Voices Once Lost : on Connexions in nineteenth century Swedish Geaticism

Sammanfattning: This thesis studies how the early nineteenth century periodical Iduna, published by the influential Geatish Society from 1811 until 1844, portrayed and shaped their idea of Sweden’s past. Of particular interest to this thesis is how this past was narrated through the use of emotions and how these emotions functioned. The emotional analysis of the recreated memory centres around the poems published in Iduna which aims to show the intricate interrelation between authors and their contemporary cultural climate. It is no secret, as will be evident in the thesis, that the Geats have been rather influential in the common, or at least popular conception of the ancient Nordic. It is thus rather interesting to look at the very fabric of the Geatish past and pose the question of what this may have meant. Why did it matter to Erik Gustaf Geijer that it had once existed a free yeoman beyond set aristocratic influence, and, why did Geijer and his fellows believe that he had ever existed?  This thesis’ emotional analysis uses grief, melancholia, and pride and joy as analytical tools to unpack the Geatish past. The recreated memory itself is further structured in the pressing past and the continuous present, which distinguishes the Geats’ idea that the ancient past of Sweden is simultaneously lost and active. The analysis of these segments concludes, in broad terms, that the Geats partly used emotions as a way to gather an emotionally coherent group, all striving towards the archetypical character – the Swede – shaped by the virtues portrayed in the Geatish narrated past. The Geatish narration further challenges the older Geaticism held by Olaus Rudbeck among others in the seventeenth century. The Geatish society claimed that Sweden had an ancient pride for themselves to be proud of, rather than claiming that Sweden, in fact, was the cradle of civilisation. Summarily, this thesis is centred around how the Geats managed to portray and narrate the past to the extent that they did and further, how they managed to gather a coherent group of readers following the Geatish matter of thought.   Keywords: Geaticism, Geatish Society, Gothic Society, Götiska förbundet, Göthiska förbundet, Iduna, History of emotions, Collective memory, Nationalism, Vikings, Narrated nostalgia, Erik Gustaf Geijer, Esaias Tegnér.