The Nordic Countries as a Historical and Historiographical Region: Towards a Critical Writing of Translocal History

Abstract

This article focuses on the recently increased interest in transnational and translocal regions and regionalism in the context of a general “spatial turn” in the social sciences and the humanities. Using the historical conceptualizations of “the North” and “the Nordic region” (Norden, Pohjola) as an example, the article analyzes the processes of region-building in general and the case of the Nordic countries (Scandinavia) as a historical and historiographical region in particular. On the one hand, the constructed character of Norden will be acknowledged; on the other, it is also argued that the regional constructions may have a certain degree of construct validity and a historical continuity, based on common historical experiences and the inherent spatiality of history. Finally, the article concludes that the acknowledgement of the transnational framework is important when rethinking the history of historiography, albeit it is not necessarily a more “enlightened” alternative to methodological nationalism.