Reimagining the Past to Revitalize the Present
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Háskóli Íslands Hugvísindasvið Viking and Medieval Norse Studies Reimagining the Past to Revitalize the Present Legends and nationalism in Irish and Icelandic revivalist poetry Ritgerð til BA / MA-prófs í Viking and Medieval Norse Studies Vanessa Iacocca Kt.: 031289-4249 Leiðbeinandi: Gísli Sigurðsson May 2016 Abstract As an element of cultural memory, the legendary past of a nation can be constantly reworked and reinterpreted in each particular context to suit contemporary concerns. In the nineteenth century, Irish revivalist poets, such as William Butler Yeats and George William Russell, and Icelandic revivalist poets, such as Bjarni Thorarensen and Jónas Hallgrímsson, purposefully reconstructed their countries' legendary pasts as golden ages in order to reinvest them with nationalistic significance. Recontextualizing the cycles of Irish mythology, in the Irish case, and the sagas and Eddas, in the Icelandic case, the Irish and Icelandic revivalist poets sought to establish unified national identities, justify the greatness and distinctiveness of each of their nations, and reinvigorate their countrymen with vigor and nationalism. In doing so, these poets helped form the ideological bases of Irish and Icelandic pursuits of increased autonomy. Therefore, using a memory studies perspective, this thesis will demonstrate that through reinterpretions of their nations' legendary pasts, Irish and Icelandic revivalist poets played instrumental roles in developing nationalist ideologies and, thus, in contributing to the early stages of the Irish and Icelandic independence movements. Although previous research has focused on the reception of Icelandic and Irish legendary texts individually, by employing a comparative approach, this thesis will not only attempt to render greater insight into the Irish and Icelandic cases, but to provide further implications for other nineteenth century European nationalistic movements and even for other contexts as well. Menningarlegt minni eins og það birtist í hetjusögum þjóða um fyrri tíð er í stöðugri endurvinnslu og endurtúlkun í því ólíka samhengi sem hentar á hverjum tíma. Á nítjándu öld birtist fornaldarrómantík í ljóðum írsku skáldanna William Butler Yeats og George William Russell, og hjá íslensku skáldunum Bjarna Thorarensen og Jónasi Hallgrímssyni, en öll þessi skáld endurmótuðu þá mynd af fortíðinni sem hetjusögur í löndum þeirra drógu upp í því skyni að hlaða á þær þjóðernislegu mikilvægi. Með því að skapa nýja umgjörð um sagnasveig írskra goðsagna á Írlandi og um fornsögurnar og eddurnar á Íslandi reyndu þessir írsku og íslensku endurreisnarmenn að skapa sameiginlega þjóðlega sjálfsmynd, réttlæta mikilfengleik og sérstöðu þjóða sinna og blása landsmönnum sínum baráttu- og þjóðernisanda í brjóst. Þannig áttu skáldin þátt í að leggja hugmyndafræðilegan grunn að leið Íra og Íslendinga í átt að auknu sjálfstæði. Með því að beita sjónarhorni minnisfræða í þessari ritgerð er reynt að sýna fram á að með því að endurtúlka hetjuasagnafortíð þjóða sinna í anda rómantískrar endurreisnar hafi írsk og íslensk skáld gegnt lykilhlutverki við að þróa hugmyndafræði þjóðernishyggjunnar og þannig lagt sitt af mörkum á fyrstu stigum írskra og íslenskra sjálfstæðishreyfinga. Enda þótt fyrri rannsóknir hafi einkum fengist við viðtökur íslenskra og írskra hetjusagna í hvoru landi um sig er í þessari ritgerð reynt að beita samanburðaraðferðinni, bæði til þess að veita betri innsýn í aðstæður á Írlandi og á Íslandi og líka til þess að benda á að þetta sjónarhorn skipti máli í samhengi við evrópskar þjóðernishreyfingar á nítjándu öld og jafnvel enn víðar. ii Acknowledgements First of all, I would like to thank my supervisor, Gísli Sigurðsson, whose advice, patience, and calm was instrumental to the completion of my thesis. I would also like to thank Sveinn Yngvi Egilsson for our many talks which helped shape my ideas, especially in their early stages. I also want to thank all the professors from the Viking and Medieval Norse Studies and from my semester abroad at Aarhus University, especially Pernille Hermann, whose mastery of memory studies helped me develop my theory immensely. I am also incredibly grateful to my parents whose love, support, and enthusiasm for everything I choose to do has given me the confidence to pursue whatever I put my mind to. I also want to thank my loving sisters for always cheering me on. Lastly, I want to thank my friends for their encouragement and humor which made this experience so much more fulfilling and joyful. A special thanks for Kelley Rees, Suzanne Valentine, and Matthew Kenyon who provided emotional support as well as invaluable advice. iii Table of Contents 1. Introduction ...................................................................................................................1 1.1 Research History......................................................................................................2 1.2 Theory ....................................................................................................................10 1.3 Research Questions................................................................................................12 1.4 Source Material ......................................................................................................12 1.5 Method and Structure of the Thesis .......................................................................14 2. Analysis .......................................................................................................................15 2.1 Irish Revivalist Poets .............................................................................................15 2.1.1. William Butler Yeats .....................................................................................17 2.1.2. George William Russell (A.E.)......................................................................21 2.1.3 Interpretation of the Irish Case .......................................................................24 2.2 Icelandic Revivalist Poets ......................................................................................28 2.2.1 Bjarni Thorarensen .........................................................................................30 2.2.2 Jónas Hallgrímsson .........................................................................................34 2.2.3 Interpretation of the Icelandic Case ................................................................42 3. Comparison of the Irish and Icelandic Cases ..............................................................45 4. Conclusion ...................................................................................................................51 Bibliography ....................................................................................................................54 1. Introduction Possessing a unique and impressive legendary tradition is a vital component in the cultivation of a nation's self-image and nationalist ideology. In different nations in different time periods, these legendary pasts are reinterpreted to conform to the interests of that context. In the case of Ireland in the nineteenth century, poets of the Irish Literary Revival, such as William Butler Yeats and George William Russell, recontextualized aspects of Ireland's legendary Celtic past in order to foster a proud, united Irish consciousness and promote Irish nationalism. Similarly, nineteenth century Icelandic revivalist poets, such as Bjarni Thorarensen and Jónas Hallgrímsson, reimagined elements of the Icelandic legendary past, as portrayed in the Íslendingasögur1 and Eddas, in order to formulate a distinctive and empowered Icelandic identity. In both cases, the revivalist poets reinterpreted their countries' legendary pasts as national golden ages. In doing so, the Irish and Icelandic revivalist poets helped develop distinctive national identities, promote national pride, and reinvigorate their countrymen by indicating that the gloriousness which characterized their legendary pasts remained an integral part of their nations' spirits and, thus, was destined to be recaptured once more. As a result, the Irish and Icelandic revivalist poets helped provide the nationalist ideals as well as the cultural arguments necessary to justify increased political autonomy for their nations. These cultural justifications were then implemented by Irish and Icelandic political figures in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries to mobilize the masses and to try to appeal to their foreign rulers. Although this process is observable in both Ireland and Iceland, the later stages of their nationalist movements differed: Ireland's pursuit of independence ultimately resulted in violence while Iceland's aspirations for increased autonomy remained nonviolent. Therefore, using a comparative approach between the two nations not only reveals that reworking a 1 It is important to note that Bjarni and Jónas would have considered the Old Icelandic Medieval texts of the Íslendingasögur as largely historical portrayals of the Icelandic Commonwealth period rather than as legendary depictions as they are perceived today. 1 nation's legendary past to produce a proud national self-image is an international phenomenon, and one particularly prevalent in nineteenth century Europe, but also an important process for fostering different types of nationalist movements. As a result, although nationalist developments and pursuits of independence are generally considered primarily political endeavors, cultural