The unit of analysis is the phenomenon of Torping; a contraction of ‘torp’, a particular Swedish cabin type, and the ending ’ing’ which in this project relates to the practices of Danish nationals who own a torp, in Sweden. The multiple life cycles of the torp have been taken into account as it has endured as a place, despite changes in society that transformed the space as a dwelling unit for peasants to today being a holiday space that relates to tourism.
The project is a qualitative study that place emphasis on the practices around Torping of today and is considered through the lens of second home ownership, even though this is often not recognized as tourism. The lack of novelty in the practices, of second homeowners has previously discarded it as tourism, but when second homeowners are considered within tourism, narrations of alterity, rurality and escaping from the everyday reigns in literature about. This project criticizes this emphasis as it highlights tourism as an ‘out of the ordinary’ type of experience. Instead Torping is investigated through a practice oriented, non-representational approach and the project concludes how seemingly non-eventful practices of ‘doing nothing’ and manual ‘work’ is very integral to what is valued within this type of holiday and argues how Torping is not detached from modernity, but complete with own split firewood and iPad’s.
While the framework of second homes have been applied throughout, the data collection suggest how the notion of multiple dwellings is worth considering due to an attachment to place that many informants depicted as ‘another home’ as opposed to ‘secondary’, where one does not escape from the everyday, but an everyday is rather a part of Torping.