Thomas A Dubois
Biographic Data
| ID | 1166343 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Thomas A Dubois |
| GIVEN NAMES | Thomas A |
| FAMILY NAME | Dubois |
| SIGNATURE | DUBOIS T A |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Wisconsin–Madison |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-8818-2109 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 41 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 19 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 41 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1990 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
The Paganesque and the Tale of Vǫlsi
Kristin Kuutma (1959–2025)
Memory Institutions and Sámi Heritage
Memory Institutions and Sámi Heritage: Decolonization, Restitution, and Rematriation in Sápmi. 2025. Edited by Trude Fonneland and Rossella Ragazzi. London: Routledge. Open access (e- book), $49.99 (paperback), $180 (hardcover)
The Roots of John Morton in Finland
In The Roots of John Morton in Finland, historian Auvo Kostiainen updates and expands the 2021 study, coauthored with Pekka Haikkala, John Mortonin juuret ovat Suomessa. Historiaa ja DNA-tutkimusta. John Morton (1725–1777), one of the fifty-six signers of the US Declaration of Independence, was descended from the often-forgotten Forest Finnish component of the equally often-forgotten New Sweden colony. Founded in 1638 on Lenni Lenape lands, the N…
Old Norse Folklore
To some scholars of medieval philology, as well as to some modern folklorists and ethnologists, Stephen A. Mitchell's title Old Norse Folklore can seem provocative. The post-WWII field of Old Norse/Icelandic philology has been dominated by scholars focused on manuscript history, engaged primarily in literary analysis, skeptical of archaeological research, and disinclined to consider materials from eastern Scandinavia or the late medieval era. The…
The Pagan Earl
In The Pagan Earl, Nicolas Meylan contextualizes and interprets representations of Hákon Sigurðarson (ca. 937–995) and his religious practices within the sociopolitical milieux in which his major prose representations were produced: Theodoricus Monk's Historia de antiquitate regum Norwagiensium, Historia Norwegie, and Ágrip af Nóregs konunga sögum (all produced in Norway and presumed to date to the 1180s-90s); the Icelander Odd Snorrason's Ólafs …
ˆDåajmijes vuekie
The South Sami concept of dåajmijes vuekie is used to discuss a nuanced system of evaluative norms operating in Sami culture, past and present, in relation to objects, behavior, and activities. Where Western aesthetics may focus on surface appearance, dåajmijes vuekie emphasizes effective action in relation to practical needs, social interaction, and ethics. The authors suggest that evaluative norms associated with Sami traditional knowledge and …
Little Steamship on the Prairie
The enigmatic life of Finnish-Canadian pioneer Tom (Damianus) Sukanen (1878-1943) is discussed in connection with his steamship Sontiainen, today preserved at the Sukanen Ship Pioneer Village and Museum, outside of Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. The article examines details of Sukanen's life and the wide array of plays, novels, films, and musicals that have been made about him since the 1970s. The question of representing heritage through preserved art…
Old Norse Myths as Political Ideologies
Based on a 2017 symposium held in Basel and included in the Acta Scandinavica series Cambridge Studies in the Early Scandinavian World, Nicolas Meylan and Lukas Rösli's edited volume Old Norse Myths as Political Ideologies examines appropriations of Old Norse mythology, particularly from the nineteenth century to the present. A substantive introduction by the volume editors is followed by eleven individual articles by writers in Europe, Australia…
The Usually Invisible, Occasionally Visible, Spirits of the Dead in Early Twentieth-Century Sámi Folklore
Turn-of-twentieth-century Sámi concepts of spirits of the dead are presented along with accounts of those exceptional individuals able to see, hear, interact with, and sometimes control them, particularly persons termed noaideslágáš, i.e., skilled in noaidi arts. Examples and analysis are drawn from the writings of Sámi author and scholar Johan Turi (1854–1936), contemporaneous accounts recorded by Norwegian folklorist Just Qvigstad (1853–1957), …
The Sámi World
The edited volume The Sámi World is available in hard copy through Routledge Press and through the Taylor & Francis eBooks platform. The anthology's main editor Sanna Valkonen (Vilgon Biret-Ánne Inger-Ánne Sanna), professor of Sámi research at the University of Lapland, is joined by co-editors Saara Alakorva (Piera-Jovnna-Leena Saara) and Áile Aikio (Luobbal-Sámmol-Aimo Áile), both doctoral students at the University of Lapland, as well as Sigga-…
Decolonizing Dictionaries
The role of lexicographers of Davvisámegiella (North Sámi) in the historical colonization and present-day decolonization of Sámi society is examined. The careers and agendas of dictionary makers—both Sámi and non-Sámi—from the late eighteenth century until the present are surveyed, with attention to the ways they include and portray elements of folklore in their dictionaries and other works—including items of belief, traditional knowledge, and cu…
John Miles Foley's World of Oralities
This collection brings together newly commissioned and cutting-edge essays on oral text and tradition ranging from the ancient and medieval world to the present day by a leading group of European and North American oral theorists. Using a range of materials including the Bible, Greek epic, Beowulf, Old Norse and Old English riddles, and medieval music, the contributors collectively work to refine, challenge, and further advance contemporary Oral …
Christopher Abram. Evergreen Ash
Christopher Abram. Evergreen Ash: Ecology and Catastrophe in Old Norse Myth and Literature . Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2019. Pp. ix + 254. What stories do we choose to tell about texts like Vǫluspá , the complex and enigmatic literary amalgamation that synthesizes Norse pagan
Evergreen Ash
Sámi Media and Indigenous Agency in the Arctic North
Digital media–GIFs, films, TED Talks, tweets, and more–have become integral to daily life and, unsurprisingly, to Indigenous people’s strategies for addressing the historical and ongoing effects of colonization. In Sámi Media and Indigenous Agency in the Arctic North , Thomas DuBois and Coppélie Cocq examine how Sámi people of Norway, Finland, and Sweden use media to advance a social, cultural, and political agenda anchored in notions of cultural…
The Migration of a Building
Research Article| October 01 2018 The Migration of a Building: Representation, Replication, and Repatriation of an Emblem of Norwegian, Norwegian American, and Norwegian-American-Norwegian Identity Thomas A. DuBois Thomas A. DuBois University of Wisconsin–Madison Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scandinavian Studies (2018) 90 (3): 331–349. https://doi.org/10.5406/scanstud.90.3.0331 Cite Icon Cite Share Icon Share Faceboo…
Nordic literature
Nordic Literature: A comparative history is a multi-volume comparative analysis of the literature of the Nordic region. Bringing together the literature of Finland, continental Scandinavia (Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Sápmi), and the insular region (Iceland, Greenland, and the Faroe Islands), each volume of this three-volume project adopts a new frame through which one can recognize and analyze significant clusters of literary practice. This fir…
Viking Dublin
Book Review| July 01 2017 Viking Dublin: The Wood Quay Excavations Patrick F. Wallace. Viking Dublin: The Wood Quay Excavations. Sallins, Co. Kildare: Irish Academic Press, 2016. Pp. xxvi + 568. Thomas A. DuBois Thomas A. DuBois University of Wisconsin-Madison Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scandinavian Studies (2017) 89 (2): 294–297. https://doi.org/10.5406/scanstud.89.2.0294 Cite Icon Cite Share Icon Share Facebook T…
Neil Kent. The Sámi Peoples of the North
Neil Kent. The Sámi Peoples of the North: A Social and Cultural History . London: Hurst, 2014. Pp. 288. Neil Kent’s introduction to Sámi culture and history is aimed at both academics and general readers, and seeks to provide a foundation for further explorations of Sámi culture. It is a
The Sámi Peoples of the North
Book Review| October 01 2016 The Sámi Peoples of the North: A Social and Cultural History Neil Kent. The Sámi Peoples of the North: A Social and Cultural History. London: Hurst, 2014. Pp. 288. Thomas A. DuBois Thomas A. DuBois University of Wisconsin–Madison Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scandinavian Studies (2016) 88 (3): 319–321. https://doi.org/10.5406/scanstud.88.3.0319 Cite Icon Cite Share Icon Share Facebook Twi…
We Stopped Forgetting
Book Review| December 01 2014 We Stopped Forgetting: Stories from Sámi Americans Ellen Marie Jensen. We Stopped Forgetting: Stories from Sámi Americans. Kárášjohka: ČálliidLágádus. Pp. 133. Thomas A. DuBois Thomas A. DuBois Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scandinavian Studies (2014) 86 (4): 470–473. https://doi.org/10.5406/scanstud.86.4.0470 Cite Icon Cite Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Permissions Se…
Les Berserkir
Book Review| October 01 2014 Les Berserkir: Les guerriers-fauves dans la Scandinavie ancienne, de l’Âge de Vendel aux Vikings (VIe–XIe siècle) Vincent Samson. Les Berserkir: Les guerriers-fauves dans la Scandinavie ancienne, de l’Âge de Vendel aux Vikings (VIe–XIe siècle). Villeneuve d’Ascq: Presses Universitaires du Septentrion, 2011. Pp. 447. Thomas DuBois Thomas DuBois Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scandinavian Stu…
Borg Mesch
This paper examines the role of Borg Mesch (1869-1956) in the development of a nascent tourist industry in the North of Sweden. The concept of culture broker is used to clarify Mesch's varying activities as a photographer, outfitter, and guide in relation to two different clienteles: Swedes from the south of the country and international tourists from England and elsewhere. The history of Svenska Turistföreningen (the Swedish Tourist Association)…
Lars Levi Sunna
The article explores the intertwined religious and artistic viewpoints of contemporary Sámi artist Lars Levi Sunna of Kiruna, Sweden. Sunna self-consciously situates his artwork within a personal and familial history that centers around traditional Sámi livelihoods and the practice of handicraft (duodji). Through his duodji-inspired picto- rial art and art installations, Sunna chronicles a personal exploration that involved learning about his peo…
Interpreting Legend
Johan Turi's animal, mineral, vegetable cures and healing practices
BackgroundThe healing knowledge of a Sami (Saami) hunter and reindeer herder was surveyed as a window into the concepts of health, healing, and disease in early twentieth-century Sapmi (Northern Sweden). The two books of Johan Turi (1854-1936)-An Account of the Sami(1910) andLappish Texts(1918-19) were examined to determine the varieties of recorded zootherapeutic, mineral, chemical, and ethnobotanical lore, as well as the therapeutic acts, ident…
Trends in Contemporary Research on Shamanism
Recent research on the topic of shamanism is reviewed and discussed. Included are works appearing since the early 1990s in the fields of anthropology, religious studies, archaeology, cognitive sciences, ethnomusicology, medical anthropology, art history, and ethnobotany. The survey demonstrates a continued strong interest in specific ethnographic case studies focusing on communities which make use of shamanic practices. Shamanic traditions are in…
Constructions Construed
(1993). Constructions Construed: The Representation of Southeast Asian Refugess in Academic, Popular, and Adolescent Discourse. Amerasia Journal: Vol. 19, No. 3, pp. 1-26
Borg Mesch
This paper examines the role of Borg Mesch (1869-1956) in the development of a nascent tourist industry in the North of Sweden. The concept of culture broker is used to clarify Mesch's varying activities as a photographer, outfitter, and guide in relation to two different clienteles: Swedes from the south of the country and international tourists from England and elsewhere. The history of Svenska Turistföreningen (the Swedish Tourist Association)…
Lars Levi Sunna
The article explores the intertwined religious and artistic viewpoints of contemporary Sámi artist Lars Levi Sunna of Kiruna, Sweden. Sunna self-consciously situates his artwork within a personal and familial history that centers around traditional Sámi livelihoods and the practice of handicraft (duodji). Through his duodji-inspired picto- rial art and art installations, Sunna chronicles a personal exploration that involved learning about his peo…
Metafolkloristica
Constructions Construed
(1993). Constructions Construed: The Representation of Southeast Asian Refugess in Academic, Popular, and Adolescent Discourse. Amerasia Journal: Vol. 19, No. 3, pp. 1-26
Nordic Frontiers
Saami, Reindeer, and Gold in Alaska
Anden i lampan
A tallow candle gives different illumination and has other qualities than a modern halogen lamp. But in what ways have women and men changed their conceptual worlds, lifestyles and habits as a resu
Native Hermeneutics
L'etude des chants lyriques de cultures europeennes nordiques (balto-finnoises, saami, irlandaises/gaeliques) aborde l'hermeneutique indigene. Meme quand les chansons semblent similaires dans le contenu ou le style, les pratiques normatives pour leur interpretation peuvent varier. L'A. presente une typologie etic des strategies hermeneutiques consistant en deux axes interpretatifs s'entrecoupant. Les auditoires traditionnels peuvent interpreter l…
Interpreting Legend
Costuming the European Social Body
Thomas A. DuBois, Costuming the European Social Body: A Response, The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 111, No. 440, In Modern Dress: Costuming the European Social Body, 17th-20th Centuries (Spring, 1998), pp. 218-224
Mythic Images and Shamanism
Reviewed by: Mythic Images and Shamanism: A Perspective on Kalevala Poetry Thomas A. DuBois Mythic Images and Shamanism: A Perspective on Kalevala Poetry. By Anna-Leena Siikala. (FF Communications 280. Helsinki: Suomalainen Tiedeakatemia, 2002. Pp. 423, forward, citations, bibliography, 43 line drawings and photographs, person index, general index.) From its initial volume in 1911, the series Folklore Fellows Communications (FFC) has been recogni…
Mythic Images and Shamanism
Book Review| April 01 2006 Mythic Images and Shamanism: A Perspective on Kalevala Poetry Mythic Images and Shamanism: A Perspective on Kalevala Poetry, Anna-Leena Siikala. Thomas A. DuBois Thomas A. DuBois Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Journal of American Folklore (2006) 119 (472): 242–243. https://doi.org/10.2307/4137929 Cite Icon Cite Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Permissions Search Site Citation…
St Katarina in Her Own Light
Sts Sunniva and Henrik
The Same Nature as the Reindeer
Research Article| December 01 2011 "The Same Nature as the Reindeer": Johan Turi’s Portrayal of Sámi Knowledge Thomas A. DuBois Thomas A. DuBois Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scandinavian Studies (2011) 83 (4): 519–544. https://doi.org/10.2307/23343098 Cite Icon Cite Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Permissions Search Site Citation Thomas A. DuBois; "The Same Nature as the Reindeer": Johan Turi’s Port…
Trends in Contemporary Research on Shamanism
Recent research on the topic of shamanism is reviewed and discussed. Included are works appearing since the early 1990s in the fields of anthropology, religious studies, archaeology, cognitive sciences, ethnomusicology, medical anthropology, art history, and ethnobotany. The survey demonstrates a continued strong interest in specific ethnographic case studies focusing on communities which make use of shamanic practices. Shamanic traditions are in…
Lars Levi Sunna
The article explores the intertwined religious and artistic viewpoints of contemporary Sámi artist Lars Levi Sunna of Kiruna, Sweden. Sunna self-consciously situates his artwork within a personal and familial history that centers around traditional Sámi livelihoods and the practice of handicraft (duodji). Through his duodji-inspired picto- rial art and art installations, Sunna chronicles a personal exploration that involved learning about his peo…
Issue 500
HERSTORY. THE TERM was coined in the early 1970s, at a time when feminist scholars were beginning to dismantle in a systematic way the generations of male bias that had long characterized male-dominated historiography. It suggests pithily that what scholars in the past described simply as is really often a chronicle of specifically male activities, often presented and analyzed to the exclusion of women's activities or roles within the same chrono…
Johan Turi's animal, mineral, vegetable cures and healing practices
BackgroundThe healing knowledge of a Sami (Saami) hunter and reindeer herder was surveyed as a window into the concepts of health, healing, and disease in early twentieth-century Sapmi (Northern Sweden). The two books of Johan Turi (1854-1936)-An Account of the Sami(1910) andLappish Texts(1918-19) were examined to determine the varieties of recorded zootherapeutic, mineral, chemical, and ethnobotanical lore, as well as the therapeutic acts, ident…
We Stopped Forgetting
Book Review| December 01 2014 We Stopped Forgetting: Stories from Sámi Americans Ellen Marie Jensen. We Stopped Forgetting: Stories from Sámi Americans. Kárášjohka: ČálliidLágádus. Pp. 133. Thomas A. DuBois Thomas A. DuBois Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scandinavian Studies (2014) 86 (4): 470–473. https://doi.org/10.5406/scanstud.86.4.0470 Cite Icon Cite Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Permissions Se…
Les Berserkir
Book Review| October 01 2014 Les Berserkir: Les guerriers-fauves dans la Scandinavie ancienne, de l’Âge de Vendel aux Vikings (VIe–XIe siècle) Vincent Samson. Les Berserkir: Les guerriers-fauves dans la Scandinavie ancienne, de l’Âge de Vendel aux Vikings (VIe–XIe siècle). Villeneuve d’Ascq: Presses Universitaires du Septentrion, 2011. Pp. 447. Thomas DuBois Thomas DuBois Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scandinavian Stu…
Borg Mesch
This paper examines the role of Borg Mesch (1869-1956) in the development of a nascent tourist industry in the North of Sweden. The concept of culture broker is used to clarify Mesch's varying activities as a photographer, outfitter, and guide in relation to two different clienteles: Swedes from the south of the country and international tourists from England and elsewhere. The history of Svenska Turistföreningen (the Swedish Tourist Association)…
Neil Kent. The Sámi Peoples of the North
Neil Kent. The Sámi Peoples of the North: A Social and Cultural History . London: Hurst, 2014. Pp. 288. Neil Kent’s introduction to Sámi culture and history is aimed at both academics and general readers, and seeks to provide a foundation for further explorations of Sámi culture. It is a
The Sámi Peoples of the North
Book Review| October 01 2016 The Sámi Peoples of the North: A Social and Cultural History Neil Kent. The Sámi Peoples of the North: A Social and Cultural History. London: Hurst, 2014. Pp. 288. Thomas A. DuBois Thomas A. DuBois University of Wisconsin–Madison Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scandinavian Studies (2016) 88 (3): 319–321. https://doi.org/10.5406/scanstud.88.3.0319 Cite Icon Cite Share Icon Share Facebook Twi…
Nordic literature
Nordic Literature: A comparative history is a multi-volume comparative analysis of the literature of the Nordic region. Bringing together the literature of Finland, continental Scandinavia (Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Sápmi), and the insular region (Iceland, Greenland, and the Faroe Islands), each volume of this three-volume project adopts a new frame through which one can recognize and analyze significant clusters of literary practice. This fir…
Viking Dublin
Book Review| July 01 2017 Viking Dublin: The Wood Quay Excavations Patrick F. Wallace. Viking Dublin: The Wood Quay Excavations. Sallins, Co. Kildare: Irish Academic Press, 2016. Pp. xxvi + 568. Thomas A. DuBois Thomas A. DuBois University of Wisconsin-Madison Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scandinavian Studies (2017) 89 (2): 294–297. https://doi.org/10.5406/scanstud.89.2.0294 Cite Icon Cite Share Icon Share Facebook T…
The Migration of a Building
Research Article| October 01 2018 The Migration of a Building: Representation, Replication, and Repatriation of an Emblem of Norwegian, Norwegian American, and Norwegian-American-Norwegian Identity Thomas A. DuBois Thomas A. DuBois University of Wisconsin–Madison Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scandinavian Studies (2018) 90 (3): 331–349. https://doi.org/10.5406/scanstud.90.3.0331 Cite Icon Cite Share Icon Share Faceboo…
History (28 works) · Art (22 works) · Sociology (15 works) · Literature (14 works) · Archaeology (13 works) · Indigenous Studies and Ecology (12 works) · Anthropology (10 works) · Folklore, Mythology, and Literature Studies (10 works) · Philosophy (10 works) · Political science (10 works)