Agenda

a. Please provide a brief outline of your training and scientific activity.

I am an Associate Professor of Scandinavian literature at the University of Oslo’s Centre for Ibsen studies. After a laurea in foreign languages from the University of Turin (2005), I received a PhD in comparative literature from the University of Oslo (2011). Before taking up my current position (2017), I taught Scandinavian literature in two other Norwegian Universities, in Volda and Trondheim. My main research interests include the reception and translation history of Scandinavian authors in Europe. My first monograph, Domesticating Ibsen for Italy (2013), focuses on these issues. More recently, I have worked with contemporary Scandinavian poetry, most specifically with the Swedish poet Håkan Sandell and the “retrogardist” movement in Sweden and Norway. This has resulted in my second monograph, Tilbake til fremtiden. Håkan Sandell og den nordiske retrogardismen (2020). In the last few years, I have developed an interest in the academic study of Western esotericism and how it has influenced the reception of Scandinavian authors, most notably Henrik Ibsen. During my stay in Venice, I will work especially with this last field of study, as well as I will hold a number of seminars on my main areas of expertise, aimed at students of Scandinavian Studies.
 b. Please state your reasons for choosing Venice and the Department for your research and teaching stay.

Ca’ Foscari is a vital and dynamic hub for Scandinavian Studies, and arguably one of Italy’s best institutions in this discipline. When I had to choose an institution for my research leave, the University of Venice and the Department of Linguistics and Comparative Cultural Studies were an easy pick. My colleagues teaching Scandinavian Studies and Nordic Philology have an interest in translation and reception studies, which creates the perfect environment for mutual scholarly exchange, and I know they have an active student base, which I am looking forward to meeting during the seminars I will hold. In addition, I have followed with interest the dissemination activity from the Department members within the field of translation studies, both to the general public at the Incroci di civiltà festival and through the Laboratorio sulla traduzione delle lingue europee. I am looking forward to learning more about their work and hopefully contributing to their activities. Last but not least, I am planning to hold the next meeting of my research network on Esotericism and Aesthetics in the Nordic Countries (ESOSTETICS) during my stay in Venice, thanks to a generous grant from the ReNEW research hub. I hope that this meeting, which will include a series of open lectures, will be of interest for scholars at the Department, as well as at other Departments and institutions in Venice.

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