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,...
Main Author: | |
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Format: | Electronic Article |
Language: | English |
Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
Journals Online & Print: | |
Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
Published: |
Fachgebiet für Religionswissenschaft im Fachbereich 11, Philipps Universität Marburg
2022
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In: |
Marburg journal of religion
Year: 2022, Volume: 24, Issue: 1, Pages: 1-21 |
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Bergsveinn Birgisson 1971-, Lifandilífslækur
/ Iceland
/ Ghost
/ Natural catastrophe
/ Anthropogenous climate-change
/ Post.colonial literature
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IxTheo Classification: | AF Geography of religion AG Religious life; material religion BD Ancient European religions KBE Northern Europe; Scandinavia NCG Environmental ethics; Creation ethics |
Further subjects: | B
Ecocriticism
B Ghosts B hierarchies B Icelandic literature B The supernatural in contemporary literature B Folklore B power systems B Postcolonial Studies |
Online Access: |
Volltext (kostenfrei) Volltext (kostenfrei) |
Summary: | 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. |
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ISSN: | 1612-2941 |
Contains: | Enthalten in: Marburg journal of religion
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Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.17192/mjr.2022.24.8561 |