Ghost Stories : Oppression and Disasters in Past and Present Iceland
This article presents a postcolonial-ecocritical reading of the Icelandic novel Lifandilífslækur (2018) by Bergsveinn Birgisson, arguing that this work can be interpreted as a call for a revision of Iceland’s position and role in the colonial system and its legacy which we are still grappling with,...
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Philipps-Universität Marburg
2022
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ftubmarburg:oai:archiv.ub.uni-marburg.de:urn:nbn:de:hebis:04-ep0004-2022-307-8561 2023-05-15T16:47:25+02:00 Ghost Stories : Oppression and Disasters in Past and Present Iceland Aðalsteinsdóttir, Auður 2022 https://doi.org/10.17192/mjr.2022.24.8561 eng eng Philipps-Universität Marburg https://doi.org/10.17192/mjr.2022.24.8561 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0 CC-BY-NC-SA Marburg Journal of Religion : Vol 24 No 1 (2022) folklore postcolonial studies ghosts The supernatural in contemporary literature power systems Icelandic literature hierarchies ecocriticism JournalArticle doc-type:article Text 2022 ftubmarburg https://doi.org/10.17192/mjr.2022.24.8561 2023-01-15T23:31:33Z This article presents a postcolonial-ecocritical reading of the Icelandic novel Lifandilífslækur (2018) by Bergsveinn Birgisson, arguing that this work can be interpreted as a call for a revision of Iceland’s position and role in the colonial system and its legacy which we are still grappling with, especially in terms of climate change and other ecological crises. The novel places an emphasis on the effects of colonialism for Icelanders, and Iceland being a part of a power system based on the notion of man’s dominance over nature. Focusing on the role of ghosts in the novel—figures that have obvious roots in Icelandic folklore — a change in focus is noted. Ghosts that once were depicted as relics of a heathen past coexisting with medieval Christianity, and later assigned a nationalist-romantic value, are today considered as potentially important in contemporary environmental debate with its focus on social power structures and toxic hierarchies. Article in Journal/Newspaper Iceland Philipps-Universität Marburg: Publications |
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collection |
Philipps-Universität Marburg: Publications |
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ftubmarburg |
language |
English |
topic |
folklore postcolonial studies ghosts The supernatural in contemporary literature power systems Icelandic literature hierarchies ecocriticism |
spellingShingle |
folklore postcolonial studies ghosts The supernatural in contemporary literature power systems Icelandic literature hierarchies ecocriticism Aðalsteinsdóttir, Auður Ghost Stories : Oppression and Disasters in Past and Present Iceland |
topic_facet |
folklore postcolonial studies ghosts The supernatural in contemporary literature power systems Icelandic literature hierarchies ecocriticism |
description |
This article presents a postcolonial-ecocritical reading of the Icelandic novel Lifandilífslækur (2018) by Bergsveinn Birgisson, arguing that this work can be interpreted as a call for a revision of Iceland’s position and role in the colonial system and its legacy which we are still grappling with, especially in terms of climate change and other ecological crises. The novel places an emphasis on the effects of colonialism for Icelanders, and Iceland being a part of a power system based on the notion of man’s dominance over nature. Focusing on the role of ghosts in the novel—figures that have obvious roots in Icelandic folklore — a change in focus is noted. Ghosts that once were depicted as relics of a heathen past coexisting with medieval Christianity, and later assigned a nationalist-romantic value, are today considered as potentially important in contemporary environmental debate with its focus on social power structures and toxic hierarchies. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Aðalsteinsdóttir, Auður |
author_facet |
Aðalsteinsdóttir, Auður |
author_sort |
Aðalsteinsdóttir, Auður |
title |
Ghost Stories : Oppression and Disasters in Past and Present Iceland |
title_short |
Ghost Stories : Oppression and Disasters in Past and Present Iceland |
title_full |
Ghost Stories : Oppression and Disasters in Past and Present Iceland |
title_fullStr |
Ghost Stories : Oppression and Disasters in Past and Present Iceland |
title_full_unstemmed |
Ghost Stories : Oppression and Disasters in Past and Present Iceland |
title_sort |
ghost stories : oppression and disasters in past and present iceland |
publisher |
Philipps-Universität Marburg |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.17192/mjr.2022.24.8561 |
genre |
Iceland |
genre_facet |
Iceland |
op_source |
Marburg Journal of Religion : Vol 24 No 1 (2022) |
op_relation |
https://doi.org/10.17192/mjr.2022.24.8561 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0 |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY-NC-SA |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.17192/mjr.2022.24.8561 |
_version_ |
1766037505385168896 |