Uppeldi og menntun - 01.01.2009, Page 35

Uppeldi og menntUn/icelandic JoUrnal of edUcation 18(1)/2009
bragi gUðmUndsson
35
Østergård, U. (1996). Peasants and Danes: The Danish national identity and political
culture. Í G. Eley og R. G. Suny (ritstjórar), Becoming national: A reader (bls. 178–201).
Oxford, Oxford University Press. (Endurprentað úr Comparative studies in society
and history 1992, 34(1), 3–27).
um höfund
Bragi Guðmundsson (bragi@unak.is) er prófessor í sagnfræði við hug- og félagsvís-
indadeild Háskólans á Akureyri. Hann lauk cand. mag. prófi í sagnfræði frá Háskóla
Íslands árið 1983 og kennsluréttindanámi frá sama skóla árið 1980. Bragi var kennari við
Menntaskólann á Akureyri frá 1982 til 1995. Rannsóknir hans hafa í seinni tíð einkum
beinst að skólasögu, grenndarfræðum, söguvitund og samvitund ýmiss konar.
icEland – an island of diVErsE communitiEs: on
thE foundations of thE collEctiVE idEntity of
icElandErs
abstract
This article discusses a set of basic concepts necessary for analyzing and understand-
ing the diversity evident in modern Icelandic society. A new residential patterning
and a rapidly increasing cultural diversity call for research into the individual identity
as well as the collective identity of different cultural and social groups. The part of the
Icelandic collective identity which can be termed national identity is examined and
the concepts of historical consciousness, local identity and environmental conscio-
usness presented, but in the author‘s opinion these are useful instruments in search-
ing for characteristics which tend to be neglected when collectivities are focused upon.
The discussion is essentially historical in nature and is based on e.g. a broad range of
research into nationalism and identity.
about thE author
Bragi Guðmundsson (bragi@unak.is) is professor of history at the Faculty of Humani-
ties and Social Sciences, University of Akureyri. He holds a Cand. Mag.- degree in
history and a Postgraduate Certificate of Education from the University of Iceland.
Bragi taught at the Akureyri Junior College from 1982 to 1995. In recent years his
research has primarily focused on educational history, local studies, historical cons-
ciousness and various forms of collective identity.