Please join us (in person or on Teams) for a research seminar featuring Jenna M. Coughlin, a Professor of Norwegian at St. Olaf College in Minnesota and currently a guest researcher at the Department of Linguistics and Scandinavian Studies at UiO.
The topic for Jenna’s presentation will be:
Literary Water Imaginaries in the Alta Dam Protests
Media played a vital role in the Alta Dam protests. Images associated with the movement against the dam circulated widely, and several of these images have gained iconic status. Less attention has been paid to the role of literature in making a case against the dam. In this talk, I present the results of a study of the use of poems as entries in the debate over the Alta dam that I conducted alongside two student researchersfrom St. Olaf College. Together, we examined how Norwegian-language poems were used to contrast the water imaginary held by the state with alternative imaginaries in which water holds value beyond its utility as an energy source. Among other questions, we ask, How do poems convey the cultural and ecological significance of the Alta/Kautokeino watershed?, How did poems intersect with and build on the strategies used in other protest media?, and To what extent do these poems frame the dam as an (Indigenous) environmental justice issue? Our results suggest the significance of poetry for negotiating the meaning of the Alta River, both locally and on a national and even global scale.
Feel free to forward the invitation to others you think might have an interest in learning about Jenna’s interesting research.
Welcome!
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Microsoft Teams meeting
Meeting ID: 320 260 583 396 133
Passcode: ym6Dd9Fv
Phone conference ID: 591 978 682#
Møtevett - Mute mikrofon - Opplysningsplikt før opptak
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When: 13.05.26 kl 14.15–15.45
Where:
Alta BT2 2110 Møterom Haldde
Location / Campus: Alta, Other
Target group: Students, Guests, Invited, Enhet, Employees
E-mail: trine.kvidal@uit.no