Arms and the Men: Linnea Axelsson’s Ædnan (2018) and the Epic Tradition

Abstract

The article explores how the epic work Ædnan (2018) by Linnea Axelsson makes use of the epic genre. By simultaneously employing and recontextualizing epic conventions, Ædnan brings about a decolonization of the epic tradition in which inherited structures of this tradition are re-examined and where possibilities still available in the epic genre are highlighted. The article especially dwells on questions of orality, sound, and embodied language. It points to epic traditions associated with Johann Gottfried Herder, which are re-evaluated within a deterritorialized understanding of the epic, inspired by Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari.

Keywords

• postcolonial epic
• decolonization
• sound
• multilingualism
• deterritorialization