Natureculture in a Stallo tale: Harmonious dwelling or troubling postequilibrium?

Abstract

This article examines a retelling of a traditional Sami tale in the picturebook Sølvmånen [Silver Moon] by Sissel Horndal (2015). The book tells the story of a girl who is abducted by the Stallo, an Ogre well known in Sami lore. The fairy tale is placed in a contemporary setting, with a complex interplay between pictures and verbal text. The analysis uses perspectives drawn from ecocritical studies to discuss how nature is presented in the book. Using the concept of natureculture developed by Donna Haraway (2003), the article investigates the book’s portrayal of landscapes, climate/seasons, vegetation, animals and humans. The article asks whether the indigenous natureculture portrayed in Sølvmånen can be seen primarily as a harmonious dwelling, or as a more nuanced and troubling postequilibrium (Garrard, 2012). One of the aspects discussed in the article is the role of the Stallo figure as a threatening force within natureculture, or as an external threat.

Keywords

• Sami oral tales
• the Stallo figure
• ecocritical theory
• natureculture
• postequilibrium
• Samioraltales