Northern Sweden, or Norrland, is depicted as a periphery in many areas in Swedish society and the peripheralization is produced and reproduced in media, culture, and news as well as political rhetoric. Karin Smirnoff´s novel Jag for ner till bror is set in a small town in Northern Sweden, making it a relevant object of study for how peripheral representations are reproduced or criticized in literature, which is the aim of this essay. By using established theories concerning centre and periphery, which has been adapted for use in literary analysis by focusing on external as well as internal characterizations, in combination with a method of thematic analysis this essay hopes to answer the questions: What representations of centre and periphery can be found in the text? How does the text represent the Northern small town? And how does the text represent the “närande och tärande”, an established dichotomy in centre and periphery rhetoric? The results of this study show that the novel process these representations in a nuanced way, and critically reproduces them. The main protagonist's struggle with trauma shows an internal periphery and illustrates the depth and nuance of these concepts.

Some earlier studies have explored the peripheralization of sparsely populated municipalities and the urban-rural divide, both in Sweden and abroad. However, few studies have explored if central actors in the Swedish crisis management system puts these municipalities in their peripheralization according to the ones who conduct the crisis management in the sparsely populated municipalities. Therefore, this study aims to help fill that knowledge gap by capturing the attitudes and experiences from the ones working with crisis preparedness in those municipalities, regarding the handbooks and the other support the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency offers. The study is conducted by semi-structured interviews with those who work with crisis preparedness on a municipal level, in sparsely populated regions. After the interviews a narrative method, together with analysis tools from Michael Foucault’s theories about power dynamics is applied. Although many good things were said about the handbooks, the results presented two narratives. The first about the peripheralization of the rural areas and the other about an understanding of the urban perspective. An application of the analysis tools made it clear that power dynamics where visible in the narratives. The urban areas have the power to create norms and exclude the rural perspective, while at the same time making it fair and reasonable according to the ones who are affected by it. Which clearly illustrates the power dynamics at play.