„Grey People"? Eastern Europeans in Norwegian Literature. In Conversation with Karolina Drozdowska

nordlitt – Skandinavistische Literaturforschung im Gespräch

With Karolina Drozdowska, a Polish guest from NTNU in Trondheim, nordlitt widens its geographical range eastwards. Drawing on a wide array of contemporary and historical texts, from new crime novels to Romantic patriotic poems, we discuss continuities and changes in representations of Polish people and Eastern Europeans in Norwegian literature since the Enlightenment. We learn about the persistence of the Iron Curtain, the demonization of Russia, and we muse about the function of stereotypes and caricatures. We also explore ways of combining and working with large online corpora and close readings, while reflecting on the benefits of working in international, interdisciplinary networks. Dreams of new research projects take shape, accompanied by the reassuring advice: Be not afraid of academia.

Timestamps:

(00:00:00) Introducing Karolina Drozdowska

(00:04:37) Scandinavian Studies in Poland

(00:13:45) Representations of Eastern Europeans in Norwegian Literature

(00:19:18) Method: Building a Corpus

(00:24:45) Work Migration, Exoticization, and the Shadow of the Iron Curtain

(00:32:50) Caricatures and Postcolonial Readings

(00:47: 37) Shifting Images and Imaginations

(00:51:20) Otherness and “Grey People”

(00:58:05) Lithuania and Lithuanians in Norwegian Crime Fiction

(01:07:45) Research Networks

(01:13:00) The Research Project ImagiNation

(01:18:12) Poland in 19th Century Scandinavian Literature

(01:27:26) Comparisons: Representations of Ukrainians and Jewish Migration

(01:34:37) Connecting Research and Translation Work

(01:39:44) Advice to Student Self

Bibliography, further information, and comments are available on Experiment Geisteswissenschaften.

https://exgeist.hypotheses.org/category/nordlitt

Idea and conception: Stefanie von Schnurbein

Cut: Cecilia Falkman