HISTORY OF SCANDINAVIAN CULTURES

Locating the subject within the study plan of the BA-programme

Scandinavian Literature 2 module 2 is offered to students of Swedish at the second year of their BA-programme in Foreign Languages, Literatures and Cultures, literary-cultural curriculum. Scandinavian Literature 2 (12 ects) is divided into two modules; module 1 is held by professor Culeddu, while module 2 is held by professor Ciaravolo, both in the autumn semester.
Scandinavian Literature 2 (12 ects) can be a freely chosen course for Swedish language students of the other curricula who wish to go deeper into Scandinavian Studies.

History of Scandinavian Culture (6 ects) is offered to students of Swedish at the second year of their BA-programme in Foreign Languages, Literatures and Cultures, international-political curriculum. History of Swedish Culture is also included in the literary-cultural curriculum at the third year, and as a freely chosen course it is also available to students of the linguistic-philological curriculum, being recommended to students who wish to go deeper into Scandinavian Studies.

Expected results

Scandinavian Literature 2 module 2 / History of Scandinavian Culture presents, in the first part of the course, the social, political and cultural history of the North, focusing on the last two centuries in order to outline the evolution towards modernity and democracy. This year, the second part of the course focuses on the phenomena of migration and post-migration, which have deeply changed Scandinavian societies during the last decades, and on how this new condition is reflected in Swedish, Norwegian and Danish literary production.
The aim of the course is to enable students to connect their knowledge of the social, political and cultural history of Scandinavia with the analysis of the proposed literary works, in order to reflect upon Nordic modernity.

Prerequisites

The course is available to the students of the three curricula at Foreign Languages, Literatures and Cultures, who have already attended Scandinavian Literature 1. Skills in Swedish language will allow the more advanced students to work with the original texts. The study of the texts in the original language is possible but not mandatory; the proposed texts exist in Italian translation or in English.

Migration and post-migration in contemporary Scandinavia: society and literature

The course aims to compare, through literary discourse, experiences and voices dealing with migration and post-migration phenomena in Scandinavia in contemporary time, from World War II to present time. Within this context, we will be able to distinguish «first generation» migrants from their children, who reflect on origin and identity from the perspective of the «second generation». Besides changing the face of Nordic societies – and representing an open challenge, facing uncertainties about the future developments as regards issues such as diversity, racism and integration – the phenomena of migration and post-migration are producing new voices and perspectives in literary representation. The course proposes an in-depth reading of some works by authors with a migration background; it will furthermore reflect on the terms “migration and post-migration literature” with reference to the contributions in Scandinavian and international literary criticism.

References

1) General part: Cultural and literary history

Elisabeth Åsbrink 2018, Made in Sweden. Le parole che hanno fatto la Svezia, Milano: Iperborea 2021 / Orden som formade Sverige

Massimo Ciaravolo 2023, Profilo di storia culturale, sociale e politica del Nord (dagli inizi del 1800 ai giorni nostri), (pdf-file available on Moodle)

from Massimo Ciaravolo (a cura di) 2019, Storia delle letterature scandinave, Milano: Iperborea 2019:
- all the first sections, called “Introduzione”, in the eight chapters (1.1: 19-29; 2.1: 105-12; 3.1: 161-4; 4.1: 207-13; 5.1: 281-4; 6.1: 385-90; 7.1: 533-41; 8.1: 621-9). They are written by Massimo Ciaravolo, except 2.1, written by M. Ciaravolo and Andrea Meregalli;
- the section 8.10 “Letteratura e migrazioni”, with the parts written by Massimo Ciaravolo, Bruno Berni and Sara Culeddu (884-911).

2) Literary works to be studied for the examination:
- one Norwegian novel chosen between:
Tove Nilsen, La fame dell’occhio, Iperborea, Milano 1999 // Øyets sult, Oktober, Oslo 1993
Khalid Hussain, Paki, Forme Libere, Trento 2022 // Pakkis, Tiden Norsk Forlag, Oslo 1986
- the autobiographical poem by Yahya Hassan, Yahya Hassan, Rizzoli, Milano 2014 // Yahya Hassan, Gyldendal, København 2013
- two Swedish novels chosen among:
Jonas Hassen Khemiri, Una tigre molto speciale (Montecore), Guanda, Milano 2009 // Montecore. En unik tiger, Norstedts, Stockholm 2006
Sami Said, L’uomo è la città più bella, Bompiani, Milano 2021 // Människan är den vackraste staden, Natur & Kultur, Stockholm 2018
Golnaz Hashemzadeh Bonde, Un popolo di roccia e vento, Feltrinelli, Milano 2021 // Det var vi, Wahlström & Widstrand, Stockholm 2017
3) Critical studies (the specific parts will be indicated later on)

Luca Gendolavigna, Storie di identità: la Svezia postmigrante, Aracne, Roma 2023

Massimo Ciaravolo, “Collaborative Authorship and Postmigration in Jonas Hassen Khemiri’s Novel Montecore”, European Journal of Scandinavian Studies, 2021, 51(2), 199-219

Søren Frank, “Prolegomena: Toward a Literature of Migration”, in Migration and Literature, Palgrave Mac Millan, New York 2008, pp. 1-21

Mirjam Gebauer, Pia Schwarz Lausten, „Migration Literature: Europe in Transition“, in M. Gebauer, P. Schwarz Lausten (eds), Migration and Literature in Contemporary Europe, Martin Maidelbauer, München 2010, pp. 1-8

Ingeborg Kongslien, „Migrant or multicultural literature in the Nordic countries“, 2006, https://www.eurozine.com/migrant-or-multicultural-literature-in-the-nordic-countries/

Wolfgang Behschnitt, “The voice of the ‘real migrant’: Contemporary migration literature in Sweden, in M. Gebauer, P. Schwarz Lausten (eds), Migration and Literature in Contemporary Europe, Martin Maidelbauer, München 2010, pp. 77-92

Additional syllabus for students who have not attended the course
All the six literary works (prose and poetry) indicated above, with no alternatives. These works are however recommended to all students for more in-depth studies (but not compulsory for them).
Students not attending the course are asked to meet the professor at office hours in order to discuss the syllabus.

Assessment

The examination is oral, it is generally in Italian and lasts approximately 25 minutes. Two questions deal with the cultural, social and political history of the North: one more general question is about one period from the origins to the Enlightenment, and one more specific question is about the last two centuries and the progress towards modernity and democracy. Two more questions will discuss some of the literary works that were presented in the course, connecting them to their historical, cultural and social contexts, and to the secondary sources included in the syllabus.
Students not attending the course must study the additional materials that have been agreed upon. They are asked to come and talk to the professor at least once before the oral examination.

Didactic methods

The course offers mainly frontal lectures, but with moments of participatory learning, as students may, on a voluntary basis, present in class one of the works included in the syllabus. When students present a work in class, they do not have to prepare it again for the examination. Italian is the language used in teaching, and the works will be basically presented and studied in Italian translation.
It must be pointed out that it will not be possible, during the presentation and analysis in class, to omit parts of the plot, not even the end of the literary works, in order not to “spoil” the reading. The suggestion is, therefore, to read the novels in advance.

Italian

More information

If you have questions or need further explanations, please write to massimo.ciaravolo@unive.it. Booking time with an e-mail is recommended if you want to meet the professor. Student who cannot attend the course must contact the teacher in order to discuss the syllabus with the supplementary reading.

oral

This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "Poverty and inequalities" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development