Отправлено: 21.10.04 18:12. Заголовок: Scandinavian Journal of History 28(1)2003: Icelandic Sagas as Political and Social Instruments

Axel Kristinsson. Lords and Literature: The Icelandic Sagas as Political and Social Instruments // Scandinavian Journal of History, 2003, 28, 1, 1-17.

Focuses on the political and social conditions portrayed by Icelandic medieval literature. Relevance of saga literature in the study of the society; Description of the aristocracy and religious institutions prevalent in the middle ages in Iceland; Role of political structure in family saga plays.

цитата

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The Icelandic sagas are a strange phenomenon. During the High Middle Ages a small and remote island population created a literary tradition which far exceeded in scope and volume anything produced by their continental kinsmen - a literature that is so unusual in the European context of the Middle Ages that it needs some special explanations. Most explanations have hitherto been put forward by literary scholars. In contrast, I am a historian and would like to consider the problem like any historical problem. As the Icelandic Medieval literature is undoubtedly a social phenomenon as much as a literary one, it make sense to seek its roots in the nature of the society that produced it, and this is what I propose to do here.

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