Recent scholarship suggests that the Nordic apocalypse, Ragnarok, can be linked historically to one or several geological or climate events in the sixth century ad. Climatic fluctuations and a 'dust veil' during the period of ad 536-550 have been recorded across the Northern Hemisphere,
and in Scandinavia this seems to coincide with considerable changes in settlement patterns. Consequently, much later literary sources on Nordic mythology have been interpreted as local memories of the cooling of the Northern Hemisphere. In this article we offer a critical perspective on the
combining of Nordic literary sources from the thirteenth century with archaeological records of the sixth century. We address the need for developing a viable method within the scope of what we identify as the palaeoenvironmental humanities perspective on past ecological changes. By defining
a palaeoenvironmental humanities perspective through the interdisciplinary conjoining of archaeology, social theory and literature, we attempt to strike a balance between material and non-material sources in the study of pre-historical environmental changes.
The chapter investigates the influence of Männerbund-theories on Neopagan, alt-right author Jack Donovan’s literature from 2012 to 2021. As an author and opinion-maker, Donovan has proposed a radical deconstruction of American society and rebuilding in male tribal gangs. This anarcho-libertarian vision for society, coupled with strong misogynist tendencies, has been a core element in the so-called ‘manosphere’ discussions in the rise of the American alt-right, and Donovan’s associations with these groups has earned him a reputation as a white supremacist. This chapter discusses the historical influences on Donovan’s thinking in a perspective that looks beyond attempts to categorize the author’s political position.
RESUME: Dette kapitel undersøger indflydelsen fra Männerbund-teorier på den neopaganistiske, amerikanske alt-right-forfatter Jack Donovans litteratur i perioden 2012 til 2021. Som forfatter og meningsdanner har Donovan foreslået en komplet omkalfatring af det amerikanske samfund til en tilstand bestående af mandsdominerede stammesamfund. Denne anarko-libertarianske vision for et samfund har sammen med forfatterens omfattende misogyni været et kerneelement i den såkaldte ‘mandesfære’- debat, der har fulgt den amerikanske alt-right-bevægelse fra begyndelsen. Donovans associationer med alt-right-grupper og individer har resulteret i, at han har fået et ry som fortaler for hvidt herredømme. Dette kapitel diskuterer de historiske indflydelser på Donovans tænkning i et perspektiv, der ser udover forskellige forsøg på at kategorisere forfatterens politiske tilhørsforhold.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.