| Title | Chapter 11. Climate Narratives in Norwegian Public Histories |
|---|---|
| Contributor | Eivind Heldaas Seland(author) |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.63308/63881023874820.ch11 |
| Landing page | https://www.whpress.co.uk/publications/2025/05/02/nordicclimatehistories/ |
| License | https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/deed.en |
| Copyright | Eivind Heldaas Seland |
| Publisher | The White Horse Press |
| Published on | 2025-08-15 |
| Long abstract | From the mid-nineteenth to the early twenty-first century, a number of multi- volume histories of Norway were published by major trade presses. These were written mostly by groups of professors at Norwegian Universities taking charge of one volume/historical period each, and were aimed at the general public. Sales were high, and the impact on public perception of history can likely only be compared with that of the most successful school textbooks. This chapter examines the role of climate and climate change as an agent of historical change in these works, concentrating on prehistory as well as the periods corresponding to what are today known as the Late Antique / Early Medieval Little Ice Age, the Medieval Warm Period and the Little Ice Age. While these terms rarely appear in the examined works, the potential role of climate and climate change in bringing about historical change is discussed to varying degree. These accounts are viewed through the lens of the narrative theory, enabling us to classify nar- ratives of identity, decline and growth propelled by climate and climate change, as well as to pursue the limited, but growing awareness of environmental history in mainstream Norwegian historiography. |
| Page range | pp. 261–274 |
| Print length | 14 pages |
| Media | 1 illustration |
Eivind Heldaas Seland is a Professor of Ancient History and Premodern Global History at the University of Bergen, Norway. His research interests focus on how scholars utilise historical climate data and climate change to explain societal trans- formations.