The Icelandic Canadian - 01.03.2004, Side 25

Vol. 58 #3
THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
119
to place one’s sense of self within one’s
realm of experience is what humans do at
individual and social levels. However,
sometimes difficulties arise. The narrative
can outlive its relevance; it can even
become counter-productive to its original
function. If, as I argue, the story of
Trausti’s dream once helped Icelanders to
smooth over the emotional turmoil of emi-
gration and pioneering, then we need to
consider its continuing relevance to group
representation once those social conditions
were resolved. The membership of present-
day Icelandic-Canadian ethnic organiza-
tions is aging. Few young people are moti-
vated to identify actively with an image of
Icelandicness largely drained of the rich
complexity of human existence. Simple sto-
ries of success in adversity and harmonious
relations convey none of this complexity to
younger generations, who no longer need
to justify past actions. I have spoken with a
significant number of younger Icelandic-
Canadians who find the stories too sani-
tized and unbelievable to be usable for cul-
tural identification.
Does the exclusive emphasis on Trausti
Vigfusson’s dream contribute to our limit-
ed understanding of the complex and
fraught interactions between European set-
tlers and Aboriginal peoples? Arguably, a
most significant issue in contemporary
Canadian society is finding ways of living
equitably with cultural differences in a
democratic society, in particular to recog-
nize the effect of colonial thought and
action upon Aboriginal peoples.
Postcolonial studies have addressed this
goal by investigating the plurality of histo-
ries and the role power plays in shaping
historical knowledge. This has been my
goal in this paper. Icelandic immigrants and
Native peoples were caught up in the
Canadian government’s strategies for pop-
ulating the West. The government’s goal
was to prevent American incursion and
create markets for eastern Canadian manu-
facturers of farm equipment (my own
ancestors were amongst those manufactur-
ers who so benefited). Government policy
effectively placed the Icelanders and
Aboriginal Peoples into structural posi-
tions that were immediately at odds,
regardless of what other attitudes they may
have had.
According to the philosopher Charles
Taylor, the nostalgic search for authentici-
ty and wholeness in a world characterized
by uncertainty is symptomatic of moderni-
ty’s malaise. Nostalgia is predicated upon a
desire to retell history only in the most
purified forms, to avoid, perhaps, the real-
ization that one’s sense of self, shaped as it
is by memory and history, is more often
than not ambiguous, contextual, decentred
and contradictory. Although authenticity
is conventionally thought to be opposed to
falsity or artificiality (Handler and
Linnekin), it is more useful to think of
authenticity as an idealization that imposes
an unachievable perfection upon lived
experience. According to Taylor, the solu-
tion to modernity’s malaise does not lie in
individualized self-reflection; it lies instead
in a reflection on the conditions of one’s
place within one’s social and historical
milieu. By extension, a social or ethnic
group’s sense of authenticity is contingent
upon fully acknowledging its interconnec-
tions with others.
Icelandic-Canadian historiography
retains a remarkable insularity. Repetition
of the purified story of John Ramsay’s help
during the early years of settlement contin-
ues to silence Native voices. Nostalgic or
sentimental acknowledgement of Native
assistance, although well intentioned, does
not allow for cultural difference. It does
not take into account Native understand-
ings and experiences. The Other remains an
extension of Icelandic identification with
Rev. Stefan Jonasson
ARBORG UNITARIAN CHURCH
GIMLI UNITARIAN CHURCH
9 Rowand Avenue
Winnipeg, Manitoba R3J 2N4
Telephone: (204) 889-4746
E-mail: sjonasson@uua.org