Die Erfindung des Nordens
Die Erfindung des Nordens Zusatzmaterial
Die Erfindung des Nordens Zusatzmaterial

Extreme North

A Cultural History

  • An entertaining and informative voyage through cultural fantasies of the North
  • English translation published by W.W. Norton in February 2022
  • Includes photos and vintage illustrations
  • Recommended for translation by New Books in German

An entertaining and informative voyage through cultural fantasies of the North, from sea monsters and a mountain-sized magnet to racist mythmaking.

Scholars and laymen alike have long projected their fantasies onto the great expanse of the global North, whether it be as a frozen no-man’s-land, an icy realm of marauding Vikings, or an unspoiled cradle of prehistoric human life. Bernd Brunner reconstructs the encounters of adventurers, colonists, and indigenous communities that led to the creation of a northern “cabinet of wonders” and imbued Scandinavia, Iceland, and the Arctic with a perennial mystique.

Like the mythological sagas that inspired everyone from Wagner to Tolkien, Extreme North explores both the dramatic vistas of the Scandinavian fjords and the murky depths of a Western psyche obsessed with Nordic whiteness. In concise but thoroughly researched chapters, Brunner highlights the cultural and political fictions at play from the first “discoveries” of northern landscapes and stories, to the eugenicist elevation of the “Nordic” phenotype (which in turn influenced America’s limits on immigration), to the idealization of Scandinavian social democracy as a post-racial utopia. Brunner traces how crackpot Nazi philosophies that tied the “Aryan race” to the upper latitudes have influenced modern pseudoscientific fantasies of racial and cultural superiority the world over.

The North, Brunner argues, was as much invented as discovered. Full of glittering details embedded in vivid storytelling, Extreme North is a fascinating romp through both actual encounters and popular imaginings, and a disturbing reminder of the power of fantasy to shape the world we live in.

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  • Publisher: Galiani-Berlin
  • Release: 12.09.2019
  • 336 pages
  • ISBN: 978-3-86971-192-8
Cover Download Die Erfindung des Nordens
Die Erfindung des Nordens
Susanne Schleyer

Bernd Brunner

Bernd Brunner, born in 1964, writes widely acclaimed, highly entertaining books at the interface of culture and the history of science. Most recently, Galiani published The Book of Night (2021) and Extreme North (2019). His books have been translated into several languages.