Borealism: Difference between revisions
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References all relate to the hoax, that was removed right before Tag: section blanking |
The entry is merely mentioning uses of the term borealism, that doesn't mean it is a consistent ideological term, you could find any other term being used and then cite it, this is meaningless. |
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==Borealism in art and culture== |
==Borealism in art and culture== |
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Examples of borealism include Icelandic financiers being imagined as '[[útrásarvíkingar|raiding vikings]]' during the [[Icelandic outvasion|banking boom]] that culminated in the [[2008–2011 Icelandic financial crisis]];<ref>Kristinn Schram, '[https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/96125819.pdf Banking on Borealism: Eating, Smelling, and Performing the North]', in <i>Iceland and Images of the North</i>, ed. by Sumarliði R. Ísleifsson (Québec: Presses de l'Université du Québec, 2011), pp. 305-27.</ref> the traditional music of Scandinavia being seen as distinctively sublime;<ref>Philip V. Bohlman, 'Musical Borealism: Nordic Music and European History', in ''The Oxford Handbook of Popular Music in the Nordic Countries'', ed. by Fabian Holt and Antti-Ville Kärjä (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017), pp. 33-57. {{ISBN|9780190603908}}.</ref> the stereotyping of [[Sámi]] people as strange and magical savages;<ref>Sanna Lehtonen, 'Touring the Magical North – Borealism and the Indigenous Sámi in Contemporary English-language Children’s Fantasy Literature', ''European Journal of Cultural Studies'', 22.3 (2017), 327–44. {{DOI|10.1177/1367549417722091}}.</ref> differences between Canadians and Americans being accounted for by Canadians' proximity to arctic wilderness;<ref>Thomas G. Barnes, '“Canada, True North”: A “Here There” or a Boreal Myth?', ''American Review of Canadian Studies'', 19.4 (1989), 369-79. {{DOI|10.1080/02722018909481462}}.</ref> and commentators imagining that the music of the Icelandic band [[Sigur Rós]] is the product of Iceland's distinctive geology of glaciers and volcanoes.<ref>Tore Størvold, '[https://www.duo.uio.no/bitstream/handle/10852/65863/Sigurros.pdf?sequence=1 Sigur Rós: Reception, Borealism, and Musical Style]', ''Popular Music'', 37.3 (2018), 371-91 {{DOI|10.1017/S0261143018000442}}.</ref> |
Examples of borealism include Icelandic financiers being imagined as '[[útrásarvíkingar|raiding vikings]]' during the [[Icelandic outvasion|banking boom]] that culminated in the [[2008–2011 Icelandic financial crisis]];<ref>Kristinn Schram, '[https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/96125819.pdf Banking on Borealism: Eating, Smelling, and Performing the North]', in <i>Iceland and Images of the North</i>, ed. by Sumarliði R. Ísleifsson (Québec: Presses de l'Université du Québec, 2011), pp. 305-27.</ref> the traditional music of Scandinavia being seen as distinctively sublime;<ref>Philip V. Bohlman, 'Musical Borealism: Nordic Music and European History', in ''The Oxford Handbook of Popular Music in the Nordic Countries'', ed. by Fabian Holt and Antti-Ville Kärjä (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017), pp. 33-57. {{ISBN|9780190603908}}.</ref> the stereotyping of [[Sámi]] people as strange and magical savages;<ref>Sanna Lehtonen, 'Touring the Magical North – Borealism and the Indigenous Sámi in Contemporary English-language Children’s Fantasy Literature', ''European Journal of Cultural Studies'', 22.3 (2017), 327–44. {{DOI|10.1177/1367549417722091}}.</ref> differences between Canadians and Americans being accounted for by Canadians' proximity to arctic wilderness;<ref>Thomas G. Barnes, '“Canada, True North”: A “Here There” or a Boreal Myth?', ''American Review of Canadian Studies'', 19.4 (1989), 369-79. {{DOI|10.1080/02722018909481462}}.</ref> and commentators imagining that the music of the Icelandic band [[Sigur Rós]] is the product of Iceland's distinctive geology of glaciers and volcanoes.<ref>Tore Størvold, '[https://www.duo.uio.no/bitstream/handle/10852/65863/Sigurros.pdf?sequence=1 Sigur Rós: Reception, Borealism, and Musical Style]', ''Popular Music'', 37.3 (2018), 371-91 {{DOI|10.1017/S0261143018000442}}.</ref> |
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==Borealism in far-right politics== |
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Although the concept of "[[Hyperborea|hyperboreal]]" in relation to the origins of European civilization was already used by [[esoteric]] and [[metaphysical]] writers such as [[Helena Blavatsky]] and [[René Guénon]], the term "boreal" was adopted into far-right political language by the [[Italy|Italian]] [[reactionary]] and [[Traditionalist conservatism|traditionalist]] [[Julius Evola]], who is influential in [[extreme right]]-wing circles. In his book ''Rivolta contro il mondo moderno'' (''Revolt against the Modern World''; 1934) Evola writes that in the "Golden Age" the center of the "Olympic civilization" that spread across the Eurasian continent was in a "Boreal" or Nordic "region". The [[Thule-Gesellschaft]], a secret society of which the [[Nazi]] [[Heinrich Himmler]] was a member, believed that the [[Aryan race]] came from the mythical northern province of Hyperborea. |
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In the [[discourse]] of twenty-first-century [[postmodern]] politics, the term ''boreal'' is used by politicians like [[Jean-Marie Le Pen]] in [[France]] and [[Thierry Baudet]] in [[The Netherlands]] to refer vaguely and semi-[[myth|mythically]] to Northern Europe and its ethnic groups, culture and languages. The term is used to imply a white cultural and political space "from [[Gibraltar]] to [[Vladivostok]]", as opposed to the [[international migration|migrating]] [[minorities]], in an attempt to avoid openly [[racism|racist]] connotations. Thus the term "boreal" is used as a [[euphemism|euphemistic]] way of saying "white" when referring to [[White people]]. Le Pen's statements about a "boreal Europe" and "white world" contributed to him being expelled by [[Marine Le Pen]] in 2015 as a member of the [[Front National]].<ref>[https://www.counter-currents.com/2015/04/jean-marie-le-pens-rivarol-interview/ ''“We must save Boreal Europe & the white world”'': Jean-Marie Le Pen’s Rivarol Interview] Counter-Currents Publishing, 9 april 2015</ref><ref>[http://www.rtl.fr/actu/politique/race-blanche-pour-jean-marie-le-pen-nadine-morano-a-enonce-une-evidence-historique-7779898077 ''Race blanche" : pour Jean-Marie Le Pen, Nadine Morano a "énoncé une évidence historique'']</ref> |
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The term has also been used by [[Russian nationalism|Russian-nationalist movements]] since the 1990s after the [[German reunification|fall of the Berlin wall]] as an indication of ethnic [[Russians]]. |
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In the Netherlands, [[Forum for Democracy]] (FvD) leader Thierry Baudet introduced the word in a political context.<ref>''[https://decorrespondent.nl/7955/hoe-thierry-baudet-aan-de-lippen-hing-van-jean-marie-le-pen/811713530980-29774dcf Hoe Thierry Baudet aan de lippen hing van Jean-Marie Le Pen]''</ref> At the first party congress of the FvD in 2017, he spoke about "our boreal Europe"; in the victory speech he gave to his followers after the [[2019 Dutch provincial elections]], about "our boreal world".<ref>''[https://www.dutchnews.nl/news/2019/03/on-owls-women-and-the-boreal-world-10-things-thierry-baudet-has-said/ On owls, women and the boreal world: 10 things Thierry Baudet has said]''</ref><ref>''[https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/apr/03/thierry-baudet-dutch-rightwing-populism Meet Thierry Baudet, the suave new face of Dutch rightwing populism]''</ref><ref>''[https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/03/28/the-new-face-of-the-dutch-far-right-fvd-thierry-baudet-netherlands-pvv-geert-wilders The New Face of the Dutch Far-Right - Thierry Baudet once called politicians brain-dead. Now his upstart white nationalist movement has eclipsed Geert Wilders and won more Senate seats than the prime minister’s party]''</ref> Following criticism of his speech, he stated in an interview that he was referring to "a beautiful, poetic designation" of Europe, the western world or western civilization. According to Baudet, the boreal is also the part of the world that is illuminated by the [[aurora borealis]] or the northern lights. These are mainly Western countries in Europe and North America. |
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==References== |
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{{Reflist|30em}} |
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[[Category:Etymologies]] |
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[[Category:Pseudohistory]] |
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[[Category:Western culture]] |
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[[Category:Western esotericism]] |
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[[Category:European culture]] |
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[[Category:Esoteric anthropogenesis]] |
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[[Category:People of European descent]] |
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[[Category:Race (human categorization)]] |
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[[Category:White culture|People]] |
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[[Category:Political campaign techniques]] |
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[[Category:Propaganda techniques]] |
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[[Category:Political communication]] |
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Revision as of 12:23, 23 April 2020
Borealism is a form of exoticism in which stereotypes are imposed on the Earth's northern regions and cultures (particularly the Nordic and Arctic regions).
The term was inspired by the similar concept of Orientalism, first coined by Edward Said.[2][3] Like Orientalism, Borealism has its roots in eighteenth-century European Romanticism and Romantics' fantasies about distant regions (though wild imaginings about the arctic regions can be traced back into Antiquity). Borealism can include the paradoxical ideas that the North is uniquely savage, inhospitable, or barbaric, and that it is uniquely sublime, pure, or enlightened.[4]
A further form of borealism is the explicit invocation of the boreal by white-supremacist far-right politicians.
Etymology
The term borealism derives from the adjective boreal, which originates from the name of the deity of the north wind Boreas (Βορέας) in Greek mythology.[5] The term denotes what is or comes from in the northern hemisphere. It opposes austral, denoting what lies in or comes from the southern hemisphere, and is also connected to the terms oriental (denoting what lies in the east) and occidental (denoting what lies in the west).
Boreal is not synonymous with northern, the latter qualifying what is north; the first indicates an absolute position, while the second indicates a relative position.
Borealism in art and culture
Examples of borealism include Icelandic financiers being imagined as 'raiding vikings' during the banking boom that culminated in the 2008–2011 Icelandic financial crisis;[6] the traditional music of Scandinavia being seen as distinctively sublime;[7] the stereotyping of Sámi people as strange and magical savages;[8] differences between Canadians and Americans being accounted for by Canadians' proximity to arctic wilderness;[9] and commentators imagining that the music of the Icelandic band Sigur Rós is the product of Iceland's distinctive geology of glaciers and volcanoes.[10]
- ^ Green, Joshua, 'From the Faroes to the World Stage', in The Oxford Handbook of Popular Music in the Nordic Countries, ed. by Fabian Holt, Antti-Ville Kärjä (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017), pp. 111-29 (p. 123).
- ^ Kristinn Schram, 'Borealism: Folkloristic Perspectives on Transnational Performances and the Exoticism of the North' (unpublished Ph.D. thesis, University of Edinburgh, 2011), p. 8.
- ^ Kristinn Schram, 'Banking on Borealism: Eating, Smelling, and Performing the North', in Iceland and Images of the North, ed. by Sumarliði R. Ísleifsson (Québec: Presses de l'Université du Québec, 2011), pp. 305-27 (p. 310).
- ^ Philip V. Bohlman, 'Musical Borealism: Nordic Music and European History', in The Oxford Handbook of Popular Music in the Nordic Countries, ed. by Fabian Holt and Antti-Ville Kärjä (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017), pp. 33-57 (pp. 39-42). ISBN 9780190603908.
- ^ 'Boreal, adj.', Oxford English Dictionary Online, 2nd edn (Oxford: Oxford University Press), accessed 26 July 2019.
- ^ Kristinn Schram, 'Banking on Borealism: Eating, Smelling, and Performing the North', in Iceland and Images of the North, ed. by Sumarliði R. Ísleifsson (Québec: Presses de l'Université du Québec, 2011), pp. 305-27.
- ^ Philip V. Bohlman, 'Musical Borealism: Nordic Music and European History', in The Oxford Handbook of Popular Music in the Nordic Countries, ed. by Fabian Holt and Antti-Ville Kärjä (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017), pp. 33-57. ISBN 9780190603908.
- ^ Sanna Lehtonen, 'Touring the Magical North – Borealism and the Indigenous Sámi in Contemporary English-language Children’s Fantasy Literature', European Journal of Cultural Studies, 22.3 (2017), 327–44. doi:10.1177/1367549417722091.
- ^ Thomas G. Barnes, '“Canada, True North”: A “Here There” or a Boreal Myth?', American Review of Canadian Studies, 19.4 (1989), 369-79. doi:10.1080/02722018909481462.
- ^ Tore Størvold, 'Sigur Rós: Reception, Borealism, and Musical Style', Popular Music, 37.3 (2018), 371-91 doi:10.1017/S0261143018000442.