Popular Vikings : constructions of Viking identity in twentieth century Britain
Vikings are a vibrant part of modern popular culture. Although the Viking Age ended nearly a millennium ago, today Viking images are everywhere, functioning as tourist attractions, marketing devices, role models, and sources of regional/national pride and identity. This thesis examines the causes of the Vikings' adoption as icons of popular culture, and looks at the various ways in which Vikings are used. Crucial to an understanding of modern Viking constructions are questions of popular culture's roles, and its relations with high culture and academia. As an historical people who have been re-invented by popular legend, Vikings illustrate the problematic relations between scholars and the popular incarnations of those scholars' subjects. Scholars in the Viking field often feel antagonism toward the popular images which they see as distorting their topic. Yet without the popular Viking visions, it would be difficult for academic work on the Vikings to continue. Popular interest is what sells books, brings visitors to venues such as the Jorvik Viking Centre, and attracts many scholars to the Viking field in the first place. The thesis first discusses theories of popular culture, and the development of cultural
Service, Alexandra
History
Popular Vikings : constructions of Viking identity in twentieth century Britain. Vikings are a vibrant part of modern popular culture. Although the Viking Age ended nearly a millennium ago, today Viking images are everywhere, functioning as tourist attractions, marketing devices, role models, and sources of regional/national pride and identity. This thesis examines the causes of the Vikings' adoption as icons of popular culture, and looks at the various ways in which Vikings are used. Crucial to an understanding of modern Viking constructions are questions of popular culture's roles, and its relations with high culture and academia. As an historical people who have been re-invented by popular legend, Vikings illustrate the problematic relations between scholars and the popular incarnations of those scholars' subjects. Scholars in the Viking field often feel antagonism toward the popular images which they see as distorting their topic. Yet without the popular Viking visions, it would be difficult for academic work on the Vikings to continue. Popular interest is what sells books, brings visitors to venues such as the Jorvik Viking Centre, and attracts many scholars to the Viking field in the first place. The thesis first discusses theories of popular culture, and the development of cultural
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