Imagining Norden - branding and Nordic reputation
Perceptions of the Nordics abound, from the reputation of the Nordic welfare state to that of interior design. Content on this page seeks to examine the construction and deconstruction of the different 'brands' of the region; why, when, where and how the region, its individual countries, its way of life, what it produces etc are branded. New articles are added regularly.
2019.08.06 | Article, Kenn Nakata Steffensen, Culture, Reputation
The Nordics in the modern Japanese political imagination
In the early 1900s, Japanese progressive intellectuals, writers, and feminist activists questioned their country’s quest for power and looked to Scandinavia for an alternative modernity. The Scandinavian modern breakthrough peaked in Japan in the 1910s and 1920s on the back of a burgeoning interest in Nordic literature, philosophy and political…
2019.08.05 | Biography, Linda Haverty Rugg, The arts
Susanne Bier (b. 1960)
Acclaimed Danish film director with many awards to her credit, including an Oscar, Golden Globes, an Emmy, and numerous festival and European prizes, Susanne Bier concentrates on family dynamics and their relation to global concerns in her work, particularly poverty and violence.
2019.08.05 | Biography, Linda Haverty Rugg, The arts
Bille August (b. 1948)
Bille August is a Danish filmmaker in the realist tradition, and a winner of the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film in 1988 for Pelle Erobreren (Pelle the Conqueror). He created a cinematic adaptation of Ingmar Bergman’s Den goda viljan (Best Intentions, 1992) and of Peter Høeg’s thriller Frøken Smillas fornemmelse for sne (Smilla’s Sense of…
2019.08.05 | Biography, Linda Haverty Rugg, Literature
Inger Christensen (1935-2009)
One of Denmark’s most daring experimental twentieth-century poets, Inger Christensen pushes language to its extreme limits while also engaging with philosophical concepts and political issues such as gender, ecology, and nuclear war.
2019.08.05 | Biography, Linda Haverty Rugg, Literature
Mikael Niemi (b. 1959)
Mikael Niemi is a novelist, poet, playwright and short-story writer often focusing on the Tornedal region of Sweden where he lives. His work is steeped in fantasy, folklore, and science fiction, and expressive of a place and people at the margins of the Swedish national culture.
2019.08.05 | Biography, Jenny Rood, Juliette Victor, The arts
Elisabeth Söderström (1927-2009)
Elisabeth Söderström was a Swedish soprano known for both her acting and her singing talent, and particularly noted for her performances of Mozart and Strauss and her recordings of Janáček.
2019.08.02 | Biography, Jenny Rood, Juliette Victor, The arts
Herbert Thorson Blomstedt (b. 1927)
Herbert Blomstedt is a Swedish conductor known for both championing Nordic composers and his well-received interpretations of German and Austrian composers over many decades.
2019.08.02 | Biography, Jenny Rood, Juliette Victor, The arts
Anne Sofie von Otter (b. 1955)
Anne Sofie von Otter is a Swedish mezzo-soprano noted for her versatile voice, her trouser roles in classical and romantic opera as well as her interpretations of oratorios, German Lieder, and Scandinavian songs.
2019.08.01 | Biography, Linda Haverty Rugg, The arts
Lennart Nilsson (1922-2017)
Swedish photographer Lennart Nilsson won fame with his photographs of the development of human life inside the uterus.
2019.07.30 | Biography, Linda Haverty Rugg, Literature
Sven Lindqvist (1932-2019)
A wide-ranging and prolific social commentator and provocative essayist, Sven Lindquist focused on questions of environmentalism, colonialism, war, social justice and racism.