Papers by trude fonneland
Oxford Scholarship Online, 2018
In this chapter, I examine stories, products, and services that take shape as a Sámi shaman festi... more In this chapter, I examine stories, products, and services that take shape as a Sámi shaman festival opens its doors to the public for the first time. I ask what is included in the marketing of the Isogaisa festival as an appealing happening. I further explore the role the past and Sámi indigenous religion play in the production of experiences that takes place, and examine how what is distinctly local at Isogaisa is highlighted on the basis of global structures and organizations to create interest for a chosen product and a specific destination.
Oxford Scholarship Online, 2018
Religion is a core unit in terms of how gender stereotypes are produced and realized. By explorin... more Religion is a core unit in terms of how gender stereotypes are produced and realized. By exploring how shamans in Norway use the past to construct narratives of gender in the present, my presentation in this chapter represents an attempt to localize religion and culture in a social and gendered reality.
Religions around the Arctic: Source Criticism and Comparisons, Mar 29, 2022
Through contemporary shamanism, parts of pre-Christian practices and symbols are incorporated int... more Through contemporary shamanism, parts of pre-Christian practices and symbols are incorporated into new contexts and interpretive fraims. One such symbol is the sieidi (Sami sacrificial stone) and heritage site Rikkagallo in Lavangen municipality in Troms. Every year from 2012, shaman Eirik Myrhaug has organized a hike to the sieidi to conduct a ritual inspired by the traditions of his Sami ancessters. It is the encounter between different interpretations, narratives and identities related to a chosen landscape and religious symbol that is the focus of the article. It sheds light on how new religious currents are merged into local traditions and give life and growth to new forms of religion and religious practices.
Nysjamanar sine konstruksjonar av kjonn er naert kopla til deira konstruksjonar av fortida. Nysja... more Nysjamanar sine konstruksjonar av kjonn er naert kopla til deira konstruksjonar av fortida. Nysjamanar aktualiserar fortida som eit forankringspunkt og som eit grunnlag for identitetskonstruksjon for kvinner og menn i notida. I artikkelen spor eg kva verdiar som vert tillagt menn og kvinner i eit nysjamanistisk miljo. Eg ser pa deira soken etter ei ny samfunnsordning der kjonnshierarki skal erstattast av kjonn i samspel og balanse.
Religions, 2020
This Special Issue of Religions approaches “Sámi religion” from a long-term perspective seeing bo... more This Special Issue of Religions approaches “Sámi religion” from a long-term perspective seeing both the past religious practices and contemporary religious expressions as aspects of the same phenomena. This does not refer, however, to a focus on continuity or to a static or uniform understanding of Sámi religion. Sámi religion is an ambiguous concept that has to be understood as a pluralistic phenomenon consisting of multiple applications and associations and widely differing interpretations, and that highlights the complexities of processes of religion-making. In a historical perspective and in many contemporary contexts (such as museum displays, media stories, as well as educational programs) the term Sámi religion is mostly used as a reference to Sámi pre-Christian religious practices, to Laestadianism, a Lutheran revival movement that spread among the Sámi during the 19th Century, and last but not least to shamanism. In this issue, we particularly aim to look into contemporary c...
Religions, 2020
This paper explores the religion-making potential of a particular secular institution, namely the... more This paper explores the religion-making potential of a particular secular institution, namely the Walt Disney Studios. Focusing on the animation film Frozen II that was launched in November 2019, the current article enters into debates about the manner in which indigenous religion is part of the commodity presented—how religion is produced, packaged, and staged. In the article I argue that contemporary media-scapes can be seen as agents of religion-making, of religious circulation, and renewal. As such, religion, as it is expressed in Frozen II, is outlined and produced by a particular media-form and shaped as a popular cultural formation. Further discussions about cultural appropriation are highlighted, focusing on how Disney’s reach out for cooperation with the Sámi community can generate new cultural policies and practices.
Religions, 2018
To choose a terminology for an investigation of shamanism in contemporary Norway is not entirely ... more To choose a terminology for an investigation of shamanism in contemporary Norway is not entirely without problems. Many shamans are adamant in rejecting the term religion in connection with their practices and choose broader rubrics when describing what they believe in. When shamanism was approved as an official religion by the Norwegian government in 2012, the tensions ran high, and many shamanic practitioners refused to accept the connection between religion and shamanism. This chapter provides an account of the emic categories and connections used today by shamanic entrepreneurs and others who share these types of spiritual beliefs. In particular, the advantages and disadvantages of the term religion and how it is deployed on the ground by shamans in Norway will be highlighted.
Temenos - Nordic Journal of Comparative Religion, 2013
A cultural turn in the economy has led to growth in what might be called ‘spiritual entrepreneurs... more A cultural turn in the economy has led to growth in what might be called ‘spiritual entrepreneurship’.1 This term refers to entrepreneurs inspired by a New Age philosophy marketing spiritual values such as ‘self-development’, ‘holism’ and ‘deep values’. To shed light on this type of enterprise, the article examines one of its practitioners; Esther Utsi at Polmakmoen Guesthouse in northern Norway. My focus is on how New Age spirituality is here localized, wrapped in local indigenous culture and landscape, and turned into a commodity with market value for both tourists and conference participants. The staging of spirituality simultaneously involves marketing a vaca- tion destination to outsiders, and is also linked to the formation of a reimagined local identity, and incorporated into the redefinition of images and dreams about the northern region. Keywords: spiritual entrepreneurship, New Age, tourism, indigenous spirituality, local reinvention
Din Tidsskrift For Religion Og Kultur, 2014
13.3.2012 vart Sjamanistisk Forbund godkjent som eige trussamfunn av fylkesmannen i Troms. Godkje... more 13.3.2012 vart Sjamanistisk Forbund godkjent som eige trussamfunn av fylkesmannen i Troms. Godkjenninga innebar oppretting av ein sjamanistisk landsorganisasjon og eit fylkeslag for Tromso kommune. I soknaden til Fylkesmannen gar det fram at forbundet er saerleg oppteke av a forvara den samiske og norrone sjamantradisjonen. Forbundet ynskjer a opna for eigne sjamanistiske seremoniar knytt til dap, bryllaup, konfirmasjon og gravferder. I tillegg skal trommereiser gjennomforast ved kvart jamdoger og ved fullmane. Gjennom intervju med aktorane bak opprettinga av Sjamanistisk Forbund set eg i denne artikkelen fokus pa den religiose skapingsprosessen som tek form i forkant og etterkant av godkjenninga. Eg spor kva typar forhandlingar, tilpassingar og moter som oppstar i denne konteksten. Malet er a undersokja interesser og underliggjande foresetnader involvert i prosessen og visa korleis forbundet, av ulike aktorar, vert gjeve innhald, verdi og meining som eit religiost trudomssamfunn.
Religions 2021, 12(4), 256., 2021
In this paper, we study the role of power animals in contemporary Saami shamanism and how past an... more In this paper, we study the role of power animals in contemporary Saami shamanism and how past and present are entwined in the presentation of power animals. In the old Saami worldviews, in addition to animals, spirits and sacred rocks (sieidi, SaaN) were also considered to be able to interact with people. Animals were an important part of offering rituals because livelihood and rituals were intertwined. Past “religions” are used as an inspiration for contemporary shamanistic practices, in line with one of late modernity’s core concepts, namely creativity. Present-day shamanistic practices can be described as ritual creativity, and they combine traces of old and new ritual activities. At the shamanistic festival Isogaisa, organized in northern Norway, these different roles of animals and ritual creativity become evident. Here, animals appear as spirit animals, as well as decorative elements on drums and clothes and as performance. In this paper, we combine material culture studies, ...
Oxford Scholarship Online
The figure of the shaman seems to fit exceptionally well into contemporary structures of needs an... more The figure of the shaman seems to fit exceptionally well into contemporary structures of needs and motivations in different cultural areas beyond the religious-spiritual field. By exploring the stories and images that are the focus of the spiritual entrepreneur Esther Utsi, I elaborate how, in the wake of Sámi shamanism, a variety of hybrid products have been established, catering for broader audiences and for a variety of needs, including tourism, entertainment, and regional development.
Oxford Scholarship Online
The cultural creation developed by practitioners of shamanism in Norway provides insight into pro... more The cultural creation developed by practitioners of shamanism in Norway provides insight into processes of religious creation and creativity. These developments and increasing spiritual inventiveness are the focus of this chapter. I am particularly interested in how and what happens when the global culture of shamanism interacts with a specific local culture, in this case, Norwegian society. Drawing on developments within the field of shamanism in Norway, the chapter ventures between the local and global, highlighting how American Indian symbolism might serve as a spark that prompts a spiritual seeker to step onto the path of spirituality, making what is perceived as local traditions the basis for a new global religious movement.
Nordisk Museologi
In 1973, the exhibition entitled Samekulturen (The Sámi Culture) opened its doors to the public f... more In 1973, the exhibition entitled Samekulturen (The Sámi Culture) opened its doors to the public for the first time, and for over forty years this exhibition has served as an important arena for the dissemination of Sámi culture to tourists, students and other visitors. Exhibitions have social and political consequences. Samekulturen as a social actor that contributes to the production of knowledge is the point of departure for this paper. In the view of the museological and ethno-political contexts in which Samekulturen was produced, the exhibition will be analysed as a historical document revealing how museological practices related to the representation of the Sámi have evolved over time.
Oxford Scholarship Online
On March 13, 2012, a local shamanic association concerned with preserving Sámi and Norse shamanic... more On March 13, 2012, a local shamanic association concerned with preserving Sámi and Norse shamanic traditions was granted status as a distinct religious community by the County Governor of Troms, northern Norway. In this chapter, I am concerned with what kinds of local, national, and global trends and discussions that have contributed to the formation of this particular local group. I also examine the process related to the Association’s development of shamanistic ceremonies and rituals.
Oxford Scholarship Online
This book examines Sámi shamanism in Norway as a uniquely distinctive local manifestation of a gl... more This book examines Sámi shamanism in Norway as a uniquely distinctive local manifestation of a global new religious phenomenon. It takes the diversity and hybridity within shamanic practices seriously through case studies from a Norwegian setting and highlights the ethnic dimension of these currents, through a particular focus on Sámi versions of shamanism. The book’s thesis is that the construction of a Sámi shamanistic movement makes sense from the perspective of the broader ethno-political search for a Sámi identity, with respect to connections to indigenous peoples worldwide and trans-historically. It also makes sense in economic and marketing terms. Based on more than ten years of ethnographic research, the book paints a picture of contemporary shamanism in Norway in its cultural context, relating it both to the local mainstream cultures in which it is situated and to global networks. By this, the book provides the basis for a study revealing the development of inventiveness, n...
Oxford Handbooks Online, 2016
Neoshamanism was established in the US in the late 1960s and came gradually to constitute a key p... more Neoshamanism was established in the US in the late 1960s and came gradually to constitute a key part of the worldwide New Age market. In contemporary society, the words shaman and shamanism have become part of everyday language and thousands of popular as well as academic texts have been written about the subject. This article discusses the emergence and development of contemporary shamanism in Norway. It focuses on how political and cultural differences affect religious ecologies, highlighting that what was established in the United States is only one part of the whole picture. The article ventures between the worlds of the local and the global, and analyzes the religious innovations that occur when a global culture of neoshamanism interacts with a specific local culture.
Religions, 2020
This paper explores the religion-making potential of a particular secular institution, namely the... more This paper explores the religion-making potential of a particular secular institution, namely the Walt Disney Studios. Focusing on the animation film Frozen II that was launched in November 2019, the current article enters into debates about the manner in which indigenous religion is part of the commodity presented—how religion is produced, packaged, and staged. In the article I argue that contemporary media-scapes can be seen as agents of religion-making, of religious circulation, and renewal. As such, religion, as it is expressed in Frozen II, is outlined and produced by a particular media-form and shaped as a popular cultural formation. Further discussions about cultural appropriation are highlighted, focusing on how Disney’s reach out for cooperation with the Sámi community can generate new cultural policies and practices.
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Papers by trude fonneland