Nordic Experiences: Exploration of Scandinavian Cultures

This book is a compilation of scholarly articles on a wide variety of subjects pertaining to the cultures of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden. Nordic Experiences discusses music, art, literature, folkore, and the social fabric of past and present to offer the reader a many-faceted image of what the term Scandinavia stands for today. There are now some 12-13 million people of Nordic descent living in the United States, and their culture has played a part in shaping the American experience. The cultural contacts and exchanges between the United States and the Nordic countries, thanks in large part to immigration, remains strong and varied, adding a significant dimension to the close ties that have existed for many years. This book is a celebration of Nordic culture and its harmonious and enduring relationship with the United States. As such, it will be of considerable interest to scholars and students alike of Scandinavian or European civilization.

Table of Contents:
Introduction by Berit I. Brown Music Edvard Grieg (1843-1907) by Dorothy Schechter Per Nørgård: The Role of the Artist in a Model Welfare State by Jean Christensen Literature: The Classics Clive Sinclair's Augustus Rex: Misogyny, Megalomania, and Anti-Semitism in the Life of August Strindberg by Peter G. Christensen The Modes of the Spirit: Poetic Application of Theosophical Ideas in the Works of August Strindberg by Eszter Szalczer Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson: In the Shadow of Ibsen by Ruis Woertendyke Kierkegaard, the Aesthetic Life, and Peer Gynt by Robert C. O'Brien Folklore Folk Literature and the Nineteenth Century Nationalist Movement. Norway: The Shaping of National Identity by Mette Rudvin Giants, Gnomes, Elves, Trolls, and Dwarfs by Edmund W. Ostrander Icelandic Influences: From Snorri to Our Time The Saintly and the Secular: Brother Kings Olaf and Harald in Heimskringla by Rebekah Thacker The Barnyard Poet: Stephen G. Stephensson (1853-1927) by Vidar Hreinsson Cultural Background Criminal Proceedings Against Birthe Jørgensdatter and Her Stepfather Jens Krog of Allerslev, Denmark, in 1765 by Gerald M. Haslam Outward Loss, Inward Gain: A Transformation for the 90s by Inga Wiehl From Scandinavia to America Från Norrköping till Nord Amerika: Hedwig Wilhelmina Isaksson Westman Hammarström (1885-1981) by Margaret Ross Bjornson The Norwegian-American: A Scandinavian Presence in Contemporary American Literature by Elizabeth Field Hogan Women in Literature Love and Autonomy in the Fiction of Cora Sandel and Mirjam Tuominen by Adma d'Heurle "Disgusting," he said. Stella Kleve in the Modern Breakthrough by Birgitta Ney Art Edvard Munch's Peasants and the Invention of Norwegian Culture by Patricia Berman Culture and Identity: Regionalism and Nationalism in Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Century Swedish Painting by Karin M.E. Alexis Twentieth Century Literature Sigrid Undset and Willa Cather: The Uses of Catholicism by Sherrill Harbison Nordahl, the Other Grieg: Poet, Playwright, Novelist by Philip Duhan Segal The Ocean of Consciousness Novel I: Hunger by Knut Hamsun--Progenitor of Modernism by Ron Whitehead Knut Hamsun in His Letters by Harald S. Naess Index

About the Author :
BERIT I. BROWN is Adjunct Assistant Professor of Germanic Languages at Long Island University, C. W. Post Campus. She is also on the faculty of Hofstra University and Suffolk County Community College. Professor Brown has published on Henrik Ibsen and Nordic sagas and folktales.