Research group North View is a network for researchers at the Faculty of Arts addressing issues connected to the north, the northern, and the arctic.
North is a geographical direction, and a more or less well-defined area and physical place, but the meaning of the north is also a cultural construction, formed and reformed by ideas and representations generated both from within northern areas and from outside observers. So how is the north viewed, and what can we see from the perspective of the north?
The network North View continues a long tradition of research on the north at the Faculty of Arts at Umeå University. We examine representations of the north in different cultural and historical contexts, and investigate how these change over time. We look at representations in different media, genres and text forms, generated within the north or by outside observers. We approach language from a number of perspectives, again with emphasis on both internal and external sources. The situation in and function of specific northern locations are also linked to a number of global challenges, not least environmental and sustainability issues.
