ABSTRACT
Negotiations of power among and within the Nordic countries often appear as sequences of official dialogue and relatively civil conflicts. When Icelandic economic expansion reached its pinnacle in 2007, Icelandic tourism, whether for business or leisure, was a significant and visible phenomenon in Copenhagen. Borealism, originating in the Latin word borealis, the North, it is an appropriation of Edward Said's term 'orientalism', which refers to the ontological and epistemological distinction between East and West. The term 'borealism' therefore has a post-colonial perspective that calls for some elaboration. In many ways, the nature and history of Icelandic Danish relations are unclear and controversial. The North within Norden is a set of exoticized spaces of performance of a liminal and, to some extent, marginalized folk group or groups. Beyond these images, a number of dynamics present themselves, one of which is the crypto-colonialism expressed in obscure folklore and liminal everyday communication.
