Recesses of the Mind : On Aesthetics Gubergur Bergsson's Work

315 Pages·2012·10.891 MB·English

by  Bjarnadóttir, Birna

recesses of the mind
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Recesses of the Mind
Aesthetics in the Work
of Guðbergur Bergsson
birna bjarnadóttir
Translated by
kristjana gunnars
McGill-Queen’s University Press
Montreal & Kingston • London • Ithaca
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© McGill-Queen’s University Press 2012
isbn 978-0-7735-3910-5
Legal deposit first quarter 2012
Bibliothèque nationale du Québec
Printed in Canada on acid-free paper that is 100% ancient forest
free (100% post-consumer recycled), processed chlorine free
This book has been published with the help of a grant from the Department
of Icelandic Language and Literature at the University of Manitoba.
McGill-Queen’s University Press acknowledges the support of the
Canada Council for the Arts for our publishing program. We also
acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada
through the Canada Book Fund for our publishing activities.
Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
Bjarnadóttir, Birna, 1961–
Recesses of the mind: aesthetics in the work of Guðbergur Bergsson /
Birna Bjarnadóttir; translated by Kristjana Gunnars.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-7735-3910-5
1. Guðbergur Bergsson, 1932– Criticism and interpretation.
2. Guðbergur Bergsson, 1932– Aesthetics. 3. Icelandic literature –
History and criticism. 4. Aesthetics in literature. 5. Aesthetics,
Modern – 20th century. I. Gunnars, Kristjana, 1948– II. Title.
PT7511.G78Z63313 2012 839’.6914 C2011-905652-6
This book was typeset by Interscript in 10.5/13 Sabon.
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To my daughter Ása
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Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Preface xi
1 Aesthetics in Modern Literature:
The Mind’s Tormented Love 3
2 Fragments from the History of Aesthetics in Iceland 35
3 The Human Image during the Formative Phases of Christianity
and in the Era of the Dizzying Void 72
4 Participation in Beauty 92
5 When Paradoxes Are Allowed to Unfold 120
6 The Roots of Individual Aesthetics: On the Creative Boundaries
between Life and Art 153
7 Dialogue with Icelandic Culture and Society 181
Epilogue: Consecration to Reality 220
Appendix 1 “Ideas on Beauty” (an essay) by Guðbergur
Bergsson, translated by Kristjana Gunnars 227
Appendix 2 Flatey-Freyr by Guðbergur Bergsson (excerpts
from a book of poems), translated by Adam Kitchen 241
Notes 259
Bibliography 273
Index 291
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Acknowledgments
It was a stroke of luck to have Mark Abley consider the manuscript
for publication, and it was a source of great pleasure to work with
him. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to him. The same is
true of Kristjana Gunnars, the translator of this book. In addition to
her knowledge of Icelandic culture, and the translation of cultures,
she is no stranger to the writings of Guðbergur Bergsson and his
position in modern and contemporary Icelandic literature. Given the
nature of the book’s subject matter, the translation was a demanding
task. All the more reason for the two of us to join hands, and that we
did, time and again. Five of my graduate students at the University
of Manitoba’s Department of Icelandic Language and Literature en-
ter the picture of the translation–in–progress. Adam Kitchen read
the entire manuscript. He is also the translator of Flatey–Freyr,
Bergsson’s book of poems, excerpts from which appear for the first
time in English in appendix 2. Elin Thordarson, Christopher Crocker,
Becky Forsythe, and Andrew McGillivray read chapters of the manu-
script in a course on modern Icelandic literature, and Andrew also
assisted with the book’s index. I thank them all dearly. Darlene
McWhirter, the department’s office administrator, assisted graciously.
I would also like to acknowledge Joanne Richardson, the book’s
copy editor, without whose epic editing the text would read very dif-
ferently. Her contribution is invaluable. As stated in the preface, I am
responsible for the end result.
The Icelandic Research Council, Science Fund, supported the writ-
ing of this book. It is the University of Manitoba’s Department of
Icelandic Language and Literature – the only Icelandic department
outside of Iceland – that has fostered the publication of the English
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