Scandinavian Studies Research Articles

Introduction: New Geographies of Scandinavian Studies. Moving maps, reciprocal images, emerging communities

This article provides an introduction to the Research Network “New Geographies of Scandinavian Studies” while at the same time discussing some of its main concerns and questions: the position of the Nordic countries and the role of Scandinavian Studies in the changing geopolitical landscape of post-Cold War Europe. The collapse of the Eastern bloc in 1989–1991 led to a reconfiguration of the European political map. This situation also entailed new possibilities for international and cross-disciplinary research: A new understanding of Nordic and Baltic studies was institutionalized and new regional concepts were developed as alternatives to Cold War geopolitics. The network “New Geographies of Scandinavian Studies” is rooted in this ongoing reorientation of the field. The article discusses some of the potentials and challenges of this new agenda of Scandinavian Studies in the context of the new geopolitical confrontation between Russia and the West after Russia’s military attack on Ukraine in February 2022.

En svensk röst från Kaunas och Vilnius1939–1940: Lennart Kjellbergs brev

In this article, I intend to publish a series of letters by Lennart Kjellberg (1913–2004) who had worked as a Swedish lecturer in Lithuania at the University in Kaunas and Vilnius before World War II, in 1939–1940. I met Lennart Kjellberg several times in the early 90s when I, a young scholar after completing Swedish and Nordic studies and a doctorate in historical linguistics, came to Vilnius and started teaching at the University of Vilnius and set up the Department for Scandinavian Studies. We met several times in Uppsala, and Lennart Kjellberg gave me a bundle of copies of his letters, mainly to his bride Ann-Mari Stridbeck written in 1939, encouraging me to publish them. Kjellberg’s letters are an incredibly exciting source of information and insight for those interested in the cultural and political life of Lithuania during that time and in its perception by a young Swedish intellectual. For me, meeting Lennart Kjellberg, besides everything else, was an unexpected collision with the past which had been cut away by Soviet oppression. For those who grew up during the Soviet era, the period before and during the Soviet presence was sort of divided into then and now (before and after World War II). The loss of continuity in Lithuania’s history is perhaps one of its greatest traumas caused by the Soviet period. For this reason, Kjellberg’s letters, most of which are being published here for the first time, not only give us a lively picture of pre-war Lithuania but also contribute to our better understanding of our past and of ourselves.

IASS’ historie: En personlig fortelling

As the official historian of the International Association for Scandinavian Studies, and one of the two authors of The History of the International Association of Scandinavian Studies 1956–2006, I have been asked to tell the story of the almost 70 years of our association’s existence. The whole thing began in Cambridge in July 1956, as an informal meeting of 65 academics, most of them from the Nordic countries or the United Kingdom; on that occasion there was a grand total of 13 lectures. Since that time there has been a conference every other summer – until the summer of 2020, when it had to be postponed for a year due to the pandemic. It was agreed from the very earliest days that the meetings would be held in a Nordic country and a non-Nordic country alternately, although it was not until 1962, in Aarhus, that IASS was given its official name, and supplied with a constitution and a committee (president, secretary, treasurer etc.) For the early conferences the theme was exclusively literary, but in more recent times it has been expanded to take in other disciplines, such as history, sociology, film studies etc. In 1986 Elias Bredsdorff published a slim volume about the first thirty years of IASS, which I supplemented in 2006 with an account of the following twenty years. I have attended every single conference since 1970, so my talk will provide an extremely personal account of how IASS has become a part of my own history.

Skandinaviske studier og geopolitik: IASS og den kolde krig

The foundation stone for the creation of IASS was laid at the First International Conference on Scandinavian Studies which took place at the University of Cambridge, England, in July 1956. Few months later, the world woke up to the news of the Soviet invasion in Budapest on November 4th, a defining moment in the history of the Cold War, which sent political shock waves and a flow of nearly a quarter-million Hungarian refugees to Western Europe. But how did this tense political situation affect the emerging field of international Scandinavian studies? Drawing on the vast literature of published proceedings from IASS conferences and personal interviews with members of the organization, this article examines how the Cold War geopolitical conflict between the communist East and the capitalist West left its imprint on the activities of IASS in the period from 1956 until the Fall of the Berlin Wall and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1989/1991.

Report of the President of the Society for the Advancement of Scandinavian Study

Report of the President of the Society for the Advancement of Scandinavian Study

How Asta Nielsen Transformed the Screen

Freelance film curator Pamela Hutchinson interviews Scandinavian studies scholar Julie K. Allen about the life and work of silent film star Asta Nielsen, who made her debut in 1910 and was among the most acclaimed performers of her generation. Allen discusses her work on Nielsen, including the translation of the actor’s memoir into English for the first time: The Silent Muse (Rochester, NY: Camden House 2022). The conversation covers Nielsen’s most famous roles, her global reception, and her enduring importance to queer audiences.

Incidence of LADA and Type 2 Diabetes in Relation to Tobacco Use and Genetic Susceptibility to Type 2 Diabetes and Related Traits: Findings From a Swedish Case-Control Study and the Norwegian HUNT Study.

Smoking and Swedish smokeless tobacco (snus) are associated with latent autoimmune diabetes in adults (LADA) and type 2 diabetes (T2D). Our aim was to investigate whether genetic susceptibility to T2D, insulin resistance (IR), and insulin secretion (IS) aggravate these associations. We used data from two population-based Scandinavian studies with case subjects with LADA (n = 839) and T2D (n = 5,771), matched control subjects (n = 3,068), and 1,696,503 person-years at risk. Pooled, multivariate relative risks (RR) with 95% CI were estimated for smoking/genetic risk scores (T2D-GRS, IS-GRS, and IR-GRS), and ORs for snus or tobacco/GRS (case-control data). We estimated additive (proportion attributable to interaction [AP]) and multiplicative interaction between tobacco use and GRS. The RR of LADA was elevated in high IR-GRS heavy smokers (≥15 pack-years; RR 2.01 [CI 1.30, 3.10]) and tobacco users (≥15 box/pack-years; RR 2.59 [CI 1.54, 4.35]) compared with low IR-GRS individuals without heavy use, with evidence of additive (AP 0.67 [CI 0.46, 0.89]; AP 0.52 [CI 0.21, 0.83]) and multiplicative (p = 0.003; p = 0.034) interaction. In heavy users, there was additive interaction between T2D-GRS and smoking, snus, and total tobacco use. The excess risk conferred by tobacco use did not differ across GRS categories in T2D. Tobacco use may confer a higher risk of LADA in individuals with genetic susceptibility to T2D and insulin resistance, whereas genetic susceptibility does not seem to influence the increased T2D incidence associated with tobacco use.

ПОСТАТЬ СКАНДИНАВСЬКОГО ВОЖДЯ ЯК ПРИКЛАД ВЗАЄМНОГО ВІДОБРАЖЕННЯ МІФОЛОГІЧНИХ УЯВЛЕНЬ І РЕАЛЬНОСТІ У ДОБУ РАННЬОГО СЕРЕДНЬОВІЧЧЯ

The article focuses on the image of the Scandinavian leader, on whom the well-being of the population depended. New methodological approaches made it possible to consider the problem of the sacred status of power from a new point of view, in particular, through the interpretation of the image of the ruler and his perception by society and the features of the formation and functioning of rituals and connections between the ruler and higher powers. Modern research within the framework of Scandinavian studies is increasingly raising questions of scientific interest in aspects of the spiritual, religious and everyday life of the medieval society of Scandinavia. Conducting research in this area can help modern researchers to understand better the mentality of the people of that time. One of the important issues is the problem of a special, sacred or sacralized image of the ruler-leader, who becomes the central figure in the Scandinavian society of the medieval era and plays an important role in ensuring its protection and well-being. The problem of the special status of the ruler caused little enthusiasm among the researchers of the past. Previous studies have addressed the problem of studying the place and role of the leader mainly as a political figure, and also considered the formation of the origins of the sacralization of power in the context of religious beliefs. However, none of the studies focused on the image of the Scandinavian leader as a reflection of mythological ideas in the material world and vice versa. The sacred functions of the ruler are usually considered as a consequence of the development of mythological ideas and are presented in the works separately from them. The proposed article attempts to fill the gap in the question of the difference between the sacralization of the power of the ruler among the Scandinavian peoples and trace the reflection and mutual influence of mythology and everyday life through an analysis of the specifics of the mythological worldview and its manifestation in the formation of a stereotype of power in medieval Scandinavian society.

Historians of Pomor State University “Discover” Norway (1986—2010)

The article provides a parallel between the works of historians-Nordists of imperial and Soviet times with their modern Russian followers. Moreover, the research of current scientists is presented as a continuation of the work of Russian historians of the 18th — 20th centuries. The main text of the article defines the stages of development of Arkhangelsk Scandinavian studies of the late 20th — early 21st centuries. The initial (“Norwegian”) stage of the origin and growth of young scientific personnel of Scandinavians of the Pomeranian State University (PSU) is analyzed in detail. The original and successful organizational forms of their training and activities are revealed, the process of their entry into the Russian and international levels and evidence of their gradual scientific recognition are studied. The article’s material contributes to the historiographical science of modern methods of increasing knowledge and training in a specific field of studying the history of bilateral international relations in the Russian North and in the Arctic.

The outcome of primary per oral endoscopic myotomy (POEM) for treatment of achalasia: Norwegian single-center experience with long-term follow-up.

Per oral endoscopic myotomy (POEM) has become an established treatment for achalasia, but no Scandinavian studies with long-term follow-up exist. This study from a tertiary referral center in Norway investigates the short-, mid-, and long-term feasibility, safety, efficacy, and complications of POEM. Prospective data from the first 84 patients who underwent POEM from 2014 to 2019 were analyzed. The median follow-up time was 44 months. Clinical success was defined as the Eckardt score (ES) ⩽3, and reflux as pathological if the acid exposure time (pH < 4) was more than 6%. ES was used for symptom evaluation before, and at 6, 12, and up to 64 months after POEM. A total of 50 males and 34 females were included. A total of 43 (51%) were treatment naïve, 24 (28.6%) had been previously treated with botulinum toxin, pneumatic balloon dilatation, or both, and 17 (20.2%) were previously treated with Heller's myotomy. The median post-POEM ES at 12 months was 1 (0-9), compared to pre-POEM 7 (4-12) (p < 0.01). At 12 months after POEM, clinical success persisted in 74 patients (88.1%). Clinical success was the highest for patients who were naïve to treatment, 41/43 (95%), and lower for those previously treated with Heller's myotomy 12/17 (70.6%). Long-term follow-up at 5-6 years of 42 patients showed a clinical success rate of 94%. We experienced adverse events in five patients (6%). Post-POEM pathological reflux was found in 46% (28/61). After 3-4 years, the median ES was 1, and after 5-6 years, it was 2. POEM was safe and relieved the symptoms of achalasia significantly and persistently. The procedure had a better outcome in treatment naïve than previously treated patients. However, POEM is associated with significantly increased esophageal acid exposure. Norwegian single-center study: POEM had a clinical success rate of 94% after 5-6 years since its introduction at the center in 2014, providing a safe and effective treatment for achalasia.

Relatively Stable Prevalence of Myopia among Swedish Children Aged 4 to 7 Years between 2015 and 2020.

The global increase of myopia has caused a lot of debate the last years. Previous research of myopia in the Nordic population has shown diverse results, and only a few Swedish studies have been published in the subject the last two decades. This study aimed to analyze trends in the prevalence of myopia in a population of Swedish children. A retrospective analysis of medical records for children between 4 and 7 years of age in a region in Sweden was performed. The inclusion criterion was a first glasses prescription for myopia between 2012 and 2020. Children with other eye diseases or syndromes affecting the eye and vision were excluded. Age, sex, uncorrected visual acuity, and cycloplegic refractive values were extracted. The number of myopic children was compared with population data to calculate incidence and estimate prevalence. During the study period, 427 children between 4 and 7 years old in an average population of 17,200 children were prescribed glasses for myopia. The incidence for myopia increased from 0.11% in 2012 to 0.39% in 2020 ( P < .05). In 2015 to 2020, the prevalence of myopia for the same age group increased from 0.5 to 1.2% ( P < .05). Linear regression of the prevalence of myopia showed a significant increase in the age group of 7 years ( β = 0.2%, R2 = 0.82, P ≤ .05). This study found a relatively stable prevalence of myopia among Swedish children aged 4 to 7 years between 2015 and 2020. The prevalence of 1.6% among 7-year-old children is not higher than in previous Scandinavian studies.

Adriana Margareta Dancus: Exposing Vulnerability. Self-Mediation in Scandinavian Films by Women

Article Adriana Margareta Dancus: Exposing Vulnerability. Self-Mediation in Scandinavian Films by Women was published on October 1, 2022 in the journal European Journal of Scandinavian Studies (volume 52, issue 2).

Tom Birkett/Roderick Dale (eds.): The Vikings Reimagined. Reception, Recovery, Engagement

Article Tom Birkett/Roderick Dale (eds.): The Vikings Reimagined. Reception, Recovery, Engagement was published on October 1, 2022 in the journal European Journal of Scandinavian Studies (volume 52, issue 2).

Anna Wegener: Karin Michaëlis’ Bibi books. Producing, Rewriting, Reading and Continuing a Children’s Fiction Series, 1927–1953

Article Anna Wegener: Karin Michaëlis’ Bibi books. Producing, Rewriting, Reading and Continuing a Children’s Fiction Series, 1927–1953 was published on October 1, 2022 in the journal European Journal of Scandinavian Studies (volume 52, issue 2).

Swede Home Chicago: The Wallin's Svenska Records Story, 1923–27

According to the liner notes of this project, Chicago has the highest Swedish population of any city after Stockholm. Chicago is also “home to the first record label founded by a Nordic immigrant to the United States.” Archeophone Records’ compilation Swede Home Chicago: The Wallin's Svenska Records Story, 1923–27 tells the story of former crofter Gustaf Waldemar Wallin, founder of Wallin's Svenska Records, a record company that came into being as a subsidiary of Wallin's Music Shop. This company issued 56 tracks between 1923 and 1927. Swede Home Chicago encompasses the entire catalog and includes two discs, featuring 28 tracks each, and a robust 76-page CD booklet. The booklet includes introductory material, performers’ biographies, track notes, lyrics and translations, endnotes, and production credits, as well as a rich plethora of archival photos relating to the Wallin family, the record company, the performers, and more.Without any prior knowledge of the folklife of Swedish American immigrants, one can still appreciate the thought and care put into this project. The context provided by the CD booklet is absolutely unmatched by that of any other project I have engaged with, and was the highlight of reviewing this project. As a folklorist focusing on music, with an eye trained on accessibility and transparency, this is particularly meaningful. For a multiplicity of reasons, one cannot and should not separate music from its historical context. The music itself cannot provide this context, especially when songs are being sung in a language one does not understand. Luckily, folklorists Jim Leary and Marcus Cederström, along with Archeophone Records’ Richard Martin, have crafted a fulfilling and multifaceted narrative that includes detailed lyric translations and is guaranteed to address any questions or concerns the listener might have.The music itself—56 tracks spread out over two discs—features piano, piano accordion, violin, and vocals covering the entire spectrum of human emotion and artistic preference and encompassing “earthy comic songs,” “pious hymns and patriotic anthems,” “venerable folk tunes [intermingled] with hot jazz,” and more. It is striking that this collection is so musically diverse despite coming from one company; it utilizes almost every possible sonic avenue within the given musical heritage to create a truly dynamic and entertaining catalog. In a further testament to the importance of these recordings at the time they first appeared, it is worth noting that the 28 10-inch shellac discs originally issued by Wallin's Svenska Records were recorded by Homer Rodeheaver and Orlando Marsh, two venerable giants of the recording industry.Swede Home Chicago is a set that anyone who is interested in music and music history should own. Speaking as a “many-sectored” folklorist, I feel there is great potential for this collection. It is both deeply entertaining and richly engaging. This project could be used in Scandinavian, migration, and music studies courses as an educational tool. Given that the CD booklet is crucial to the understanding of the project as a whole, future creators of similar projects might look to Swede Home Chicago for guidance on creating something that is appropriately contextual. However, this project should not be construed as being solely historical in scope and content. This collection has implications for folkloristics as well. I was particularly struck by the last few words on the back cover asserting that Swede Home Chicago “[illuminates] a vibrant bygone musical scene that expands our understanding of America's perpetual musical pluralism.” This concept is a lesson for folklore as a discipline, not just for those of us who focus on American music.Just as these discs run the gamut musically despite coming from a singular cultural background, American music encompasses thousands of traditions that should be recognized as equally important parts of the whole. The parsing out of these threads is endless but worthy work that yields meaningful discoveries about American folklife. I send my thanks to Jim Leary, Marcus Cederström, Richard Martin, Archeophone Records, the Mills Music Library and the Center for the Study of Upper Midwestern Cultures at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and all other institutions and people involved in this project—a dynamic and powerful step forward in viewing folklife through a musical lens.

Scandinavian Exceptionalisms: Culture, Society, Discourse

Scandinavian Exceptionalisms: Culture, Society, Discourse

Encounters at the Mound in Old Norse Literature: Dialogues between Landscape and Narrative

Encounters at the Mound in Old Norse Literature: Dialogues between Landscape and Narrative

Scandinavian Studies in Germany with a Special Focus on the Position of Old and Modern Icelandic

Scandinavian Studies today are divided into (at least) three areas, which should ideally also be represented by their own chairs at the universities, if one wants to cover the subject as broadly as possible. Likewise, the four languages, Danish, Icelandic, Norwegian and Swedish, should be offered to a certain extent. Scandinavian Studies, however, belong to the so-called “small subjects”, and financial and personnel resources are often limited. In addition, the federal states (Bundesländer) have an influence on the equipment of the universities. The subject of Scandinavian Studies can therefore be structured very differently at the individual universities. It is largely undisputed that foreign language skills are an important factor in promoting international understanding. As well, language skills are an absolute foundation in all aspects of a philological subject. Nevertheless, language teaching at universities is generally under pressure, and questions arise about its justification. This is true for both modern and ancient languages. In our article, we mainly describe the positions of Old and modern Icelandic within Scandinavian Studies, which differ greatly. This is mainly due to traditions within Scandinavian Studies and the institutions at which they are taught. Considerations are made regarding the legitimacy of these areas and their connections with other parts of the subject.

Scandinavian Studies in Germany

Scandinavian Studies in Germany are usually conceived of as comparative literary and cultural studies, encompassing the historical and current spaces where Northern Germanic languages were or are spoken. The article focuses on the current situation of Medieval Scandinavian Studies—one of the three branches of the discipline—in the German-speaking area, explaining their comparatively strong institutional position as a result of the long and peculiar history of the research and its entanglements with political ideology. Against this background, an overview is presented of the present research projects, and current structural and political problems, as well as challenges for the future are discussed.

O-085 School-Age Outcomes Among IVF-Conceived Children: A Causal Inference Analysis Using Linked Population-Wide Data

Abstract Study question To determine the causal effect of in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) on primary school-age childhood developmental and educational outcomes, compared with outcomes following spontaneous conception. Summary answer The school-age developmental and educational outcomes for children conceived by IVF are equivalent to those of spontaneously conceived peers. What is known already More than 8 million children have been conceived globally with the assistance of in-vitro fertilization (IVF). Large cohort studies have suggested an increase in the frequency of congenital abnormalities, autism spectrum disorder, developmental-delay and intellectual disability in children conceived via IVF. Educational and cognitive outcomes following IVF conception have not yet been adequately established. Two large Scandinavian studies (Norrman et al 2018 and Wienecke et al 2020) found poorer educational outcomes in children born after IVF-conception. Study design, size, duration Causal inference methods (based on the potential outcomes approach) were used to analyse observation data in a way that emulates the results of a target randomised clinical trial. The study cohort comprised state-wide linked maternal and childhood administrative data from Victoria, Australia. Participants/materials, setting, methods The study included singleton infants conceived spontaneously or via IVF and born between 2005-2014. The exposure of interest was conception via IVF, with those born after spontaneous conception as the control group. Two separate measures of childhood outcome were examined: The Australian Early Developmental Consensus (AEDC), (age 4-6); and the National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) at age 7-9. We combined inverse probability weighting with regression adjustment to estimate population average causal effects. Main results and the role of chance The final cohort included 412,713 children across the two outcome cohorts. Linked records were available for 4,697 IVF-conceived cases and 168,503 controls for AEDC outcome data, and 8,976 cases and 333,335 controls for NAPLAN data. The mothers of IVF-conceived children were older, more highly educated mothers, who lived in more socio-economic advantaged areas and were less likely to be from non-English speaking backgrounds. There was no causal effect of IVF-conception on the on the risk of developmental vulnerability at school-entry compared to spontaneously conceived children, as defined by AEDC metrics; with an adjusted risk difference of -0.3% (95% CI -3.7% to 3.1%) and an adjusted risk ratio of 0.97 (95% CI 0.77 to 1.25). At age 7-9 years, there was no causal effect of IVF-conception on the NAPLAN overall z-score, adjusted mean difference of 0.030 (95% CI -0.018 to 0.077) between IVF-conceived and spontaneously conceived children. Given the use of observational data, there were missing data and inherent differences in the covariate profile of the exposure cohorts. Multiple imputation and doubly robust inverse probability weighting regression adjustment modelling was utilised to allow a causal interpretation of results. Limitations, reasons for caution Children who did not attend school due to severe disability were not included, possibly leading to selection bias. It is possible that unmeasured common cause confounders could have led to bias in estimating the average treatment effects. Wider implications of the findings This study, in contrast to previous evidence, suggests that conception via IVF does not affect early childhood developmental and educational outcomes. These findings provide important reassurance for current and prospective parents, and clinicians alike. Trial registration number Not applicable