Reproducing the indigenous: John Møller’s studio portraits of Greenlanders in context

Between 1889 and 1922, John Møller (1867–1935), the first professional Greenlandic photographer, produced more than 3000 glass plate negatives documenting life in Western Greenland around the turn of the twentieth century. Rooted in an internal understanding of self, Møller’s photographs played an important part in the formation of a contemporary image of Greenlandic indigenous identity. At the same time, Møller’s photographic practice was arguably entangled in and delimited by a historical reality that was structured by colonial relations of power. This paper examines the social and art-historical contexts of Møller’s work, focusing in particular on a selection of his formal studio portraits. My reading of these portraits suggests a case in which conflicting impulses coincide. On the one hand, Møller produced images that played out the “ethnographic convention”, a European form of representation dating back to the sixteenth century used for the documentation of non-Western indigenous peoples as specimens. However, in acting out that convention, Møller’s photographs hint at a subtle, progressive building-up of identity that reclaimed images of Greenlanders for themselves, and turned an originally negative, external image of indigeneity into a positive sense of self.     

Pre‐Modern Boathouses: a maritime perspective from northern Norway

Most Scandinavian boathouses predating the Reformation (AD 1537) are located in Norway, starting in the Early Iron Age, and a majority are found in the north. Following a critical review of Norwegian boathouse studies from a historical and regional perspective, current research themes in northern Norway are discussed. Boathouses are viewed as multifunctional entities providing insights into the marine economy, social organization, and ethnic interaction between Sami and Norse populations. A more balanced and holistic perspective is needed in which boathouses are seen as a central component of the maritime cultural landscape with uses extending substantially beyond boat storage. © 2012 The Authors     

Transurban interconnectivities: an essay on the interpretation of the revolutions of 1848

This essay discusses the interpretation of the revolutionary situations of 1848 in light of recent debates on interconnectivity in history. The concept of transurban interconnectivities is proposed as the most precise concept to capture the nature of interconnectivity in 1848. It is argued that political models circulating on a European scale at the time provided the ‘knowledge resources’ that were appropriated by urban political activists across Europe. These circulating resources were appropriated by political activists as means of political mobilisation in their particular local urban context. It is argued that circulating political communication accounts for similarities with respect to political agenda, organisational form and political repertoire evident in urban settings across Europe. This argument is supported by a series of examples of local organisation and local appropriations of liberalism, radicalism and nationalism in 1848. In the concluding paragraph, the limitations of the notion of urban–rural interconnectivity are discussed in order to clarify the nature of transurban interconnectivity.     

Value chains,business conventions,and market adaptation: A comparative analysis of Norwegian and Icelandic fish exports

Business transactions’ value chains can constrain their capacity to maximize market value from limited resources. Seafood markets exhibit a strong demand for fresh, high‐quality seafood yet empirical studies show large variations in value chains’ adaptation and exploitation of market opportunities. This article presents a comprehensive model that identifies the main drivers and constraints in value chains for wild harvested seafood that generate differences in market adaptation. The model is built on theories of value chains, business conventions, competitive behaviour, governance conventions, legal regulation, and direct ecological and economic constraints. The model is applied in a comparative case analysis of market adaptation by value chains for North Atlantic cod products in Norway and Iceland, which explains why business conventions in Iceland are more consumer market adapted than those in Norway.     

What is the VAT? The policies and practices of value added tax on ebooks in Europe

This article addresses reduction of or exemption from value added tax (VAT) as a cultural- and media policy instrument and analyses the VAT policies on ebooks within the European Economic Area. Examining an area of media and policy studies that is largely overlooked, the article is partly an empirical analysis of VAT policies and partly a discussion paper raising issues applicable to other media sectors and of political and societal relevance. Section 1 of the article conceptualises VAT reduction/exemption as a media and cultural policy tool within national and supranational policy frameworks. Section 2 gives a comprehensive overview of the application of VAT on print books and ebooks in Europe and discusses some consequences of the concrete taxation practices. Section 3 reports and discusses initiatives to alter the European VAT policies on digital media and cultural products and services.     

The Use of Money in Early Modern Norway

In previous Finnish collection studies, early Finnish art collections have mainly been observed through European examples, using German or English collecting or museum‐historical literature. The history of art collecting in Russia identifies several identifiable phases of art collecting, and breeds of art collectors, that coexisted in Finnish early art collecting. In this study, the prevailing circumstances and the collectors' archetypes of Imperial Russia, of which Finland was an integral part in the period of autonomy, are considered through previously unapplied literature of Russian collecting and museum history in Finnish collection studies. Central to this are two case examples from early Finnish art collecting, with related unpublished archival material. On the whole, some of the current Finnish paradigms of the initial stages of art collecting in Finland are questioned, emphasizing, for example, the meaning of the social network, pivotal for the maturation of the collector and for the selection of subjects for collecting.     

What's on the Case-List? Legal Texts and Felonies Rediscovered

In this article light will be thrown upon so-called case-lists, a medieval source material based upon abstracts of the Norwegian Christian Laws. I have chosen to focus on one aspect in particular: the case-lists also present medieval legislation otherwise lost for posterity, and we therefore catch a glimpse of unknown felonies centred on taboos concerning food, sex and heathen practice; for instance, in a "kinky" combination so far unheard of: men having sex with women who ate horsemeat were liable to a fine of 40 marks. Following an outline of the case-lists, and remarks on methodological problems posed by these sources, the felonies will be presented and placed in a historical context. Finally, I will address the question of provenance of the case-lists.     

‘1968’ IN NORWAY: PIECEMEAL,PEACEFUL AND POSTMODERN

The first part of this essay presents an outline of ‘1968’ in Norway focusing on national particularities, especially the lack of violence. Three elements are highlighted: the political left turn with the opposition to the Vietnam War and the strong Marxist‐Leninist faction as main aspects; the student revolt; and the multifarious countercultural movement. The theme of the second part is the state of Norwegian 1968 historiography. Here a distinction is drawn between actors‐cum‐historians and historians proper, or rather between writers with a desire to commemorate – predominantly but not exclusively former communists – and writers whose interest in the events is more professionally historiographic.