Torpets transformationer Materialitet, representation och praktik från år 1850 till 2010

Sammanfattning: The concept of the croft (Sw. torp) is complex. From the 17th century crofts were small tenant holdings on a farm or estate. Along with changes in society since c. 1850, they were converted into freehold farms, second homes or left to ruins. They acquired new functional, social and symbolic values and today the croft is mostly associated with a rural idyll. The aim of the thesis is to study the transformations of the croft since1850 in order to understand how and why it has survived as a place and acquired the meanings it has. Thus the construction of place is in centre of attention. This process is approached from three angles: the materiality of the croft, ideas and representations of it and various practices relating to it. This is studied through historical documents and maps, text analysis and interviews, in part through three case studies in Uppland, Småland and Värmland. The main conclusions are that great changes notwithstanding, there are continuities in all three dimensions of the croft. This combination of inertia and change is central to how and why the croft has survived. The study also shows the importance of timing between available rural dwellings and a demand for such dwellings. Another conclusion is that the idealisation of the croft is old and not only a present day phenomena. Further, the different dimensions of the croft and the relations which can be found between them have been important for the transformation and survival of the croft. The materiality, immateriality and practices of the croft in the past remain parts of what constitutes it today, together with those dimensions in the present. The study shows the possibilities inherent in focusing on the intertwining of various dimensions and periods of time for the understanding of the processes of place construction.