Spectral Memories of Icelandic Culture: Memory, Identity and the Haunted Imagination in Contemporary Art and Literature

• Main Author: Knútsdóttir, Vera
• Other Authors: Gunnþórunn Guðmundsdóttir, Íslensku- og menningardeild (HÍ), Faculty of Icelandic and Comparative Cultural Studies (UI), Hugvísindasvið (HÍ), School of Humanities (UI), Háskóli Íslands, University of Iceland
• Format: Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: University of Iceland, School of Humanities, Faculty of Icelandic and Comparative Cultural Studies 2021
• Subjects: Reimleikar; Myndlist; Íslenskar bókmenntir; Sjálfsmynd (sálfræði); Draugar; Doktorsritgerðir; The Spectre; Iceland
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11815/2560

The thesis examines what I term spectral memories in Icelandic culture and focuses on the interplay between memory, identity and the haunted imagination in contemporary literary texts and visual works of art. I employ the term “spectral” to define memories that have for various reasons been forgotten, silenced and repressed in the cultural psyche, but have returned to the public realm by means of contemporary art and literature. Spectrality theory, and the seminal work of Jacques Derrida, Spectres de Marx, serve as a point of departure for the project, my initial aim being to relate the spectre to ideas of memory and theories on cultural memory studies. I argue that the spectral return offers the potential of a transformative dynamic exchange between memory and recipient, and an opportunity to critically reflect on the past in order to work towards a better future. The spectre becomes a metaphor for the blind spots of memory: on the one hand for memories that return from the past to disturb mainstream notions and homogenous ideas on identity, and on the other for how certain periods have produced spectral cultural responses. The first part of the thesis explores how the archive becomes a storage space for spectral memories, whereas the second part examines spectral cultural memories following the financial crash and crisis in Iceland in 2008. In both parts, I look at narratives and images that prove to be haunted by repressed memories, which impacts how the present-day identity is conceived, illustrating the intricate connections between memory, identity and the haunted imagination. Í ritgerðinni rannsaka ég vofulegar minningar í íslenskri menningu og skoða flókið samspil minnis, sjálfsmyndar og reimleika í samtímabókmenntatextum og myndlistarverkum. Ég beiti hugtakinu „vofulegar“ til að skilgreina minningar sem af ólíkum ástæðum hafa gleymst, verið þaggaðar eða niðurbældar í sameiginlegri menningarvitund þjóðarinnar, en hafa opinberast aftur fyrir tilstilli samtímabókmennta og myndlistar. Vofufræði (e. ...