Ancient Norse SymboLS

Information about project

Initiative title:

The Reception of the Ancient Norse Symbolic Resources into Selected Subcultures of Central and South-Eastern Europe: A Netnographic Analysis

Identification number:

EHP-BFNU-OVNKM-4-146-2024

Bilateral initiatives:

EEA and Norway Grants 2014 – 2021, Bilateral Relations Fund
eeagrants.org

The project is funded by EEA and Norway Grants 2014-2021.

Programme Operator:

Ministry of Finance of the Czech Republic
www.fondyehp.cz
www.norskefondy.cz

Implementing period:

03/2024 – 07/2024

Main recipient of financial suport:

University of Finance and Administration

Name of partner:

University of Oslo, Department of Culture Studies and Oriental Languages
https://www.uio.no/english/

Project team from the Czech Republic:

Associate Professor Giuseppe Maiello, University of Finance and Administration
Mirela Moldoveanu, MSc, Ph.D., University of Finance and Administration
Mgr. Jitka Cirklová, M.A., Ph.D., University of Finance and Administration
Associate Professor Jan Lánský, Ph.D., University of Finance and Administration

Project team from Norway:

Associate Professor Cecilie Endresen, University of Oslo
Associate Professor Jane Skjoldli, Ph.D., University of Stavanger
Dr. Kim Tao Thykier Makeeff, Ph.D., University of Stavanger
Associate Professor Stian Sundell Torjussen, Ph.D., Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences
Professor Helge Arsheim, Ph.D., Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences

Descrtiption of the initiative

The project will investigate Neo-Pagan social media groups and online communities of players dealing with Norse mythology. The researchers will focus mainly on both ecological and nationalistic tendencies and will ask to what extent these two ideological tendencies can influence the "proseverian" subcultures of CEE and Balkan countries. The project aims at understanding this phenomenon of late modern social life, significant in this historical period when conflicts, ideologies, myths and violence are the order of the day.

This project is inspired by the Norwegian research project “Back to Blood: Pursuing a Future from the Norse Past”, funded by the Research Council of Norway.

The multidisciplinary research team will primarily use netnographic methods to collect data for the proposed research project. Data collection will be mainly from Facebook, Reddit, and TikTok, and will be extracted manually and through the research tools CrowdTangle, 4CAT, and Zeeschuimer.

Preliminary findings will be presented at a workshop in Prague. The workshop will convene five Norwegian and four Czech scholars, all experts in the reception of Norse symbolic resources in non-Scandinavian settings.

Besides being accessible to students, this workshop will be broadcast on YouTube. The consolidated research will be published in open-source academic journals.

Associate Prof. G. Maiello, Head of the Department of Social Sciences, will be responsible for coordinating data collection on the Czech side and organizing the workshop.

Associate Professor Cecilie Endresen from Oslo will coordinate data collection outside the Czech Republic and supervise the publishing process.

The initiative aims to overcome barriers and prejudices while offering insights for debate on ancient pre-Christian cultures and how they are perceived today in Central and South-Eastern Europe.

Bilateral cooperation

The expected outcomes of bilateral cooperation will contribute to strengthening the relations between the two countries in terms of shared results and improved knowledge and mutual understanding. The proposed activities aim to enhance cooperation and improve mutual knowledge and understanding between the donor and beneficiary states.

The funding of workshop in Prague presents an opportunity to attract prestigious Norwegian scholars to the Czech Republic, providing them with a chance for direct meetings and exchanges of scientific and pedagogical information and experiences.

The funding of three international open-source scientific publications is particularly useful for scholars from both the beneficiary state and the donor state, given the value that open-source publications have today, especially for their dissemination within academic communities.