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Paper short abstract:

Nordic second homes, designed for getting away from it all, are places where technology is often invisibilized. But at least the question of how modern comforts and technologies ‘fit’ with cabin life has been explicitly posed, making Nordic second homes an interesting case for studying modernity.

Paper long abstract:

The Nordic hytte/cabin experience is many things: nursery of nationalism; unsustainable lifestyle accessory; etc. Whatever the angle, the presence or absence of modern infrastructure and the comforts and conveniences that it allows, is a central question, making the invisibilizing of technology in second homes an intriguing issue for the cultural history of sustainability.

We ask why have people tried to hide modern technology: the electrical stove under a removable panel, the incandescent bulbs that look like gas lighting, the carefully boxed-in wires and other tell-tale signs of modern technologies at odds with the simple life of the hytte/cabin. What kinds of values and discourses does this hiding of modern technology spring from?

We look to the over 100-year history of summer cabin culture with examples from Norway and Finland. Cabin cultures have both supported and run counter to prevailing national political tendencies, they have generated ‘cabin porn’ as well as off-grid simplicity. It would appear that modern technology in this context has always required a stance, that is, decisions about the equipment necessary for getting away from ‘it all’, close to nature and looking to the past more than the future. This culture of leisure, we suggest, is interesting for indicating ambivalent or complex relationships to modernity, for the cabin/cottage/hytte is not the opposite of modernity. If it enacts an internal contrast or intrinsic divisions within the notion of the modern, it makes Nordic second homes an interesting case to study.