1st Edition
National Socialist Cultural Diplomacy Culture, Politics, and Comradeship at the German-Nordic Writers’ House, 1934–1939
Introduction
Part I Keeping the Northern Gate Open: Continuities, Adaptation, and the Inauguration of the Writers’ House
1. Foundations
2. Inauguration
Part II Writers and Diplomats: Writer Selections between Cultural Autonomy and Great Power Politics
3. The Politics of Cultural Relations
4. The Way of the World
Part III Seaside Encounters: Comradeship as Cultural Diplomacy
5. Facilitating Comradeship
6. Like Belonging to the Same Volk
Conclusion
Biography
Frederik Forrai Ørskov is Postdoctoral Researcher at the Nordic Humanities Centre at Copenhagen University and the University of Southern Denmark.
“Based on a wealth of new archival material, National Socialist Cultural Diplomacy uncovers the fascinating story of the German-Nordic Writers’ House. This is an impressive contribution to our understanding of Nazi cultural ideology, policies, and ambitions, the history of cultural diplomacy, as well as the frequently fraught relations between literature and politics.”
Professor Tore Rem, Department of Literature, Area Studies and European Languages, University of Oslo“A sophisticated study of Nazi Germany’s use of cross-border literary cooperation as a geopolitical tool, this book also offers a fascinating account of how Nordic writers’ encounter with Nazi cultural diplomacy stimulated important reflections about the meaning of culture, politics, and the boundary between the two.”
Benjamin G. Martin, Associate Professor, Department of History of Science and Ideas, Uppsala University“Even the German National Socialists sometimes sought cross-border cooperation. This book examines the debates, developments, and dilemmas surrounding one especially prominent project of Nazi cultural diplomacy – the Deutsch-Nordische Schriftstellerhaus near Lübeck. A fascinating piece of research providing important insights and a genuinely transnational perspective.”
Professor Kiran Klaus Patel, Ludwig Maximilians University Munich“During the Second World War translations from Scandinavian languages made up the largest part of translated German literature. Frederik Forrai Ørskov’s book is a welcome study of one of the ways the Nazis tried to institutionalize the literary exchange with the North, and his discussion of Nordic writers’ responses to the rise of fascism is today of more than historical interest.”
Professor emeritus Narve Fulsås, modern history, University of Tromsø – The Arctic University of Norway
