How and where has knowledge of the deep ocean been produced? Through what representations and imagery have extreme depths been understood in relation to nature, society, and politics?
In the early postwar period, findings from the Swedish Albatross expedition (1947–48) and the Danish Galathea expedition (1950–52) highlighted deep-sea zones between 3,000 and 11,000 metres as ecological habitats. This dissertation analyses how deep-sea nature was envisioned in books, articles, exhibitions, and films produced by expedition members, and how ideas of the deep sea circulated in Scandinavian public discourse.
I argue that deep-sea knowledge emerged through the interplay of scientific practices, cultural forms, media, and markets. Marine scientists visualized and narrated a submarine landscape, rendering extreme ocean depth as an experience for a reading public. Accounts of deep-sea ecology reflected different ways of understanding nature and were shaped by distinct cultural tropes and genre conventions. News articles and book reviews reveal that deep-sea conceptions evolved throughout the 1950s and were shaped by postwar imaginaries of resource abundance and, to a lesser extent, emerging concerns about nuclear waste and climate change.
The dissertation demonstrates how knowledge of the deep ocean is historically produced, offering new analytical and critical perspectives on contemporary discussions about ocean governance.
Viktor Carl-Magnus Andersson successfully defended his thesis on 11 September 2026.
Trial lecture
Designated topic: Contextualizing the Albatross and Galathea Expeditions: A History of Nordic Marine Science in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries.
Evaluation committee
- Associate Professor Marie-Theres Fojuth, University of Stavanger (first opponent)
- Associate Professor Christopher L. Pastore, University at Albany (second opponent)
- Professor Peder Roberts, University of Oslo
Chair of the defence
- Professor Christine Amadou, University of Oslo
Supervisors
- Professor Ellen Krefting, University of Oslo
- Professor Helen Rozwadowski, University of Connecticut