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ú T D R Á T T U R
Nýir söguþræðir
Íslenskir sósíalistar og hin efnislega söguskoðun, 1917–1930
Hin efnislega söguskoðun kom til Íslands samfara uppgangi hreyfingar jafnaðar-
manna og var nátengd pólitískri baráttu hennar. Þar virðist byltingin í Rússlandi
hafa verið aflvaki eins og sjá má af því að helstu talsmenn hinnar efnislegu söguskoð-
unar voru ungir menn sem voru virkir í róttækasta armi Alþýðuflokksins. útbreiðsla
hennar var þó ekki bundin við þann hóp heldur náði hún einnig til hreyfingar hæg-
fara jafnaðarmanna. Umræða um hina efnislegu söguskoðun tengdist mjög við-
horfum til rússnesku byltingarinnar sem má sjá af því að gagnrýni á byltinguna og
málsvörn fyrir hana hélst í hendur við afstöðu til hinnar efnislegu söguskoðunar.
Árið 1930 var hin efnislega söguskoðun orðin að algengu deiluefni innan íslensks
samfélags en áhrif hennar á íslenska sagnfræði einkenndust þó af hægfara þróun
fremur en byltingu.
Lykilorð: Marxismi, söguleg efnishyggja, söguskoðun
A B S T R A C T
New Narratives
Icelandic Socialists and Historical Materialism, 1917–1930
The evolution of historical materialism as an alternative theory of history, cham-
pioned by socialists and the labour movement, was a slow process in Iceland. The
revolution in Russia seems to have encouraged some discussion on this subject,
which was promoted most enthusiastically by young men who belonged to the
most radical fraction of the Social Democratic party. However, moderate Social
Democrats also seem to have shared important tenets of historical materialism. The
discourse on the Bolshevik revolution was intricately connected to attitudes towards
historical materialism, as can be noted by the fact that both critics and champions
of the Revolution devoted considerable efforts to discuss the merits of this theory.
By 1930, attitudes towards historical materialism had become an important topic in
the political debate in Iceland but the influence on Icelandic historiography evolved
slowly rather than by a revolutionary paradigm shift.
Keywords: Marxism, Historical materialism, historical consciousness
SVERRIR JAKOBSSON