Nordic Regions of Culture: Intercultural links between Norway and Scotland in the Eighteenth Century Mobile researcher: Silke Reeploeg , UK

The history and culture of Scotland has been shaped by its relationships with other cultures across the North Sea - in particular with Norway. From a Shetland perspective, for example, an affinity with Norwegian culture has persisted throughout the 500 y ears since the islands' transfer from the Norwegian to the Scottish crown in 1469. However modern British and Norwegian historiograhies, influenced by nation-building narratives of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, neglect to document the continuo us cross-cultural links that have linked these geographically very close areas. This research project seeks to investigate both the actual evidence for a transnational 'cultural region' connecting Scotland and Norway beyond the Viking period, as well as the way in which this relates to the wider perspecives of how regions of culture and memory are constructed within Northern Europe, especially Scandinavia.