University of Groningen
The search for self-awareness Middel, Kim Peronne
IMPORTANT NOTE: You are advised to consult the publisher's version (publisher's PDF) if you wish to cite from it. Please check the document version below.
Document Version
Publisher's PDF, also known as Version of record
Publication date: 2018
Link to publication in University of Groningen/UMCG research database
Citation for published version (APA):
Middel, K. P. (2018). The search for self-awareness: The road to national identity on Iceland, sæc. xiii-xx. University of Groningen.
Copyright
Other than for strictly personal use, it is not permitted to download or to forward/distribute the text or part of it without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), unless the work is under an open content license (like Creative Commons).
Take-down policy
If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim.
Downloaded from the University of Groningen/UMCG research database (Pure): http://www.rug.nl/research/portal. For technical reasons the number of authors shown on this cover page is limited to 10 maximum.
Stellingen behorende bij het proefschrift
The search for self-awareness
The road to national identity on Iceland, sæc. xiii-xx
Kim P. Middel
The turning point in the development of the Icelandic self-image occurred in the middle of the 18th century.
The notion of an Icelandic golden age that slowly emerged in the middle of the 18th
century – not in the preceding two centuries – is not in any way connected to the notion of a golden age that was adopted from Denmark in the late 19th century.
Iceland has never come to terms with having a present.
Iceland’s self-image was and is de facto decided by the world outside of Iceland.
To be precise, Iceland’s self-image first and foremost depended on the funding and the goodwill of its ruling authority Denmark.
The only Icelander who qualifies to be called a proto-nationalist is bishop Finnur Jónsson, which is proven by his invention of the Icelandic mediaeval free state.
The case of Iceland defies any primordialist or modernist reasoning on nations and nationalism, because its nationalism is historically impaired.
Without the outstanding works of Jakob Benediktsson and Aðalgeir Kristjánsson, researching Crymogæa and Historia Ecclesiastica Islandiæ remains virtually impossible. The financial crisis of 2008 on Iceland, and the country’s subsequent crisis of identity, has its roots in the events of 1262-1264.
In a small area of research, it is both unnecessary and illusive to maintain that blind, neutral, and anonymous review is possible or desirable.
