Lögberg-Heimskringla - 06.12.1985, Blaðsíða 2

2-WINNIPEG, FOSTUDAGUR 6. DESEMBER 1985
Western Icelandic Culture Today
The celebration of the Centenary of
Icelandic settlement in Canada in the
mid-70's was in many ways a much
more depressing event than we
would have liked. Many Western
Icelanders felt at the time that Icelan-
dic culture in North America was on
such a decline that it was rapidly
headed for oblivion. The reasons for
this pessimism were many, but
perhaps foremost among them was
the fact that the last generation of
Western Icelanders to learn Icelandic
as their mother tongue were by that
time young adults. Other reasons in-
cluded the demise of many publica-
tions and the loss of the Tímarit
Pjóðræknisfélagsins I Vesturheimi
seemed especially foreboding. The
merger of Lögberg and Heimskringla,
the ancient rivals, could only be in-
terpreted as a dire omen, and the
declining memberships in the various
clubs and the flagging subscriptions
to the two remaining publications
seemed to be absolute confirmation
of this omen.
But the last decade has witnessed
a remarkable reversal of this trend.
True, our children are still not learn-
ing Icelandic at home, and Lögberg-
Heimskringla has not re-divided into
bitterly quarreling weeklies, but in
other ways Icelandic culture is not
only alive ahd wélí, but thriving.
Many of the Icelandic organizations
have found that their membership
lists have been growing steadily. (The
ícelandic Club of B.C. is a most
dramatic example of this). A great
number of new events have been
tried, some of which have been great
successes such as Heritage Days in
Gimli and Frón's Kaffi Hús series,
while others have failed miserably,
such as the Student Social I tried to
organize for Frón this spring.
Whether these events succeed or fail
is really unimportant. (Although it is
certainly more rewarding when they
succeed), what matters is the at-
tempt. The easiest method of
avoiding failure is to do nothing,
which is fortunately not a path
followed by many Icelandic groups.
We can only succeed by trying, and
if we are ultimately doomed to
failure, then it would certainly be
best to go down fighting. At least
then, we will be assured of a home
with Oðin, Þór and Oli Narfason in
Gimli after the final battle is fought.
(If this last sentence makes no sense
to you, a quick reading of Old Norse
mythology is in order).
Why has this dramatic reversal
taken place? The last paragraph may
seem to suggest that it is nothing
more than a last dying spasm of ac-
tivity, but I do not believe that this
is so. I believe that it is directly
related to the decline of the Icelandic
language in North America. As pro-
gressively fewer young Western Ice-
landers grew up speaking Icelandic,
they were excluded from active parti-
cipation in many Western Icelandic
Minnist
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í erfðaskróm yðor
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Steam instructions, information, pictures, two stories, and lots more.
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We Need More Subscribers
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Send us naraes and addresses of suggested subscribers. We
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Heimskringla. Be active, support your heritage during our
Centennial year.
organizations, because a speaking
knowledge of Icelandic was often
considered an essential component of
Icelandic culture. It was only when
the doors to non-Icelandic speaking
people were opened in these organ-
izations that the apparent "resur-
gence'' of Western Icelandic culture
was made possible.
The central claim that is being
made here is that Western Icelandic
culture has evolved from traditional
Icelandic culture to emerge as a uni-
que entity with its own character-
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334-3975
istics, and that it has taken the es-
tablished Western Icelandic organiza-
tions a while to recognize and accept
this. Knowledge of the Icelandic
language may be an essential compo-
nent of Icelandic culture, but it has
become exceedingly obvious that it
is not an essential component of
Western Icelandic culture. The ques-
tion of what, if anything, is essential
to Western Icelandic culture is not
easily answered, and will have to be
left for future articles.
LEE BRANDSON
Working To Keep Our Heritage Alive
CANADA ICELAND
FOUNDATION
SECRETARY 1-204-772-8989
Mrs. S. Borga Jakobson
1145 Dominion St.
Winnipeg, Manitoba R3E 2P3
iCELANDIC
346/49
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An 847 page history of New
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homesteading, fishing, farming,
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culture, and historical events in the
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Available from:
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— OUR 50TH ANNIVERSARY 1935-1985 —