History

Extreme North: A Cultural History

Extreme North: A Cultural History

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  • Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
  • Create Date：2022-03-14 17:21:46
  • Update Date：2025-09-08
  • Status：finish
  • Author：Bernd Brunner
  • ISBN：0393881008
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Reviews

Kristopher Larsen ，

Disappointing book。 If you're starting a research project about Scandinavia， then this is a great place to start as it lays out so many references and ideas from the last 2000 years。 But there is no coherent narrative or concept that pervades， just references。 Disappointing book。 If you're starting a research project about Scandinavia， then this is a great place to start as it lays out so many references and ideas from the last 2000 years。 But there is no coherent narrative or concept that pervades， just references。 。。。more

Brent Johnson ，

Does History Channel's Vikings TV show help us understand Northern Culture？ Brunner says no， not at all。 Popular mediums often give us invented cultures from the North。 You know， horned helmets on Vikings， men with incredible braids， and cowering southerners from France to the Mediterranean fleeing grim men and women jumping out of longboats。This book examines how much of Europe， especially in England and Germany romanticized the Northern world。 Brunner also includes Canada， Alaska， Greenland， a Does History Channel's Vikings TV show help us understand Northern Culture？ Brunner says no， not at all。 Popular mediums often give us invented cultures from the North。 You know， horned helmets on Vikings， men with incredible braids， and cowering southerners from France to the Mediterranean fleeing grim men and women jumping out of longboats。This book examines how much of Europe， especially in England and Germany romanticized the Northern world。 Brunner also includes Canada， Alaska， Greenland， and Russia， along with their native peoples; Sami， Yakut， Inuit and Athabaskan in his work。 He discusses the work of painters， travelogue writers， and the men who developed racist "aryan" theories of white superiority and how they used the Eddas and sagas of the North to their advantage。 Then he contrasts these portrayals with the written accounts of Nordic peoples。 Sadly， he does not have enough room or access to Indigenous people's views of themselves and their lands。The translator， Jefferson Chase， makes one consistent error。 When he mentions islands with Norse or Swedish names he keeps øya （Norwegian for Island） on the name and calls a place Bjørnsøya Island （as an example）。 That is like calling the border river between Texas and Mexico The Rio Grande River。 There is a date incorrectly given as 1830 rather than 1730 for Vitus Bering's discovery of the Aleutians， and Tolkien's son Michael being confused with his uncle when mentioning Tolkien's letter from 1941 to him damning Hitler for perverting the symbols and myths of the Northlands。 This is a good book that will help people understand the Arctic， and the peoples who live in the near， far， and high North。 。。。more

Sam Law ，

I thought this an interesting read。 The author throws up a lot of ideas， and has obviously done serious in-depth research。He challenges the concepts "westerners" have of the North， without being massively revelatory。 Here， the North is seen primarily （and initially） from the view point of Europe。 The Greeks and Romans， then as the borders were pushed back and the world expanded， from the viewpoint of those living in what is now modern Germany， the UK， Denmark and Poland。 I found the 17th Century I thought this an interesting read。 The author throws up a lot of ideas， and has obviously done serious in-depth research。He challenges the concepts "westerners" have of the North， without being massively revelatory。 Here， the North is seen primarily （and initially） from the view point of Europe。 The Greeks and Romans， then as the borders were pushed back and the world expanded， from the viewpoint of those living in what is now modern Germany， the UK， Denmark and Poland。 I found the 17th Century figure of Ole Worms very interesting， and there is quite a few references back to him throughout the book。 His name was new to me， but seemingly very important in his time for "northern knowledge"。 As the book develops， we move away from the image of the all-conquering， bemuscled Viking behemoth， to the burgeoning tourist and travel industry to Scandanavia and beyond， how the North became somewhat like the Grand Tour of Italy， and how increasing contact led to the forging of fables （Ossian）， and cultural appropriation and corruption of various Nordic myths， most notably by pre-twentieth century individuals like Wagner， and Houston Chamberlain， and the pan-German Volkisch movements。Later， we read of the Arctic North， how explorers "discovered" the North Pole and indigenous peoples， leading to yet another view of the North。 We also get to read of the lives of the women （unfortunately never prioritised in history）， the hospitality experienced by travellers， and the exaggerated tales of bucolic harmony they returned with。Overall， a very good primer on the North， and a useful read to understand some of the political currents of today。 Some parts are a little heavy-going， but the author does extremely well in keeping all the various stories， competing movements and trends in balance。 I would definitely recommend it。Thanks to NetGalley for providing this ARC to me。 。。。more

ConalPriest ，

I received an advanced reading copy through NetGalleyBernd Brunner’s Extreme North considers how our notions of the North have developed and changed over the centuries and amongst different people; from the source material for literary epics to rival the Greeks to the myth-making factory of the Third Reich。 As with many histories revolving around a changing idea， the sources employed and their thematic groupings can feel scattered， producing an overall sense of how ideas of the North took hold b I received an advanced reading copy through NetGalleyBernd Brunner’s Extreme North considers how our notions of the North have developed and changed over the centuries and amongst different people; from the source material for literary epics to rival the Greeks to the myth-making factory of the Third Reich。 As with many histories revolving around a changing idea， the sources employed and their thematic groupings can feel scattered， producing an overall sense of how ideas of the North took hold but without a strong central narrative。 Brunner is aided in gathering up the loose threads of these ideas by concentrating on medieval to modern sources， largely those coming from Europe and North America， and given the scale of the question he asks， one can not begrudge him too much for these limitations。 Work focusing more on African， Asian， and South American conceptions of the North would make a profitable comparison。 Though the range of sources， both primary and secondary， is doubtless impressive， it can at times leave the book feeling encyclopaedic rather than one to be consumed cover-to-cover。 This feeling is accentuated by frequent short chapters that have the quality of encyclopaedic entries; a structure that breaks the book into analytical and narrative sections that can be difficult to explicitly relate。 However， this does not prevent these individual ‘entries’ from proving compelling or useful， even if not easily worked into a larger arc。 Indeed， this structure mirrors the collection of Ole Worm， the early-modern professor and keeper of Northern curiosities， with which the book begins and ends。 Worm’s collection was eclectic， taking in the cultural productions， arts， and wildlife of the regions it sought to represent。 Extreme North is its own such museum in miniature， and each reader will have to decide whether they can contend with Brunner’s scattered collection。If one can accept the structure then the book has many threads to pull – from the shift away from the classical world to the fabricated Ossian of Scotland in the eighteenth century， the fabled Nordic Atlantis that was still being referenced in the twentieth， or the way in which a corrupted Norse mythology has been put to work by ignorant extremists in our own time。 Brunner also makes a contribution towards our understanding of the global North-South divide， as opposed to the more commonly referenced East-West。 Though Extreme North is not a comparative work in this sense， it does help to explain some of the historical antecedence for the view of the global North as wealthier and less troubled than the global South， which helps to put some of our debates on inequality today into greater context。Perhaps most significantly， in writing about a space that is dominated in many minds by the largely white countries of Scandinavia， the hyper-masculine Vikings， and rugged men with an Amundsen-shape， Brunner is still able to explore the lives of women， native peoples of the remote North， and people of colour。 In this， Brunner is able to not only examine how our notions of North came to be， but also how notions ought to change。 。。。more

Geoffrey ，

（Note: I received an advanced reader copy of this book courtesy of NetGalley）It was intriguing to see all the different conceptualizations that there have been of the “north” （which in this book’s case， turned out to mainly be Scandinavia） through the centuries， and how it continues to have a myriad of different meanings in contemporary times。 However， the large number of women and men that he covers and their respective conceptualizations of the north made this a dense read at times。 There were （Note: I received an advanced reader copy of this book courtesy of NetGalley）It was intriguing to see all the different conceptualizations that there have been of the “north” （which in this book’s case， turned out to mainly be Scandinavia） through the centuries， and how it continues to have a myriad of different meanings in contemporary times。 However， the large number of women and men that he covers and their respective conceptualizations of the north made this a dense read at times。 There were quite a few instances where the book felt like it was jumping rapidfire from person to person to person to person to new person and their respective projected fantasy， with me having barely any time to process what I had just previously read。 By the closing chapter I was admittedly having a little trouble absorbing very much of everything， much less processing， like water being poured on an already saturated sponge。 It was intriguing to see all the different conceptualizations that there have been of the “north” （which in this book’s case， turned out to mainly be Scandinavia） through the centuries， and how it continues to have a myriad of different meanings in contemporary times。 However， the large number of women and men that he covers and their respective conceptualizations of the north made this a dense read at times。 There were quite a few instances where the book felt like it was jumping rapidfire from person to person to person to person to new person and their respective projected fantasy， with me having barely any time to process what I had just previously read。 By the closing chapter I was admittedly having a little trouble absorbing very much of everything， much less processing， like water being poured on an already saturated sponge。 In the end though， there was quite a lot that I was able to learn here。 I do also definitely appreciate how I'm now not only thinking a little more about the many and often contradicting ideas of "north" that I have encountered over the course of my own lifetime， but also thinking about the conceptual fantasies of various regions， and what is mentally evoked by notions of "south" or "east。" So overall， a good， thought-provoking read， albeit one that may be best enjoyed when consumed in small installments。 。。。more

Andréa ，

Note: I accessed a digital review copy of this book through Edelweiss。

Norman Weiss ，

Ein sehr gut lesbares und hochinformatives Buch über die Konstruktion und die Wahrnehmung des Nordens über die Zeit。 Klare Leseempfehlung。Als Manko habe ich die etwas oberflächliche – und dadurch verharmlosende – Darstellung von Houston Stewart Chamberlain empfunden。

pfaffingers_bibliophilie ，

KurzrezensionIch habe dieses Buch von meiner besten Freundin zu Weihnachten bekommen und ich bin ehrlich traurig， dass es mir so gar nicht gefallen hat。 Bernd Brunner wollte hier die geschichtliche und geografische Entwicklung einer Gesellschaft zeichnen und hat leider nur einen zähen und undurchsichtigen Wust an Daten und Fakten präsentiert。 Der Klappentext klang so gut， aber die Umsetzung war zermürbend。 Es fängt schon damit an， dass eine Einleitung fehlt und man nicht weiß， worauf dieses Buch KurzrezensionIch habe dieses Buch von meiner besten Freundin zu Weihnachten bekommen und ich bin ehrlich traurig， dass es mir so gar nicht gefallen hat。 Bernd Brunner wollte hier die geschichtliche und geografische Entwicklung einer Gesellschaft zeichnen und hat leider nur einen zähen und undurchsichtigen Wust an Daten und Fakten präsentiert。 Der Klappentext klang so gut， aber die Umsetzung war zermürbend。 Es fängt schon damit an， dass eine Einleitung fehlt und man nicht weiß， worauf dieses Buch abzielt und was der Autor innerhalb des Buches beschreiben will。 Man wird sofort reingeschmissen in ein Fass aus Daten， Fakten， Namen， Reiseberichten und Karten und hat keine Ahnung， welche Zusammenhänge das haben soll。 Ich habe mich bis zur Hälfte des Buches gekämpft， es dann mehrere Tage beiseite gelegt， aber besser wurde es nicht。 Den letzten Teil des Buches habe ich nur noch überflogen。 Einzig das Cover des Buches ist unglaublich schön。 Aber schön sein ist eben doch nicht alles。。。Fazit: Was sehr interessant erschien， wurde grauenvoll umgesetzt。 Sehr schade， aber ich kann das Buch einfach nicht weiterempfehlen。 。。。more

Juliane Fuchs ，

Eine zusammenhangslose Aneinanderreihung von wissenswerten Fakten。 Kaum zieht sich ein Thema länger hin als über einen Absatz， dadurch kratzt es leider nur an der Oberfläche。 Bedeutende Autoren werden in einem Nebensatz erwähnt und mit anderen in einen Topf geworfen， teilweise sind Fakten auch einfach inhaltlich falsch。 Liest sich wie sehr viele zusammengefasste Wikipedia-Artikel hintereinander， es fehlt der rote Faden。