<p>Abstract</p><p>Title: DREAMING OF A UNITED ‘NORDEN’ (The North)</p><p>– Four central Nordic actors about the progress and extent of Nordic cooperation</p><p>The Nordic cooperation are often spoken as in terms of a peaceful international cooperation that is built upon a wide range of similarities among its members, such as a common culture, language similarities and a related kind of political system etc. But in spite of the fact that these so called propitious factors are present, many of the attempts that has been made trying to bring the states of the North (Norden) closer together has turned out unsuccessfully. Therefore no far-reaching Nordic cooperation has come to be implemented. The aim of this essay is to find out what the main reasons could be why this has been the case.</p><p>I have chosen to take a closer look at the motives given by the former Nordic Prime ministers Tage Erlander (Sweden), Karl August Fagerholm (Finland), Einar Gerardsen (Norway) and Mauno Koivisto (Finland). To find out their thoughts on this subject I have studied their (political) memoirs. The reason I have chosen these actors is because they have been personally involved in the attempts to deepen the Nordic cooperation, for example in such fields as economics and military defence. When trying to find out what can explain the extent of the Nordic cooperation I’m also interested in finding out if there is a certain kind of motives that are more dominant then others. Is it common culture, interests or leadership which is the most dominant category of motives? These three mentioned categories are taken from arguments given by different schools of international relations theories such as realism, liberalism etc.</p><p>After analysing the memoirs I have been able to come to the conclusion that it according to Erlander, Fagerholm, Gerhardsen and Koivosto are motives concerning interests that have been the most determining factor when talking about motives that can explain the extent of the Nordic cooperation. Further we can conclude that these interests have been of both domestic as well as of international nature. But it also seems like we can’t ignore the case specific conditions when we’re trying to understand international relations, such as the Nordic cooperation.</p>

This essay examines the role of repetition in the two novels Älskaren (The Lover) by Marguerite Duras and Den amerikanska flickan (The American Girl) by Monika Fagerholm, through a thematic and comparative reading. The study mainly uses Bruce F. Kawin’s analysis of repetition in literature and language as well as it refers to Cathy Jellenik and her analysis of rewriting in the works of Duras. The study also takes into Julia Kristeva’s idea of Duras as a writer lacking of catharsis. Furthermore, the essay analyses both novels by applying Sigmund Freud’s term “repetition compulsion”. The essay shows how Fagerholm and Duras both use permissive writing, which means that the authors boldly write clichéd replications in their texts. Both writers practice what Kristeva calls “an aesthetics of awkwardness”. Aswell, the authors both question whether a story at all is able to be told: they work with what Jellenik calls “an aesthetics of doubt”, but in different ways. Moreover, by using the work of Kawin, the essay shows how the authors have different ways of handling time. The study shows indications of repetition compulsion in the characters and also exemplifies instances of what Kristeva calls “reduplication”. Through this a fragmentary and Nietzschean perspective of the self is displayed in the novels. The study review how Duras can be said to be a writer lacking of catharsis, while Fagerholm on the other hand liberates one of her protagonists from repetition compulsion by allowing the character to undergo a catharsis. Finally, the essay conclusion points out that Duras and Fagerholm are postmodern writers who know how to challenge the concept of truth. Even if they are different writers in many aspects, they both use repetition as a method to express something unspeakable. They can be said to write also by an aesthetics of search for the truth; a search for an origin tale which they both argue as biased and is therefore impossible to capture.

Abstract Title: DREAMING OF A UNITED ‘NORDEN’ (The North) – Four central Nordic actors about the progress and extent of Nordic cooperation The Nordic cooperation are often spoken as in terms of a peaceful international cooperation that is built upon a wide range of similarities among its members, such as a common culture, language similarities and a related kind of political system etc. But in spite of the fact that these so called propitious factors are present, many of the attempts that has been made trying to bring the states of the North (Norden) closer together has turned out unsuccessfully. Therefore no far-reaching Nordic cooperation has come to be implemented. The aim of this essay is to find out what the main reasons could be why this has been the case. I have chosen to take a closer look at the motives given by the former Nordic Prime ministers Tage Erlander (Sweden), Karl August Fagerholm (Finland), Einar Gerardsen (Norway) and Mauno Koivisto (Finland). To find out their thoughts on this subject I have studied their (political) memoirs. The reason I have chosen these actors is because they have been personally involved in the attempts to deepen the Nordic cooperation, for example in such fields as economics and military defence. When trying to find out what can explain the extent of the Nordic cooperation I’m also interested in finding out if there is a certain kind of motives that are more dominant then others. Is it common culture, interests or leadership which is the most dominant category of motives? These three mentioned categories are taken from arguments given by different schools of international relations theories such as realism, liberalism etc. After analysing the memoirs I have been able to come to the conclusion that it according to Erlander, Fagerholm, Gerhardsen and Koivosto are motives concerning interests that have been the most determining factor when talking about motives that can explain the extent of the Nordic cooperation. Further we can conclude that these interests have been of both domestic as well as of international nature. But it also seems like we can’t ignore the case specific conditions when we’re trying to understand international relations, such as the Nordic cooperation.