Undringslitteratur: Understanding New Norwegian Speculative Fictions
Keywords:
Speculative fiction, climate fiction, Norwegian speculative fiction, UndringslitteraturAbstract
A distinctive type of non-realist literature is emerging in Norway, one that necessitates the articulation of a new classificatory term. I propose the label undringslitteratur, situating this intervention within the broader debate in science fiction studies on the productivity and limitations of “fuzzy” labels as devices for designating hybrid forms of imaginative writing that traverse and unsettle the boundaries between realist and speculative modes. Contemporary Norwegian speculative fictions – here conceptualized together as undringslitteratur – may be delineated through the convergence of four interrelated elements. First, undringslitteratur is characterized by a poetics of scale, oscillating between the local and the global, and by an underlying “Anthropocene unconscious” as theorized by Mark Bould, as a structuring undercurrent of contemporary cultural production. Second, these fictions pursue the re-enchantment of the everyday by subverting conventional expectations regarding the relationship between the quotidian and the spectacular. Third, undringslitteratur is distinguished by a pronounced regional inflection, articulating “nordicity” both in imagery and in portrayals of “northernness” as a discursive system. Finally, these texts exhibit a vein of “stealthy” spiritual seeking. Crucially, however, what sets undringslitteratur apart is not the explicit representation of religious practices, spirituality, or belief, but rather the subtle, situated manner in which such themes are approached and articulated. I conclude by arguing that the synthesis of these elements is aptly encapsulated by the term undring. Connoting wonder, contemplation, and pausing before the inexplicable, undring designates not merely a thematic preoccupation but a structuring affect that animates contemporary Norwegian speculative fictions.
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