Ritið : tímarit Hugvísindastofnunar - 01.05.2009, Blaðsíða 21

ÞJOÐVELDIÐ OG SAMTIMINN
um þessa túlkun, íslandssaga Jónasar Jónssonar frá Hriflu, sé ekld lengur
notuð í skólakerfinu og hafi kannski ekki sést þar í 20 ár eða lengur.
ABSTRACT
The Icelandic Commonwealth and contemporary times:
The quest for historical analogy and the role of historians
In this paper the author points out the tendency of our times to look for historical
parallels in order to throw some hght on contemporary events and present
debates. Historians do not seem to be numerous among those who engage in such
undertakings and the author proposes an explanation of this. He recommends the
study of former times on their own premises, in their own right. This means to
study contexts and processes of former times, and analyse how these times were
different from the present, before attempting any comparison between historical
epochs. This goes for pohtical ideas as well as institutions and the author points
out that the comparison of moral issues can be fraught with difficulties. Particular
attention is given to correspondences which especiahy some pohticians want to
bring out between, on the one hand, the end of the Icelandic Commonwealth in
1262, with the establishment of the so-cahed Old Covenant (Giamh sáttmáli) and
ensuing Norwegian rule, and, on the other hand, the contemporary crisis in
Iceland marked by the ongoing debate about the so-cahed Icesave-contract and
Iceland’s possible membership of EU. It is argued that the Old Covenant should
not be seen as a mistake or blunder; rather it should be approached and explained
on the basis of its own times. The traditional perception of Icelandic history,
moulded during the fight for independence, seems still to prevail even though it is
fraught with misconceptions and wrong assumptions about common pohtical
interests in the Commonwealth, about Icelanders as a nation (a separate pohtical
entity) and about the emphasis on pohtical independence.
Keywords-. historical comparison, Icelandic Commonwealth, Old Covenant
itage á ensku. Orðið hefur m.a. verið notað um verklega menningu og fombók-
menntir en merltingin hefur þanist út og orðið er notað um ahs kyns menning-
ararfleifð sem telst vera merkileg menningarverðmæti og hafa sérstakt gildi fyrir
þjóðina. Sameiginlegar, sögulegar minningar hafa líka orðið slíkur menningararf-
ur, sbr. Helgi Þorláksson, „Sagnfræði í heimi menningararfs og minninga", Þriðja
íslmska söguþingið 18. til 21. maí 2006. Ráðstefnurit, ritstjórar Benedikt Eyþórsson
ogHrafrikeh Lámsson, Reykjavík: Sagnffæðingafélag íslands, 2006, bls. 316-326.
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