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Syllabus:

Swedish Culture and Everyday life, 7.5 Credits

Swedish name: Svensk kultur och vardagsliv

This syllabus is valid: 2021-01-18 valid to 2024-01-14 (newer version of the syllabus exists)

Course code: 1ET055

Credit points: 7.5

Education level: First cycle

Main Field of Study and progress level: Ethnology: First cycle, has only upper-secondary level entry requirements

Grading scale: Three-grade scale

Responsible department: Department of Culture and Media Studies

Established by: Faculty director of studies, Faculty of arts, 2020-09-03

Contents

The course provides an introduction to Swedish society, culture and daily life. It explores a number of themes and questions in contemporary culture such as, gender and equality, minority groups, urban-rural, civil movements, and issues about nature, tourism, and sustainability. The course is mainly based on analysis of material from ethnographic fieldwork and popular culture where representations of Swedishness and Swedish culture and identity are highlighted and problematised.

Expected learning outcomes

After completed course, the student should be able to account for:

  • contents and meanings in representations of Swedish culture and everyday life
  • how representations of  Swedish culture is expressed in different areas such as the relationship between urban and rural, civil society, tourism, and the relation to nature and sustainability
  • meanings of gender, equality, diversity in debate and popular culture end research

After completed course, the student must show the ability to:

  • orally and in writing critically reflect and analyze examples of swedish culture in public debate and popular culture in relation to political discourse and research
  • conduct a documentation of own examples of the notion of Swedishness through observation and text analysis of popular cultural examples

Required Knowledge

General entry requirements

Form of instruction

The course is given in English. The teaching consists of lectures, seminars, group exercises and excursion (s). If attendance at lectures and exercises is compulsory, that is to say of an examinatory character, this is specified in the schedule. If the student is absent from a compulsory seminar or lecture, a supplementary assignment will be provided by the teacher.
 
For those who are registered for a course and have a disability, there are resources for special support. For more information contact the Student Center.

Examination modes

The course is examined through participation in seminars and excursions, which are graded U (Fail) or G (Pass) and one individually written examination. The written exam is held at the end of the course and will cover both descriptive and analytic elements. On the written examination one of the grades U (Fail), G (Pass), or VG (Pass with distinction) is given. In order to pass the course all exams and compulsory sessions must be passed and one of the grades U (Fail), G (Pass), or VG (Pass with distinction) is given.   

Students who fail the scheduled final examination have the right to retake the examination within two months after the regular exam date, but the first exam might also be rewritten with a restriction to recieve the highest grade (VG). Examination on the same syllabus as the ordinary examination is guaranteed until two years after the first registration to the course.

Students who have passed an examination cannot redo the examination to receive a higher grade. Students have the right to be re-examined up to five times per course. Examination and supplementary examination based on the syllabus outlined here can be guaranteed for up to two years after the start of the course. If a student is given a "fail" grade on at least two consecutive attempts of the examination of the course or course component, she or he has the right to request a new examiner. The director of studies should be consulted in such circumstances.

Literature

  • Valid from: 2023 week 3

    Literature

    Course literature

    Agnidakis Paul
    Ethnology
    The international encyclopedia of anthropology : 2018 :
    Elektronisk resurs
    Mandatory

    Booth Michael
    The almost nearly perfect people : the truth about the Nordic miracle
    London : Jonathan Cape : 2014 : 406 s. :
    ISBN: 9780224089623
    Mandatory
    Search the University Library catalogue

    Carlsson Nina
    Revitalizing the Indigenous, integrating into the colonized? The banal colonialism of immigrant integration in Swedish Sápmi
    Ethnic and racial studies. 43(16) : 2020 :
    https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01419870.2020.1776360
    Mandatory
    Reading instructions: pp. 268-286.

    Crang Mike
    Nation, region and homeland: history and tradition in Dalarna, Sweden.
    Included in:
    Cultural geographies
    London : Arnold : 2002- : 6 : pages 447-470 :
    http://cgj.sagepub.com/content/6/4/447.full.pdf+html
    Mandatory

    Extending the local: activist types and forms of social media use in the case of an anti-mining struggle
    Dahlberg-Grundberg Michael, Örestig Johan
    Social movement studies. 16(3) : 2016 :
    https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14742837.2016.1268955
    Mandatory

    Exploring everyday life : strategies for ethnography and cultural analysis
    Ehn Billy, Löfgren Orvar, Wilk Richard R.
    Lanham, Maryland : Rowman & Littlefield : [2016] : 153 pages :
    ISBN: 9780759124066
    Mandatory
    Search the University Library catalogue
    Reading instructions: pp. 81-98; 99-114

    Eriksson Madeleine
    (Re)producing a "peripheral" region : Northern Sweden in the news
    Wiley-Blackwell : 2008 :
    http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-19636
    Mandatory

    Force of habit : exploring everyday culture
    Frykman Jonas, Löfgren Orvar, Bringéus Nils-Arvid, Crozier Alan, Weston David
    Lund : Lund Univ. Press : 1996 : 172 s. :
    ISBN: 0-86238-426-5 (Chartwell-Bratt)
    Mandatory
    Search the University Library catalogue
    Reading instructions: Introduction. The Study of Swedish customs and habits

    Sweden after the recent election : the double-binding power of Swedish whiteness through the mourning of the loss of “old Sweden” and the passing of “good Sweden”
    Hübinette Tobias, Lundström Catrin
    Nora 19 (1) : 2011 :
    Elektronisk resurs
    Mandatory
    Reading instructions: pp. 42-52

    Race performativity and melancholic whiteness in contemporary Sweden
    Hübinette Tobias, Räterlinck Lennart E.H.
    Social Identities 20(6) : 2014 :
    Elektronisk resurs
    Mandatory
    Reading instructions: pp. 501-514

    Isenhour Cindy
    Building sustainable societies: A Swedish case study on the limits of reflexive modernization
    American ethnologist 37(3) : 2010 :
    Elektronisk resurs
    Mandatory
    Reading instructions: pp. 511-525

    Langvasbråten Trude
    A Scandinavian Model? Gender Equality Discourses on Multiculturalism.
    Social politics 15(1) : 2009 :
    Elektronisk resurs
    Mandatory
    Reading instructions: pp. 32-52

    More than just a job : exploring the meanings of tourism work among indigenous Sámi tourist entrepreneurs
    Leu Traian, Eriksson Madeleine, Müller Dieter
    Routledge : 2018 :
    http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-146937
    Mandatory
    Reading instructions: pp. 1468-1482.

    Ljungström Åsa
    Coffee and Class for the Swedes – as seen in the Millennium Trilogy by Stieg Larsson
    Linköping University : 2013 :
    Coffee as materiality. In: Dahlin, Johanna & Andersson, Tove (eds.) On the Move: ACSIS conference 11-13 June Norrköping; Sweden 2013. Linköping: Linköping University Electronic Press. pp. 69-79
    Mandatory

    Civil outrage. Emotion, space and identity in legitimisations of rural protest
    Lundgren Anna Sofia, Nilsson Bo
    Emotion, Space and Society 26 : 2018 :
    Elektronisk resurs
    Mandatory
    Reading instructions: pp. 16-22

    Martin Brian
    Activism, political and social
    Encyclopedia of activism and social justice : 2007 :
    Elektronisk resurs
    Mandatory
    Reading instructions: 99. 19-27

    Pluralistic struggles in gender, sexuality and coloniality : challenging Swedish exceptionalism
    Alm Erika, Berg Linda, Lundahl Hero Mikela, Johansson Anna, Laskar Pia, Martinsson Lena, Mulinari Diana, Wasshede Cathrin
    [Basingstoke] : Palgrave Macmillan : 2021 : 316 pages (PDF) :
    https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-47432-4
    ISBN: 9783030474324
    Mandatory
    Search the University Library catalogue
    Reading instructions: pp. 19-47

    Hall Stuart
    Representation : cultural representations and signifying practices
    London : Sage : 1997 : 400 s. :
    ISBN: 0-7619-5431-7 (inb.) ; £39.95
    Mandatory
    Search the University Library catalogue
    Reading instructions: pp.1-29

    Teitelbaum Benjamin
    Come Hear our Merry Song:' Shifts in the Sound of Contemporary Swedish Radical Nationalism
    Brown University : 2013 :
    https://repository.library.brown.edu/studio/item/bdr:320631/
    Mandatory
    Reading instructions: Selected reading according to the instructions of the teacher.

    Sweden and Swedishness from Migrants Afar
    Tolgensbakk Ida, Woube Annie
    Ethnologia Scandinavica : 2016 :
    Elektronisk resurs
    Mandatory

    Towns A. et al.
    The equality conundrum: Gender and nation in the ideology of the Sweden Democrats
    Party Politics, 20:2 : 2014 :
    Elektronisk resurs
    Mandatory
    Reading instructions: pp. 237-247

    Becoming an Activist Citizen: Individual Experiences and Learning Processes within the Swedish Suburban Movement
    Ålund A., León Rosales R.
    Journal of Education and Culture Studies 1(2) : 2017 :
    Elektronisk resurs
    Mandatory
    Reading instructions: pp. 123-140

    Articles according to teachers' instructions may be added

  • Valid from: 2021 week 3

    Encyclopedia of activism and social justice
    Anderson Gary L., Herr Kathryn
    Thousand Oaks, Calif. : Sage Publications : cop. 2007 :
    Mandatory
    Reading instructions: Martin, B., "Activism, political and social", p. 19-27

    Bendix Regina
    Introduction: Ear to Ear, Nose to Nose, Skin to Skin — The Senses in Comparative Ethnographic Perspective
    Etnofoor : 2005 :
    Mandatory
    Reading instructions: Etnofoor, 18(1), 3-14 (14 p.) http://www.jstor.org/stable/25758082

    Booth Michael
    The almost nearly perfect people : the truth about the Nordic miracle
    London : Jonathan Cape : 2014 : 406 s. :
    ISBN: 9780224089623
    Mandatory
    Search the University Library catalogue

    Citizenship policies and ideas of nationhood in Scandinavia, Citizenship Studies, 14:4
    Brochmann Grete, Seland Idunn
    Mandatory : 2010 :
    Mandatory

    Callan Hilary
    The international encyclopedia of anthropology
    [Hoboken, NJ?] : John Wiley : [2018] : 1 online resource :
    ISBN: 9781118924396
    Mandatory
    Search the University Library catalogue
    Reading instructions: Agnidakis, Paul: "Ethnology" https://www.umu.se/globalassets/organisation/fakulteter/humfak/institutionen-for-kultur--och-medievetenskaper/student/filer/agnidakis-i-wiley-blackwells-international-encyclopedia-of-anthropology-2018.pdf

    Carlsson Nina
    Revitalizing the Indigenous, integrating into the colonized? The banal colonialism of immigrant integration in Swedish Sápmi
    Ethnic and racial studies. 43(16) : 2020 :
    https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01419870.2020.1776360
    Mandatory
    Reading instructions: pp. 268-286.

    Crang Mike
    Nation, region and homeland: history and tradition in Dalarna, Sweden.
    Included in:
    Cultural geographies
    London : Arnold : 2002- : 6 : pages 447-470 :
    http://cgj.sagepub.com/content/6/4/447.full.pdf+html
    Mandatory
    Reading instructions: pp. 447-470

    Extending the local: activist types and forms of social media use in the case of an anti-mining struggle
    Dahlberg-Grundberg Michael, Örestig Johan
    Social movement studies. 16(3) : 2016 :
    https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14742837.2016.1268955
    Mandatory
    Reading instructions: pp. 309-322.

    Eriksson Madeleine
    (Re)producing a "peripheral" region : Northern Sweden in the news
    Wiley-Blackwell : 2008 :
    http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-19636
    Mandatory
    Reading instructions: pp. 369-388

    Ethnologia Scandinavica : a journal for Nordic ethnology
    Uppsala : Kungl. Gustav Adolfs Akademien för svensk folkkultur : 2010- :
    http://gustavadolfsakademien.se/tidskrifter/tidskrift/ethnologia-scandinavica
    Mandatory
    Reading instructions: Tolgensbakk, I. & Woube, A., 2016. “Sweden and Swedishness from Migrants Afar", Ethnologia Scandinavica: A Journal for Nordic Ethnology, Vol 46: 21-37. (16 pp). Available online at: http://gustavadolfsakademien.se/tidskrifter/bok/ethnologia-scandinavica-2016

    Gerholm Lena
    The Concept of Culture in Ethnology
    In: Sjögren, Annick & Lena Jansson (eds.). Culture and Management. p.15-27 (13 p.). : 1994 :
    Mandatory

    Hall Stuart
    Representation : cultural representations and signifying practices
    London : Sage : 1997 : 400 s. :
    ISBN: 0-7619-5431-7 (inb.) ; £39.95
    Mandatory
    Search the University Library catalogue
    Reading instructions: pp. 1-29

    Sweden after the recent election : the double-binding power of Swedish whiteness through the mourning of the loss of “old Sweden” and the passing of “good Sweden”
    Hübinette Tobias, Lundström Catrin
    Included in:
    Nora
    London : Taylor & Francis : 1998- :
    Mandatory

    Race performativity and melancholic whiteness in contemporary Sweden
    Hübinette Tobias, Räterlinck Lennart E.H.
    Routledge : 2014 :
    Social Identities, 02 November 2014, Vol.20(6), p.501-514
    Mandatory

    Isenhour Cindy
    Building sustainable societies: A Swedish case study on the limits of reflexive modernization
    Included in:
    American ethnologist
    Washington : The Soc. : 1974- : 37 : pages 511-525 :
    Mandatory

    Langvasbråten Trude
    A Scandinavian Model? Gender Equality Discourses on Multiculturalism.
    Included in:
    Social politics h [Elektronisk resurs] b international studies in gender, state & society
    Oxford : Oxford Univ. Press : 2005 : 15 (1) : pages 32-52 (20 s.) :
    Mandatory
    Reading instructions: pp. 32-52.

    More than just a job : exploring the meanings of tourism work among indigenous Sámi tourist entrepreneurs
    Leu Traian, Eriksson Madeleine, Müller Dieter
    Routledge : 2018 :
    http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-146937
    Mandatory
    Reading instructions: pp. 1468-1482.

    Ljungström Åsa
    Coffee and Class for the Swedes – as seen in the Millennium Trilogy by Stieg Larsson
    Linköping University : 2013 :
    Coffee as materiality. In: Dahlin, Johanna & Andersson, Tove (eds.) On the Move: ACSIS conference 11-13 June Norrköping; Sweden 2013. Linköping: Linköping University Electronic Press. pp. 69-79
    Mandatory

    Pluralistic struggles in gender, sexuality and coloniality : challenging Swedish exceptionalism
    Alm Erika, Berg Linda, Lundahl Hero Mikela, Johansson Anna, Laskar Pia, Martinsson Lena, Mulinari Diana, Wasshede Cathrin
    [Basingstoke] : Palgrave Macmillan : 2021 : 316 pages (PDF) :
    https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-47432-4
    ISBN: 9783030474324
    Mandatory
    Search the University Library catalogue
    Reading instructions: Lundahl Hero, M., 2021. “Public Intimacy and ‘White Feminism': On the Vain Trust in Scandinavian Equality" pp. 19-47

    Civil outrage. Emotion, space and identity in legitimisations of rural protest.
    Lundgren AS, Nilsson B
    Included in:
    Emotion, Space and Society
    2008- : 26 : pages 16-22 :
    Mandatory

    O'Dell Tom
    Culture unbound : Americanization and everyday life in Sweden
    Lund : Nordic Academic Press : 1997 : 256 s. :
    ISBN: 918911602X
    Mandatory
    Search the University Library catalogue
    Reading instructions: Available online via Umeå University Library

    Teitelbaum Benjamin
    Come Hear our Merry Song:' Shifts in the Sound of Contemporary Swedish Radical Nationalism
    Brown University : 2013 :
    https://repository.library.brown.edu/studio/item/bdr:320631/
    Mandatory
    Reading instructions: Selected reading according to the instructions of the teacher.

    Towns A. et al.
    The equality conundrum: Gender and nation in the ideology of the Sweden Democrats
    Party Politics, 20:2 : 2014 :
    Mandatory
    Reading instructions: arty Politics, 20:2, pp. 237-247 https://journals-sagepub-com.proxy.ub.umu.se/doi/full/10.1177/1354068813520272

    Exploring everyday life : strategies for ethnography and cultural analysis
    Ehn Billy, Löfgren Orvar, Wilk Richard R.
    Lanham, Maryland : Rowman & Littlefield : [2016] : 153 pages :
    ISBN: 9780759124066
    Search the University Library catalogue
    Reading instructions: pp. 81-98; 99-114.

    Culture builders : a historical anthropology of middle-class life.
    Frykman Jonas, Löfgren Orvar, Crozier Alan
    New Brunswick : Rutgers Univ. Press : ix, 321 s. : ill. :
    ISBN: 0-8135-1239-5
    Search the University Library catalogue

    Force of habit : exploring everyday culture
    Frykman Jonas, Löfgren Orvar, Bringéus Nils-Arvid, Crozier Alan, Weston David
    Lund : Lund Univ. Press : 1996 : 172 s. :
    ISBN: 0-86238-426-5 (Chartwell-Bratt)
    Search the University Library catalogue
    Reading instructions: Introduction. The Study of Swedish customs and habits" In: Force of Habit: Exploring Everyday Culture [translated by Alan Crozier & David Weston].