotated Bibliography: Drawing on research completed for the class, you should select 6 – 8  relevant articles or book chapters, and write a brief (1 – 3 sentences) summary or “annotation” of each.  You should identify a problem or question that is addressed in the article or book chapter.

Seminar Paper: Students submit an original research or seminar paper (at least 10 to 15 pages of continuous, double-spaced narrative, 12-point font, 1” margins ) consisting of:

• Synopsis of any previous or relevant scholarship on specific topic.
• Explication of your theoretical approach or methodology.
• Clear formulation of your research question and “thesis” (ie your claim)
• Close reading and analysis of supporting textual evidence (in original languages)
• Updated bibliography of “works cited” (ie your references without annotations).

Academic Style and format: Citations and references should follow The Chicago Manual of Style, recent edition, using the in-text Author-Date citation style!  Please see “Citation Style Guides & Tools” on UW Libraries page here: https://guides.lib.uw.edu/research/citations/chicago-adLinks to an external site.

Journal Submissions (Optional): Note that the journal of Scandinavian Studies, now published by University of Wisconsin Press, employs the Chicago style:  “Manuscripts should be submitted in Microsoft Word only.  The main text should be in Times New Roman 12 point.  Only those papers based on material examined in the original language will be considered.  Translations should be subjoined to quotations from the Scandinavian languages.”  Recommended word-length: 8,000 – 10,000 words.

Graduate study in Humanities: Reference works (available UW libraries):

• Parker, Robert Dale. 2020. How to Interpret Literature : Critical Theory for Literary and Cultural Studies. Fourth edition. New York: Oxford University Press.
• Semenza, Gregory Colón. 2010. Graduate Study for the 21^st Century: How to Build an Academic Career in the Humanities. Palgave MacMillan. ISBN: 978-0-230-10033-6

Preliminary Reading and Seminar schedule: Spring 2024

April 3: Introduction:  How does media and cultural memory shape our understanding of the past generally and World War II specifically? How do historians ‘narrate’ the plot of the war or wars in the Nordic region? How is fascism in the Nordic region represented?  We might begin by exploring the relationship between historiography and literary texts and by surveying the historical period and the geo-political region.  We will consider briefly the rise of fascism in Europe and the ‘race’ for domination of the Nordic and Baltic regions by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union.

READ:  Stecher-Hansen, “Introduction” to Nordic War Stories, 1 – 15. (Canvas and eBook)

READ: Richard Overy, “Scandinavia in the Second World War,” in Hitler’s Scandinavian Legacy, 13 - 32 (Canvas)

Read: Aleida Assmann, “Canon and Archive,” 97 – 107. (Canvas)

April 10:  Witnessing – Enemy Representations and Propaganda.  We will begin with two examples of Scandinavian wartime essayistic journalism by two internationally recognized writers, Karen Blixen and Sigrid Undset.  Both texts are written early in the war (1940/42; one observes the German National Socialists in wartime Berlin from a position of 'neutrality', the other may be read as a work of allied propaganda depicting the invasion of Norway by the German Army.

READ:  Sigrid Undset, “Norway, Spring 1940” from Tilbake til Fremtiden, published as Return to the Future (1942), chapters 1 - 2, pp. 7 – 84.

Read: Christine Hamm, Chpt. 8: “Sigrid Undset’s Problematic Propaganda,” in Nordic War Stories (eBook).

READ: Karen Blixen/Isak Dinesen: ”Breve fra et Land i Krig” (1948), translated as ”Letters from a Land at War” and abridged as "Half Moon and Swastika."

Read: Stecher-Hansen: Chpt. 7: “Isak Dinesen in Hitler’s Berlin” in Nordic War Stories.

Optional WATCH: “Propaganda” (Canvas)

April 17: Norway, Allied and Occupied; the unending case of Knut Hamsum: We will explore the position of Norway as both allied and occupied during World War II.  We will consider wide-spread civilian and military resistance to the Nazi occupiers as well as the reality of collaboration and homegrown Norwegian Nazis (including Quisling’s NS party;  Waffen-SS volunteers).  We will focus on the case against writer Knut Hamsun and his On overgrown paths (1949), a postwar apologia that offers an opportunity to study how a Nazi-collaborator and sympathizer staged his own ‘defense’ and negotiated his literary legacy.

Read: Tom Kristiansen, “The Norwegian War Experience: Occupied and Allied,” from Nordic War Stories (eBook)

READ: Knut Hamsun, Paa gengrodde stier [1949], translated as On overgrown paths

Read: Bjarte Bruland and Mats Tangestuen, “The Norwegian Holocaust,” Scandinavian Journal of History, pp. 587-598. (Canvas)

Optional motion pictures:  Hamsun (1995) as well as Max Manus, The King’s Choice, and 12^th Man, etc.

April 24:  Remembering Denmark's Occupation    This week we will investigate how the occupation is depicted in literary works and memoirs published in Denmark. In light of the Danish government’s 3-year “policy of negotiation/cooperation” (1940-43), we will consider how resistance fighters, collaborators, and German soldiers are represented in literary texts and cultural memory.  There are also some great films – but we’re focusing on books!

Read: Sofie Lene Bak, “Danish Historical Narratives of the Occupation” in Nordic War Stories (eBook).

READ: Tove Ditlevsen, “Appelsiner,” (1948) translated as “Oranges," and “Nogle maa kunne dø” (1944; untranslated) and “Tyske soldater” (1945; poem, untranslated).

Review: Tove Ditlevsen, Gift – part I  (1971), translated as Dependency (2019).

READ: H.C. Branner, “Angst” (1944/1947), translated as Anguish (1980) (eBook on Canvas)

Optional motion pictures: Flame and Citron (2008), Land of Mine (2015), April 9^th (2015), etc.

May1:    Unknown Soldiers and the Battle over Finnish Cultural Memory of World War II: We’ll focus on Finland in WWII, a period discussed as three “separate wars”: the Winter War of 1939—1940 (between the Soviet Union and Finland), the “Continuation War of 1941-44” (when Finland was a ‘co-belligerent’ of Germany), and the Lapland War, 1944-45 (when Finland drove out the Germans).  Reading selected chapters of Linna’s canonical war novel, Unknown Soldiers, set in the Continuation War, we consider how this collective novel depicts the Finnish war experience and the role it plays in the battle over Finnish cultural memory of WWII.

Read: Juhana Auneslouoma, Chpt. 1: “Finland in WWII: Tragedy, Survival and Good Wars," Nordic War Stories.

READ: Linna, Unknown Soldiers (Chapters 1 – 2), pp. 1 – 69; (Chapters 12 – 16), pp. 334 – 466.

Read: Julia Pajunen, Chpt. “The Battle over Finnish Cultural Memory of War,” in Nordic War Stories (eBook).

Optional motion pictures: The Unknown Soldier (adaptations 1955; 1985; 2017)

May 8: Erasure from national cultural memory? –Sámi in WW II:  This week (which is SASS conference week) we focus on overlooked areas in the study of cultural memory of WWII, especially the Sapmi region of Scandinavia  (northern Finland, Norway and Sweden), and the impact of World War II (particularly Occupied Norway and the Lapland War on Sámi peoples).  Additionally, one might consider (if there were time) territories (formerly of the Danish realm) in the North Atlantic (Faeroe Islands and Greenland), especially the displacement of Greenlandic Inuit by the construction of the US naval bases.

READ: TBA (excerpt of memoir about displacement)

Read: Lehtola, Veli-Pekka. “Second World War as a Trigger for Transcultural Changes among Sámi People in Finland.” Acta Borealia, 32: 2 (2015): 125–147; Lehtola, Veli-Pekka. “‘The Soul Should Have Been Brought along’: The Settlement of Skolt Sami to Inari in 1945-1949.” Journal of Northern Studies, 12: 1 (Jan. 2018): 53–72.

Read: Seitsonen, Oula, and Koskinen-Koivisto, Eerika. “'Where the F... Is Vuotso?': Heritage of Second World War Forced Movement and Destruction in a Sámi Reindeer Herding Community in Finnish Lapland.” International Journal of Heritage Studies, 24:4 (2018): 421–441.

May 15: Neutral Sweden as bystander/rescuer nation -  Lagerkvist monumental masterpiece: we consider Sweden’s armed neutrality during WWII, a position that came under scrutiny in the postwar decades and which still engenders controversy.  Mainly, we will read and discuss Lagerkvist’s unforgettable masterpiece, an allegorical representation of the circumstances that breed the growth of fascism (or Nazism) at certain moments of history.  Lagerkvist’s powerful allegory suggests that an inner “dwarf” potentially resides inside us all.

READ: Pär Lagerkvist, Dvärgen (1944), translated as The Dwarf (1945)

Read:  John Gilmour, “Sweden’s Ambiguous War,” in Nordic War Stories (eBook)

May 22: Lagerkvist monumental masterpiece - part II: we'll continue discussing Lagerkvist’s unforgettable masterpiece.   The second half.   It is a dense novel and lots to analyze and interpret.

READ: Pär Lagerkvist, Dvärgen (1944), translated as The Dwarf (1945)

May 29:  Iceland’s Beloved War and Sjón remembering the family Nazi.  At last we move from the canonical to contemporary literature.  We will contextualize Iceland’s experience of WWII as the “beloved war,” a period during which Iceland, occupied by British and US military forces, experienced economic growth and modernization.  Sjón's recent novel uncovers a little known Icelandic neo-Nazi group of the postwar decades and points to the enduring, disturbing allure of Nazi ideology in our immediate present.

Read: Guðmundur Hálfdanarson, Chpt. 4: “The Icelandic National Narrative and World War II,” in Nordic War Stories (eBook)

READ:  Sjón, Korngult hár, grá augu (2019), translated as Red Milk (2021).

June 5, 1:30 – 4:30pm: “Class conference” – Presentation of research projects.

Religious Accommodations Policy: Washington state law requires that UW develop a policy for accommodation of student absences or significant hardship due to reasons of faith or conscience, or for organized religious activities. The UW’s policy, including more information about how to request an accommodation, is available at Religious Accommodations Policy (https://registrar.washington.edu/staffandfaculty/religious-accommodations-policy/) (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.. Accommodations must be requested within the first two weeks of this course using the Religious Accommodations Request form (https://registrar.washington.edu/students/religious-accommodations-request/) (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site..”