National Identity in Iceland
A country’s national identity is a tricky thing to describe. No matter how wide a net you cast there will always be people who don’t fit a certain definition. Even the vaguest, all inclusive descriptor for a country’s population could only describe a portion of the people who live there. This is because of two reasons: First, even the smallest of nations have thousands people in its population. The sheer size of people living in one area makes it difficult to find one thing in common that unites them all. Second, human beings are complex. One person can change their ideology or personality throughout their life. Simple descriptors like “courageous” might define someone on a surface level, but it cannot define what they are like on the inside or explain why people can act self contradictory. This is an obstacle to leaders and demagogues of the world, who wish to build power be convincing those they rule they are a homogeneous bloc of people. Citizens finding things in common has served as the basis for whole societies.
The only place where one word descriptors are appropriate is fiction. This is where the national identity exists; It is a tale, noble or ignoble, that people are told or tell themselves. It is a brand that unifies a diverse group of people. It is an “Imagined Political Community … imagined as both inherently limited and sovereign,” (Anderson, 1983, p.2). Even if it is a lie it exists in our collective consciousness. It causes people to hate or love those they’ve never even met. There exists citizens who don’t conform to their country’s national identity, but their existence does not contradict or deny the mutual ideal that hangs above a country’s people. Some countries have a strong national identity, others have a loosely defined one, but Iceland exists in an odd place.
Iceland is a paradoxical nation and has been for some time now. It is known as “The Land of Ice and Fire.” It is a land of epic contrasts: where glaciers rest alongside volcanoes, where the people are both friendly and territorial, where the community is both urban and rural (Fallon). In 1986 they brought the two halves of the world together with the Reykjavik summit, and in 2010 they split the world in two with the eruption of Eyjafjallajökull. One would expect a population as small as Iceland’s (334,000) to have a unified people, and in many ways it does. Ultimately, what ties all the people of Iceland together is this: Pride.
Iceland was first colonised by Norwegian vikings sometime in the 9th century, who set up a small but functional society. These vikings are the at the heart of Icelandic culture; They are like Cowboys, like Gauchos, like Knights. They are romanticized figures known for travelling the world and living off the land. One thousand years later and Icelanders are still living in the shadows of these figures.
Many of Iceland’s most important and notable qualities have their origins in the Viking Age. “Icelanders are generally very hardworking. This trait may be rooted in the Viking origins, or from living and labouring in a harsh terrain for centuries” (Gunnarsdóttir). Icelanders start working at a young age and often work more than one job. These jobs often involve fish, as it makes up 42% of the country’s exports. It is easy to connect this culture with the culture of the vikings, as they are both a small, tight knit group of people working extra hard to stay in the black. Like the vikings, they live in an egalitarian, classless society (Clark).
Iceland has always been a small country that existed in the periphery of larger ones. It began as a colony of Norway, in 1387 it became a colony of both Norway and Denmark, around 1814 it became a colony of just Denmark. In 1940 it was invaded by Britain and a military occupation was established, and afterwards the british soldiers were swapped out for american ones. In 1944 Iceland declared its independence, despite the fact that American military troops would remain stationed in Iceland until 2006. This history of being tossed from one country to another creates a specific form of nationalism. Iceland isn’t a country like Britain, who has a history of invading other countries and spreading its influence. Iceland is a nation more concerned with its private interests than spreading its culture around the world. Just the opposite, in fact, when you consider how defensive the country is over its language.
More than 70% of the country of Iceland speak the national language of Icelandic. This language is unique to the island and can be traced back to the original settlement by vikings. It is a stable language, unlike english, which has fluctuated over the centuries and has been influenced by foreign languages. Instead, Icelandic is only spoken in Iceland and is still recognizable dating back to the 900s. “Many Icelanders today like to think that they speak the language of the original settlers, and sociolinguistic differences are readily glossed over” (Leonard, 2011, pg.170). The language is maintained by the state, which will apply new Icelandic words to foreign objects.
Language is immensely important to the national identity of Iceland. More books are read, written, and published in Iceland than in any other country. 1 in 10 Icelanders will publish a book in their lifetime. The country’s bibliophilia can be tied to The Icelandic Sagas: A series of stories about vikings written during the 13th century. These Sagas are to Iceland what Shakespeare is to Britain, Homer to Greece, and Dante to Italy. These stories’ influence on the people of Iceland cannot be understated. “The Sagas remain an intrinsic part of Icelanders' identity to this day, their presence around the country unavoidable” (Myers, 2008, np). The Sagas serve as both literature and artifact: uniting the population of Iceland to their warrior heritage.
The question of whether there is any “Othering” in Iceland is difficult to answer because, like a lot of aspects in Iceland, it’s complicated. Iceland is a friendly society that accommodates tourists. Even though Icelanders are prideful of their language, most are bilingual and will readily switch to english. Despite this receptive attitude, Iceland can be described as territorial. This is most evident in the cod wars: A series of naval conflicts between Iceland and Britain over the fishing rights in certain areas. All this is sufficient to show that while Icelanders are willing to share, they will fight for what is theirs.
Anderson, B. R. (1983). Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism. London: Verso.
Gunnarsdóttir, N. (2013, April 25). What is an Icelander? | Identity and Stereotype. Retrieved from https://guidetoiceland.is/history-culture/what-is-an-icelander
Fallon, K. (2014, April 17). Iceland Is Beautiful. And Sooo Weird. Retrieved from https://www.thedailybeast.com/iceland-is-beautiful-and-sooo-weird
Earnest, S. (n.d.). Gerpla and the struggle for national identity in Iceland. Retrieved January 21, 2018, from https://muse-jhu-edu.proxy.seattleu.edu/article/535982
(2010). World Trade Press. Retrieved from https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/seattleu/reader.action?docID=535913&query=
Myers, B. (2008, October 03). The Icelandic Sagas: Europe's most important book? Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2008/oct/03/1
The World Factbook: ICELAND. (2018, January 10). Retrieved from https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ic.html
Leonard, S. P. (2011, April). Relative linguistic homogeneity in a new society: The case of Iceland. Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com.proxy.seattleu.edu/docview/857228305?OpenUrlRefId=info:xri/sid:primo&accountid=28598
Clark, A (2013, May 16). Why is violent crime so rare in Iceland? http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-22288564
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