Threats, Rumors and Legends in Contemporary Society
42nd Perspectives on Contemporary Legend
Hosted by The Institute for Language and Folklore, The Mid Sweden University and Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency.
June 23-27, 2025
ABSTRACT DEADLINE EXTENDED TO MARCH 31, 2025
CFP:
The International Society for Contemporary Legend Research is pleased to announce that the 2025 Perspectives on Contemporary Legend 42nd International Conference will be held in Stockholm. This will be the first time the conference takes place in Sweden.
The conference’s theme is based around threats and rumors and contemporary legends understood in a broad sense. On this occasion, the conference offers all interested speakers and attendees the opportunity to present and discuss current research, as well as other topics of, for example, contemporary legends, conspiracy theories, fakelore, folk horror, digital folklore, and rumors.
The three selected topics (Threats – Rumors – Contemporary Legends) provide a broad framework that includes both discourses, narratives and practices from bottom-up and top-down perspectives as well as the actors associated with them. It can also include different aspects of crisis, for individuals as well as for larger communities.
Submit an Abstract
We invite scholars and researchers to submit their abstracts for presentation. No more than 250–300 words.
The conference will be organized as a series of seminars at which most attendees will present papers. Concurrent sessions will be avoided so that all attendants can hear all papers. Presentations will be 20 minutes, with an additional ten minutes for discussion. Proposals for papers on all aspects of contemporary, urban, or modern legend research are sought, as are those on any legends, traditions and stories that circulate actively at present or have circulated at an earlier historical period.
Proposals for special panels, seminars and any other related areas to contemporary legend and folklore are encouraged.
Email abstracts to conference@contemporarylegend.org by March 17, 2025. DEADLINE EXTENDED TO MARCH 31, 2025
Register for the Conference
Registration (includes excursion and banquet):
| Members: | $150 USD |
| Non-members: | $200 USD |
| Students: | $110 USD |
| Companions | $110 USD |
Click below to register. The registration deadline is May 17, 2025.
Please note that June 9, 2025 is the deadline for refunds for withdrawals.
Conference Venue / Local Info
Venue:
Kungliga Skogs- & Lantbruksakademien
(The Royal Swedish Academy of Agriculture and Forestry)
Drottninggatan 95B,
113 86 Stockholm, Sweden
Directions to Venue
Map to the Venue:
https://www.google.se/search?sca_esv=46e212da3fac3ef4&tbm=lcl&q=Kungl+Skogs-+%26+Lantbruksakademien
Special Guests / Speakers
Guest of honor: Bengt af Klintberg has agreed to be the guest of honor. His first collection of contemporary legends, Råttan i pizzan (“The Rat in the Pizza”), was published in 1986 and quickly became a bestseller. It collects and discuss 100 contemporary legends. In 1994 and in 2005 he published more collections of contemporary legends with 100 legends each. He has also written many more articles and books on folklore and contemporary legends.
Excursions
*More info to come*
Stockholm was officially founded in 1252. By the end of the 13th century, it had grown to become Sweden’s biggest city, serving as the country’s political center and royal residence. Sweden separated from its union with Denmark and Norway in 1521 after “the Stockholm Bloodbath”, and Stockholm became Sweden’s capital in 1634. It developed rapidly in the mid-17th century as Sweden became a great power, and it was Sweden’s cultural centre by the 18th century. Today, it is the largest city in the Nordic countries. The city is packed with history, including dark history that might interest folklorists such as the Witch trials of the 1600s and outbreak of plague in the 1700s.
Stockholm is built on numerous islands and peninsulas connected by old bridges and modern overpasses. Located on Sweden’s southeast coast, the weather in Stockholm changes according to the four seasons and summer can be warm and it rarely gets dark during night.
- Stockholm Ghost Walk (in Gamla stan/Old town). We will book an English-speaking group tour.
- A trip to Djurgården for The Vasa Museum and The Nordic Museum. For those who have the energy, this is also were you will find Skansen, the world’s first open-air museum, and the ABBA museum.
- The Swedish History Museum. For the new and recently curated exhibition on the Viking Age.
More options will be available. We are looking into other sites, for example the Kymlinge station (a real train station that was never opened and is said to be the home of the ghost train, The Silver Arrow) and dinner at Aifur, a Viking themed restaurant in Old town.
Hotels
There are plenty of hotels in Stockholm with different prices. There are many options around the central station.
Best Western Hotel Bentleys
https://www.bestwestern.se/hotel/88187?gad_source=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIhqzihPfKiwMVE1aRBR2KxwDQEAAYBCAAEgI2hPD_BwE
Address: Drottninggatan 77, 111 60 Stockholm,
Phone: +46 8 14 13 95, E-mail: info@bentleys.se
*For a discount at Best Western Hotel Bentley send an e-mail to: dara@viinvest.com and state the following: I would like to book a single/double room with ratecode ”BW” for the ISCLR conference
Best Western Hotel at 108
https://www.hotelat108.se/
Address: Sveavägen 108, 113 50 Stockholm,
Phone: +46 8 502 398 00, https://www.hotelat108.se/kontakta-oss
Downtown Camper by Scandic
https://www.scandichotels.com/downtowncamper
Address: Brunkebergstorg 9, 111 51 Stockholm
Phone: +46 8517 263 00, Email: downtowncamper@scandichotels.com
Organizers
Tommy Kuusela, Institute for Language and Folklore (ISOF)
Catrin Johansson, Mid Sweden University
Henrik Olinder, Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency (MSB
International Society for Contemporary Legend Research 