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Professor Elettra Carbone discusses, in her own words, her experience as a European, her expertise, and her thoughts on Europe today.
Dr. Elettra Carbone is Associate Professor in Norwegian Studies, Scandinavian Studies, SELCS, UCL. Since 2017 she has been Widening Participation and Outreach Tutor for SELCS, and in 2020 joined the UCL Art Collections Advisory Group. She is also one of the directors of the non-profit publisher Norvik Press Ltd, UCL, a council member of the Anglo-Norse Society, deputy editor of the journal Scandinavica. An International Journal of Scandinavian Studies and a member of the editorial board of the Journal of European Studies.
Tell us a bit about yourself
I was born in Italy but developed an interest in the Nordic region when I was a teenager. It all started when a teacher asked me to do some research on a Nordic country of my choice and I picked Norway… Little did I know then that this choice would shape the course of my life. I moved to the UK when I was 18 to study Scandinavian Studies with Management Studies at UCL and never really left (though I lived in Norway on and off for a while). Today I am Associate Professor in Norwegian Studies, Scandinavian Studies, SELCS (School of European Languages, Culture and Society) at UCL and since September 2024 I am also Programme Director of Scandinavian Studies. I am also one of the directors of the non-profit publisher Norvik Press Ltd, UCL, a council member of the Anglo-Norse Society, Editor of the journal Scandinavica. An International Journal of Scandinavian Studies and a member of the editorial board of the Journal of European Studies (representing the Nordic region).
What are your research interests?
At the start of my academic career, my research interests focused particularly on literature and foreign language learning. Because of my background, I have always been fascinated by how different national identities are represented in literary texts. My first monograph, Nordic Italies: Representations of Italy in Nordic Literature from the 1830s to the 1910s (Nuova Cultura, 2016), which is based on my PhD research, explored how Italy (and the South of Europe) have fascinated and been represented by Nordic authors. While I am still interested in this, I have also worked more broadly on nineteenth-century Norwegian literature, Nordic sculpture, publishing studies and cultural mobility.
Since 2016, I have been very engaged with object-based learning and its applications in foreign language learning. My current research, which is due to be published in a monograph, focuses on British representations of Scandinavia as emerging from a selection of items part of UCL’s Collections. The book is an object-based investigation of the cultural relations between the UK and Scandinavia from the early nineteenth century onwards. Some of the items and connections which will be featured in my book can be seen in the online exhibition Nordic Fragments which I curated in 2021.
Tell us about some of your recent work on European issues
Language education and multilingualism in the UK and beyond are issues I feel very passionate about. I come from a family of language enthusiasts. My parents taught me that languages are not only useful but fun to learn, as they can open the door to different cultures. I think that this enthusiasm and respect for language learning are essential in any education system.
Since 2017 I have been working with several colleagues on various projects aimed at supporting foreign language learning, language awareness and multilingualism, primarily in my capacity as Widening Participation and Outreach Tutor (until 2023) and now Deputy Widening Participation and Outreach Tutor for SELCS. One of the projects I am most proud of is the Language and Culture Show and Tell video series. This consists of language tasters and related materials created around objects from UCL’s Collections. This was also the basis of a UCL Art Museum exhibition, Not Just Words: Learning Languages Through Art and Objects (January 2023-September 2024). The exhibition (or showcase, as my colleagues and I prefer to call it), which I co-curated with Dr Andrea Fredericksen (Curator, UCL Art Museum), initially featured 13 short language taster videos, which take artworks from UCL’s Collection as their starting point while encouraging visitors to learn some of the basics in several languages. The aim is to showcase the benefits of this innovative object-based or, more specifically, collection-based approach to language teaching, which demonstrates that language is not just words by emphasising the connection between language and culture. And coming back to my earlier point, the project shows that language learning can be fun and creative. A smaller-scale showcase of this project (called The Power of Language) is about to be installed at UCL Culture Lab (UCL East) in March 2025 so come and have a look at our case!
What does Europe mean to you and why are you interested in it?
I see Europe first and foremost as an integral part of my identity. As for so many others, my private and professional life consist of a blend of languages and cultures: I am Italian, I live in the UK, I work with Nordic Studies daily and at home we speak a mixture of Danish, English, Italian and Norwegian. I was eight when the Maastricht Treaty was concluded and to celebrate that my father and I put together a notebook with key facts about each member state so that I could learn about them. That notebook is one of my most prized possessions. I don’t think I would have ended up doing what I do now if it hadn’t been for the opportunities offered by European collaboration and mobility. I think that it’s our responsibility to make sure we do what we can to ensure that future generations have the same opportunities I was fortunate to have and experience the benefits of being part of a European community.