Sigurður Gylfi Magnússon

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Sigurður Gylfi Magnússon ( transcribed Sigurdur Gylfi Magnusson ; born August 29, 1957 in Reykjavík ) is an Icelandic historian with a research focus on microhistory .

Life

Sigurdur Gylfi Magnússon graduated in 1984 graduated from the University of Iceland with a focus on history and philosophy with a bachelor exam in. He received his master's degree in history from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh three years later , where he also received his doctorate . In his dissertation he dealt with popular culture . It is entitled "The Continuity of Everyday Life: Popular Culture in Iceland 1850-1940". He taught at Carnegie Mellon University until the summer of 1994 and returned to Iceland after receiving a three-year research grant from the Scientific Council of Iceland (later renamed the Icelandic Research Council) to continue his doctoral thesis. In addition to Icelandic history, he dealt with the methodological question of personal documents (first-person sources) and their value for historical research.

In 2003 he founded the Center for Micro-Historical Research at the Reykjavík Academy . Together with Davið Ólafsson he is editor of the web magazine « The Journal of Microhistory ». With Már Jónsson , professor at the University of Iceland, and Davíð Ólafsson, scientist at the Reykjavík Academy, he was the editor of the book series “Anthology of Icelandic Popular Culture”.

After Sigurður Gylfi Magnússon had mainly dealt with the methods of microhistory for over ten years, from 2007 onwards he carried out more empirical research with a focus on material culture and everyday life .

Act

Sigurður Gylfi Magnússon concentrates on «ordinary people» and their worlds of experience. The available sources are often incomplete and limited, which, in his view, is one reason why historians have given little or no importance to the study of everyday history. For him, however, it is essential to focus on research into everyday life, to rely on precarious source material and to analyze its value for historical research. This leads to a more comprehensive understanding of social developments. Sigurður Gylfi devoted himself intensively to developing a methodology to use ego documents as historical source material.

In studies such as “Moral Models in the Nineteenth Century” or “Popular Culture in Iceland 1850-1940”, Sigurður Gylfi mainly used autobiographies as historical sources. In other works he concentrated on different types of personal sources such as diaries ("I am 479 days younger than Nilli: Diaries and Daily Life of Halldór Jónsson from Miðdalsgröf"), personal letters ("Education, Love and Grief"), official source material such as questionnaires from the Department of Ethnology ("Modern Fairy Tales? Gender Roles in Icelandic Society") and, for contemporary historical research in the sense of oral history, finally the recording of stories through interviews ("Modes of Living in Reykjavík 1930-1940").

In the work "What is Microhistory?" together with István M. Szijárto, he pointed out that micro- historiography is largely based on anthropology . Szijárto and Sigurður Gylfi therefore examined the relationship between anthropology and microhistory. The book summarizes the most important developments of different micro-historical currents. At the same time, it discusses similarities between different works and tendencies. The two authors deliberately take different positions. Szijárto believes that a core element of microhistorical research is that “big historical questions” are taken up and examined. Sigurður Gylfi denies the importance of "great historical questions" from a postmodern perspective as products of power dispositions within scientific discourse spaces. Tamás Kisantal praises the dialectical structure of the book, which underlines the fundamental differences between the historians - and thus shows different positions within micro-historiography. In his review of “What is Microhistory?” He describes the book as a multi-layered guide to microhistory. He describes the book as challenging and provocative. Readers are encouraged to develop their own opinion about the goal and characteristics of micro-history.

The historian Harvey J. Graff analyzes Sigurður Gylfi's work in detail in his essay «History's war of the wor (l) ds». Graff recalls the historian's difficulties in combining European intellectual strands and concepts with American ones. He points to many shortcomings, for example in the definition and delimitation of key concepts at Sigurður Gylfi. That is why Graff Sigurður Gylfi suggested to become more self-confident and consistent in the application of theories.

Peter N. Stearns , who was Sigurður Gylfi's supervisor in his doctoral thesis at Carnegie Mellon University, rejects his combination of postmodern positions and microhistorical research. He is not convinced of how Sigurður Gylfi tries to connect positions of the linguistic turn with those of microhistory. Stearns doubts that microhistorical research will be able to give new impetus to social historiography .

Works

  • Modes of Living in Reykjavík 1930-1940. Institute of History, Reykjavík: Bókaútgáfa Menningarsjóðs 1985, ISBN 3-85791-005-4 .
  • Dissertation: The Continuity of Everyday Life: Popular Culture in Iceland 1850-1940. Carnegie Mellon University, USA 1993.
  • Education, Love and Grief. A Micro-Historical Analyzes of the 19th and the 20th Century Peasant Society in Iceland. University Press & Institute of History and the Icelandic, Reykjavík: Háskólaútgáfan 1997, ISBN 978-9-979-54194-3 , p. 339.
  • with Erla Hulda Halldórsdóttir: Microhistory-Conflicting Paths. Eight Essays and One Sculpture. Icelandic University Press, Reykjavík: Háskólaútgáfan 1998, ISBN 978-9-979-54242-1 .
  • with Hilma Gunnarsdóttir & Jón Þór Pétursson: The Nameless Series. From Re-evaluation to Disintegration: Two Examination Theses, One Preface, Three Interviews, Seven Articles, Five Photographs, One Postscript and Some Obituaries From the Humanities. Center for Microhistorical Research and the Reykjavik Academy 2006, ISBN 9979-9749-0-7 .
  • The Future of Microhistory. Journal of Microhistory 2008, http://microhistory.org
  • with Davíð Ólafsson: Minor Knowledge: Microhistory and the Importance of Institutional Structures. In: Quaderni Storici . 2012 (2), ISBN 978-88-15-23528-2 , pp. 495-524.
  • The Diary of Elka. Popular culture in urban areas in 1915-1923 seen with the eyes of the working-class woman, Elka Björnsdóttir. University of Iceland Press, Reykjavík: Háskólaútgáfan 2012, ISBN 978-9979-54-967-3 .
  • What is microhistory? Theory and Practice. Routledge, London 2013, ISBN 978-0-203-50063-7 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Sigurður Gylfi Magnússon In: Curriculum vitae.
  2. ^ Sigurður Gylfi Magnússon In: University of Iceland. 2019.
  3. ↑ Dr. Sigurður Gylfi Magnússon: Biography and projects In: Akademia. 2006.
  4. ↑ Dr. Sigurður Gylfi Magnússon: Biography and projects In: Akademia. 2006.
  5. ↑ Dr. Sigurður Gylfi Magnússon: Biography and projects In: Akademia. 2006.
  6. ↑ Dr. Sigurður Gylfi Magnússon: Biography and projects In: Akademia. 2006.
  7. ^ History's War of the Wor (l) ds In: Academia. 2007.
  8. ↑ Tamás Kisantal: What Is Microhistory? Theory and Practice by István M. Szijártó, Sigurður Gylfi Magnússon . In: The Hungarian Historical Review , 4/2015, pp. 514-517.
  9. ↑ Tamás Kisantal: What Is Microhistory? Theory and Practice by István M. Szijártó, Sigurður Gylfi Magnússon . In: The Hungarian Historical Review , 4/2015, pp. 514-517.
  10. ↑ Harvey J. Graff: History's War of the Wor (l) ds . In: Academia . 2007.
  11. ↑ Dr. Sigurður Gylfi Magnússon: Biography and projects In: Akademia. 2006.
  12. ^ Review: A War of History In: Journal of Social History. 2010.
Note: Icelanders are referred to by their first name or first and last name, but not just their surname. Further information can be found under Icelandic personal name .
personal data
SURNAME Sigurður Gylfi Magnússon
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Icelandic historian
DATE OF BIRTH August 29, 1957
PLACE OF BIRTH Reykjavík