'Maybe that is not what they would choose'

​​Human-horse relations, faraway settings and identity exploration in Lin Hallberg’s Vem är du Johanna and Adzerk: Den vita hingsten​

Abstract

Countless horse stories provide examples of young riders leaving civilization behind for shorter or longer periods of time, when going for rides in rural settings. But sometimes these journeys serve a more profound purpose. This article explores how the importance of the horse and the faraway rural setting are depicted from a human perspective in Lin Hallberg’s Vem är du Johanna? and Adzerk: den vita hingsten. The article argues that the journeys of the young female protagonists to remote countries provide an opportunity to revalue life and explore their identity as young women, thus exemplifying how the horse and wild nature provide prerequisites for positive changes. Two kindred theoretical approaches are used as an analytic framing: a) human animal studies with its theories about interspecies relationship and power and b) posthumanism with its readings of animal stories. Not least are Donna Haraway’s notion of companion species and the interdependency between human beings and animals (2003; 1991), as well as Cynthia Willett’s concept biosocial network (2014) important to the analysis. The findings reveal that three different views on interspecies relationships are in play in Hallberg’s two horse stories, thus bringing into question what characterizes a well-balanced and ethical relationship between the different species. The article contributes to filling a research gap regarding Swedish horse stories at large as well as highlighting their importance as an arena for exploring interspecies relationships in a YA literary context.