11. University of Iceland. A Citizen of the Respublica Scientiarum or a Nursery for the Nation?

Hálfdanarson, Guðmundur

doi:10.1163/9789004218307_013

Cited by 3 publications

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“…By construing a manipulated sense of continuity, the new parliament could legitimise itself historically, and connect its modern ideals to a glorified past. The patriotic character of Aðils's writings resonated well with the ideals on which the University of Iceland was founded (Hálfdanarson 2011) and rendered him a suitable candidate for the post of history professor. The themes of the nation's noble and ancient civilisation, Icelandic exceptionalism, and yet, its unmistakably European character, were employed by Aðils not only to stimulate the national sentiments of his compatriots but also to counter foreign stereotypes -'savage barbarians'and negative misconceptions concerning the island, which were still commonplace around 1900 (Loftsdóttir 2012).…”

Section: Constructing a 'Golden Age'mentioning

confidence: 73%

Noble heathens: Jón Jónsson Aðils and the problem of Iceland's pagan past

Halink

2017

Nations and Nationalism

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In the course of the nineteenth century, traditional Christian conceptions of Europe's pre‐Christian paganisms made way for a more favourable image of the ‘noble heathen’, inspired by Romantic primitivism and the quest for national authenticity. Poets and philologists in Scandinavia turned to medieval manuscripts containing the remnants of the worldview of the Vikings (Ásatrú), and cultivated them as a repository of topoi and motifs for patriotic art. In this essay, I investigate how this positive reassessment of paganism tied into the national historiography of Iceland, and how it influenced the idea of an Icelandic ‘Golden Age’. For this purpose, the oeuvre of Jón Jónsson Aðils, Iceland's most prolific historian of the early twentieth century, will be scrutinised. This essay demonstrates how Aðils envisioned Ásatrú's role in the formation of Iceland's national character, and addresses the problem of reconciling a glorified pagan past with the nation's contemporary Christian identity. In so doing, it contributes to our understanding of the complex ways in which processes of national identity formation can affect and transform long‐held ideas on religious and spiritual matters.

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Section: Constructing a 'Golden Age'mentioning

confidence: 73%

Noble heathens: Jón Jónsson Aðils and the problem of Iceland's pagan past

Halink

2017

Nations and Nationalism

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Icelandic Futures: Arctic Dreams and Geographies of Crisis

Gremaud

2017

Arctic Environmental Modernities

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Power and Purity: Nature as Resource in a Troubled Society

Gremaud¹

2014

Environmental Humanities

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This article analyses representations of nature as brand and resource in current Icelandic society. This is done through an interdisciplinary approach consisting of concepts from the discipline of cultural geography and the analytical methodologies of visual cultural, imagology, discourse and brand analysis used to highlight key narratives in images and written sources. The article discusses how ideas of purity are used in branding strategies and what they mean in Iceland today e.g. as a part of the emerging regional consciousness of 'Arctic Iceland.' The current overlapping crises of the economy, the environment and the collective self-image in Iceland have fostered critical representations of the past, present and future of the relationship between humans and the environment. Thus utilitarian environmental policies and shallow ecology is treated critically in contemporary Icelandic art, as is the question of what constitutes pollution. Such internal conflicts of interest are analysed to show critical perspectives on the dominant narratives about Icelandic nature and society that are communicated to the outside world through nation branding.

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11. University of Iceland. A Citizen of the Respublica Scientiarum or a Nursery for the Nation?

Cited by 3 publications

References 0 publications

Noble heathens: Jón Jónsson Aðils and the problem of Iceland's pagan past

Noble heathens: Jón Jónsson Aðils and the problem of Iceland's pagan past

Icelandic Futures: Arctic Dreams and Geographies of Crisis

Power and Purity: Nature as Resource in a Troubled Society

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