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Norway

by Hans Hosar

> Introduction
> Genres and publishing
> The academic field
> Institutions, organizations, networks
> Bibliography and references
> Web links
> Acknowledgements

Introduction

With ancestry reaching back to the topographic descriptions of the 18^th century Enlightenment Era, the modern local history movement in Norway took shape in the early 20^th century. The cultural and ideological background was to a great extent the agrarian populist and national democratic movements of the time. There was a reinforced local history trend from the 1970's, which was closely connected to the general upsurge of (leftist) populism, regionalism and emphasis on history from below. Whatever importance should be placed on the populist aspects, it should be noted that local history has a fair standing also as a professional, academic discipline in Norway.

Genres and publishing

The dominant local history genres today are on the one hand the bygdebok (literally "local rural community book", here taken to include also histories of larger districts, towns and cities) and on the other hand the annuals and other periodicals published by local history societies etc.

With few exceptions a bygdebok is commissioned and financed by the public authorities of the community. The majority of the 434 Norwegian kommuner (the basic administrative unit, whether rural or urban) have their own bygdebok, and older versions are likely to be replaced by new, updated ones. A majority of these projects are nowadays contracted to professionally trained historians (or, occasionally, ethnologists, anthropologists etc.).

The local history annuals
This genre is one in which the local history amateur dominates the field, although a fair number of these publications also contain articles by scholars. Approximately 300 annuals (and other periodicals) are published every year, mostly by local and regional history associations, sometimes by museums and archives.

National journals
Heimen, published from 1922 by The Norwegian Association of Local History (see below), is Norway's one professional journal on local history.

Other genres
With modernized and cheaper ways of publishing, the variety of local history genres has multiplied through recent years. Pictorial reviews of the local past, cultural guides of the local community, monographs on the occupation years 1940-45, on local celebrities, architecture etc. etc. are flourishing. These are published by local associations, as well as by commercial publishing enterprises.

The academic field

The history departments of all the universities in Norway (Oslo, Bergen, Trondheim, Tromsø) list among their staff historians who at one time or another have been engaged in major local history projects. In Trondheim and Tromsø local history has been formally attached to academic chairs. Local history has also been an important part of the academic programs at the university colleges (høgskoler). [Links]

Institutions, organizations, networks

The Norwegian Institute of Local History, founded in 1955, is an independent public institution under the Ministry of Culture. Its purpose is to promote local and regional activity through counselling services, research and documentation.

The Norwegian Association of Local History, founded1920, has 421 local history associations as its members, comprising 80.000 individuals. Its purpose is to stimulate interest in and knowledge of local history and cultural heritage. The organization publishes Heimen (see above under Genres and publishing). There are another 150-200 local association that are not affiliated with the national association. Altogether, the local history associations make up a veritable popular movement in Norway.

Local archives, often crucial in local history activities, are organised in The National Association of Local and Private Archives.

Genealogists are organized in The Norwegian Genealogical Society (Norsk Slektshistorisk Forening ). Another important organization of genealogists is Dis-Norge (genealogy on Internet etc.).

Bibliography and references

Alsvik, Ola: "The Norwegian Institute of Local History" and "Local History in Norway", Oslo 1993.

Winge, Harald: "Local History", in Hubbard & al: Making a Historical Culture. Historiography in Norway, Scandinavian University Press 1995.

Web links

Institutions, organizations, networks:
The Norwegian Institute of Local History
The Norwegian Association of Local History
The Norwegian Genealogical Society (Norsk Slektshistorisk Forening )
Dis-Norge (genealogy on Internet etc.)
Archive Net Norway
The National Association of Local and Private Archives

Universities and regional colleges:
Høgskolen i Lillehammer
Høgskolen i Vestfold
Høgskolen i Telemark
Universitetet i Agder
Høgskolen i Stavanger
Universitetet i Bergen
Høgskolen i Sogn og Fjordane
Høgskolen i Volda
NTNU i Trondheim
Høgskolen i Bodø
Universitetet i Tromsø

Acknowledgements

Responsible for this presentation : Hans P. Hosar, The Norwegian Institute of Local History (hans.hosar@lokalhistorie.no).

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