Perspectives on the Nordic

Starting from the premise that significant aspects of art and aesthetics complicate, and arguably even challenge, an understanding of .the Nordic" as a concept that is either .self-evident" or .important", the volume aims to provide a venue for sharing, elaborating and refining our understanding of the Nordic in relation to art-forms as varied as literature, the visual arts and film.

Special emphasis is placed on the critical usefulness and relevance of terms such as perspective, reciprocity, and translation, and the international cross-currents associated with them. All of the contributions recognize that although use of the word .Nordic" was a response to a felt need to distinguish an apparently different sort of art, this art could not have emerged as it did without the influence of the art of countries located further south in Europe. Emphasizing the heterogeneity of art produced in the Nordic countries, all nine chapters of the book present Nordic art as multi-dimensional and dynamic, an art that responds to a growing influence of internationalization while at the same time itself contributing to international trends. The collection owes its inception to the research initiative UiO:Nordic launched by the University of Oslo in 2014, and four of the chapters are written by PhD candidates in the Faculty of Arts at the University of Oslo.

Jakob Lothe is professor of English literature at the University of Oslo.

Bente Larsen is professor of art history at the University of Oslo.