New Swedish Books, autumn 2020 1
New Swedish Books 52 SirdolaCCat – The Deportatio
n of the Northern SÁMI Moa Matthis’ choice We are so used to imagining geographical places in terms of national borders: lines on a map creating meaning by including or excluding. When Elin Anna Labba writes the history of the Swedish State’s forced deportation of the Sámi people during the first half of the 20th century it becomes a story that necessarily breaks down the legitimacy of such borders. Sápmi, the cultural region of the Sámi, stretches across four national borders from the Atlantic coast in the west to the Barents Sea in the east, from the forestland of middle Sweden to the North Cape tundra. Lands and waters have names and meanings that precede the cartographical boundaries by thousands of years. It is in the footsteps of those who gave them these names, but were forced away, that Labba walks, listening to and recounting their voices with a sharp precision. Elin Anna Labba Sirdolaccat is Elin Anna Labba’s debut work. History, Reportage, 190 p. Elin Anna Labba, Nina Ulmaja (design) Publisher Norstedts Rights Norstedts Agency Catherine Mörk Catherine.mork@norstedts.se Photo: Hugo Thambert