Scandinavia As Symbolic Space
February 21st 2010 13:49
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The night before last I had a dream that I was in a cocoon of typically Scandinavian armour. I see this region as being a fusion of my two culture that have had the biggest bearing on my emotional whereabouts, Bulgaria and Australia. A part of Europe which has Tall Poppy Syndrome, is really progressive in terms of GLBTI equality, is obsessed with being in touch with nature and has lots of people with light features. Of course, Scandinavia is not a monolithic entity, and it has its own distinctive identity, and I can't wait to discover it all for myself...
I have read a lot of travel literature and articles on many upcoming destinations of mine, and I find it interesting, this, as Calvino would put it, 'this reading around the text'.
I read two texts with very different messages where women were concerned, both written in the 19th century - A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen and Miss Julie by August Strindberg. The first is popularly regarded as the first feminist play, while the second was a misogynistic response to the new freedoms that women were attaining around this time. It fascinated me how in just two plays I had witnessed the innovation of female autonomy and a reactionary revolt against it - while both plays had a lot more themes, the gender issue seemed to me at the heart of both.
The University of Berkeley, a very respected academic institution (Judith Butler works there), gives you the opportunity to major in Scandinavian studies, so I was able to take a look at what was on their syllabus and do the appropriate reading. I still haven't finished Miss Smilla's Feeling For Snow - I guess I'm not good with creepy texts. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo has been made into a film, and the posters for it hang in my local independent cinema.
This is, as ever, a time of discovery for me. I am doing my best to learn about as many different cultures and lucrative individuals as possible. Sometimes my searching leads me to dead ends, but when it does I simply do a U-turn and keep driving... to wherever the next literary adventure will lead.
I have read a lot of travel literature and articles on many upcoming destinations of mine, and I find it interesting, this, as Calvino would put it, 'this reading around the text'.
I read two texts with very different messages where women were concerned, both written in the 19th century - A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen and Miss Julie by August Strindberg. The first is popularly regarded as the first feminist play, while the second was a misogynistic response to the new freedoms that women were attaining around this time. It fascinated me how in just two plays I had witnessed the innovation of female autonomy and a reactionary revolt against it - while both plays had a lot more themes, the gender issue seemed to me at the heart of both.
The University of Berkeley, a very respected academic institution (Judith Butler works there), gives you the opportunity to major in Scandinavian studies, so I was able to take a look at what was on their syllabus and do the appropriate reading. I still haven't finished Miss Smilla's Feeling For Snow - I guess I'm not good with creepy texts. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo has been made into a film, and the posters for it hang in my local independent cinema.
This is, as ever, a time of discovery for me. I am doing my best to learn about as many different cultures and lucrative individuals as possible. Sometimes my searching leads me to dead ends, but when it does I simply do a U-turn and keep driving... to wherever the next literary adventure will lead.
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