Open this publication in new window or tab >>2014 (English)In: NORA: Nordic Journal of Feminist and Gender Research, ISSN 0803-8740, E-ISSN 1502-394X, Vol. 22, no 2, p. 116-130Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
Gender historians have identified the period around 1800 as a crucial time for transforming elite masculinities in Europe: there were shifts away from ideals of polite gentlemen towards more martial forms of manhood; and this was a transition period away from more fluid notions of masculinity and an emphasis on the mixing of male and female towards a period of upholding stricter binaries between male and female. This article contributes to scholarship on the intersection of masculinities and states by centring on the formation of a new, partially independent Norway around 1814, when the Norwegian constitution was crafted. I use the analysis of Norway as an entry to exploring broader European trends at that time. As this article will show, Norwegian ideals of masculinity suitable for state office are a good illustration of more general interpretations of elite manhood in northern Europe. Norwegian constructions did offer a twist, however, as they idealized the Norwegian elite male as rough, unsophisticated, and natural.
In contrast with other forms of elite state-bearing European masculinity, which emphasized
advancement and cultivation, Norwegian masculinity was celebrated for its lack of refinement.
Keywords
masculinity, elite masculinity, Norway, 1814, state identity
National Category
Political Science (excluding Public Administration Studies and Globalisation Studies)
Research subject
SOCIAL SCIENCE, Political science
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:hv:diva-7258 (URN)10.1080/08038740.2013.869621 (DOI)
Note
Finansierad av the Research Council of Norway
2015-01-082015-01-082018-01-11Bibliographically approved