Soldiers and Other Monsters: the Allied Occupation in Icelandic Fiction

ABSTRACT: Wars and arms long remained a foreign phenomenon in Iceland until the country was occupied by Allied forces during WWII. Although the occupation was a “friendly” one and the army brought unprecedented wealth to the country, the presence of a foreign mil...

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Main Author: Daisy L. Neijmann
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: University of Alberta Library 2016-12-01
Series:Scandinavian-Canadian Studies
Online Access:https://scancan.net/index.php/scancan/article/view/121
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author Daisy L. Neijmann
author_facet Daisy L. Neijmann
author_sort Daisy L. Neijmann
collection DOAJ
description ABSTRACT: Wars and arms long remained a foreign phenomenon in Iceland until the country was occupied by Allied forces during WWII. Although the occupation was a “friendly” one and the army brought unprecedented wealth to the country, the presence of a foreign military was objectionable and distressing to many. Literature, historiography, and scholarship on the occupation have long been obsessed with the so-called ástandskonan (woman fraternizing with soldiers), the perceived incarnation of an invaded and polluted nation. This article examines the response of Icelandic fiction writers to the occupation through the figure of the soldier instead. A focus on fictional representations of the soldier enables us to see how writers imagine the occupation and its consequences for the nation, its culture, and, not least, for an injured sense of manhood.
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spelling doaj.art-360ff81176e242febb8923ff041340c02023-06-08T19:57:45ZengUniversity of Alberta LibraryScandinavian-Canadian Studies0823-17962816-51872016-12-012310.29173/scancan121Soldiers and Other Monsters: the Allied Occupation in Icelandic FictionDaisy L. Neijmann ABSTRACT: Wars and arms long remained a foreign phenomenon in Iceland until the country was occupied by Allied forces during WWII. Although the occupation was a “friendly” one and the army brought unprecedented wealth to the country, the presence of a foreign military was objectionable and distressing to many. Literature, historiography, and scholarship on the occupation have long been obsessed with the so-called ástandskonan (woman fraternizing with soldiers), the perceived incarnation of an invaded and polluted nation. This article examines the response of Icelandic fiction writers to the occupation through the figure of the soldier instead. A focus on fictional representations of the soldier enables us to see how writers imagine the occupation and its consequences for the nation, its culture, and, not least, for an injured sense of manhood. https://scancan.net/index.php/scancan/article/view/121
spellingShingle Daisy L. Neijmann
Soldiers and Other Monsters: the Allied Occupation in Icelandic Fiction
Scandinavian-Canadian Studies
title Soldiers and Other Monsters: the Allied Occupation in Icelandic Fiction
title_full Soldiers and Other Monsters: the Allied Occupation in Icelandic Fiction
title_fullStr Soldiers and Other Monsters: the Allied Occupation in Icelandic Fiction
title_full_unstemmed Soldiers and Other Monsters: the Allied Occupation in Icelandic Fiction
title_short Soldiers and Other Monsters: the Allied Occupation in Icelandic Fiction
title_sort soldiers and other monsters the allied occupation in icelandic fiction
url https://scancan.net/index.php/scancan/article/view/121
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