Lögberg-Heimskringla - 01.12.1995, Blaðsíða 6

6 • Lögberg-Heimskringla • Föstudagur 1. desember 1995
Æ (KQ(DQlhQ(p u®
by Kevin Jón Johnson
Reflecting on the afterlife of
Western Icelandic literature in
Iceland on the evening of
Wednesday October 25 at the University
of Manitoba, Dr. Guðrún Guðsteinsdót-
tir pointed towards a positive resurrec-
tion.
Þorrablót celebrates and pacifies a
harsh deity in the harshness of winter,
the professor from the Department of
English at the University of Iceland
began. But warm and engaging Gáa fol-
lows Þorri, a gentler deity for a gentler
period of the year.
Growing up in Iceland, Guðrún
familiarized herself with the poetry of
Guttormsson and Káinn without realiz-
ing their Canadian roots. These often
anthologized poets constituted a part of
the general public school education, and
their acceptance gained a wide currency
because they used the language of
Iceland. As a young adult, she also read
the uneven and often sentimental short
stories produced by turn of the century
by Western Icelandic authors.
She characterized Káinn as a sardon-
ic wit, who had a fondness for women,
wine and poetry. His verse was ground-
ed in earthly reality, and Guðrún’s father
often quoted this iconoclast. One of his
drinking songs, to be sung with a sway-
ing drink in one hand to match the
rhythm, continues to be sung in Iceland
by current generations. Káinn played
with language, showed a fondness for
punning and parody, and a joy in deflat-
ing pretention.
Professor Guðsteinsdóttir commented
on the recent English translation of
Enjoy Lunch at the
Scandinavian Cultural Centre
from 11:30 to 2:00 p.m.
Tuesday through Friday.
Treat yourself to the culinary excellence
of Steve Hetherington;
Smorgasbord is on Friday!
Membership in the Centre is not required.
764 Erin St., Winnipeg
Telephone: 774-8047
Guttormur J. Guttormsson’s poetry,
edited by his granddaughter Heather
Ireland. Translations in this edition lay
aside the originals to permit compari-
son, and the several English versions of
the opening verse of Sandy Bar demon-
strate a choice in departure: some trans-
lators focus more on rhythm, while oth-
ers focus more on sound, symbolism or
meaning. A complete recasting into
English seems impossible without the
sacrifice of some element salient to the
original.
A stubborn constant in the Western
Icelandic experience, reinforced by her
engagement at the Red Deer conference,
could be summed up by the phrase: “I
write; therefore I exist.” The primacy
and veneration for writing provided a
fertile basis from which a literature
could be sustained; this point she illus-
trated by citing the hand printed news-
paper which took root in New Iceland
before the more permanent flowering in
Framfari.
The variety of genres that literature
encompassed provides ample proof of
the stubborn depth from which it
branched; Western Icelanders have pro-
duced poetry, short stories, novels,
drama, history, radio skits, satires, jour-
nalism, screen plays, parody, autobiog-
raphy, essays and literature for children.
Dr. Guðsteinsdóttir often memorized
works by Stephan G. Stephansson, who
professed a unique vein of atheism; his
“Iceland Festival Address”, Úr íslendin-
gadagsræðu, particularly touched her.
Stephansson practiced an atheism which
he richly clothed in imagery and symbol;
he believed the Church and state fet-
tered individualism and imagination.
The institutionalization of the
Christian Church in the early Roman
period, he understood as stifling charity,
which ought to have been its corner-
stone. Despite his disavowal of the orga-
nized Church, Stephansson built his
character around basic Christian moral
tenets. A strong current of pacifism
feeds his mature work, especially reflect-
ed in poetry written against the First
World War.
The professor then commented on
the acceptance of Kristjana Gunnars,
David Arnason and Bill Valgardson in
Iceland today; these contemporary fig-
ures find a place in her curriculum, and
each draws upon a different, fervent
body of supporters. Some of her stu-
dents found Kristjana Gunnars’ short
stories too Icelandic, and they strove to
find evidence of themes less strongly
akin to their experience in Arnason’s
and Valgardson’s writings. Gunnars’
interest in literary theory often capti-
vates the attention of students with a
more theoretical bent.
These three authors work with a con-
scious awareness of each other’s contri-
bution to contemporary literature.
She touched upon the doctoral thesis
of Dr. Daisy Neijmann which confirms a
continuity in narrative and theme from
the early literature in Icelandic to the
contemporary literature in English.
Outside of the work which ostensibly
deals with things Icelandic, the professor
noted a strong current of pacifism in The
Pagan Wall of David Arnason, and a fre-
quent struggle with human adaptation to
religion in the work of Bill Valgardson.
A continuity extends beyond the con-
fines of language, and the work contin-
ues to be fostered by the Icelandic her-
itage and coloured by the Canadian
experience. Today a bridge built in lan-
guage unites minds across the Atlantic;
the foundations rest in the university
campuses extending from Winnipeg to
Reykjavík.
Dr. Guðsteinsdóttir also spoke of the
key contribution of Laura Goodman
Salverson: the first prominent Western
Icelandic author to write in English.
Laura was born in Winnipeg in 1890 and
married a man of Norwegian back-
ground; she would secure two Governor
General’s Awards for her literary efforts.
Before enrolling in public school at
age ten, Laura grew up in a home of
recent Icelandic immigrants, speaking
the language of their homeland. Her
mastery of English came rapidly, reflect-
ed in an award she won for writing at
age 12. She published short stories in
Canadian magazines, before publishing
her first novel, The Viking Heart, short-
ly after the end of the First World War.
With the Scottish presbyterian novelist
Ralph Connor, Laura Goodman
Salverson became a unique voice in
Canadian literature, which had been
dominated by English and Irish writers.
A recent Icelandic translation of
Confessions of an Immigrant’s Daughter
has been well received in the land of ice
and fire; thus constituting an unsought
honour in this happy afterlife.
Recounting a narrative from one of her
texts to illustrate the indebtedness later
Western Icelandic writers in English
may owe to Salverson, Dr. Guðsteins-
dóttir told another story:
This one from Gullna Hliðið by
Davíð Stefansson about “Sálina hans
Jón’s míns”, My dear Jón’s soul, where a
woman whose husband ran the risk of
damnation because he kept poor compa-
ny and failed to follow the precepts of
the Church. The kind wife, concerned
for the welfare of his soul, designed a
ploy to secure his immortality in
Heaven, a thought in which he saw little
invitation. If he had his druthers, he
would go to his proper destination in
Hell.
When he passed away, she captured
his spirit in a sack. The dutiful wife
made a pilgrimage up the narrow, slip-
pery, rocky path to Heaven, with her
late husband’s soul kicking and cursing
at her initiative. When St. Peter refused
to admit the cantankerous soul, she took
the smallest opening and spirited him
into eternal bliss.
Dr. Guðsteinsdóttir suggests that
Laura Goodman Salverson helped
secure a place for future Western
Icelandic authors writing in English in
the only eternity vouched for by some
ancient authors, the immortality of the
favourably printed word. Many of
Salverson’s books have now gone out of
print, and copies would be warmly wel-
comed by Sigrid Johnson for the
Icelandic Collection, so this Heaven
may not be as secure as hoped!
The professor commented on the
valuable translations of Kirsten Wolf
and Árný Hjaltadóttir, and upon the
importance of keeping the Icelandic
Chair in Manitoba secure.
In correspondence to Lögberg,
Stephan G. Stephansson had hoped that
the Icelandic language would persist and
flourish as a strong second language for
his kindred immigrants: an initiative that
our forbears undertook to secure at the
University of Manitoba. This lecture,
provided by the Icelandic Department,
may serve as an example of the impor-
tance of this institution.
The celebration of Þorrablót demon-
strates the Icelandic will to persevere in
times of hardship; the greater clemency
of Góa points to the flowering which
often follows the strength of persever-
ance. This efflorescence reflects forcibly
in the continued contribution of
Western Icelandic authors to Canadian
literature; this keen tradition recom-
mends our best stewardship.
hildren’s Corner:
A delightful story about three dogs that teli us If you
want to become somethlng, you have to get stronger.
Original Story by Wanda Gág / Retold in lcelandic by Stefán Júlíusson
\_esuro 09
\ærum
Efcfci Neitt: Nothing-At-AIl:
Heldur þú kannski, að hann hafi þá
verið hundur, sem allir gátu séð? Nei,
ónei. Hann var enn þá eins og ekki neitt.
En þó var eins og þetta ekki neitt hefði
nú einhverja óljósa lögun. Þegar hann
hélt uppi fætinum, sá hann engan
fótinn, en hann sá þó móta fyrir fæti. Og
hann var ákaflega ánægður með þetta.
"Vel gert", sagði þá rödd. Hann
þekkti, að það var krummi. Ég verð að
segja, að þú ertfallega lagaður, hvað
sem meira er. Haltu þara áfram". Og
hann flaug á burt.
As he finished, a voice said, "I can't see
you but aren't you that empty space in the
tree trunk? It was a bird who spoke.
"Yes," said the little dog. "My name is
Nothing-at-all, and that's what I look like
too. I never minded it before, but now I
long to look like other dogs so the boy
and the girl can see me, and so they'll give
me milk to drink and bones to nibble, and
never pick me up by my neck or my tail,
but adopt me for their pet as they did my
two puppy brothérs."
The bird laughed.
Can you match these words?
See how manyyou can put together of these lcelandic and English words:
KANNSKI | 1 I RECOGNIZE
ÓLJÓSA f 2 I VERY
LÖGUN f 3 I HAPPY
ÁKAFLEGA f 4 1 SHAPE
ÁNÆGÐUR f 5 I UNCLEAR
ÞEKKJA f 61 PERHAPS
'I + 9 ‘£ + T ‘Z + f "t + £ ‘£ + Z “9 + T :sa3AVSNV