A compelling examination of Sweden’s African and Black diaspora Contemporary Sweden is a country with a worldwide progressive reputation, despite an undeniable tradition of racism within its borders. In the face of this contradiction of culture and history, Afro-Swedes have emerged as a vibrant demographic presence, from generations of diasporic movement, migration, and homemaking. In Afro-Sweden, Ryan Thomas Skinner uses oral histories, archival research, ethnography, and textual analysis to explore the history and culture of this diverse and growing Afro-European community. Skinner employs the conceptual themes of “remembering” and “renaissance” to illuminate the history and culture of the Afro-Swedish community, drawing on the rich theoretical traditions of the African and Black diaspora. Remembering fosters a sustained meditation on Afro-Swedish social history, while Renaissance indexes a thriving Afro-Swedish public culture. Together, these concepts illuminate significant existential modes of Afro-Swedish being and becoming, invested in and contributing to the work of global Black studies. The first scholarly monograph in English to focus specifically on the African and Black diaspora in Sweden, Afro-Sweden emphasizes the voices, experiences, practices, knowledge, and ideas of these communities. Its rigorously interdisciplinary approach to understanding diasporic communities is essential to contemporary conversations around such issues as the status and identity of racialized populations in Europe and the international impact of Black Lives Matter.
Svartkonstböcker is a fully revised edition of Dr Johnson's 2010 PhD Thesis Tidebast och Vändelrot: Magical Representations in the Swedish Black Art Book Tradition, featuring a thorough, path-breaking study of the black art book tradition in Sweden, as well as English translations of 35 Swedish black art books ranging from the 1690s to the 1940s, including over 1900 spells and a robust index. The late Dr Johnson always wished that his work would see print publication in its entirety. Other publishers have offered to produce this work in two volumes, prioritizing the spells in the black art books over the scholarly apparatus that contextualizes them. Here Revelore presents the work in full, comprising over 650 pages of material. Minor errors from the PhD manuscript have been rectified, and archival images of the characters, sigils, and illustrations have been restored in high fidelity. This is the definitive source work for the Swedish magical corpus of black art books.
Perfect for fans of The Little Book of Hygge and Norwegian Wood, find the balance in life that is just right for you. Let Lola A. Åkerström, Editor-in-chief of Slow Travel Stockholm, be your companion to all things lagom. As the Swedish proverb goes, 'Lagom är bäst' (The right amount is best). Lagom sums up the Swedish psyche and is the reason why Sweden is one of the happiest countries in the world with a healthy work-life balance and high standards of living. Lagom is a way of living that promotes harmony. It celebrates fairness, moderation and being satisfied with and taking proper care of what you've got, including your well-being, relationships, and possessions. It's not about having too little or too much but about fully inviting contentment into our lives through making optimal decisions. Who better than Lola A. Åkerström to be your lagom guide? Sweden-based Lola is an award-winning writer, photographer , and editor-in-chief of Slow Travel Stockholm and she offers us a unique vantage point when it comes to adopting elements of a lagom lifestyle. Full of insights and beautiful photographs, taken by Lola herself, this authentic book will help you make small, simple changes to your every day life - whether that's your diet, lifestyle, money, work or your home - so you can have a more balanced way of living filled with contentment.
In the early 1990s, Swedish death metal revolutionized the international music scene. Suddenly, the mild-mannered Scandinavian country found itself at the forefront of a new movement with worldwide impact thanks to bands such as Entombed, Dismember, and At the Gates. The birth of black metal drove the culture to even greater extremes, featuring a rawer, darker sound and non-ironic death-worship. Soon churches in both Norway and Sweden were aflame, and be- fore long Satanism emerged as more than just an image. But how did it all start? Why did Sweden become a hotbed for such aggressive, nihilistic music? And who are the people and bands that brought it all about? Blood, Fire, Death: A Swedish Metal Story recounts the evolution of the genre from the massive amplifier walls of 1970s rock, through the church-burning Satanic 1990s, to the diverse and paradoxical manifestations of the scene today. This book focuses on the phenomena that have propelled the scene forward in an evolution that has not only been musical, but aesthetic and ideological as well. This is a story about grotesque logos and icons that invoke death and darkness, but also a story of dedication, friendship, community, and a profound love for music.
An introduction to the Swedish language, with ten lessons that include basic vocabulary, dialogues, discussions of grammar, exercises, cultural information, a comparison of Swedish and English, and two eighty-minute audio CDs.
This is the new, black and white version of From English to Swedish 1. A full color version is also available. Look for ISBN 978-1540452900. From English to Swedish 1 & 2 is a series of textbooks for English speaking students who would like to learn Swedish. The first book covers level A1 and the second book level A2 of the European CEFR-scale. Unlike most Swedish textbooks they provide vocabulary lists, grammar explanations, and text commentaries in English. To help the reader learn Swedish pronunciation, a series of videos linked to the first book is available on YouTube (see https://www.youtube.com/watch'v=mEQVgbDPZ4I). The texts of the two books tell the story of an American girl who comes as an exchange student to live in a Swedish family. She struggles to learn Swedish and adapt to Swedish culture, but in the process runs into a number of culture clashes, all based on the authors' real life experiences. �ke Daun, professor of ethnology from Stockholm University and a specialist in Swedish mentality, has examined the first book and describes the way it introduces Swedish mentality as "innovative and entertaining". To facilitate the student's learning the books take advantage of the close relationship between English and Swedish. Many of the words appearing in the texts are similar to their English counterparts. Having finished both books, the student will have acquired a vocabulary of slightly more than 1,500 words including 57 % of the 2,000 most frequent words of the Swedish language as defined by Spr�kbanken (the Language Bank), a data base published by the University of Gothenburg. In an appendix to book 1, the similarities between English and Swedish are explained from an historical point of view, and over 300 related words from different areas are presented. Each chapter in the books contains a short grammar section presenting essentials in Swedish morphology and syntax. All grammatical terms, except the most common ones, are explained. At the end of each book there is a grammar overview with definitions of concepts and references to relevant chapters. Each lesson includes a number of exercises, where students are encouraged to practice their newly gained grammar knowledge, repeat vocabulary, and answer questions in connection with the texts. As the students' vocabulary develops, the questions become increasingly open-ended in order to stimulate reflection and discussion in class. Furthermore, a number of songs with simple vocabulary are included, mainly children's songs by classic song-writers. Finally, each book contains answers to the exercises and a complete alphabetical glossary. Judgments about From English to Swedish 1: "I'm just learning Swedish, and this book is wonderful. The style & methodology are ideal. Highly recommend." (Amazon, USA) "A brilliant book. ... The words and pronunciations are well explained with examples given. Common Swedish vocab is also used in lessons. Quite amazing that by lesson 2 (Lektion 2) I was understanding and translating simple paragraphs and answering questions in full sentences without much difficulty. The two books are a must buy for people looking to learn the Swedish language. ... The second book is just as good as this one." (Amazon, England) "I've tried to start learning Swedish several times with at least 4 books, and finally I've found one that is didactic enough to keep me going! Very natural way of teaching, the closest thing I've seen to have a teacher that prepares a class for you. I'm already looking for the 2nd book! " (Amazon, Spain)
Bamako Sounds tells the story of an African city, its people, their values, and their music. Centered on the music and musicians of Bamako, Mali’s booming capital city, this book reveals a community of artists whose lives and works evince a complex world shaped by urban culture, postcolonialism, musical expression, religious identity, and intellectual property. Drawing on years of ethnographic research with classically trained players of the kora (a twenty-one-string West African harp) as well as more contemporary, hip-hop influenced musicians and producers, Ryan Thomas Skinner analyzes how Bamako artists balance social imperatives with personal interests and global imaginations. Whether performed live on stage, broadcast on the radio, or shared over the Internet, music is a privileged mode of expression that suffuses Bamako’s urban soundscape. It animates professional projects, communicates cultural values, pronounces public piety, resounds in the marketplace, and quite literally performs the nation. Music, the artists who make it, and the audiences who interpret it thus represent a crucial means of articulating and disseminating the ethics and aesthetics of a varied and vital Afropolitanism, in Bamako and beyond.
By and large, Sweden's place in film history is secure and prominent. Swedish films are associated with Ingmar Bergman's successful and high-quality works. However, another breed of Swedish film is notorious for its laissez-faire attitude towards nudity and relaxed sexuality. Produced in the back yard of the Swedish film industry, these sexually daring films join countless sensational movies that deal with shocking or taboo subjects - street punks, space aliens, hard drugs and drunken Vikings. Ekeroth delves into Swedish culture and returns with an overview of 'Sensationsfilms'.
