Sigurður Gylfi Magnússon
Encyclopedia
Sigurður Gylfi Magnússon (born August 29, 1957) is an Iceland
ic historian
specialising in microhistory
. He has been an independent scholar for most of his career. He established the Center for Microhistorical Research (http://www.akademia.is/sigm/) at the Reykjavík Academy (http://www.akademia.is/index.php/en) in 2003. He currently holds a research position at the National Museum of Iceland
(http://www.natmus.is/english) named after Dr. Kristján Eldjárn
, the former president of Iceland and an archaeologist. The following text is based on his book The History War: Essays and Narrative on Ideology (Reykjavik, The Center for Microhistorical Research, 2007) (http://www.akademia.is/sigm/sogustrid.html), which is autobiographical
in nature and deals with historiographical
issues such as the development of ideas which are part of the microhistorical agenda. Magnússon is the author of 16 books (http://www.akademia.is/sigm/publications.html) and has been involved in the publication of nine more through a book series which he has co-edited. His latest book, titled Wasteland with Words. A social history of Iceland (http://www.reaktionbooks.co.uk/book.html?id=412) was published in 2010 by Reaktion Books
(http://www.reaktionbooks.co.uk/) in England
.
. He completed his B.A. in history and philosophy in 1984 from University of Iceland
(http://www.hi.is/en/introduction). His thesis was published year later in a book called, The Mode of Living in Iceland, 1930–1940, by the Institute of History at the University of Iceland (http://www.akademia.is/sigm/lifshaettir.html). That same year he started his doctoral studies in Pittsburgh, USA
, at Carnegie Mellon University
in history where he received a M.A. degree in 1988 and a doctoral degree (Ph.D.) in 1993. His dissertation dealt with popular culture
and is titled The Continuity of Everyday Life: Popular Culture in Iceland 1850-1940 (http://www.akademia.is/sigm/dissertation.html).
Magnússon has taught part time at the University of Iceland (http://www.akademia.is/sigm/namskeid.html) and in other academic settings in Iceland from 1994 when he returned from the USA. He taught at his former university, Carnegie Mellon, in the spring of 2002 when he was a Fulbright Scholar for six months. In 1998 he became in the first chair of an independent research institute called The Reykjavik Academy (http://www.akademia.is/), which was founded by independent scholars who received their education in Iceland, Scandinavia
, Europe
and USA. The colorful saga of the Reykjavík Academy attracted considerable outside attention, from its humble beginnings as a forum for ten independent scholars to its eventually housing 80 researchers from all areas of the humanities
and social sciences.
In 2003, Magnússon founded and chaired the Center for Microhistorical Research (http://www.akademia.is/sigm/), which, among other things, runs the international web-page microhistory.org (http://www.microhistory.org/) and publishes books on microhistorical issues. He is the editor of the web-journal The Journal of Microhistory (http://www.microhistory.org/journal2006.php) with his co-worker and a long-time friend Dr. Davið Ólafsson (http://www.akademia.is/index.php/en/the-society/society-members/47-d/113-davie-olafsson-). Magnússon is the founder and one of three editors of the book series Anthology of Icelandic Popular Culture (http://www.akademia.is/index.php/is/utgafa/synisbaekur-islenskrar-altyeu) which has already published 14 books in cooperation with the University of Iceland Press (http://www.haskolautgafan.hi.is/page/hu_utgafan). The other editors are Dr. Már Jónsson (http://notendur.hi.is/marj/), professor at the University of Iceland, and Dr. Davíð Ólafsson, a researcher and independent scholar at the Reykjavik Academy.
It could be argued that the primary objective of many of Magnússon’s work has been to present a view of the ways in which history
, and in particular social history, has developed in the last 15–20 years, at a time of major reassessment within the academic world manifested in the radical ideas grouped under the banner of postmodernism
and/or poststructuralism. The History War is based on his former research, which he has published in recent years on first hand sources, microhistory and everyday life. That includes the following books: Dreams of Things Past: Life Writing in Iceland (2004) (http://www.akademia.is/sigm/dreams.html); Metastories: Memory, Recollection, and History (2005) (http://www.akademia.is/sigm/metastories.html); Academic Liturgy. Humanities and the Society of Scholars (2007) (http://www.akademia.is/sigm/liturgy.html), and finally a book, which he co-edited, called From Re-evaluation to Disintegration. Two Final Theses, One Introduction, Three Interviews, Seven Articles, Five Photographs, One Afterword and A Few Obituaries from the Field of Humanities (2006) (http://www.akademia.is/sigm/disintegration.html).
After mostly dealing with the methods of microhistory for over ten years Magnússon turned back to his empirical research
in 2007 with the focus on material culture
and everyday life
. Just recently, his book Wasteland with Words. A Social History of Iceland (2010) (http://www.reaktionbooks.co.uk/book.html?id=412), was published by Reaktion books (http://www.reaktionbooks.co.uk/) in England (see criticism in The Economist: http://www.economist.com/culture/displaystory.cfm?story_id=16213940&fsrc=rss). The book is written as an attempt to explain how Icelandic culture was formed through a long process of literary practice from the beginning of the settlement in the ninth century up to modern times. It is also an analysis of an island culture, which successfully stepped into the twentieth century without losing its cultural identity
. That success story ends with the meltdown of the banking, economic, and the political system in 2008. The focus of the book is on the people of Iceland, how they managed to survive in a relatively hostile environment thorough the centuries and become, for a while, one of the wealthiest countries in the world. The resent sequence of events in 2008 are explained in the light of the historical development in Iceland. This is an experiment in social- and/or microhistorical studies, in which he strives to deal with a long period of time using the methods of microhistory.
Iceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
ic historian
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
specialising in microhistory
Microhistory
Microhistory is the intensive historical investigation of a well defined smaller unit of research...
. He has been an independent scholar for most of his career. He established the Center for Microhistorical Research (http://www.akademia.is/sigm/) at the Reykjavík Academy (http://www.akademia.is/index.php/en) in 2003. He currently holds a research position at the National Museum of Iceland
National Museum of Iceland
The National Museum of Iceland was established on 24 February 1863, with Jón Árnason the first curator of the Icelandic collection, previously kept in Danish museums...
(http://www.natmus.is/english) named after Dr. Kristján Eldjárn
Kristján Eldjárn
Dr. Kristján Eldjárn was the third President of Iceland, from 1968 to 1980.His parents were Þórarinn Kr. Eldjárn, a teacher in Tjörn, and Sigrún Sigurhjartardóttir. He graduated in archaeology from the University of Copenhagen and taught at the University of Iceland...
, the former president of Iceland and an archaeologist. The following text is based on his book The History War: Essays and Narrative on Ideology (Reykjavik, The Center for Microhistorical Research, 2007) (http://www.akademia.is/sigm/sogustrid.html), which is autobiographical
Autobiography
An autobiography is a book about the life of a person, written by that person.-Origin of the term:...
in nature and deals with historiographical
Historiography
Historiography refers either to the study of the history and methodology of history as a discipline, or to a body of historical work on a specialized topic...
issues such as the development of ideas which are part of the microhistorical agenda. Magnússon is the author of 16 books (http://www.akademia.is/sigm/publications.html) and has been involved in the publication of nine more through a book series which he has co-edited. His latest book, titled Wasteland with Words. A social history of Iceland (http://www.reaktionbooks.co.uk/book.html?id=412) was published in 2010 by Reaktion Books
Reaktion Books
Reaktion Books is an independent book publisher based in Clerkenwell, London, United Kingdom.Reaktion Books was founded in 1985 in Edinburgh, Scotland, and moved to London in 1987....
(http://www.reaktionbooks.co.uk/) in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
Biography
Sigurður Gylfi Magnússon was born in the West End of ReykjavíkReykjavík
Reykjavík is the capital and largest city in Iceland.Its latitude at 64°08' N makes it the world's northernmost capital of a sovereign state. It is located in southwestern Iceland, on the southern shore of Faxaflói Bay...
. He completed his B.A. in history and philosophy in 1984 from University of Iceland
University of Iceland
The University of Iceland is a public research university in Reykjavík, Iceland, and the country's oldest and largest institution of higher education. Founded in 1911, it has grown steadily from a small civil servants' school to a modern comprehensive university, providing instruction for about...
(http://www.hi.is/en/introduction). His thesis was published year later in a book called, The Mode of Living in Iceland, 1930–1940, by the Institute of History at the University of Iceland (http://www.akademia.is/sigm/lifshaettir.html). That same year he started his doctoral studies in Pittsburgh, USA
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, at Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States....
in history where he received a M.A. degree in 1988 and a doctoral degree (Ph.D.) in 1993. His dissertation dealt with popular culture
Popular culture
Popular culture is the totality of ideas, perspectives, attitudes, memes, images and other phenomena that are deemed preferred per an informal consensus within the mainstream of a given culture, especially Western culture of the early to mid 20th century and the emerging global mainstream of the...
and is titled The Continuity of Everyday Life: Popular Culture in Iceland 1850-1940 (http://www.akademia.is/sigm/dissertation.html).
Magnússon has taught part time at the University of Iceland (http://www.akademia.is/sigm/namskeid.html) and in other academic settings in Iceland from 1994 when he returned from the USA. He taught at his former university, Carnegie Mellon, in the spring of 2002 when he was a Fulbright Scholar for six months. In 1998 he became in the first chair of an independent research institute called The Reykjavik Academy (http://www.akademia.is/), which was founded by independent scholars who received their education in Iceland, Scandinavia
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
, Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and USA. The colorful saga of the Reykjavík Academy attracted considerable outside attention, from its humble beginnings as a forum for ten independent scholars to its eventually housing 80 researchers from all areas of the humanities
Humanities
The humanities are academic disciplines that study the human condition, using methods that are primarily analytical, critical, or speculative, as distinguished from the mainly empirical approaches of the natural sciences....
and social sciences.
In 2003, Magnússon founded and chaired the Center for Microhistorical Research (http://www.akademia.is/sigm/), which, among other things, runs the international web-page microhistory.org (http://www.microhistory.org/) and publishes books on microhistorical issues. He is the editor of the web-journal The Journal of Microhistory (http://www.microhistory.org/journal2006.php) with his co-worker and a long-time friend Dr. Davið Ólafsson (http://www.akademia.is/index.php/en/the-society/society-members/47-d/113-davie-olafsson-). Magnússon is the founder and one of three editors of the book series Anthology of Icelandic Popular Culture (http://www.akademia.is/index.php/is/utgafa/synisbaekur-islenskrar-altyeu) which has already published 14 books in cooperation with the University of Iceland Press (http://www.haskolautgafan.hi.is/page/hu_utgafan). The other editors are Dr. Már Jónsson (http://notendur.hi.is/marj/), professor at the University of Iceland, and Dr. Davíð Ólafsson, a researcher and independent scholar at the Reykjavik Academy.
It could be argued that the primary objective of many of Magnússon’s work has been to present a view of the ways in which history
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
, and in particular social history, has developed in the last 15–20 years, at a time of major reassessment within the academic world manifested in the radical ideas grouped under the banner of postmodernism
Postmodernism
Postmodernism is a philosophical movement evolved in reaction to modernism, the tendency in contemporary culture to accept only objective truth and to be inherently suspicious towards a global cultural narrative or meta-narrative. Postmodernist thought is an intentional departure from the...
and/or poststructuralism. The History War is based on his former research, which he has published in recent years on first hand sources, microhistory and everyday life. That includes the following books: Dreams of Things Past: Life Writing in Iceland (2004) (http://www.akademia.is/sigm/dreams.html); Metastories: Memory, Recollection, and History (2005) (http://www.akademia.is/sigm/metastories.html); Academic Liturgy. Humanities and the Society of Scholars (2007) (http://www.akademia.is/sigm/liturgy.html), and finally a book, which he co-edited, called From Re-evaluation to Disintegration. Two Final Theses, One Introduction, Three Interviews, Seven Articles, Five Photographs, One Afterword and A Few Obituaries from the Field of Humanities (2006) (http://www.akademia.is/sigm/disintegration.html).
After mostly dealing with the methods of microhistory for over ten years Magnússon turned back to his empirical research
Empirical research
Empirical research is a way of gaining knowledge by means of direct and indirect observation or experience. Empirical evidence can be analyzed quantitatively or qualitatively...
in 2007 with the focus on material culture
Material culture
In the social sciences, material culture is a term that refers to the relationship between artifacts and social relations. Studying a culture's relationship to materiality is a lens through which social and cultural attitudes can be discussed...
and everyday life
Everyday Life
Everyday Life is the first solo album made by Life MC of the British Hip Hop group Phi Life Cypher....
. Just recently, his book Wasteland with Words. A Social History of Iceland (2010) (http://www.reaktionbooks.co.uk/book.html?id=412), was published by Reaktion books (http://www.reaktionbooks.co.uk/) in England (see criticism in The Economist: http://www.economist.com/culture/displaystory.cfm?story_id=16213940&fsrc=rss). The book is written as an attempt to explain how Icelandic culture was formed through a long process of literary practice from the beginning of the settlement in the ninth century up to modern times. It is also an analysis of an island culture, which successfully stepped into the twentieth century without losing its cultural identity
Cultural identity
Cultural identity is the identity of a group or culture, or of an individual as far as one is influenced by one's belonging to a group or culture. Cultural identity is similar to and has overlaps with, but is not synonymous with, identity politics....
. That success story ends with the meltdown of the banking, economic, and the political system in 2008. The focus of the book is on the people of Iceland, how they managed to survive in a relatively hostile environment thorough the centuries and become, for a while, one of the wealthiest countries in the world. The resent sequence of events in 2008 are explained in the light of the historical development in Iceland. This is an experiment in social- and/or microhistorical studies, in which he strives to deal with a long period of time using the methods of microhistory.
Select bibliography
- “Barefoot Historians: Education in Iceland in the Modern Period.“ Co-author Davíð Ólafsson. Writing Peasants. Studies on Peasant Literacy in Early Modern Northern Europe. Klaus-Joachim Lorenzen-Schmidt and Bjørn Poulsen (eds.). Landbohistorisk Selskab (Århus 2002), pp. 175–209. http://www.landhist.dk/bogsalg/bog.asp?bogid=153
- Iceland: a 20th-Century Case of Selective Modernization. Europe Since 1914 – Encyclopedia of the Age of War and Reconstruction. Scribner Library of Modern Europe. Editors in Chief Jay Winter and John Merriman (New York, 2006).
- Iceland: Through the Slow Process of Social and Cultural Change. Encyclopedia of the Modern World. Editor in Chief Peter N. Stearns (New York: Oxford University Press, 2008).
- “The Singularization of History: Social History and Microhistory within the Postmodern State of Knowledge.“ Journal of Social History, 36 (Spring 2003), pp. 701–735. http://chnm.gmu.edu/jsh/abstracts.php?volume=36&issue=3
- Social History as "Sites of Memory?" The Institutionalization of History: Microhistory and the Grand Narrative. Journal of Social History Special issue 39:3 (Spring 2006), pp. 891–913.
- “Social History – Cultural History – Alltagsgeschichte – Microhistory: In-between Methodologies and Conceptual Frameworks.” Journal of Microhistory (2006): microhistory.org (06.11.2006). http://www.microhistory.org/pivot/entry.php?id=20
- Wasteland with Words. A Social History of Iceland Reaktion Books (London, 2010), ISBN 978-1861896612
- “What is Microhistory?” The History New Network (www.hnn.us) May 8, 2006. http://hnn.us/articles/23720.html