If most academic debates surrounding the recent boom of ancient DNA (aDNA) so far have concerned conflicting research epistemologies, this article is a call for taking aspects of media and communication more seriously. Analyzing the fates of two recent research papers on Viking Age Scandinavia, we show how aDNA research is communicated, narrated and infused with meaning in the public sphere, particularly in relation to popular narratives and political debates. We observe significant interlacing of scientific, political and media discourses in and around the papers, and conclude that archaeogenetics is a highly mediatized scientific field.

Rather than disempowering archaeologists, the contribution of ancient DNA has in fact been a liberating experience. Controversies that could never have been resolved solely using archaeological methods (or by DNA studies of present-day populations) have now been settled. (Spriggs and Reich, 2019: 634)

Evelina Stenbeck om CARINA AGNESDOTTERDIKT I RÖRELSE. INGRID SJÖSTRAND OCH POESINS RETORIK I KVINNORNAS FREDSRÖRELSE 1979–1982Möklinta: Gidlunds förlag, 2014, 309 s. (diss. Göteborg) Jonas Ingvarsson om TANJA VON DAHLERNMOVING IMAGES OF LITERATURE. TRANSFORMATIONS OF LITERATURE IN CONTEMPORARY VIDEO AND FILM INSTALLATION ARTUppsala: Uppsala universitet, Litteraturvetenskapliga institutionen, 2015, 248 s. (diss. Uppsala) Henrik Fürst om CHRISTOFER EDLING & JENS RYDGREN (RED.)SOCIOLOGI GENOM LITTERATUR. SKÖNLITTERATURENS MÖJLIGHETER OCH SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAPENS BEGRÄNSNINGARLund: Arkiv förlag, 2015, 333 s. Sigrid Schottenius Cullhed om STEFANO FOGELBERG ROTA & ANDREAS HELLERSTEDT (RED.)SHAPING HEROIC VIRTUE. STUDIES IN THE ART AND POLITICS OF SUPEREMINENCE IN EUROPE AND SCANDINAVIALeiden: Brill Studies in Intellectual History, 2015, 211 s. Anders Johansson om BOEL HACKMAN & MARIA WAHLSTRÖM (RED.)JAG ÄR DEN JAG ÄR. FRÅN BEKÄNNELSER TILL BLOGGARLund: ellerströms, 2015, 248 s. Andreas Nyblom om DAG NORDMARKFRÖDINGS FÖRVANDLINGAR. HISTORIEN OM ETT FÖRFATTARSKAPKarlstad: Gustaf Fröding-sällskapet i samarbete med Bild, text & form, 2015, 312 s. (Gustaf Fröding-sällskapets skriftserie; 47) Petra Söderlund om TORSTEN PETTERSSON, SKANS KERSTI NILSSON, MARIA WENNERSTRÖM WOHRNE & OLLE NORDBERG (RED.)LITTERATUREN PÅ UNDANTAG? UNGA VUXNAS FIKTIONSLÄSNING I DAGENS SVERIGEGöteborg: Makadam, 2015, 288 s. Ljubica Miočević om ROBERT W. RIX (RED.)MELLEM ÅND OG TRYKSVÆRTE. STUDIER I TRYKKEKULTUREN OG DEN ROMANTISKE LITTERATURKöpenhamn: Museum Tusculanums Forlag, 2015, 201 s.

Spaces of transit and transportation are often thought of as one-dimensional and as defined by their functionality and rationality, but recent literary texts challenge such preconceptions by representing those spaces as multidimensional and meaningful. In this article, we examine literature through the lens of place making, seeking to understand in what ways literary representations are involved in renegotiations of transit space. Addressing two generic spaces of transit—the underground and the airport—we analyze a body of texts generated through initiatives relating to the London Underground and Heathrow Airport respectively. Arguing that literature contributes to a processual understanding of place, we conclude that literary texts should be considered as instances of place making, and thus deserve serious consideration in research.