The Icelandic connection - 01.06.2010, Page 6

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ICELANDIC CONNECTION
Vol. 63 #1
Editorial
Our Evolving Identity
by Rev. Stefan M. Jonasson
If you weren’t paying close attention,
it’s entirely possible that you may have
missed a significant change on the cover
of this issue of our magazine. After near-
ly sixty-eight years as The Icelandic
Canadian, we’ve changed our name to
The Icelandic Connection, which better
reflects the contents and constituency of
this periodical, while remaining faithful
to the inspiration which gave birth to it in
the first place.
As it happens, ours isn’t the only
magazine to change its masthead this
year. After ninety years as one of
Canada’s leading historical publications,
The Beaver recently changed its name to
Canada’s History, since it became appar-
ent that the name which had served it so
well in the past had become a barrier to its
future success. “It is more than just a
name change,” according to its editor
Mark Reid, “it’s a reaffirmation of who
we are and what we do.” Reid’s words
apply equally well to our magazine’s
decision to become the Icelandic
Connection. Our new name really is a
reaffirmation of who we are and what we
do.
A couple of years ago, our magazine
board received a letter raising a simple
but provocative question that we had
faced before, which essentially asked, had
we considered the advantages that a more
inclusive name might bring in recruiting
both contributors and subscribers? While
the magazine’s contents have always
addressed the interests of people who care
about Icelandic culture and heritage
throughout the English-speaking world,
and especially across North America, its
name has suggested that we serve only a
fraction of that potential audience.
Those of us who have served on the
board over the years have pondered this
question ourselves but, before now, there
was only one occasion when we
addressed the matter formally. At the time
of the magazine’s fortieth anniversary, in
1982, the board considered a change of
name as we entered our fifth decade of
publication. In the autumn issue that year,
we included an insert noting that there
had been an increase in the number letters
received suggesting that we adopt a name
that would better reflect the fact that the
magazine served people on both sides of
the 49th Parallel, while asking sub-
scribers to share their views on the matter
along with a few additional questions
about the magazine’s contents and sub-
scription rates. Individual reactions to the
idea of a name change were mostly nega-
tive or indifferent, so the board backed
away from proceeding with a change—at
least for the time being. More than a quar-
ter of a century has passed since then! I
was a relative newcomer to the board at
that time, so while I favoured a name
change, I was neither surprised nor
unhappy when it didn’t actually material-