Nordic People Research Articles

Pre-modernist Elements in the Origin of Basque and Catalonian Nationalism

Pre-modernist Elements in the Origin of Basque and Catalonian Nationalism Mikel Lorenzo-Arza The removal of poet Antonio de Trueba's (1819–1889) mortal remains from Mallona Cemetery and their reburial at San Vicente Church was quite the occasion in 1920s Bilbao. The impact of the event was due to Trueba's importance in the history of the city, but no less to the Modernist swan sculpted by Mariano Benlliure (1819–1889) to adorn the new altar tomb (Díez Patón 93–108). Even after the closing ceremonies at Arriaga Theatre, it was the swan that lived on in the collective memory, as a subtle artistic reference to Antonio de Trueba's desire to embellish his fellow citizens' lives, much as the Pre-Raphaelite painters wished to do for their Victorian counterparts. Bilbao's industrialists shared the Victorians' economically liberal and socially conservative roots, as well as the desire to consolidate their "leisure class" status, to use Thomas Veblen's term for the founders of the mining emporia built in the wake of the Second Industrial Revolution (1851–1890) (10). In its emulation of the aristocracy (25), Bilbao's industrial bourgeoisie needed to refine its economic power by acquiring artistic assets (25). Writer Vicente Arana (1848–1890), cousin to Sabino Arana Goiri (1865–1903), and Antonio de Trueba's foremost disciple, perceived their need for ennoblement. He depicted the pantheon of Basque regional literary heroes as a chivalrous world where industrialists could claim kinship with the parientes mayores and their traditions.1 He afforded them a repertoire of literary models through which to establish themselves as a distinct group during the Restoration (1876–1917). This article dissects Vicente Arana's broader project by analyzing his two Pre-Raphaelite novels, Jaun Zuría o el caudillo blanco (1887) and Leyendas del Norte [End Page 113] (1890), and their impact on the development of early Basque nationalism (1892–1900) (Juaristi, Bucle 12-389).2 The movement's founder, Sabino Arana, published Bizkaya por la independencia (1892) in a pre-Modernist atmosphere that flattered his initial conjectures about the "Nordic" ancestry of the Basque people and their need to extricate themselves from their Latin bondage.3 We suggest that Vicente Arana's novels played a paradoxical role in the aesthetic casting of the "Basque race" in that environment. On the one hand, the effeminate characters in Jaun Zuría o el caudillo blanco prompted Sabino Arana to call on Basques to protect their manliness and Nordic roots from Spanish "cripples;" and on the other hand, the Vikings in Leyendas del Norte, a compilation of a series of Icelander sagas, imbued the Nordic people, qua social engineering ideal, with a mythical dimension fueled by [End Page 114] Sabino Arana's nationalism. The message was that Basques should proceed with caution in their contact with the Spaniards immigrating to their country. The texts we will be dealing with come from these decades, years characterized by a series of changes that were to have a key impact on the culture medium where Modernism developed: industrialization, positivism and Marxism led to a bourgeois neo-idealism that sought to ward off shabbiness by enshrining aesthetic formulations from the past. Vicente Arana's novels heralded part of the Modernist desire to avoid vulgarity in everyday life. Sabino Arana's Basque nationalism, in turn, shared with Modernism the exaltation of indigenous features, charting a backward course to times long gone to reinstate a "paradise" eclipsed by the present. In Modernism, the desire to return to a legendary and/or historic past alternated with a kind of populism whose roots sank deep into the timelessness of the nation, an idea we could identify with the notion of intra-history put forward by Miguel de Unamuno in En torno al casticismo (1895). This article also explores the interrelationship between Catalonian nationalism and this same intellectual environment, which preluded what Juan Ramón Jiménez (1881–1958) and José Nogales (1860–1908) christened "Modernism," and encouraged Basque and Catalonian nationalism to institute their racial projects. Víctor Balaguer's (1824–1901) Cuentos de mi tierra (1865), with its depiction of a vigorous, expanding Catalonian race, was linked to the later...

Carcass characteristics of Nordic native cattle breeds

Native livestock breeds are part of the history of the Nordic people and comprise a resource for future food production. In this study, net gain and carcass characteristics of two Danish, three Finnish, one Icelandic, six Norwegian and five Swedish native cattle breeds were retrieved and compared to commercial breeds: two beef breeds and two dairy breeds. Breed data were collected from national databases and sorted into six animal categories: young bull, bull, steer, heifer, young cow and cow, for which means and standard deviations were calculated within each country. The native breeds ranged from small-sized milking type breeds with low net gain, carcass weights and EUROP classification to larger multipurpose breeds with high net gains, carcass weights and EUROP classification. All Finnish and most of the Norwegian and Swedish native breeds had lower net gain and carcass weight than the dairy breeds in the same category and country, but with similar carcass conformation and fatness scores. The two Danish native breeds had higher net gain, carcass weight and conformation class than the reference dairy breed, but lower than the reference beef breeds. The net gain and carcass traits of the Icelandic native breed were similar to the smallest-sized native breeds from the other countries. The carcass traits of the native breeds indicate that they have comparative advantages in an extensive production system based on forage and marginal grasslands. They may also succeed better in the value-added markets than in mainstream beef production.

Ecology, Anti-Christianity, and the Far Right

Ecology, Anti-Christianity, and the Far Right

A systems integral approach in exploring creative innovation in culinary research: the example of seaweed in the context of the new nordic cuisine

Creativity and innovation in culinary research have gained steady academic interest over the last decade. The scholastic interest in creative innovation ranges from its artistic value to culinary creations, gastronomic experiences, and food science and technology. Creative innovation is important for food enterprises to succeed in a highly competitive market. In the context of the New Nordic Cuisine, entrepreneurs and chefs are constantly challenged to bring something new to the dining table. In this context, the processes of creative innovation remain under researched, particularly in the use of seaweed. As such, using the example of seaweed, a relatively new food in the New Nordic Cuisine, the objective of this corpus based study was to explore creative innovation from a systems integral approach, in order to uncover salient themes that contribute the processes of creative innovation in culinary research, and bringing new foods to market. For a corpus driven study, we built a small corpora of interviews with chefs, and food entrepreneurs. We enquired after what inspired and motivated them when faced with a challenge of bringing a relatively new food to market, or in creating new dishes with new available food technologies. The results suggested that food technology plays a critical role in creative innovation, and the resulting new dishes that can be presented to customers. They also suggested that seaweed in the New Nordic Cuisine is an emerging food concept, and that it is embedded in a social and cultural history and familiarity of the Nordic people.

Lessons from a Study of Diversity and Equality in Legal Education.

The article summarises and elaborates a norm-critical and intersectional study of the legal education in Gothenburg, and reflects on the broader pedagogical project of discussing the study among the faculty. A norm-critical perspective seeks to critically examine what is taken for granted and perceived as normal, and subsequently what is perceived as exceptions. An intersectional perspective acknowledges power structures as complex social structures with diverse origins. Together they provide a useful tool for analysing how different social positions are represented in the assignments of the legal education. The study showed, among other things, that men, Nordic people, adults and people from middle and upper class were overrepresented compared to the Swedish society as a whole. The study resulted in important discussions at the Department of Law in Gothenburg on whether representation matters, and if so what should be done. The article seeks to present the study itself and the theoretical thinking behind the study, and to discuss possible ways of dealing with its results.

An Anatomy of the Blood Eagle: The Practicalities of Viking Torture

The infamous blood eagle ritual has long been controversial: did Viking Age Nordic people really torture one another to death by severing their ribs from their spine and removing their lungs, or is it all a misunderstanding of some complicated poetry? Previous scholarship on the topic has tended to focus on the details and reliability of extant medieval descriptions of the blood eagle, arguing for or against the ritual’s historicity. What has not yet been considered are the anatomical and sociocultural limitations within which any Viking Age blood eagle would have had to have been performed. In this article, we analyze medieval descriptions of the ritual with modern anatomical knowledge, and contextualize these accounts with up-to-date archaeological and historical scholarship concerning elite culture and the ritualized peri- and post-mortem mutilation of the human body in the Viking Age. We argue that even the fullest form of the blood eagle outlined in our textual sources would have been possible, though difficult, to perform, but would have resulted in the victim’s death early in proceedings. Given the context of the ritual depicted in medieval discourse, we also argue that any historical blood eagle would have existed as part of a wider continuum of cultural praxis, and been employed to secure the social status of the ritual’s commissioner following the earlier “bad death” of a male relative at the hands of the ritual’s victim.

Poles in Seattle 1890–2020: Continuity and Change

The text presents the preliminary results of the ongoing research on the Polish American community in Seattle, Washington. So far overlooked by the historians of the Polish American experience, the local group differs significantly from other centers of the Polish diaspora in the US. Poles settled in the Pacific Northwest from the late nineteenth century onward, and they developed in the city and around it a strong community that is internally diversified. In Seattle they were confronted with German, Irish, and Jewish groups, as was the case in other American cities, but also with other immigrants, for example with numerous Asians, Nordic people, Croatians, and Bulgarians. Contrary to the patterns of the Polish American community building, there has never been a Polish neighborhood in the city, and the Polish Roman Catholic parish was founded in Seattle as late as 1989. In fact, the parish never gained a crucial importance in the local ethnic community, and presently, as it used to be in the past, the immigrant life is organized around the Polish Home that was launched by the pioneer immigrants in 1918/1920. Many descendants of the earlier immigrant generations participate in the events initiated in Seattle by Poles who arrived in the last decades, and several recent immigrants became involved in the Polish Home Association. Moreover, web platforms – new forms of ethnic connection that developed in the last decades, contribute to the increase of the bonding social capital within the Polish group.

Comprehending socio-relational factors of mental wellbeing in the oldest old within Nordic and Mediterranean countries

AbstractSocio-relational aspects are essential for mental wellbeing (MWB), especially in the oldest old age. Our study aims to explore the socio-relational aspects related to MWB in accordance with the experiences of the oldest old of four European countries; and to examine how these differ between Mediterranean and Nordic people. A total of 117 participants aged 80+ years old were recruited, and 23 focus groups were performed. Qualitative content analysis identified five main themes. Family seemed to be the most important driver of the MWB of the oldest old, followed by relationships with close friends. Participants felt better when they had a sense of being needed, cared for, and connected. Loneliness and isolation negatively affected MWB, although solitude was appreciated. Differences appeared between Mediterranean and Nordic regions. Initiatives to promote positive interactions with family and friends, as well as social activities within the community, may contribute to strengthening MWB in the oldest old.

Review Essay: “Free Radical: Music, Violence and Radicalism”

Review Essay: “Free Radical: Music, Violence and Radicalism”

The Labor Movement As an Educational Movement: A Conceptual History of Sivistys Within the Finnish Workers’ Educational Association 1920s–1960s

AbstractEducation and popular adult education have been central in the development of Nordic societies, and as such, emphasis on education has also been an essential component of the Nordic labor movements. The article focuses on the conceptual history of sivistys (Bildung), a key concept and a characteristic element of the Finnish workers’ educational movement through the Finnish Workers’ Educational Association during its era of political education from the 1920s until the 1960s. Workers’ education took the concept sivistys from 19th century projects for people’s education, and thus tied workers’ education tightly to the broader field of Nordic popular adult education. In fact, the Finnish workers’ educational movement received more influence from Nordic people’s education than international socialist theories and programs for workers’ education – of which the use of the concept sivistys is a clear example.

Putting the Elder Futhark Into a Young Spiritualism: A Semantic Analysis of an Odinist Divination Guidebook

The Nordic people embodied the Elder Futhark runes—the oldest-known form of the Germanic writing system—with esotericism (knowledge available only to a small group of people), seeing them as a direct line of communication to divinity. This mystical significance has been reintroduced to neopagan groups through guidebooks on runecasting, a divinatory practice in which the runes are interpreted negatively or positively depending on how they land. This analysis checks the interpretations of a popular Odinist writer against secular scholarship, evaluating for both semantic authenticity in the Germanic tradition and runic symbolism within Odinism—a modern religious sect based on pre-Christian roots in Northern Europe. All 24 runes are separated into three groups of eight depending on their relationship to the Old English and Old Norwegian rune poems, both of which are involved in the reconstruction of runic etymology. The findings indicate a range of ideological terminologies that either stem from intellectual obscurity or are anachronistic when compared to Germanic traditions. This illustrates a spiritual appropriation of the runic symbols rather than a return to pre-Christian concepts, thus disqualifying the text as a source of scholarship. Furthermore, the findings also define guidebooks as works of speculative literature—specifically, a revitalization of Gothic themes—within groups who have no sacred text. Further research should examine how other Odinist publications and practices create semantic derivations for religious purposes.

Alterity and Occidentalism in Fourteenth-Century Icelandic Texts: Narratives of Travel, Conversion, and Dehumanization

This article analyses five fourteenth-century Old Norse travel narratives in light of the learned geographical tradition of medieval Iceland. Three of the narratives, Þorvalds þáttr víðfǫrla, Eiríks saga víðfǫrla, and Yngvars saga víðfǫrla, focus on the travels of Nordic people to eastern Europe and Asia; while the latter two, Eiríks saga rauða and Grœnlendinga saga, tell of travels to the continent later named North America. While the travels to the East deal with pilgrimage and the search for the terrestrial Paradise in the service of individual salvation and missionary activities in Scandinavia and Iceland more specifically, the travels to the West are focused on the violent conquest and Christianization of newfound peripheral areas and their peoples. What these narratives have in common, and owe to the learned (Plinian) tradition, is their dehumanized view of foreign and strange people: the giants and monsters of the East, and the skrælingar (indigenous peoples) and einfœtingar (sciopods) of the West. In these sagas travels to the East, while dangerous, introduce heroes to courtly manners, encyclopedic knowledge, and salvation; whereas travels to the West lead to mayhem and death and all attempts at settlement there fail miserably, making Greenland the westernmost outpost of Christianity in the world. This article aims to show how this learned tradition was adapted for use in saga literature to contrast the monstrous and heathen periphery with the more central and piously Christian Iceland.

The "cancer-cold" hypothesis and possible extensions for the Nordic populations.

Cancer incidence is inexplicably high in cold countries. This has been revealed by recent genetic and epidemiological studies. These studies used data from the GLOBOCAN-2012 database, for 186 populations and for a variety of cancer types. Cancer incidence in Nordic people is particularly high for the frequent cancer forms, like breast, prostate and colon cancer. A relationship of cancer with cold is suspected since Inuit and Alaska Indians that live in even more extreme low temperatures have the higher cancer rates in the world. In this article, possible reasons for this phenomenon are discussed. These explanations are related with: evolutionary adaptation to extreme cold, the genetic background of Nordic people, the experimentally proven fast growth and metastasis of tumors at low temperatures, high concentration of certain air pollutants at cold environments, low levels of serum Vitamin D, overdiagnosis by the medical doctors and high quality of the health system in Nordic countries. Lifestyle parameters are not discussed in detail, although these may be equally crucial for cancer risk in cold countries. In conclusion, more studies are needed to elucidate the real causes of this epidemiological pattern.

Digital curation after digital extraction for data sharing

Digital curation after digital extraction for data sharing

Quality of Life in People with Young-Onset Alzheimer’s Dementia and Frontotemporal Dementia

Aims: The aims of this study were to compare quality of life (QOL) in people with young-onset Alzheimer’s (AD) and frontotemporal (FTD) dementia, explore variables associated with QOL, and compare QOL in young-onset dementia (YOD) and late-onset dementia (LOD). Methods: Cross-sectional data from a Nordic multicenter study of 50 community-dwelling participants with AD and 38 with FTD were included. A comparison group consisted of 100 people with LOD. QOL was measured using self-reported Euro-QOL 5-Dimension and the proxy version of Quality of Life in Alzheimer’s Disease (QOL-AD) questionnaire. Neuropsychiatric symptoms and needs were assessed using the Cornell Scale for Depression in Dementia (CSDD), Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI), and Camberwell Assessment of Needs in the Elderly. Multiple linear regression and multilevel modeling was used to determine variables associated with QOL. Results: We found no differences between the two YOD groups in QOL. The variables associated with QOL were scores on the CSDD, NPI, and unmet needs. The proxy QOL-AD score in YOD was significantly higher compared to LOD (median 36.0 [IQR 10.0] vs. 33.0 [IQR 9.0]). Conclusion: The QOL in Nordic people with YOD was better compared to people with LOD. Our results show depressive symptoms to be associated with QOL irrespective of age and diagnosis.

True Kvlt? The Cultural Capital of “Nordicness” in Extreme Metal

In this article, we respond to the question of, "What is the cultural capital of Nordicness in heavy metal?". Through examining the popularity of Nordic symbolism in metal music, scenes and practices, we argue that the Nordic has been ascribed significant value in metal, wherein it offers a vehicle for narratives of masculinity, nationalism and ideology. Here we contend that the cultural capital given to Nordicness underpins not only the prevalence and market success of metal in Northern Europe, but also the ongoing circulation of narratives about the North in metal scenes across multiple global regions. Through analysing the repeated motifs of Nordic mythology, ecology and imagery as they emerge throughout metal's historic and contemporary manifestations, our article demonstrates the cultural capital with which the North is continually imbued in heavy metal. We call into focus how metal's aesthetic fascination with Nordicness as a site of heathenism, resistance and frontier landscapes is intertwined with a longer thematic history of masculinity, rebellion and affective community. This article therefore interrogates the cultural capital of Nordicness in metal scenes, and how this continues to shape the trajectories for the genre both in Northern Europe and throughout the world.

Rubbers by Numbers – A Survey About Sexuality in the Nordic Countries

RFSU (the Swedish Association for Sexuality Education) was founded in 1933 and works with sexual and reproductive health and rights through information, education and advocacy. We have been surveying what people in the Nordic countries think about sex. The aim is to gain valuable data that RFSU can use in our work on sexuality education for adults and young adults and product/materials development. The survey was conducted online, via an access panel, with 4,260 people. The respondents are living in Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark, aged between 15 and 65, who have had sex at least once. The survey is nationally representative, taking in a cross-section of the population in the target group. The survey has five different parts; condom use in the Nordic countries, sex life of young adults, sex life of Nordic people, digital relationships, and cheating and parallel relationships. Over half state that sex is important but only 44 percent of Swedes are entirely happy with their sex life. The main reason is the infrequency of sex or the lack of a partner. For one in five Swedish women, the reason is that they don’t come often enough, and half of them have faked an orgasm at some point.

Świętosława – Skandynawistka

Abstract The article deals with Świętosława (also known as Sigrid the Haughty, Sigrid Storråd, Gunhilda), a figure from the early days of Polish statehood and Christianity, member of the Piast dynasty, a queen of Sweden, Denmark and Norway, a mother of the Canute the Great, a (Viking) king of England and finally both Slav and Pole, and British, and Nordic can be approached from various perspectives. The particularly appealing appears however the opportunity to reflect on the Nordic dimension in Polish social thought, culture and politics. Świętosława faced a challenge of learning the Nordic people, their language, and all this that is included in the programme of Scandinavian studies at the University of Gdansk “from inside”. Her situation resembles the one investigated by Jerzy Szacki in his sociological survey of tradition. It refers to learning oneself an others once the safe boundary is overstepped and the first step towards what is foreign, different and perhaps shocking is made. It relates to the authentic adventure of migration, but also to education and cross-culture communication promoting mutual understanding of differences and to new perspectives for community development. Finally, it concerns the geopolitical implications of northern dimension for the Polish political ethos, culture and education

Changes in the social context and conduct of eating in four Nordic countries between 1997 and 2012

How have eating patterns changed in modern life? In public and academic debate concern has been expressed that the social function of eating may be challenged by de-structuration and the dissolution of traditions.We analyzed changes in the social context and conduct of eating in four Nordic countries over the period 1997–2012. We focused on three interlinked processes often claimed to be distinctive of modern eating: delocalization of eating from private households to commercial settings, individualization in the form of more eating alone, and informalization, implying more casual codes of conduct.We based the analysis on data from two surveys conducted in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden in 1997 and 2012. The surveys reported in detail one day of eating in representative samples of adult populations in the four countries (N = 4823 and N = 8242). We compared data regarding where, with whom, and for how long people ate, and whether parallel activities took place while eating.While Nordic people's primary location for eating remained the home and the workplace, the practices of eating in haste, and while watching television increased and using tablets, computers and smartphones while eating was frequent in 2012. Propensity to eat alone increased slightly in Denmark and Norway, and decreased slightly in Sweden. While such practices vary with socio-economic background, regression analysis showed several changes were common across the Nordic populations. However, the new practice of using tablets, computers, and smartphones while eating was strongly associated with young age. Further, each of the practices appeared to be related to different types of meal. We conclude that while the changes in the social organization of eating were not dramatic, signs of individualization and informalization could be detected.

Cultural mismatch in conversation: Spanish and Scandinavian communicative behaviour in negotiation settings

An outline of cultural differences in face-to-face behaviour between Hispanic and Nordic people is presented, and various divergences in terms of communicative priorities are proposed. The assumptions made are supported by preliminary results from research on turn-taking, back-channeling and initiative/response patterns in Spanish and Swedish negotiation dialogues, the study being based on the video-recorded corpus of the "Negotiating in Spain and Scandinavia" project carried out at three Scandinavian universities. On the basis of these results, a list of predictions is proposed concerning probabilities of misinterpretations in Hispanic-Scandinavian conversation.