Otherworlding : Othering Places and Spaces through Mythologization

Abstract

The concept of otherworld is often conceived as a realm inhabited by supernatural beings or as a fantastic location where the possibilities of imagination are realities. It gets linked to concepts of otherness and the other, but the question of what makes something an otherworld generally remains unasked. Otherworlds are usually thought of as somehow outside of or beyond the empirical world, but the issue is not so simple. (This paper an English-language version of "Tuonpuoleistaminen: Paikkojen ja tilojen toiseuttaminen mytologisoimalla" published in Kalevalaseura vuosikirja 99 (2020).)