Decolonising Medieval Fennoscandia - An Interdisciplinary Study of Norse-Saami Relations in the Medieval Period

The interdisciplinary study investigates the relationship between Norse and Saami peoples in the medieval period and focuses on the multifaceted portrayal of Saami peoples in medieval texts. The investigative analysis is anchored in postcolonial methodologies and argues for the inherent need to decolonise the medieval source-material as well as recent historiography. This is achieved by presenting the historiographic and political background of research into Norse-Saami relations, before introducing an overview of textual sources discussing Saami peoples from the classical period to the late 1400s, an analysis of the textual motifs associated with the Saami in medieval literature (their relevance and prevalence), geo-political affairs, trading relations, personal relations and Saami presence in the south. By using decolonising tools to read Norse-Saami relations in medieval texts, influenced by archaeological material and postcolonial frameworks, the study challenges lingering colonial assumptions about the role of the Saami in Norse society. The current research episteme is re-adjusted to offer alternative readings of Saami characters and emphasis is put on agency, fluidity and the dynamic realities of the Saami medieval pasts.

About the author

Solveig Wang
,

University Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany.

Product details

• Authors: Solveig Marie Wang
• Publisher: De Gruyter
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 21.10.2024
• EAN: 9783111624778
• ISBN: 978-3-11-162477-8
• No. of pages: 278
• Dimensions: 155 mm x 17 mm x 230 mm
• Weight: 597 g
• Illustrations: 3 b/w and 4 col. ill.
• Series: Religious Minorities in the North
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > History > Middle Ages; Mittelalter, Postkolonialismus, Skandinavien, Altnordisch, Literaturwissenschaft: Antike und Mittelalter, Postcolonialism, Europäische Geschichte: Mittelalter, Scandinavia, Social & cultural history, Medieval History, HIS000000 HISTORY / General, LIT011000 LITERARY CRITICISM / Medieval, Literature: history & criticism, Literary studies: post-colonial literature, Saami, National liberation & independence, post-colonialism, Medieval European archaeology, Middle Ages, LIT000000 LITERARY CRITICISM / General, HIS037010 HISTORY / Medieval, LIT004250 LITERARY CRITICISM / European / Scandinavian, REL000000 RELIGION / General, Paperback Project, Northern Literature, Skandinavien+Literatur