MELLOM SNORRES KONGESAGAER OG JOIKENS RYTME. OM BEAIVVÁŠ SÁMI NAŠUNÁLATEÁHTERS SNØFRID (2018)
BETWEEN SNORRE'S KING SAGAS AND THE RHYTHM OF THE JOIK: ON THE SAMI NATIONAL THEATRE'S SNØFRID (2018)

Summary/Abstract: Between Snorre's King Sagas and the rhythm of the joik: On The Sami National Theatre's Snøfrid (2018). “Beaivváš” is a Sami theatre having the status of a national theatrical institution in Norway. In 2021 it celebrates its 40th anniversary. The article focuses on the performance of Snøfrid which was staged by the Sami National Theatre in 2018. The performance is based on the story about the marriage between King Harald Fine-Hair and a young Sami woman. The story is known thanks to Snorri Sturlason. His Heimskringla was instrumental in forming ideas concerning the founding of the Kingdom of Norway and became a significant point of reference for the definition of Norwegian national identity in the 1800's. The author of the article wishes to show the dual function of the performance: both as a correction of preconceptions of minority culture and as an expansion of the discourse on the state and nation of Norway. Snøfrid is interpreted from a postnationalistic perspective and viewed as a correcting voice compared to the mythology of national unification, and it is emphasized that the corrective voice of the performance is not a critique of Norse narrative tradition; rather, it is a critique of the 19th century version of that tradition. The author of the article identifies the individualization of the main character as the correcting strategy of the performance. The article throws light on those selective elements of performance aesthetics that contribute to the process of individualization.

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