Storsjöodjuret i ett kalejdoskop. Humanekologiska perspektiv på en svensk kryptid.
(2024)- Abstract
- Storsjöodjuret, or The Great Lake Monster, is an elusive phenomenon in lake Storsjön, situated in the province of Jämtland in Northern Sweden. This dissertation in Human Ecology investigates how the intricate web of the social, the cultural, the historical, and the local influence the shaping of this Swedish cryptid, or “hidden animal”.
The purpose of the study is to demonstrate how this scientifically yet un-validated animal serves as an interesting representative of a borderland between the real and the imagined.
The questions asked are:
1. What historical and discursive forms has this particular great lake monster been given throughout history, and how are these related to views of nature and science?
2. How... (More) - Storsjöodjuret, or The Great Lake Monster, is an elusive phenomenon in lake Storsjön, situated in the province of Jämtland in Northern Sweden. This dissertation in Human Ecology investigates how the intricate web of the social, the cultural, the historical, and the local influence the shaping of this Swedish cryptid, or “hidden animal”.
The purpose of the study is to demonstrate how this scientifically yet un-validated animal serves as an interesting representative of a borderland between the real and the imagined.
The questions asked are:
1. What historical and discursive forms has this particular great lake monster been given throughout history, and how are these related to views of nature and science?
2. How do people who claim to have seen it describe their experience, and how do these stories communicate the relationship between humans and nature?
3. How are relationships to place and landscape portrayed in the material? What views of nature do these expressions convey?
Views of nature, landscape, place, society, history, and culture are weaved together with storytelling and scientific exploration to illuminate the relationships within an analytical quadrate with nature, society, community and the individual person in its corners.The narratives about cryptids in which perspectives of socio-ecological connections are expressed is an underdeveloped area of research within the field of Human Ecology. Earlier research on cryptids and the regionally grounded history of them have mainly focused their meaning in local folklore (ethnology/anthropology), investigations of what is observed (zoology/crypto-zoology and environmental history), or the people searching for them (sociology, sociology of religion, and tourism). This investigation expands beyond these scopes by drawing inspiration from Swedish sociologist Johan Asplund’s concept of “thought figures”. By exploring how the characteristics of this particular one changes together with society, and is thus continued as a meaningful phenomenon to people, this project uncovers the power of these perceptions to not only take shape, but also to transform. In this way, the study also sheds light on questions of when, where, and to whom the great lake monster matters.
(Less) - Abstract (Swedish)
- "Storsjöodjuret”, eller “The Great Lake Monster”, är ett undflyende fenomen i sjön Storsjön, belägen i landskapet Jämtland i norra Sverige. Denna avhandling i ämnet humanekologi undersöker hur det sammankopplingar av det sociala, det kulturella, det historiska och det lokala påverkar formandet av detta svenska kryptid, eller “dolda djur”.
Syftet med studien är att visa hur detta vetenskapligt ännu ej validerade djur fungerar som en intressant representant för ett gränsland mellan det verkliga och det föreställda.
I avhandlingen besvaras följande frågeställningar:
1.Vilka historiska och diskursiva skepnader har Storsjöodjuret getts genom historien, och hur är dessa relaterade till natur- och vetenskapssyn?
2.Hur... (More) - "Storsjöodjuret”, eller “The Great Lake Monster”, är ett undflyende fenomen i sjön Storsjön, belägen i landskapet Jämtland i norra Sverige. Denna avhandling i ämnet humanekologi undersöker hur det sammankopplingar av det sociala, det kulturella, det historiska och det lokala påverkar formandet av detta svenska kryptid, eller “dolda djur”.
Syftet med studien är att visa hur detta vetenskapligt ännu ej validerade djur fungerar som en intressant representant för ett gränsland mellan det verkliga och det föreställda.
I avhandlingen besvaras följande frågeställningar:
1.Vilka historiska och diskursiva skepnader har Storsjöodjuret getts genom historien, och hur är dessa relaterade till natur- och vetenskapssyn?
2.Hur berättar människor som säger sig ha sett Odjuret om upplevelsen, och hur kommunicerar berättelserna om relationen mellan människa och natur?
3.Hur framställs relationer till plats och landskap i materialet? Vilka natursyner ger dessa uttryck för?
Genom en utveckling av den humanekologiska triangeln till en analytisk kvadrat med natur, samhälle, gemenskap och den enskilda individen i hörnen, belyses hur relationerna mellan hörnen formas av natursyn, landskap, plats, samhälle, historia och kultur. Berättelserna om kryptider, där perspektiv på socioekologiska samband uttrycks, är ett underutvecklat område inom humanekologin. Tidigare forskning om kryptider och deras regionalt förankrade historia har främst fokuserat deras betydelse i lokal folklore (etnologi/antropologi), utredningar av det som observeras (zoologi/kryptozoologi och miljöhistoria) eller de människor som söker efter dem (sociologi, religionsociologi och turism). Denna undersökning går bortom dessa områden genom att inspireras av den svenske sociologen Johan Asplunds begrepp “tankefigurer”. Genom att utforska hur föreställningarna om detta specifika exempel förändras tillsammans med samhälle, och därmed fortsätter vara ett meningsfullt fenomen för människor, diskuterar detta projekt kraften hos dessa uppfattningar att inte bara ta form, utan också transformera. På detta sätt belyser studien även frågor om när, var och för vem Storsjöodjuret spelar roll. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/ac9fc8cc-20ec-4bcb-94cf-60bf020d45c8
- author
- Händén-Svensson, Sanna LU
- supervisor
- opponent
-
- Docent Eriksson, Bo, Stockholm University
- organization
- alternative title
- The Great Lake Monster in a Kaleidoscope : Human Ecological Perspectives on a Swedish Cryptid
- publishing date
- 2024-08
- type
- Thesis
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Kryptozoologi, natursyn, tankefigur, humanekologi, totalt socialt faktum, Jämtland, sjöormar, Cryptozoology, Thought figure, Human Ecology, Total social fact, Jämtland, folklore
- edition
- 1
- pages
- 272 pages
- publisher
- Lund University
- defense location
- Världen, Geocentrum I, Sölvegatan 10, Lund
- defense date
- 2024-09-20 10:00:00
- ISBN
- 978-91-8104-113-2
- 978-91-8104-114-9
- project
- Natursyn i föreställningar om Storsjöodjuret
- language
- Swedish
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- ac9fc8cc-20ec-4bcb-94cf-60bf020d45c8
- date added to LUP
- 2024-08-13 14:33:18
- date last changed
- 2024-08-22 09:12:27
@phdthesis{ac9fc8cc-20ec-4bcb-94cf-60bf020d45c8,
abstract = {{Storsjöodjuret, or The Great Lake Monster, is an elusive phenomenon in lake Storsjön, situated in the province of Jämtland in Northern Sweden. This dissertation in Human Ecology investigates how the intricate web of the social, the cultural, the historical, and the local influence the shaping of this Swedish cryptid, or “hidden animal”. <br/><br/>The purpose of the study is to demonstrate how this scientifically yet un-validated animal serves as an interesting representative of a borderland between the real and the imagined.<br/><br/>The questions asked are:<br/>1. What historical and discursive forms has this particular great lake monster been given throughout history, and how are these related to views of nature and science?<br/>2. How do people who claim to have seen it describe their experience, and how do these stories communicate the relationship between humans and nature?<br/>3. How are relationships to place and landscape portrayed in the material? What views of nature do these expressions convey?<br/><br/>Views of nature, landscape, place, society, history, and culture are weaved together with storytelling and scientific exploration to illuminate the relationships within an analytical quadrate with nature, society, community and the individual person in its corners.The narratives about cryptids in which perspectives of socio-ecological connections are expressed is an underdeveloped area of research within the field of Human Ecology. Earlier research on cryptids and the regionally grounded history of them have mainly focused their meaning in local folklore (ethnology/anthropology), investigations of what is observed (zoology/crypto-zoology and environmental history), or the people searching for them (sociology, sociology of religion, and tourism). This investigation expands beyond these scopes by drawing inspiration from Swedish sociologist Johan Asplund’s concept of “thought figures”. By exploring how the characteristics of this particular one changes together with society, and is thus continued as a meaningful phenomenon to people, this project uncovers the power of these perceptions to not only take shape, but also to transform. In this way, the study also sheds light on questions of when, where, and to whom the great lake monster matters.<br/>}},
author = {{Händén-Svensson, Sanna}},
isbn = {{978-91-8104-113-2}},
keywords = {{Kryptozoologi; natursyn; tankefigur; humanekologi; totalt socialt faktum; Jämtland; sjöormar; Cryptozoology; Thought figure; Human Ecology; Total social fact; Jämtland; folklore}},
language = {{swe}},
publisher = {{Lund University}},
school = {{Lund University}},
title = {{Storsjöodjuret i ett kalejdoskop. Humanekologiska perspektiv på en svensk kryptid.}},
url = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/193175645/Storsjo_odjuret_i_ett_kalejdoskop.pdf}},
year = {{2024}},
}