Ritmennt - 01.01.2001, Page 144

INGI SIGURÐSSON
RITMENNT
ment in Iceland was somewhat later than in
most other European countries. According to
tradition, the Age of Enlightenment in Iceland is
regarded as spanning the period from the mid
eighteenth century to c. 1830. Certainly there
was a significant change after 1830 in that the
Icelanders' struggle for increased self-govern-
ment began and the prevalent conception of the
Danes' rule of Iceland in past centuries changed.
But in many ways there was continuity in the
attitudes of the Icelanders, inter alia, because of
the strong influence of international intellectual
currents which are closely connected with the
Enlightenment. Some of these connections are
more marked from c. 1870 onwards than they
were in the period from c. 1830 to c. 1870. It is
argued here that when the influence of the En-
lightenment in Iceland is estimated it is essen-
tial to look beyond c. 1830. The links between
the ideology of the Icelanders of the Age of En-
lightenment and their ideology in the late nine-
teenth century and the early twentieth century
are manifold.
The connection is very clear as regards the
publication of books that were intended for the
education of the general public. Emphasis on
education in this form is one of the key features
of the Enlightenment. To a certain extent the
publishing activities of the Icelanders in the Age
of Enlightenment were looked upon as a model
in the late nineteenth century and the early
twentieth century. The efforts of the Icelanders
in the Age of Enlightenment in this field were
spoken approvingly of by Icelanders in the later
period. Certain significant Icelandic writers in
the Age of Enlightenment emphasized the im-
portance of reading societies and libraries for
making instructive books available to the gen-
eral public. These ideas only became a reality to
a limited extent in their time. However, in the
late nineteenth century and the early twentieth
century reading societies and libraries accessible
to the general public were founded on a large
scale in Iceland, and the ideology behind this
activity was very much in the Enlightenment
mould. The emphasis on the importance of
instructive books can be seen in the prefaces of
many works intended for the education of the
general public that were published in this period.
It is remarkable that even though schools were
founded in Iceland on a considerable scale then,
the emphasis on publishing books for the
instruction of the general public did not become
less marked.
Ideas of the advance of mankind were not
unknown before the Age of Enlightenment, but
the emphasis on progress - the idea that progress
is possible and that mankind can improve itself
- is a key theme in the ideology of the Enlighten-
ment and some of the intellectual currents that
to a certain extent are derived from it. In the Age
of Enlightenment, progress was often used as a
yardstick by which developments in history
were measured. This is clearly seen in the writ-
ings of various Icelanders. The same emphasis
on progress is very evident in the writings of
Icelanders in the late nineteenth century and the
early twentieth century. While there is a differ-
ent emphasis in the nationalistic views of the
Icelanders in the Age of Enlightenment on the
one hand and in the late nineteenth century and
the early twentieth century on the other hand,
an emphasis on progress links nationalistic
views in the two periods, the influence of Ro-
manticism notwithstanding.
Fascination with the development of the
natural sciences and technology is a basic fea-
ture of the Enlightenment, and it is very evident
in the writings of Icelanders at the time. Similar
views were very prominent in the writings of
Icelanders in the later period.
The influence of the so-called new or liberal
theology, as it was also called, was very notice-
able within the Icelandic Lutheran Church in
the first few decades of the twentieth century.
While this ideology developed in the nineteenth
century, especially in Germany, many of its
basic features were derived from theology con-
nected with the Enlightenment.
In various other fields there are clear links
between ideology that was prominent among the
Icelanders in the Age of the Enlightenment and
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