The great waves of emigration from Scandinavia to the Unites States ended with the implementation of Immigration Act of 1924. The experiences of the Scandinavian emigrants in their new locations have been extensively explored and are a part of the national canon. Emigration research has moreover focused on the United States as a receiving country and the Scandinavian influences on American societal development, such as the influential conception that states with a higher population of Scandinavian descendants have higher levels of social trust and associated benefits.

Although the emigration issue was one of the most contentious issues in Scandinavian societies at the time, evident in the public discourse and official initiatives to stem the flow of citizens leaving, there has been relatively little research on the impact on the sending countries. This stream aims to explore how the exodus of up to 25% of the population had political and cultural implications on the Scandinavian/exiting countries and the places left behind. The possibility of exit became a powerful voice of discontent that amplified the voices of those who remained and became a catalyst for change. The stream furthermore seeks to examine the exchange and flows of ideas between the US and Scandinavia and the ongoing dialogue between the two locations and how the exchanges helped to usher in societal changes in Scandinavia at the turn of the century.

The stream will explore the impact and changes brought on by emigration across disciplinary boundaries.

Questions regarding this stream can be directed to: Kristina Tomlinson Ting (Kristina.tolinsson.ting@ut.ee)

Studies examining location tend to be topophilic because they normally signal a commitment to foregrounding the perceived virtues of place: connection, community, and identity. Similarly, “emplacement” as a critical method typically signals a commitment to historical realities, authentic experience, and archival evidence that works to undo prescriptive ideologies and the abstraction of theory. Something is imagined to be recovered by turning to the idea of location.

But what of unease with place? Robert Tally calls this mode of dis-location topophrenia, thereby intending to capture not the outright fear of place (that would be topophobia) but instead an awareness of the contingency of inhabitation. He wants the term to convey “a certain identifiable ‘place-mindedness’ that informs our activities and thinking” (Topophrenia, 23), one that with its medical suffix comes close to signaling disorder or disease but should more properly be used to describe experiences of dis-ease. Freudian notions of Unbehagen and the Unheimlich are clearly in play for Tally, as is the idea of “not-thriving” (vantrivsel).

This stream calls for papers that engage with literature, film, drama, and media and/or cultural practices that are interested in a negative “place-mindedness”: depictions of being uneasy or out of place, of haunting’s temporal competition for place, or of spatial mobility (such as exile or migration) experienced as dis-location. What do each of these negations of topophilic ideas of location say about the sense of attachment that is missing?

Questions regarding this stream can be directed to: Mark Sandberg (sandberg@berkeley.edu) and Olivia Gunn (ogunn@uw.edu)

Norwegian immigrants who settled in the American Upper-Midwest during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries brought with them a rich tradition of both art and folk music for diverse purposes, including choral singing, congregational hymnody, dance and celebratory music, and concert repertoire. These immigrants established several institutions of higher learning, ensuring that their artistic traditions would be cultivated and shared with later generations. Key figures of Norwegian descent have had nation-wide influence on musical styles up to the present day, while collaborations between Norwegian citizens and the descendants of Norwegian-American immigrants continue to make vibrant contributions to the musical landscape of both urban areas and small towns across the prairies and woodlands of the Dakotas, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Iowa. Although the circumstances of everyday life experienced by Norwegian immigrants were often very different from those of their counterparts in Norway, music has remained a thread that binds together those who left their homeland and those who stayed behind, giving individuals living on both sides of the ocean today a common point on which to build modern relationships. 

This thematic stream will underscore the contributions Norwegians have made to music since the nineteenth century while highlighting the contributions immigrants made to cultural life and society, especially in the Upper Midwest of the United States. Tracing those contributions and studying cross-cultural influences will serve as the bases for assessing the indelible impact they have on Norwegian and Norwegian-American composers throughout the twentieth century and today.

Questions regarding this stream can be directed to: Marla Fogderud, marla.fogderud@northern.edu

This stream welcomes papers, lecture-recitals, and full recitals that focus on themes of Nordic musical identity. With the ever growing prominence of a global awareness of contemporary Nordic musical composition, much of which is supported contemporarily by the Council of Nordic Composers, we would like to encourage the submission of themes that approach a multidisciplinary view. Topics including historical musicology, ethnomusicology, contemporary performance practice and specified composition are all encouraged to submit to this stream. The following composers have significant anniversaries this year, and will be given particular consideration:

Bernhard Henrik Crusell (1775-1838)
Georg Gerson (1790-1825)
Johan Peter Emilius Hartmann (1805–1900)
Andreas Hallén (1846–1925)
Peter Erasmus Lange-Müller (1850–1926)
Erkki Melartin (1875–1937)
Uuno Klami (1900–61)
Karl Ottó Rúnólfsson (1900-1970)
William Heinesen (1900-1991)
Magnús Blöndal Jóhannsson (b. 1925)
Aullis Sallinen (b. 1935)
Outi Tarkiainen (b. 1985)

If proposing a lecture-recital or full-recital, please detail the compositions, the performers, and the performers biographies.

Questions regarding this stream can be directed to:  Colin Levin (ColinLevin@Gmail.com) and Kathleen Roland-Silverstein

Sponsored by the Ibsen Society of America (ISA)

All proposed papers relevant to Ibsen studies will be considered for the Annual Ibsen Society of America (ISA) panel at SASS. The ISA panel aims to support the field of Ibsen studies by showcasing cutting edge research on Ibsen from a variety of disciplinary and interdisciplinary perspectives. Proposals for sharing new research on Ibsen and “movement,” as well as proposals guided by other themes and approaches, are welcome. Within Ibsen studies, “movement” could refer to manifestations of Ibsen on global and local stages, the dynamics of theatrical practices, adaptation, the sociopolitics and history of drama and performance, and more. Papers in Ibsen studies not selected will be considered for other relevant streams and panels at SASS.

Questions regarding this panel can be directed to: Olivia Gunn (ogunn@uw.edu)