Nature, Nostalgia, and Narrative. Material Identity in Icelandic Design

This paper studies design objects in two tourist outlets in Reykjavík from the perspective of material culture studies and anthropology. The two cases are put into context with public discourse on Icelandic design in general, with a particular emphasis on the genre of product design. It discusses th...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Sigfúsdóttir, Ólöf Gerdur
Other Authors: Isleifsson, Sumarlidi R., Chartier, Daniel
Format: Book Part
Language:English
Published: Presses de l'Université du Québec 2011
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.archipel.uqam.ca/10459/1/222023438.pdf
Description
Summary:This paper studies design objects in two tourist outlets in Reykjavík from the perspective of material culture studies and anthropology. The two cases are put into context with public discourse on Icelandic design in general, with a particular emphasis on the genre of product design. It discusses the rather recent development of Icelandic design as a cultural commodity, while looking at it as a cultural agent of identity formation. The paper highlights the relationship between product design and souvenir objects and points to issues of the past that seem to prevail, both public discourse and the production of Icelandic contemporary design.