#65 Hans Lucht: Ethnographic Poetry & Migration

#65 Hans Lucht: Ethnographic Poetry & Migration

In this episode, we are in company with Hans Lucht to talk about ethnographic poetry. Hans is a senior researcher, and the head of migration research at the Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS) in Copenhagen. He has worked with migration for 20 years, with a special focus on undocumented labour-related migration from West Africa to Europe. He has conducted long-term fieldwork in Ghana, Niger, Libya, Italy, and Greece, and his prize-winning monograph ‘Darkness before Daybreak’ chronicles the lives of a group of migrants who travels from Ghana to Italy in search of work. Apart from his numerous academic contributions of articles and policy reports, Lucht is a writer, and poet, I should say. He has published two novels titled Onko-Mus and Lysene på den anden side [https://turbine.dk/produkt/lysene-paa-den-anden-side/] and two collections of poems, all in his mother-tongue Danish. The first poetry collection, called Feltarbejde [https://turbine.dk/produkt/feltarbejde/] (Fieldwork) from 2022 is a poetic reflection on both the experiences of his interlocutors and the experience as a fieldworker. The second, Vores liv ryster [https://turbine.dk/produkt/vores-liv-ryster/] (Our lives are shaking), came out in 2024 and consists of what Hans has called documentary poems. This means that all text of the poems is direct quotes from conversations and interviews with his interlocutors that Hans has then curated by following a few self-imposed dogmas. In the podcast, Hans will read out loud five poems from this collection, all titled with a name of the one speaking and where the conversation took place. In between the readings, we ask Hans about what impressions inspired the poems, the dynamic of working between anthropology and art, and how each domain can inform and expand the insights of the other. We discuss the concept of ‘existential reciprocity’ in relation to his work, and how doing fieldwork engenders impressions and transformations that exceed academic analysis and extend into the lives of both interlocutors and fieldworkers.  The episode is part of Regnfang’s series of co-publications of the Anthropology on Air [https://www.uib.no/en/antro/161105/anthropology-air] podcast. A podcast created and published in collaboration with the Department of Social Anthropology at the University of Bergen. The podcast was recorded in February 2025, when Hans visited Bergen to give a presentation at the Bergen Social Anthropology Seminars (BSAS) series. Resources: -       Hans Lucht’s academic profile [https://www.diis.dk/eksperter/lucht] -       Feltarbejde [https://turbine.dk/produkt/feltarbejde/] (2022) -       Vores liv ryster [https://turbine.dk/produkt/vores-liv-ryster/] (2024)

#64 Iselin C. Hermann: Manden med sin egen tidsregning – om Viktor IV

I denne podcast kan du møde forfatter, Iselin C. Hermann. Iselin debuterede som forfatter i 1998 med brevromanen Prioritaire og har siden udgivet en lang række romaner, senest kunstneromanen Berninis Øje om den italienske billedhugger Gian Lorenzo Bernini. Derudover har hun skrevet flere børnebøger, blandt andet Den nye konge af Sydspanien – og hele kabalen, der for nylig udkom på forlaget Jensen & Dalgaard, samt forgængeren Kongen af Sydspanien – og hele balladen, der netop er genudgivet på samme forlag. Før og sideløbende med sit forfattervirke har Iselin også arbejdet som redaktør på Brøndums forlag, hvor hun sammen med Hans Jørgen Brøndum har stået bag en lang række fantastiske udgivelser—blandt andet flere udgivelser med digteren og vennen, Henrik Nordbrandt, hvis poesi hun har speciale i fra sine studier i litteraturvidenskab. Det er dog hverken Iselins egen forfattervirksomhed eller arbejde som redaktør, der er fokus i denne udsendelse. Derimod læser Iselin højt af en ganske bestemt tekst, nemlig sit erindringsessay Manden med sin egen tidsregning, der handler om mennesket og kunstneren, Viktor IV. Vi vil egentlig ikke sige så meget om teksten på forhånd, for den skal bare nydes som den er. Derimod vil vi gerne slå fast, at vi er utrolig stolte af at kunne bringe denne højtlæsning, eftersom teksten aldrig har været bragt før, hverken på skrift eller lyd. Denne udsendelse udgør altså en premiere. Vi håber du vil nyde Iselins fantastiske essay og forsvinde ind i Viktor IV’s forunderlige verden, fyldt med livspoesi, spontanitet og oprigtig kærlighed til eksistensens mange finurlige sider. Hvis du har interesse for Viktor IV’s arbejde, kan du besøge Bulgar Time på: https://www.bulgartime.com/ [https://www.bulgartime.com/]. De sælger nogle af Viktor IV’s fantastiske værker heriblandt hans ure. God fornøjelse.

#63 Norsk Folkemusik - om ånd, arv og videreførelse med Anne Svånaug Blengsdalen

I denne episode (andet afsnit i vores serie om norsk folkemusik) taler vi med Anne Svånaug Blengsdalen. Anne Svånaug Blengsdalen er folkemusiker, folkedanser, samt professor emeritus i musikformidling og musikhistorie. Anne har medvirket på en række albums og udgivet 2 i eget navn, samt skrevet vidt og bredt om den norske folkemusik. Vi taler med Anne om læremester/elev forholdet og dets betydning for folkemusikkens ånd, om loyalitet overfor tradition, om folkemusikkens historie fra 1500tallet og frem, samt om forbindelsen mellem folkemusik og forlkedans. God fornøjelse!

#62 Norsk Folkemusik - Om polyrytmik og trance, med Anders Røine

I denne episode (forste afsnit i vores serie om norsk folkemusik) taler vi med Anders Roine. Anders Erik Roine er folkemusiker og komponist, og spiller mundharpe, langeleik, hardingfele, seljefloyte, lur, mandolin, banjo og gitar. Anders har lavet musik i mange forskellige konstellationer, blandt andet med Sudan Dudan, Reolo samt Roine/Warg. Han har en PhD grad i kulturstudier, fra universitetet i serost Norge som handler om rytmikstrukturer i norsk folkemusik. Vi taler med Anders om hans vej ind i den norske folkemusik, om udviklingen i norsk folkemusik igennem ärhundrederne og genren store fornyelse igennem de sidste 20 ar. Anders fortæller om den spojse forbindelse mellem norsk folkemusik og musik fra Vestafrika, om polyrytmik, om variation og repetition, samt om tranceinducerende elementer i folkemusikken. God fornojelse!

#61 Persian poetry – a weapon in the Iranian freedom fight, with Fatemeh Ekhtesari and Mehdi Mousavi.

In this episode we talk with Fatemeh Ekhtesari and Mehdi Mousavi about poetry as a practise in Iran. We talk about poetry’s strong roots in Iranian culture, and how it’s being used today as a weapon in the fight against the Iranian regime. We talk about censorship in Iran and the poetic movement post-modern Ghazal. We discuss how the regime exercise systematic violence, torture and discrimination against its population, and the ways in which Fatemeh Ekhtesari and Mehdi Mousavi have used their poetry as a political tool in mobilising change.  Fatemeh Ekhtesari is a poet, editor, Human rights activist and midwife from Iran. She has published four collections of poetry, two collections of short stories, and two collections of prose. Her poetry is translated into English, German, Norwegian, Swedish and Spanish.  Mehdi Mousavi is a poet, editor, Human rights activist  and pharmacist from Iran. He has published fourteen collections of poetry, two novels and a book on literature theory. As a teacher Mousavi has led underground poetry schools in hiding from Iranian authorities for many years.  In 2015 Ekhtesari and Mousavi fled Iran together. Ekhtesari had been convicted eleven and a half years in prison and ninety-nine whiplashes, Mousavi nine years in prison and ninety-nine lashes. Both sentences were on the grounds of their poetic activism. They came to Limmehammer in 2017 through Icorn as writes in exile.  This episode of the podcast was recorded in February 2024, at an event in Gamle Munch in Oslo in front of an audience. The event was supported by Frittord.  I hope you enjoy the conversation.