Karen-Margrethe Simonsen

Preface
Law and justice have always been vital issues in literature, but law and litera-
ture was not developed as a research field until the 1970s in the US. The last
few decades, the field has expanded to Europe where it has grown consider-
ably. Even though this disciplinary field rarely has a natural institutional home
in Europe, the field is no longer so exotic or rare that it needs an introduction
every time it is mentioned. Law and literature has become a widely renowned
field with its own traditions, canonical texts and methodological problems.
Many of these traditions, texts and methods have been imported from the US
and transplanted to a European context. In a global world, the transfer of
academic traditions is the rule rather than the exception. However, we must
also ask ourselves what this transfer means: what is lost and what is gained
in the transfer? How does the European context provide us with new under-
standings and perspectives on law and literature? Is it possible to transplant
law and literature research from a common law country to civil law countries?
How do the different legal cultures in Europe determine our understanding of
law and justice, and how do the specific traditions of legal codification in
Europe affect art and culture? In order to start to answer these as yet inade-
quately answered questions, it is necessary to reflect on the many differences
between the legal cultures of Europe.
In this book, we will take a closer look at the traditions of art and law in
the Nordic countries, which present an interesting example within the Euro-
pean context. They are all very much influenced by general European develop-
ments, but their laws and art have developed in unique ways, which means
that the Nordic countries can become a ‘test case’ both for the possibility of
applying general insights to a specific cultural context and for developing new
insights from a specific regional basis.
The Nordic countries are also interesting because of their strong tradition
of literature and art abundant with issues of justice and law. From the Icelandic
sagas and Kalevala to Ludvig Holberg, Steen Steensen Blicher, Henrik Ibsen,
Lars Norén and Lars von Trier, Nordic literature, theater and film have devel-
oped dense and rich discourses on law and justice. We find both dramatic
stories of blood feuds and revenge (the sagas) and enlightened drama which
has contributed to the development of the modern egalitarian welfare state
(Henrik Ibsen). We find satirical critiques of the enlightened lawyers (Ludvig
Holberg) and serious explorations of the sufferings on the margins of law (Lars
Norén). We find one of the Western world’s earliest crime stories (St. St. Bli-

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2 Karen-Margrethe Simonsen

cher: 1829), and we find works that use discourses on law and justice in a
national Selfbildung’s process (Kalevala) or in a transatlantic dialogue (Lars
von Trier).
In this book we analyze a selection of some of the best and most classical
texts from the Nordic countries. Of course, many other examples could have
deserved inclusion, such as the controversial writer August Strindberg, who
blends his iconoclastic portraits of modernity with satirical portraits of law-
yers, and Karen Blixen, who counterposed our Western senses of justice with
those of Africa, and many others.
I have not tried to incorporate all the writers who merit attention (which
would be impossible); nevertheless I hope that the selection will both interest
readers who are already familiar with Nordic literature, theater and film and
tease the curiosity of those who are not. Some of the works analyzed in this
volume have of course already received some international attention also
within the field of law and literature. But I think that bringing together analy-
ses of these important Nordic texts shows how not only the texts themselves
but also the Nordic context raise new questions within the field of law and
literature.
This book arose from collaboration between Nordic researchers within the
Nordic Network for Law and Literature between 2005 and 2009, and was
financed by Nordforsk. At a conference in Oñati in 2007, one of our keynote
lecturers was Ian Ward, a renowned researcher in law and literature who spoke
in favour of widening the canon of law and literature. The idea of writing a
book on law and literature with examples from Nordic literature was originally
his, but it immediately met approval in the network. Even though most of the
literary scholars in this volume are from departments of comparative literature
rather than Scandinavian departments, the idea of discussing some of the best
examples of Nordic literature and art within an international context of law
and literature seemed like a good idea in order to further comparative discus-
sions of law and literature.
To facilitate these comparative discussions, we open this volume with three
essays: one on the general developments within law and literature, with spe-
cial regard to its cross-disciplinary character (Ian Ward) and two on the specific
Nordic character of jurisprudence and legal culture (Ditlev Tamm) and literary
culture (Hans Hauge) respectively. Following these are the essays on the
selected works. Each article focuses on a specific problem within law and lit-
erature and relates it to the Nordic context. By including contributions by both
literary and legal scholars, we thus hope to further the cross-disciplinary dia-
logue within the field.
I would like to thank Nordforsk for making the collaboration possible, as
well as the many Nordic, European and American scholars with whom we have

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 Preface 3

collaborated during the years, some of whom have also helped elaborate the
Nordic perspective on law and literature. I hope that this book will contribute
to the continuation of these dialogues and to the opening up of new ones with
new readers.

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