Cultural Memory in the Icelandic Contemporary Sagas Constructing Continuity at a Time of Transformation

The objective of this book is to analyse the Old Icelandic sagas dealing with the twelfth to fourteenth centuries - the secular contemporary sagas and the bishops' sagas - from the perspective of cultural memory studies. This approach foregrounds their function as sources of the late medieval Icelanders' collective identity, shaped by the narrative tradition and the current concerns. It is argued here that the intertextual relations between the Old Icelandic historiographical texts extend beyond the literary level and influence the perception of the past itself. The accounts of events from the settlement to the fourteenth century form a coherent narrative that acknowledges the historical development but accentuates the themes and values that continued to define the collective identity. Within this framework, the book presents a detailed analysis of how this function of the narrative shaped the sagas depicting the time when Iceland was gradually integrated into the Norwegian kingdom. As such, it contributes to a more nuanced understanding of how this culturally significant period of medieval Icelandic history was perceived when the memory of it was still crossing the boundary between common knowledge and foundational history.

About the author

Lucie Korecká
, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic.

Product details

• Authors: Lucie Korecká
• Publisher: De Gruyter
• Content: Book
• Product form: Hardback
• Publication date: 13.04.2025
• Subject: Humanities, art, music > History > Middle Ages
• EAN: 9783111348421
• ISBN: 978-3-11-134842-1
• Pages: 269
• Dimensions (packing): 15.5 x 23 cm
• Weight (packing): 532 g
• Series: Memory and the Medieval North > 3
• Subjects: Mittelalter, Isländisch, Island, memory, Geschichte Europas, Iceland, Kulturelles Gedächtnis, Medieval History, auseinandersetzen, LIT011000 LITERARY CRITICISM / Medieval, Literary studies: classical, early & medieval, Literature: history & criticism, Literary studies: general, SOC000000 SOCIAL SCIENCE / General, Middle Ages, LIT004170 LITERARY CRITICISM / European / German, LIT004250 LITERARY CRITICISM / European / Scandinavian, LIT006000 LITERARY CRITICISM / Semiotics & Theory, Cultural Memory, ca. 1000 bis ca. 1500 nach Christus, LCO017000 LITERARY COLLECTIONS / Medieval, Historicity, Old Icelandic sagas, Altisländisch+Saga