New Voices from Iceland
New Voices from Iceland

Author: Dóra S. Bjarnason

Publisher: Nova Publishers

Published: 2004

Total Pages: 344

ISBN-13: 9781594541049

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This book presents a study of the perspectives and experiences of 36 disabled young adults, some of their parents, teachers and friends, on coming of age as a disabled person in Iceland. The young people of the study belong to the first generation of disabled children and youth to grow up with normalisation and inclusion in school and society as the law of the land. The aim is to describe, explore and interpret the social construction of disabled adulthood within culture and society, and to describe how inclusive and exclusionary processes within families, school and society, impact young disabled persons' claims to adulthood. The study is located within disability studies, and within a social constructivist, interpretative framework, involving interviews and document analysis. This volume focuses on the emergence of young disabled adulthood and on how families, general or segregated special education and special or generic support systems and relationships impact that process. The lesson learned form this book apply to the disabled everywhere.

Miss Iceland
Miss Iceland

Author: Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir

Publisher: Grove Press

Published: 2020-06-16

Total Pages: 194

ISBN-13: 0802149243

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“Will appeal to readers of Elena Ferrante and Margaret Atwood . . . the unusual setting offers an interesting twist on the portrait of an artist as a young woman.” —Bookpage In 1960s Iceland, Hekla dreams of being a writer. In a nation of poets, where each household proudly displays leatherbound volumes of the Sagas, and there are more writers per capita than anywhere else in the world, there is only one problem: she is a woman. After packing her few belongings, including James Joyces’s Ulysses and a Remington typewriter, Hekla heads for Reykjavik with a manuscript buried in her bags. She moves in with her friend Jon, a gay man who longs to work in the theatre, but can only find dangerous, backbreaking work on fishing trawlers. Hekla’s opportunities are equally limited: marriage and babies, or her job as a waitress, in which harassment from customers is part of the daily grind. The two friends feel completely out of place in a small and conservative world. And yet that world is changing: JFK is shot. Hemlines are rising. In Iceland, another volcano erupts and Hekla meets a poet who brings to light harsh realities about her art—as she realizes she must escape to find freedom abroad, whatever the cost. Miss Iceland, a winner of two international book awards, comes from the acclaimed author of Hotel Silence, which received the Icelandic Literary Prize. “Only a great book can make you feel you’re really there, a thousand miles and a generation away. I loved it.” —Kit de Waal, author of My Name is Leon “[A] winning tale of friendship and self-fulfillment.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review

Seawomen of Iceland
Seawomen of Iceland

Author: Margaret Willson

Publisher: University of Washington Press

Published: 2016-04-01

Total Pages: 311

ISBN-13: 0295806478

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Finalist for the 2017 Washington State Book Award in General Nonfiction / History The plaque said this was the winter fishing hut of Thurídur Einarsdóttir, one of Iceland's greatest fishing captains, and that she lived from 1777 to 1863. "Wait," anthropologist and former seawoman Margaret Willson said. "She??" So began a quest. Were there more Icelandic seawomen? Most Icelanders said no, and, after all, in most parts of the world fishing is considered a male profession. What could she expect in Iceland? She found a surprise. This book is a glimpse into the lives of vibrant women who have braved the sea for centuries. Their accounts include the excitement, accidents, trials, and tribulations of fishing in Iceland from the historic times of small open rowboats to today's high-tech fisheries. Based on extensive historical and field research, Seawomen of Iceland allows the seawomen's voices to speak directly with strength, intelligence, and - above all - a knowledge of how to survive. This engaging ethnographic narrative will intrigue both general and academic readers interested in maritime culture, the anthropology of work, Nordic life, and gender studies.

The A to Z of Iceland
The A to Z of Iceland

Author: Gudmundur Halfdanarson

Publisher: Scarecrow Press

Published: 2010-05-10

Total Pages: 342

ISBN-13: 0810872080

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While Iceland is the second largest inhabited island in Europe, with only 313,000 inhabitants in 2007, the Icelanders form one of the smallest independent nations in the world. Around two-thirds of the population lives in the capital, Reykjavík, and its suburbs, while the rest is spread around the inhabitable area of the country. Until fairly recently the Icelandic nation was unusually homogeneous, both in cultural and religious terms; in 1981, around 98 percent of the nation was born in Iceland and 96 percent belonged to the Lutheran state church or other Lutheran religious sects. In 2007, these numbers were down to 89 and 86 percent respectively, reflecting the rapidly growing multicultural nature of Icelandic society. The A to Z of Iceland traces Iceland's history and provides a compass for the direction the country is heading. This is done through its chronology, introductory essays, appendixes, map, bibliography, and hundreds of cross-referenced dictionary entries on important persons, places, events, and institutions and significant political, economic, social, and cultural aspects.

Icelandic Voice in Canadian Letters
Icelandic Voice in Canadian Letters

Author: Daisy L. Neijmann

Publisher: McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP

Published: 1997

Total Pages: 454

ISBN-13: 0886293170

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This fascinating study explores a remarkable ethnic-Canadian literature in close textual and contextual terms for the first time. It lays a groundwork for future comparative research in the field of ethnic Canadian studies, and challenges assumptions about cultural identity and human experience of the "new."

Disability Studies
Disability Studies

Author: Dan Goodley

Publisher: SAGE Publications Limited

Published: 2024-11-01

Total Pages: 267

ISBN-13: 1529685753

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What if disability isn′t a problem but a resource? This updated edition of a classic text in the field of disability studies interrogates the commonly held view that disability is something that needs to be ′cured′ or ′eradicated′. It shows us how disability can challenge our thinking and help us to imagine a more socially just society, offering an engaging introduction to a diverse and globally expanding subject. Taking an interdisciplinary approach, this text will be of interest to undergraduates, graduates, and researchers across the social sciences. Making the case that disability is much more than just impairment, this book uncovers the ways in which disabled people are challenging discrimination and marginalisation. Ranging across topics such as health, activism and education, this book asks questions about the ways in which society tends to understand disability and offers alternative explanations that are more exciting, radical and transformative.

The Islander
The Islander

Author: Halldor Gudmundsson

Publisher: MacLehose Press

Published: 2023-09-28

Total Pages: 758

ISBN-13: 1529433746

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"An enthralling, heartening study of a man of unflagging interest in life" Independent "A thoroughly researched biography" New York Review of Books "Provides readers of English with a perfect introduction to the life and works of an outstanding writer, one whom everyone should read" Irish Times "I am thoroughly convinced by Gudmundsson's portrayal of Laxness" J. M COETZEE A strong and memorable portrayal of a man who fought heroically to write for the world, but in one of its rarest languages. Halldór Laxness won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1955. During his life, which spanned nearly the entire century, he not only wrote sixty books, but also became an active participant in Europe's idealistic debates and struggles. In the 1930s, Laxness became attracted to Soviet communism. He travelled widely in the Soviet Bloc and, despite witnessing some atrocities, remained a defender of communism until the 1960s. But his political leanings never dominated his work. Laxness continually sought to divulge the world of beauty that lurks beneath the everyday, ensuring his artistry remained a sanctuary of humanism and reflection. In this biography, Guðmundsson has been granted access to unique material by Laxness' family. As a result, the interrelationships between Laxness' personal life, his politics and his career are meticulously examined. What emerges is a grand description of a fascinating personality in which the manifold conflicts of the 20th century are mirrored. "Laxness is a writer of the first degree, a writer I dreamed of coming close to" BORIS PASTERNAK, 1960 "When in a bad mood I have picked one of your books. And there the pure and deep sound has welcomed me, strong and charming from the first page" KAREN BLIXEN in an open letter to Laxness in 1952 Translated from Icelandic by Philip Roughton

Land of Love and Ruins
Land of Love and Ruins

Author: Oddný Eir

Publisher: Restless Books

Published: 2016-10-25

Total Pages: 239

ISBN-13: 1632060744

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“Oddný Eir is an authentic author, philosopher and mystic. She weaves together diaries and fiction. She is the writer I feel can best express the female psyche of now and has bridged the gap between rural Iceland and Western philosophy. A true pioneer!!!!!!!!” —Björk The winner of the Icelandic Women’s Literature Prize in 2012, Land of Love and Ruins is the debut novel by a daring new voice in international fiction: Oddný Eir. Written in the form of a diary but with fantastical linguistic verve, the narrator sets out on a universal quest: to find a place to belong—and a way of being in the world. Paradoxically, her longing to settle down drives her to embark on all kinds of journeys, physical and mental, through time and space, in order to find answers to questions that concern not only her personally, but also the whole of humankind. She explores various modes of living, ponders different types of relationships and contemplates her bond with her family, land and nation; trying to find a balance between companionship and independence, movement and stability, past, present, and future. An enchanting blend of autobiography, diary, philosophical inquiry, and fantasy, Land of Love and Ruins is a richly imagined and utterly unique book about being human in the modern world.

New Zealand’s Global Responsibility
New Zealand’s Global Responsibility

Author: László Szöllősi-Cira

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2022-01-01

Total Pages: 377

ISBN-13: 9811673497

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New Zealand often plays leading roles in implementing progressive ideas. This book investigates what explanatory factors facilitated the country to become such a relevant normative actor. New Zealand’s case suggests that democratic institutions, skilled bureaucracy, and ambitious politicians play the crucial roles to create global influence. The case studies included in this book develop the argument that small states can better influence international politics by focusing on domestic issues. In contributing to discourses on New Zealand’s possible future role, the book is an invaluable resource to intellectuals, researchers, and students alike.

The End of Iceland's Innocence
The End of Iceland's Innocence

Author: Daniel Chartier

Publisher: University of Ottawa Press

Published: 2011

Total Pages: 241

ISBN-13: 077660760X

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A portrait of Iceland through the eyes of the international media before and after their total economic collapse. In the space of a few days, one of the world's richest and most egalitarian nations, Iceland, toppled into financial chaos and sunk into an economic, ethical, moral and identity crisis. The vast empire built by Iceland's young entrepreneurs, the "new Vikings"--who had propelled the country to the top of wealth, equality and happiness charts--collapsed under the combined effect of the failure of its banks and astronomical debt (more than ten times the country's gross domestic product). Iceland became, in the midst of the global economic crisis, an icon of disaster that troubles all Western countries seeking to understand how the Scandinavian model could collapse so suddenly. In this book, Daniel Chartier traces, through thousands of articles appearing in the foreign press, the fascinating reversal of Iceland's image during the crisis. Citizens of a country now humiliated, Icelanders must deal with a number of significant issues including the quest for wealth, sovereignty, ethics, responsibility, gender and the limits of neoliberalism. Published in English.