Boréalisme. Le Nord comme espace discursif

Since antiquity the North has fascinated historians, geographers, philosophers and Southern writers, who have projected various forms of discourse onto it, from scientific observations or social and political considerations to dreams, fears and fantasies. This projection can be referred to as “borealism”, by analogy with the term “Orientalism”, as defined by Edward Said. Borealism describes the North as a discursive space, produced by and for the South. Unlike orientalism, which is exclusively produced by Occidental discourse, borealism is also sometimes reproduced in Nordic expressions of self-identity.This article will study borealism as a “grammar” of the North made up of three types of discourse: the first emerges from scientific exploration and anthropology, the second from a political will linked with the colonisation of the most northern spaces, and the third expressing the representation of a dream and fantasy space.