"Everybody wants to feel at home" : A comparative analysis of nature and culture in Alla måste söderut and Inlandet

In this thesis we study the link between nature and culture in two novels, which both take place in a region called ’Norrland’ in Northern Sweden. The first is Inlandet (2018) by Elin Willows and the second is Alla måste söderut (2023) by Marie Lundström. For the analysis we used postcolonial theory, with the basis in Edward Saids Orientalism (2016) and David Thurfjells Granskogsfolk (2020). The terms that has been used and analyzed are the sublime, nature experiences, nostalgia and homesickness. We have also used the term ”the Other” when discussing ”us” and ”them”. The analysis is divided into three sections where we first analyze the novels separately. In the first section we focus on the social exclusion and also the characters’ relationship to nature. In the last section we compare the two novels to look closer at their similarities and differences. Regarding the culture, the main character in Inlandet struggles with finding her place and being a part of the society, partly because she is from Stockholm and the inhabitants only view her as such, and partly because she doesn’t want to change herself and adapt to the social codes of the community she now lives in. In Alla måste söderut the main character struggles with being viewed as both a ”norrlänning” (nickname for the people from the region Norrland) and a ”stockholmare” (nickname for the people from Stockholm) and unlike the character in Inlandet she tries to adapt to both sides depending on where she is spending her time. What we find is that the main character in Inlandet sees nature as something foreign, bewildering and something that she’s not a part of. In Alla måste söderut nature has a more passive role, the main character has lived in close relations with nature and is never surprised about its beauty and size, she sees nature as something living with a spirit of its own.