Saga - 2022, Page 117

Abstract
hanna guðlaug guðmundsdóttir
ON CULTURAL ELIGIBILITy, GENDERED DISCOURSE
AND TRUE ICELANDIC ART (1916–1930)

Although achieving the right to vote and the right to candidacy in 1915 marked
an important milestone in the struggle for women’s rights in Iceland, this did not
automatically mean that women had the self-evident civil right of what could be
called cultural eligibility. This argument will be made through an analysis of the
gendered discourse on visual art in 1916 to 1930, employing a feminist method-
ology. Cultural eligibility is conceived as a civil right that ensures contributions to
art and culture by practitioners in the field are not subject to discrimination, e.g.,
with respect to gender. One can use the concept to investigate whether the contri-
bution of women is conditioned by gender and thus lies outside the definition in
public discourse of what can be considered to have cultural, artistic value, and
thereby have a formative effect on public opinion and national cultural conscious-
ness. Also woven into this study are the discourse on the status of women in
Iceland, the broader history of the Icelandic nation-state, the struggle for indepen-
dence and the formation of a national identity. The article is divided into two
parts: first, it surveys key studies by various international feminist art historians
and other scholars on the status of women in the arts, gender, and gendered dis-
course, as well as by Icelandic historians who have used feminist theory and the
concept of gender to analyse women’s position. It then demonstrates how a
similar approach can be used to deconstruct public discourse on art, applying it
to a defined period. An emphasis is placed on the historical reception of work by
several artists (Kristín Jónsdóttir, Júlíana Sveinsdóttir and Nína Sæmundsson) in
comparison with the reception of work by their male counterparts and the differ-
ent (opposite) picture that emerges. The article argues that women artists did not
enjoy cultural eligibility in Iceland, and it furthermore raises the question as to
whether they received more validation and recognition as artists abroad, away
from the gendered and nationalist discourse on art in their home country. Fur ther -
more, the study draws attention to how women responded and put their best foot
forward to fight for cultural eligibility.
Lykilhugtök: Kyngervi; femínísk listfræði; menningargengi; kynjasaga; íslensk lista-
saga; kvennasaga
Keywords: Cultural eligibility; feminist art theory; gender; gender history; Ice -
landic art history; women’s history
um menningargengi 115