Republishing ‘The Ten Little Negros’: Exploring nationalism and ‘whiteness’ in Iceland

• Published in: Ethnicities
• Main Author: Loftsdóttir, Kristín
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: SAGE Publications 2013
• Subjects: Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous); Cultural Studies; Iceland
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1468796812472854; http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1468796812472854; http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full-xml/10.1177/1468796812472854

The Icelandic version of the book The Ten Little Negros was republished in the autumn of 2007 after its original publication in Iceland in 1922, creating multilayered debate about the meaning of race and racism in Iceland. In this paper, I stress that, within the European context, ‘whiteness’ has to be theorized as emerging from particular histories and realities, being entangled with other identifications such as national identity. I explore the debate surrounding the book, claiming that it reveals how Icelanders struggle to see themselves as innocent in relation to racism. I suggest that the constant references to the past in these dialogues seek to establish Icelandic innocence as a persistent and ongoing Icelandic characteristic.