The Exotic North: Gender, Nation Branding and Post-colonialism in Iceland

• Published in: NORA - Nordic Journal of Feminist and Gender Research
• Main Author: Loftsdóttir, Kristín
• Other Authors: Félags- og mannvísindadeild (HÍ), Faculty of Social and Human Sciences (UI), Félagsvísindasvið (HÍ), School of Social Sciences (UI), Háskóli Íslands, University of Iceland
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Informa UK Limited 2015
• Subjects: Nýlendustefna; Kynþáttafordómar; Landkynningar; Markaðssetning; Ísland; Ferðaþjónusta; Arctic; Iceland
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11815/2030; https://doi.org/10.1080/08038740.2015.1086814

Post-print (lokagerð höfundar) This discussion stresses that looking at countries on the margins of European colonial rule can be useful when considering the wider dynamics of the present, reflecting the persistence of colonial discourses and how racism “endures”. Iceland’s colonial experience was characterized by duality, in which the country was an object of colonialism, while actively participating in the racist discourses predominant in Europe at that time. This paper demonstrates how Iceland’s long association with the exotic and its gendered manifestations is currently being perpetuated by the tourist and state industries, under the influence of neo-liberal ideas about nation branding. When contextualized within the larger geopolitical environment, Iceland as an “exotic” destination unravels the racist and colonized narratives still at play within a wider geopolitical context. This research was supported by grants for two independent research projects “Arctic Encounters” (supported by HERA 2013–2016) and the project “Icelandic Identity in Crisis” funded by Rannis (Icelandic Center for Research) for 2013–2015 [grant number 130426-053]. Peer Reviewed