Antisiganisme, «dansende sigøynersker» og en hvit redningsmann – Aimée Sommerfelts Reisen til ingensteder (1974)

At 82 years of age, Aimée Sommerfelt (1892–1975) published her final novel, and with that, she concluded her extensive authorship for children, spanning over four decades. The fight against racism, prejudice, and discrimination, as well as children’s desire to learn and need for education are recurring themes in Sommerfelt’s authorship. In Reisen til ingensteder [The Journey to Nowhere] (1974), she thematizes “gypsies”, their lives, and their challenges in Norwegian society. The novel sheds light on majoritized Norwegians’ prejudice and discrimination against the Roma (one of the ethnic groups often referred to by the generalized and derogatory term “gypsy”) in addition to the fact that the Roma was subjected to the Nazi persecution during the Holocaust. In this article, I analyze the portrayal of Roma’s living conditions and the relationship between Roma and Norwegian majority society in Reisen til ingensteder. Further, I discuss the (majoritized) main character Sverre’s role as a representative of the majoritized culture and teacher for the Roma child characters in the book. The analyses show that Sommerfelt’s depictions are somewhat stereotypical, especially in the first parts of the novel. Yet, despite his initial prejudice against Roma and his “white savior” attributes, Sverre offers an identification figure for the implicit (majoritized) child reader. Thus, I argue that Reisen til ingensteder is a political conversion novel which offer the child reader an adult role model to guide them on the path from prejudice towards tolerance for Roma.