This collection of essays celebrates Professor Janet Garton's outstanding contribution over four decades to research, teaching and leadership in the field of Scandinavian Studies. Contributions from some two dozen established and emerging scholars discuss Scandinavian literature, drama, letters and visual culture with a focus on themes germane to Janet's long-running course at UEA, From Free Love to Decadence: love, modernity, travel, faith, gender, sexuality, textuality, community, and the body.

Danish filmmaker Thomas Vinterberg's searing film Festen ("The Celebration") was the first film from the Dogme 95 stable. Adhering to Dogme's cinematic purity -- no artificial lighting, no superficial action, no credit for the director, and only handheld cameras for equipment -- Festen was a commercial and critical success, winning the Jury Prize at Cannes in 1998 and garnering world-wide attention. The film is set at the sixtieth birthday party of Helge, the wealthy patriarch of a large Danish family. The birthday festivities take a turn when Helge's son Christian raises a toast and...