Memory of Iron: Object Rhetoric and Collective Memory in Laxdæla saga
ABSTRACT: This article proposes the term “object rhetoric” to describe the extralinguistic capacity of material things to create meaning in the human mind. This kind of rhetoric also challenges the concepts of subject and object, or more specifically personhood a...
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Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
Published: |
University of Alberta Library
2021-12-01
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Series: | Scandinavian-Canadian Studies |
Online Access: | https://scancan.net/index.php/scancan/article/view/206 |
Summary: | ABSTRACT: This article proposes the term “object rhetoric” to describe the extralinguistic capacity of material things to create meaning in
the human mind. This kind of rhetoric also challenges the concepts of subject and
object, or more specifically personhood and objecthood. The article explores the social
utility of object rhetoric for structuring collective memory in medieval Iceland by
studying the named weapons of Laxdæla saga. The first section examines several texts’ depiction of the sword Skǫfnungr to illustrate
how it possesses both personhood and objecthood simultaneously. The second section
situates Skǫfnungr as one of five named weapons in Laxdæla saga. The saga makes coherent rhetorical use of these objects to reshape Icelandic collective
memory and thus sense of self in the face of the Norwegian annexation and other social
changes in the thirteenth century.
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ISSN: | 0823-1796 2816-5187 |