Lisa's research on masculinity norms led to her debut novel
Doctoral student Lisa Ridzén's debut novel "The Cranes Fly South" will be released in the next few days. The inspiration for the book comes from Lisa's grandfather's home care notes – and from years of research on Jämtland men's norms and emotional lives.
While the interview is in progress, Lisa receives an email from her publisher at Forum förlag. TV4 Nyhetsmorgon wants Lisa and Lennart Jähkel, who have recorded "The Cranes Fly South" as an audiobook, to come to the TV couch within the next few weeks.
"Now I'm getting a little nervous. What are we going to talk about?" she exclaims spontaneously, laughing.
Not surprisingly, they will probably talk about male stereotypes, norms, colonialism and masculinity. Because that's what Lisa's research at Mid Sweden University's Forum for Gender Research, FGF, is all about, and that's what the book basically reflects on.
"The Cranes Fly South" tells the story of Bo, a man who, in his old age, reflects on his own childhood, life and parenthood. As time is running out, Bo tries to reconcile his relationship with his son, while worrying about his wife, who lives in a dementia home. On the farm there is also a beloved Jämthund who is threatened with being taken away from him when his health fails. When do you lose power over your life? And how do you show emotions in the right way?
These are the kinds of questions that are reflected on when Bo looks back on his life.
"Today, we know that men in rural areas are overrepresented when it comes to mental illness. I grew up in the countryside and have always had men around me, I have seen what the consequences can be when you struggle with destructive masculinity norms – both for the individual and for those who live nearby, says Lisa.
Like a playhouse to write fiction
The idea for the book came several years ago when Lisa helped clean out a workshop after her grandfather passed away. Among the drawers, she found notes from the home care service's visit to her grandfather, small anecdotes about meals, sleep and the weather. Through the reading, the idea for a novel was born and for a character who in many ways resembles Lisa's grandfather, but who she is clear is completely fictional.
She wrote the book while attending a writing school a couple of years ago, something she took the opportunity to do while she was on parental leave. Writing fiction is, of course, a big difference from writing scientifically.
"For me, it's been like a playhouse, a bit like letting the kid out at preschool and watching her run towards her friends. I appreciate writing as a researcher as well, but this is affirming another side of myself.
Conduct in-depth interviews with Swedish and Sámi men in rural areas
She is constantly aware of issues such as rural men and masculinity norms. Back from parental leave, she has continued with her sociology study of Swedish and Sami men in rural areas, in which she uses in-depth interviews to investigate how masculinity norms, colonialism and notions of, for example, power and place create ways of living and feeling. In 2026, she will defend her thesis.
Even now, before "The Cranes Fly South" has barely landed in bookstores, there are plans for a new novel. What it's supposed to be about is not entirely unexpected either.
– Haha, it's definitely about masculinity and the sparsely populated areas of Jämtland. But I'm not quite done with the topic yet.
On January 27, there will be an opportunity to meet her at Akademibokhandeln in Östersund, where she will be there to sign books.