Scandinavian Studies

Scandinavian studies is an interdisciplinary academic field of area studies that covers topics related to Scandinavia and the Nordic countries, including languages, literatures, histories, cultures and societies. The term Scandinavia has both narrow and broad definitions. In the field of Scandinavian studies, a broad definition typically applies, encompassing the whole Nordic region of Denmark, the Faroe Islands, Greenland, Iceland, Finland, Norway, and Sweden.

The field is also home to research related to the Nordic diaspora, the Sami people, as well as regions affected by Nordic colonialism. Study of the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania is either considered to be under the umbrella of Scandinavian studies or is treated as a closely related field. The broad approach prevails despite the fact that Icelandic, Faroese, the Finnic languages, the Baltic languages, and Greenlandic do not belong to the group of North Germanic languages spoken in a narrowly defined Scandinavia. In Germany, however, "Skandinavistik" is considered a subfield of Germanic languages, with accompanying literature and culture, and "Fennistik" is the separate study of Finnic languages.

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