Tore Størvold, Associate Professor of Music at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, discussed his book Dissonant Landscapes: Music, Nature, and the Performance of Iceland (Wesleyan University Press, 2023) in the Greenhouse environmental humanities book talk series on Monday, 4 September 2023, 16:00 Central European time.
During the past three decades, Iceland has attained a strong presence in the world through its musical culture, with images of the nation being packaged and shipped out in melodies, harmonies, and rhythms. What ‘Iceland’ means for people, both at home and abroad, is conditioned by music and its ability to animate notions of nature and nationality. In six chapters that range from discussions of indie rock ballads to ‘Nordic noir’ television music, Dissonant Landscapes describes the capacity of musical expression to transform ideas about nature and nationality on the northern edges of Europe.
