Non-Fiction

Dangerous Women, or Obedient Vessels?

By Linnea Rock University of Wisconsin–Madison Amidst the entirety of entertainment available and loved today, it is relieving to discover thought-provoking content occasionally exists. Using modern forms of entertainment is a great way to criticize social norms and to inform others about different ideas. This makes it possible for one’s ideas to reach a wide audience because of the popularity and accessibility of media to people of all class levels. Today’s popular media forms are full of societal critiques, but…

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Iceland by Robby McCullough

Iceland’s Economic (In)stability

By Thomas Malcolm University of Wisconsin–Madison Iceland has an incredibly spotty history in regard to its economy. After Iceland’s latest economic crash of 2008, its name actually began to be associated with crisis and economic disaster.1 This notion, however, is more appropriate than one may come to believe from the crash of 2008 alone. For the last century, Iceland has been riddled by a cycle of economic expansion and collapse. However, I believe that despite its history, in today’s world…

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Features of Nineteenth-Century Swedish Agriculture and their Demographic Impact

By Benjamin Groth University of Wisconsin–Madison The mid-nineteenth century was, in many ways, a period of pronounced transition in Sweden’s history and bore multifarious paradigm shifts in almost every facet of Swedish society. Of particular note are demographic and infrastructural development; Sweden, like much of Europe at this time, underwent industrialization and institutional reform, though the processes were sometimes more ambiguous and later-occurring than continental trajectories.1 Pronounced urbanization and growth of per capita GDP began only in the later part of…

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Pride Flag by Sasel13

Continually Striving for Sexual Equality in Denmark

By Cori Garrett University of Wisconsin–Madison Scandinavian countries have been global leaders in the race for social equality during the past two and half centuries, through the establishment of universal suffrage for women and the beginning of wage equality in Scandinavia prior to World War II. The granting of equality for women, the largest minority group in Scandinavia at this time, opened up the opportunity for other marginalized groups to advance their fight for universal equality. One group or community…

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Old Swedish letter by Marcus Cederström

Serial Writers and Fiction Killers, or vice versa; A Discussion of the Battle for Authorship in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

By Emmon Rogers University of Wisconsin–Madison “Who peyntede the leon, tel me who?”(Geoffrey Chaucer, “The Wife of Bath’s Prologue,” in The Canterbury Tales Complete, ed. Larry D. Benson (Boston: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2000), I.692), [“Who painted the lion, tell me, who?” translated from Middle English by the author] runs Geoffrey Chaucer’s famous allusion to Marie de France’s fables in The Canterbury Tales. The question refers to the idea that any story is shaped dramatically by its author—had a lion painted…

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Woodcut of Inchelina

Inchelina’s Bildung Journey

By Linnea Rock University of Wisconsin–Madison A story of adventure and development with sorrows, triumphs, and love, along with magical qualities, dire situations, and complex characters is perhaps one of the most entertaining types of tales. “Inchelina,” by Hans Christian Andersen, was published in 1835, a time in which women did not have the same opportunities as women do today. By writing “Inchelina” during this time period, Anderson was able to demonstrate the sexism of society, as well as give…

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