Queering National Histories is a research initiative exploring the intercorrelations between queerness, nationality and citizenship in theNordic region. The novelty of this project lies in the collaboration of queer scholars from Iceland, Finland and Norway, three countries that are, in many respects, marginal within the Nordic region. Taking our marginality as a shared point of departure, we will develop together new methods for analysing historical sources on sexual and gender diverse lives and experiences, from a queer studies perspective. Moreover, we are interested in seeing how history is used in the present to construct national narratives.

The initiative combines methods of history, archival studies and anthropology with critical approaches of gender, queer and literary studies. Currently, most existing knowledge on Nordic queer history is produced within national frames of understanding and is therefore prey to methodological nationalism. The added value of our multinational collaboration lies here: it is impossible to know which features of our pasts in fact are nationally specific and which are regional and transnational, unless the they are studied comparatively. Our research collaboration, therefore, not only enables a productive framework for revising national histories. It also provides ground for integrating Nordic histories into contemporary international queer scholarship.

As the project participants are in different stages of their academic careers, the collaboration will have also a strong mentoring dimension. With the grant we are to organize a series of three explorative Queering National Histories workshops in the period of March 2021 May 2022 and publish an edited collection of articles which deal with and explore further the topics of the workshops. The workshops will take place roughly every six months. Each workshop focuses on a specific theme:

1. Sources for queer history (Reykjavik, spring 2021)
2. Modes of queer analysis of the past (Turku, autumn 2021)
3. Queering national histories (Stavanger/Bergen, spring 2022)

The workshop series will be (1) a venue for scholars to meet and discuss their research in a top-notch scholarly context; (2) a way to bring together scholars, memory and archival organizations and stakeholders from the all three participating countries and beyond; (3) establish and develop a supportive scholarly network for a new generation of Nordic queer scholars building international careers.