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Author : Laurie K Bertram Publisher : University of Toronto Press Page : 265 pages File Size : 52,8 Mb Release : 2020-02-24 Category : History ISBN : 9781442663015
A Viking statue, a coffee pot, a ghost story, and a controversial cake: What can the things that immigrants treasured tell us about their history? Between 1870 and 1914 almost one-quarter of Iceland’s population migrated to North America, forming enclaves in both the United States and Canada. This book examines the multi-sensory side of the immigrant past through rare photographs, interviews, artefacts, and early recipes. By revealing the hidden histories behind everyday traditions, The Viking Immigrants maps the transformation of Icelandic North American culture over a century and a half.
The Canadian first lady of Iceland pens a book about why this tiny nation is leading the charge in gender equality, in the vein of The Moment of Lift. Iceland is the best place on earth to be a woman—but why? For the past twelve years, the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report has ranked Iceland number one on its list of countries closing the gap in equality between men and women. What is it about Iceland that enables its society to make such meaningful progress in this ongoing battle, from electing the world’s first female president to passing legislation specifically designed to help even the playing field at work and at home? The answer is found in the country’s sprakkar, an ancient Icelandic word meaning extraordinary or outstanding women. Eliza Reid—Canadian born and raised, and now first lady of Iceland—examines her adopted homeland’s attitude toward women: the deep-seated cultural sense of fairness, the influence of current and historical role models, and, crucially, the areas where Iceland still has room for improvement. Throughout, she interviews dozens of sprakkar to tell their inspirational stories, and expertly weaves in her own experiences as an immigrant from small-town Canada. The result is an illuminating discussion of what it means to move through the world as a woman and how the rules of society play more of a role in who we view as equal than we may understand. What makes many women’s experiences there so positive? And what can we learn about fairness to benefit our society? Like influential and progressive first ladies Eleanor Roosevelt, Hillary Rodham Clinton, and Michelle Obama, Reid uses her platform to bring the best of her nation to the world. Secrets of the Sprakkar is a powerful and atmospheric portrait of a tiny country that could lead the way forward for us all.
In 1875, Icelandic immigrants established a colony on the southwest shore of Lake Winnipeg. The timing and location of New Iceland was not accidental. Across the Prairies, the Canadian government was creating land reserves for Europeans in the hope that the agricultural development of Indigenous lands would support the state’s economic and political ambitions. In this innovative history, Ryan Eyford expands our understanding of the creation of western Canada: his nuanced account traces the connections between Icelandic colonists, the Indigenous people they displaced, and other settler groups while exposing the ideas and practices integral to building a colonial society.
Magnús Einarsson,Canadian Museum of Civilization,Canadian Centre for Folk Culture Studies
Author : Magnús Einarsson,Canadian Museum of Civilization,Canadian Centre for Folk Culture Studies Publisher : Hull, Quebec : Canadian Museum of Civilization Page : 484 pages File Size : 48,8 Mb Release : 1991 Category : History ISBN : UOM:39015025187512
Icelandic-Canadian Oral Narratives by Magnús Einarsson,Canadian Museum of Civilization,Canadian Centre for Folk Culture Studies Pdf
This selection of one hundred and seventy five Icelandic-Canadian oral narratives contains folktales, legends, memorates, humorous anecdotes, tall tales, and simple accounts of daily events. The first fifty one narratives are grounded in the Old Country experience with the remainder reflecting Icelandic immigrant life in Canada.
This volume takes a new look from a Canadian perspective at the so-called "Great Emigration," referring to the departure from Iceland between 1870 and 1920 of over 20,000 people, representing almost 30% of the nation's entire population. Over these decades, the majority of emigrants went to Canada, although several important settlements began earlier in Utah, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. Author Marian McKenna tells their dramatic story, tracing the roots of discontent in the homeland, the origins of the first tentative immigrating groups, and the beginnings of a mass emigration. This resulted in relatively large settlements in parts of Ontario, Nova Scotia, and in Manitoba's New Iceland. Emphasis is placed on the plight of the basically rural, agrarian emigrants and the difficulties they faced adjusting to the rigors of their new environment. This modern saga, embracing some fifty years of many of the most fateful, stirring events in Iceland's tumultuous history, deserves a retelling for not only those of Icelandic descent, but for all those interested in the human condition and in these pioneering immigrants whose labors have helped to build the Canada and United States as we know today.
There are two Icelands. One is the island in the North Sea, occupied since before the arrival of the Vikings. The other is "Western Iceland," the communities throughout North America, settled by Icelandic immigrants in the 19th and 20th centuries, and still maintaining strong ties to their mother country. While the prominent role of women in the development of Western Iceland has long been acknowledged, there is little recognition of their contribution to its literary life. This collection of short stories and poems spans 75 years of writings. It includes translated work by little-known authors such as Undina, "a modest poet," as well as works in English by prominent writers such as Laura Goodman Salverson, twice a winner of the Governor-General's Award. From the hopefulness of the early immigration in the 1870s to the conflict of assimilation in the 1950s, the pieces reflect a range of experiences common to immigrant women from many cultures. Writings by Western Icelandic Women includes many works translated for the first time from their original Icelandic, and rescues from obscurity the voices and experiences of women as they struggled in a new country. It offers insight into the many obstacles, both personal and professional, that faced these pioneering writers. An introduction by Kirsten Wolf provides a literary and historical context, and is complemented by photographs and brief author biographies.
Well-known mediator and lawyer, Glenn Sigurdson blends personal memoir, family history and Icelandic lore in a unique and wide-ranging autobiography. Vikings on a Prairie Ocean brings to life the people and places of Lake Winnipeg since the arrival of the Icelandic settlers to its shores in 1875 through the engaging lens of a family legacy of fishing on those waters. The perils of summer and winter fishing on an unpredictable and unforgiving lake are interwoven with accounts of Aboriginal partnerships, colourful characters, and a proud, resilient family.
Iceland is unique among European societies in having been founded as late as the Viking Age and in having copious written and archaeological sources about its origin. Gunnar Karlsson, that country's premier historian, chronicles the age of the Sagas, consulting them to describe an era without a monarch or central authority. Equating this prosperous time with the golden age of antiquity in world history, Karlsson then marks a correspondence between the Dark Ages of Europe and Iceland's "dreary period", which started with the loss of political independence in the late thirteenth century and culminated with an epoch of poverty and humility, especially during the early Modern Age. Iceland's renaissance came about with the successful struggle for independence in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and with the industrial and technical modernization of the first half of the twentieth century. Karlsson describes the rise of nationalism as Iceland's mostly poor peasants set about breaking with Denmark, and he shows how Iceland in the twentieth century slowly caught up economically with its European neighbors.
The Little Book of the Icelanders by Alda Sigmundsdóttir Pdf
After more than 20 years away, Alda Sigmundsdottir returned to her native Iceland as a foreigner. With a native person's insight yet an outsider's perspective, Alda quickly set about dissecting the national psyche of the Icelanders. This second edition, from 2018, contains new and updated chapters from the original edition, reflecting the changes in Icelandic society and among the Icelandic people since the book was first published in 2012. Among the fascinating subjects broached in The Little Book of the Icelanders: • The appalling driving habits of the Icelanders • Naming conventions and customs • The Icelanders’ profound fear of commitment • The Icelanders’ irreverence • Why Icelandic women are really men • How the Icelanders manage to make social interactions really complicated • The importance of the family in Icelandic society • Where to go to meet the real Icelanders (and possibly score some free financial advice) • Rituals associated with the most important life events (weddings, confirmations, graduations, and deaths) ... and many more. One chapter leads to the next, creating a continuous chain of storytelling. It feels as if you’re sitting in the author’s kitchen, enjoying a cup of coffee and conversing with her about the quirks of her countrymen, every now and then bursting out laughing. [...] I’m going to heartily recommend The Little Book of the Icelanders, both to fans of Sigmundsdóttir’s blog and those unfamiliar with her work. - Iceland Review Online There aren’t many books I’d recommend reading over morning coffee but The Little Book of the Icelanders is one of them. [...] I laughed at the essays in this book, not because I was laughing at Icelanders but because I recognize much of the behavior in myself and members of my family. It felt good. It’s not just the sanest, most impressive characteristics that we pass on and share but also some of the zaniest. As I read this book, I frequently thought, yup, I’m definitely part Icelandic. - Lögberg-Heimskringla, Canada Excerpt "Even though they live on the edge of the inhabitable world with engulfing darkness for several months of the year, the Icelanders continue to score among the most optimistic people in the world. Is it the fish? The fresh air? The cod liver oil? Natural selection? The copious amounts of anti-depressants they consume? Nobody really knows. However, one thing is sure: this character trait serves Icelanders well and has helped the nation cope with innumerable shocks, from volcanic eruptions to famines, to a massive economic crisis. Whatever happens, you can be sure that the Icelanders will seek the silver lining and soldier on, firmly believing that things will soon get better. Indeed it is fascinating to observe how the Icelanders deal with trauma at a national level. Their initial reaction always seems to be to bond together. People who on regular days will bicker and quarrel amongst themselves, suddenly become enormously supportive of each other. I’ve seen this happen in the aftermath of disasters such as snow avalanches and volcanic eruptions, or tragedies that capture the nation’s attention. Take, for example, the economic meltdown of 2008, which for the Icelanders was one of the most catastrophic events in recent history. Many people feared an onslaught of suicides in the wake of all the bankruptcies that ensued. Yet it turned out that the number of suicides actually declined. According to the Directorate of Health, it was because the nation had bonded together, and people were closer and more supportive of each other than they had been in a very long time. In other words, the optimism is probably a long-term survival strategy. After all, through the centuries of hardship and geographical isolation that the Icelandic nation has endured, defeat was not an option – it was stand together, fight together, or die."
Magnús Einarsson,Canadian Museum of Civilization,Canadian Centre for Folk Culture Studies
Author : Magnús Einarsson,Canadian Museum of Civilization,Canadian Centre for Folk Culture Studies Publisher : Hull, Quebec : Canadian Museum of Civilization Page : 372 pages File Size : 54,7 Mb Release : 1992 Category : History ISBN : UOM:39015029937771
From 1870 until 1914, almost one-quarter of the population of Iceland migrated to North America. The Viking Immigrants examines how the distinctive culture that emerged in Icelandic North American communities - from food and fashion to ghost stories and Viking parades - sheds light on a century and a half of change and adaptation. Through an analysis of the history of everyday forms of expression, L.K. Bertram reveals the larger forces that shaped the evolution of an immigrant community. This exploration of the Icelandic North American community draws on rare and fascinating sources of community life, including oral histories, recipes, photographs, and memoirs. By using a multi-sensory approach to the immigrant experience, The Viking Immigrants uses often-overlooked cultural practices such as clothing production, the preservation of recipes, and the telling of ghost stories to understand tension and transformation in an immigrant community.
