| 1. |
- Eriksson, Niklas, 1976-
(author)
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Urbanism Under Sail : An Archaeology of Fluit Ships in Early Modern Everyday Life
- 2014
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- In the seventeenth- and early eighteenth centuries, fluits were the most common type of merchant ship used in Baltic trade. Originally a Dutch design, the majority of all goods transported between Sweden and the Republic was carried on board such vessels. Far from all voyages reached their destination. Down in the cold brackish water of the Baltic, the preservation conditions are optimal, and several of these unfortunate vessels remain nearly intact today. Although thousands of more or less identical fluits were built, surprisingly little is known about the arrangement of space on board, their sculptural embellishment and other aspects that formed the physical component of everyday life on and alongside these ships. Fluits were a fixture in early modern society, so numerous that they became almost invisible. The study of wrecks thus holds great potential for revealing vital components of early modern life. Inspired by phenomenological approaches in archaeology, this thesis aims to focus on the lived experience of fluits. It sets out to grasp for seemingly mundane everyday activities relating to these ships, from the physical arrangements for eating, sleeping and answering nature’s call, to their rearrangement for naval use, and ends with a consideration of the architectonical contribution of the fluit to the urban landscape.
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| 2. |
- Hellerstedt, Andreas, 1978-
(author)
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Ödets teater : Ödesföreställningar i Sverige vid 1700-talets början
- 2009
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- The purpose of this dissertation is to study the function of the conceptions of Fate in political contexts as well as in views on society, in early 18th century Sweden. The investigation is centered on three main concepts, namely Providence (lat. providentia), Fate (lat. fatum) and Fortune (lat. fortuna).Four specific questions are treated: Were these conceptions of Fate used as a ‘scapegoat’ or an ‘alibi’ for God, as has been suggested by recent research? How was the catastrophe of the Great Northern War (1700–1721) dealt with by aid of these conceptions? What capacity to shape their own destiny were people thought to have? Which interpretations regarding the conceptions of Fate were regarded as incorrect, and why?The dissertation shows how conceptions of fate were well established and filled a number of important functions in society, such as comfort, social discipline, and preservation of one's personal as well as national honor. Christian and classical traditions both played important parts in shaping these concepts. In particular, the philosophy of stoicism and the early Christian philosopher Boethius were central influences.
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| 3. |
- Jacobsson, Benny, 1954-
(author)
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Den sjunde världsdelen : Västgötar och Västergötland 1646-1771. En identitetshistoria
- 2008
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- This thesis considers regional identity in early-modern Sweden, taking its case from the province (landskap) of Västergötland 1646–1771. The aim is to investigate verbal expressions of regional identity. A theory on the construction of regional identity is suggested from the research results, and typological categories of regional identity are established. Contrary to popular concepts of identity being constructed in relation to an outer “other”, it is argued that identity is formed from self-images. Identity is expressed in the first person (I, we), and includes an insider’s perspective of the place occupied. As the thesis shows, the theory of regional identity is substantiated by the duality of the patria-concept. Patria, Fatherland, was employed for the smaller home province as well as for the greater realm. The realm however, always could claim priority to amor patria, Love of the Fatherland. Thus, any construction of regional identity using the neighbouring provinces as a contrasting “other” would have been counter-productive to the construction of the overarching national identity. This manifold patria-concept is of Roman origin, and made its influence through the Latin language well into early-modern time. A great variety of sources in Latin and Swedish have been consulted, including orations and dissertations, minutes of the academic senate and West Geat student nation (Västgöta nation) at Uppsala University, topography, manuscripts and letters. An in-depth study has been made of the writing processes leading up to dissertations and topographical descriptions.
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| 4. |
- Monié Nordin, Jonas, 1970-
(author)
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När makten blev synlig : senmedeltid i södra Dalarna
- 2005
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- The remains of a wooden stronghold and a fortified manor have been found in Hedemora and Husby parishes in southern Dalecarlia, along with a late medieval city and the northernmost monastery in Sweden. They all stem from the period between about 1350 and 1500. These buildings are the focus of this thesis, which attempts to explore why the architectural expressions from this era are found in these forms and in this region. Can one speak of feudalism and a feudal culture in Dalecarlia and north of Dalälven? The theoretical framework is based on the studies of power, culture, consent, and domination presented by Pierre Bourdieu and Antonio Gramsci, and the methodology draws on the work of Matthew Johnson on medieval castles and houses .The stronghold of Grådönäset on the Badelunda esker was excavated in the 1960s, but it was never thoroughly published. During the excavations, two layers of medieval habitation were found. The first layer, which was not fortified, was a secluded farm of log timbered houses covered with wattle and daub. An extensive array of armor, arrowheads, and spurs as well as ordinary domestic utensils was found. The second layer was more architectonically elaborated, with three moats dug though the esker and three plateaus erected from the spare boulders. A large main building and ten other houses were built on the plateaus, together with drawbridges, stairs, and palisades. The find material was rich and consisted of both ordinary domestic objects and more unusual objects, much like the ones from the first phase. In spite of the structures, the Grådönäset fortress is in this thesis interpreted less as a military fortification than as a social statement and a bridgehead for the introduction of feudalism and royal domination into the region of Dalecarlia.A fortified manor, Borgaholm, was built close to the fortress at the same time. It was used as the private palace for the bailiff, and served as an arena for his aspirations to nobility. The manor was built on an islet in the Dalälven River, with boulders from the nearby stronghold of Grådönäset. The architecture was very different, but the material culture was similar. Both places were most probably abandoned at the same time around the turn of 14th century. The establishment of royal administration in the region of Dalecarlia led to the foundation of the city of Hedemora, largely as a result of the explicit interest of the Crown.At the same time, at the beginning at the end of the 14th century, a class of nobility was established in the region and became the allies of the Crown, thereby forming, in Gramsci’s terms, a hegemonic bloc. The foremost of these noble families was the Hjorthorn family. They expanded the number of their estates, and in the late of 15th century bequeathed all of it for the purpose of erecting a Cistercian monastery in Dalecarlia. This bequest was more than a mere act of religious piety—it also strengthened the cultural hegemonic positions of the nobility.Together, these historical events led to a division in the region, creating a more feudalized part in the mining district in southern Dalecarlia and a more egalitarian part in the north around the Lake of Siljan. This thesis argues that this process can be seen as a success for the victors in the feudal system, and that the swiftness of this process was the result of the historical discontinuity between the Iron Age and the early Middle Ages. The process changed the region radically, and the results can still be seen today in the landscape.
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| 5. |
- Nordin, Jonas, 1968-
(author)
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Ett fattigt men fritt folk : nationell och politisk självbild i Sverige från sen stormaktstid till slutet av frihetstiden
- 2000
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- This study deals with questions about national identity and national consciousness in Sweden from the middle of the 17th to the second half of the 18th century. Two embracing hypotheses have guided the inquiry. The first proposes that a clearly distinguishable national sentiment existed in Sweden already by the middle of the 17th century. The second proposes that the rulers tried to encourage and distribute this national consciousness to the lower echelons of society in order to obtain a less arbitrary rule over the subjects. The core of the investigation consists of five thematically and chronologically supplementing studies (chapters 2–6) that seeks to confirm these hypotheses.Chapter 1 defines the problem and outlines methodological and theoretical themes. Chapter 2 examines the composition of the Swedish empire during the Age of Greatness, the Crown's integration policy towards its foreign provinces, as well as the subjects' personal bonds to the Crown before the birth of modern citizenship. Chapter 3 investigates the national rethoric of Swedish propaganda during the Great Nordic War. Chapter 4 is mainly concentrated on the 18th century and investigates what content was given to the Swedish national character in a cultural and scholarly context. Chapter 5 examines the same topics with regard to the Finns as subjects of the Swedish realm. This chapter also surveys official and semi-official attitudes towards the 'Lapps' (Samis). Chapter 6 examines the political use of concepts such as patriotism and love of the Fatherland, first in a scholarly and theoretical context, and secondly in the vivid parliamental debates about civil rights that concluded the Age of Liberty. The last chapter summarizes the case studies and interprets the results in relation to dominant theoretical conceptions regarding nationalism. In this context it is argued that the national sentiments and the political use that was made of them during the period under investigation only differed in a quantitative, though not in a qualitative way from nationalist ideologies of the 19th century.
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| 6. |
- Olofsson, Jonas, 1978-
(author)
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Odor identification in aging and dementia : Influences of cognition and the ApoE gene
- 2008
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Olfactory function is impaired in aging and dementia. The general aim of this thesis was to identify variables that predict olfactory function and dysfunction (assessed with an odor identification test) in middle-aged and elderly adults. The thesis investigated whether odor identification performance was associated with demographic variables, cognitive function, the ApoE gene, dementia, and other health-related variables. The ApoE-ε4 allele is associated with cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease, the most common form of dementia. The studies included in this thesis used data from the Betula study, a large-scale, population-based prospective study on aging, memory, and health. Study 1 investigated demographic and cognitive predictors of odor identification ability in non-demented participants. The results showed that younger age, female sex, and high education contributed to better odor identification ability. Cognitive speed and vocabulary had a small additional influence. Study 2 included information about ApoE genotypes, dementia and other health-related variables. The results indicated that the ApoE-ε4 allele was associated with odor identification impairment among the elderly, but not middle-aged adults. Participants who were demented at the time of testing or became demented within five years after testing exhibited olfactory impairments. Interestingly, the age-related olfactory impairment in ε4-carriers was independent of clinical dementia within five years. In Study 3, decline in global cognitive status over a five-year test-retest interval was predicted in a sample of elderly participants. The major result was a three-way interaction reflecting that odor identification impairment, old age, in combination with the ε4 allele predicted a larger cognitive decline. However, odor identification impairment did not predict cognitive change in elderly who were non-carriers of the ε4 allele. Overall, the results indicate that odor identification impairment in elderly is related to ApoE-ε4, cognitive decline, and clinical and pre-clinical stages of dementia. Theoretical and practical implications of the results are discussed. Furthermore, it is proposed that in order to effectively predict clinical dementia or cognitive decline from olfactory assessment in the elderly, variables that mediate (e.g. neuropathology) or moderate (e.g. age) the associations between olfactory function, the ε4 allele, and dementia need to be further evaluated, preferably in studies using longitudinal assessment.
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| 7. |
- Sundin, Anders, 1975-
(author)
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1809 : Statskuppen och regeringsformens tillkomst som tolkningsprocess
- 2006
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- This dissertation analyses the coup d’état and the instrument of government of 1809 as an interpretative framing process. By close examination primarily of official sources it focuses on how political actors utilized the components of the existing political culture in order to legitimise their actions. The results show that the regime transition of 1809 was a contingent process. Actors competed to define concepts such as “citizen”, “patriotism” and “public opinion” in order to legitimise different political claims. This process served to strengthen the role played by the concept of public opinion as a source of authority in the language of politics.The dissertation also addresses how the regime transition of 1809 relates to the historical epoch known as the Age of Revolution. Experiences from the French Revolution in particular were crucial to the debate on the prospects for constitutional change in Sweden. The study shows that the constitutional committee took a reformist stance based on the concepts of civic virtue and enlightenment, thereby rejecting demands for an enhanced national representation. Instead they argued for gradual constitutional change and believed that the constitution should serve as an instrument to educate the public in the virtues of citizenship.Grounded in the so-called "cultural turn" taken by studies of politics in recent decades, the analysis has borrowed from studies of social movements the concepts of interpretative framing. In analyzing differences and oppositions between various interpretative frames, concepts from discourse analysis has been used, particularly those that emphasize discourse contingency. Extra-discursive conditions in the process of interpretation have been analyzed by means of the concept of possibility structures. This has chiefly involved taking into consideration the degree of repression and actors' differing access to what Bourdieu has termed "institutional authority".
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