Minority Voices in Contemporary Nordic Literature

As part of the 25 Years Anniversay Programme of the Nordic embassies in Berlin, the Nordic embassies, in cooperation with the University of Oslo and the Henrik Steffens-Professorship am Nordeuropa-Institut, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, are happy to invite you to a talk and panel discussion exploring new literary voices from the Nordic countries.

In recent years, several young authors with a migrant background have gained prominence in the Nordic countries. How does this new generation of writers use their personal and collective experiences in their literature? How do these new perspectives contribute to social innovation? To what extent are their works interpreted through the lens of their backgrounds? Are there similarities between the Nordic and German experiences?

Program

6:30 pm_Arrival and registration

7 pm_Welcome by Laila Stenseng, Ambassador of Norway

Introduction by Prof. Dr. Tonje Vold, University of Oslo: »To Read the World. From an imperial gaze and postcolonialism to world literature«

7:15 pm: Panel debate moderated by Viktorie Knotkova
Participants:
Nancy Herz, Norwegian writer
Burcu Sahin, Swedish writer
Prof. Dr. Elisabeth Oxfeld, Project Leader of the research project »Minority Literary Voices in Contemporary Scandinavia«, University of Oslo

8:15 pm_Q&A

8:30 pm_Reception on the exhibition floor

About the panelists

Viktorie Knotková (*1986) is a dramaturg, librettist and presenter. She focuses on international collaborations, multilingual and intercultural projects. Knotková studied dramaturgy at the Janáček Academy for Music and Performing Arts in Brno and at the Max Reinhardt Seminar in Vienna. She is currently working for the Maxim Gorki Theater in Berlin, globale° – festival for cross-border literature in Bremen, Theater Bremen, Štetl Fest – Jewish cultural festival in Brno, Center for Experimental Theater and National Opera Brno.

Nancy Lystad Herz (1996) is a Norwegian-Lebanese sociologist, author, and senior-advisor in the Norwegian Humanist Association. She has written the books »Shameless«, which was published in German in 2019 by Thienemann Verlage, and »Aren’t You Getting Married Soon«. She is currently working on a new book about diversity in the labor market. She has also published several articles about freedom of choice, growing up between two cultures, as well as on negative social control and freedom of expression. From October 2021 to March 2023, she served as State Secretary in the Norwegian Ministry of Labour and Social Inclusion.

Elisabeth Oxfeldt is professor of Scandinavian literature at the University of Oslo. Her research areas include literary activism, postcolonialism, orientalism, and (post)nationalism. She has published books on nineteenth-century Nordic Orientalism, Scandinavian travelogues, and international film adaptations of Hans Christian Andersen's fairytales. Oxfeld  has headed several research projects, including Scandinavian Narratives of Guilt and Privilege in an Age of Globalization (ScanGuilt) and, together with Tonje Vold, Unashamed Citizenship: Minority Voices in Contemporary Scandinavia.

Burcu Sahin (1993) is a Swedish poet, literary critic, and teacher at Biskops Arnö writing school. Her debut poetry collection »Embroideries« (2018), translated into English in 2024 by Jennifer Hayashida (Litmus Press), received the Winter Prize from the Society of the Nine and the Catapult Prize for Best Literary Debut from the Swedish Writers’ Union. Her second poetry collection, »Blodbok« (Albert Bonniers Förlag, 2022), explores memory culture and colonial history through archival research on The Swedish Institute of Race Biology, for which she received the Natur & Kultur scholarship. Sahin’s essays and literary criticism have appeared in Aftonbladet, Lyrikvännen, Kritiker, Ord&Bild, and Provins.

Tonje Vold is professor of Scandinavian literature at the University of Oslo. Her research areas include literature and democracy, world literature, feminism, literary activism, postcolonialism, sociology of literature as well as Southern African literature. Her latest articles concern transnational experiences and memoirs.

Fotos der Teilnehmerinnen: Pavel Storozhuk, Chai Saeid, David Konecny, UiO