Kritikern

Kritikern is a fictional international magazine and platform devoted to critical writing in arts and culture. Founded in 1998 by a cross-border editorial collective from Denmark, Sweden, and Norway, Kritikern aimed to provide rigorous, theory-informed criticism beyond mainstream reviews. It appears as a quarterly print edition and maintains an online archive of past issues, essays, and interviews. Content is published in English with translations offered for select articles.

Editorial scope includes long-form essays, feature interviews, methodological discussions, and themed issues. Regular sections include Essays, Critics’ Notes, Interviews, and a Translations column, along with occasional special issues on topics such as reception history and archival media studies.

The platform also organizes events, including the Kritikern Prize for Critical Writing and annual roundtables on contemporary cultural debates. Since its inception, Kritikern has been cited in academic journals and in university courses as a resource for critical theory and arts criticism; however, observers note that access remains limited to subscribers and academic libraries.

Kritikern’s editorial stance emphasizes transparency in argumentation, clear articulation of theoretical frameworks, and openness to debate, inviting responses that appear in subsequent issues. It remains a reference point for discussions on how criticism shapes public understanding of culture.