This is an ecocritically oriented study with elements of autoethnography, of Stina Jackson's book Ödesmark and Therése Söderlind's Norrlands svårmod: roman om ett försvinnande. With a focus on the portrayal of Swedish northern nature in literature the study investigates whether the Norrland view of nature has changed since Romanticism or whether the Norrland forests are still as dark, mysterious and magical as they were during Romanticism. The study also examines whether nature is described as anthropomorphic or metaphysical in these novels. Finally, the essay discusses how the "non-human" is portrayed in the books and how it is used to alienate on different levels. As a result, the study shows that there are still romantic elements in nature literature that are dark, mysterious, and magical. Nature is described slightly differently between the authors; Söderlind has a more anthropocentric approach to the environment in her book while Jackson maintains a more metaphysical perspective. Jackson's metaphysical perspective gives her characters animalistic appearance and behaviours, alienating them in society. In Söderlind's anthropocentric perspective, nature makes a backdrop for the characters' lives.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:umu-198840 |
| Date | January 2022 |
| Creators | Dalberg, Carina |
| Publisher | Umeå universitet, Institutionen för kultur- och medievetenskaper |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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