SESAM Brown-bag seminar: Where on Earth is Gállogieddi?

When: Wednesday, April 10, 11:15-12:00

Where: Meeting room 2.228 Guovssu, Centre for Sami Studies

During this seminar, Erika De Vivo, PhD candidate in Cultural Anthropology at the University of Torino (Italy) and visiting researcher at Centre for Sami Studies, presents her preliminary findings based on the data she collected during her fieldwork in summer 2018.

Abstract:

This presentation revolves around Márkomeannu, a Sami cultural festival held each July at Gállogieddi, in the Norwegian part of Sápmi. Márkomeannu is one of the numerous Sami events taking place in Northern Norway. Nevertheless, it is a unique festival in the local cultural scene. Its peculiarity lies in its history, its aims and its relevance in the development of local Sami identity formation. Throughout the years, Márkomeannu has grown in importance and has served an increasing number of purposes. It has had a political and an innovative function but it also fostered a positive re-evaluation of a local Sami identity.

This presentation aims at exploring Márkomeanny through the analysis of its linguistic landscape, in the light of the historical context of the region. During the first part of the presentation, Erika De Vivo will address the toponym Gállogieddi, its meaning and its relation to both the local environment and the non-Christian Sami worldview. During the second part of the presentation, she will examine the concept that characterized the 2018 edition of Márkomeannu.  According to the narrative presented on the festival’s website and proposed to the public during the festival, Gállogiedi is described as the last safe place for the Sami people living in a post-apocalyptic future, in 2118. This concept constituted the festival’s theme and was introduced to the public through the display of art, the use of language and the physical construction of a stage merged with the festival location. In addressing both the narrative and the scenography of the 2018 edition of Márkomeannu, the political overtones of the festival concept emerge as particularly strong since the dystopian future portrayed at Márkomeannu 2118 can actually be seen as a projection of the consequences of current political trends. By setting the festival in a dystopian future, the organizers have indeed denounced contemporary issues such as climate change, colonisation and the endangerment of political and personal freedom.

The semiar is open for everyone! 

Buresboahtin! Welcome!