Milli mála - 2020, Blaðsíða 213
Milli mála 12/2020 213
ANGELA RAWLINGS, LARA W. HOFFMANN, RANDI W. STEBBINS
10.33112/millimala.12.7
In the context of literature, we, therefore, see similar develop-
ments to discussions about immigrants, where immigrants stated
that they felt that they would mostly be invited to discussions etc.
when immigrant issues were discussed, rather than being included
in discussions on all kinds of different issues in the society in which
they live.67 Future studies could incorporate a comparative perspec-
tive in order to identify similarities and differences in the experi-
ences of migrant writers in Iceland and in the other Nordic coun-
tries. Whether Ós Pressan has changed the traditional notion of
Icelandic literature is questionable. The newspaper reports about Ós
Pressan, particularly in Iceland, primarily employ an othering tone,
which emphasizes Ós as being apart from the traditional Icelandic
literary scene seems to indicate that ideas of Ós Pressan as the foreign
group persist. The reinvention of the category of the mother lan-
guage, as suggested by Yildiz,68 and any reflection on the concept of
Icelandic literature seems to be countered by emphasizing Ós mem-
bers’ length of stay in Iceland and their countries of originm, clearly
categorizing them as foreigners in Iceland and Ós Pressan as a pro-
ject for foreigners.
As studies in other countries have shown that artistic and literary
projects can influence societal change in different ways,69 it would be
interesting to conduct additional qualitative research, e.g. among
both Icelandic native speakers and immigrants in Iceland to investi-
gate the effects that Ós Pressan has on their understanding of Icelan-
dic literature and their relation to it in more detail. The activities of
Ós Pressan to bring additional voices and, for example, publish work
in Icelandic as a second language, might have long-term effects in
perspectives on Icelandic as language that can also be spoken with an
accent. The fact that Ós Pressan has in its fourth issue published
pieces in Icelandic written by a non-native speaker might be seen as
an indication in this direction. ,,
Hélène Cixous wrote in The Laugh of the Medusa: “Censor the body
and you censor breath and speech at the same time. Write yourself.
67 Skaptadóttir, Unnur Dís, Loftsdóttir, Kristín, Konur af Erlendum Uppruna. Hvað Kreppir að?
68 Yildiz, Yazemin, “Beyond the Mothertongue”.
69 See Otte, Hanka, “Bonding or Bridging?” and Jeffery et al., “Creative Engagement with
Migration”, pp. 3–17. doi: 10.1386/cjmc.10.1.3_1.