Saga - 1996, Blaðsíða 177

RÆTUR ÍSLENSKRAR ÞJÓÐERNISSTEFNU
175
Summary
At the outset the following problem is addressed: how should one
define such terms as 'patriotism' and 'nationalism', and how should
one analyze the ideological contents of nationalism, in order to
discuss meaningfully the development of nationalism in Iceland?
There follows a historical sketch of the development of nationalism
in late 18th and early 19th century Europe. The bulk of the paper,
however, consists of a discussion of the ideas, patriotic and nation-
alistic, advanced by the leading figures of the late 18th and early
19th century Iceland: Eggert Ólafsson, Baldvin Einarsson, the Fjölnir-
circle, and Jón Sigurðsson. Eggert Ólafsson's ideas were very much
in tune with the 18th century Enlightenment, as were the ideas of
many of his Icelandic contemporaries. He was, however, as an
avowed patriot, more concerned with the national culture, the
national heritage, and the ideas of the Icelandic nation, than his
contemporaries. Thus, he stressed the importance of nurturing the
Icelandic language, and grieved over the lost grandeur of past ages
in the history of the Icelandic people; he considered his own age
debilitated and impotent. The writings of Baldvin Einarsson and
the Fjölnir-circle rested to a large extent on the ideological basis
fumished by Eggert Ólafsson. Nevertheless, the only option offer-
ed by Eggert for improving the nation's dismal state was an awake-
ning from apathy; he never demands increased political power for
the Icelandic people. Such demands, however, are to be found in
the writings of Baldvin Einarsson, though they were far from revo-
lutionary and seem rather unclear. The Fjölnir-circle was heir to
Baldvin's ideas, although its members were so intensely inspired by
German Romanticism that their main emphasis was on nurturing
the national culture. They claimed increased political rights for the
Icelandic people, but their demands seem to have been somewhat
unfocused. Finally, although the sources of Jón Sigurðsson’s nat-
ionalism are to be found in his predecessors’ ideas concerning the
preservation of the national culture, his political ideas and demands
were conceived in clearer and more focused terms. Both his writ-
ings and his political role make him the first proponent of articu-
lated political nationalism.