title: Popular Music-Making and National Identity: Contesting Narratives of Icelandicness
Creators: name: Hall, Þorbjörg Daphne
Publisher: name: University of Liverpool Repository
Year: 2525

description: This thesis examines the contesting narratives of Icelandicness in popular music in contemporary Iceland. These narratives are informed by local historical and contemporary contexts, international notions of ‘the North’, and stereotypes of Icelanders. The thesis problematises a simplified narrative of Icelandic popular music that has often focused on the connection between music and nature. It provides a local context, grounded in historical understanding of the place, which is often missing in existing scholarship. By addressing and exploring these contesting narratives, and critically re-examining the relationship between the music and place, a deeper and more complex understanding of the situation has emerged that reflects a wider spectrum of perspectives than are currently available. The methodology used in this research emerges from the field of popular music studies and is firmly rooted in scholarship on music and place. A qualitative research strategy was adopted, relying on mixed methods of textual analysis and ethnography, in order to gather an extensive outlook with multiple perspectives on Icelandic music and the music scene in Reykjavík. I collected various textual material, music documentaries, and other audio-visual material which contained discussion about the music scene. The ethnography was informed by, but also complemented, the textual data, as I gathered information directly from members of the music scene between 2012-2016 through participation and participant-observation. The primary sources of ethnographic data originate from the 35 interviews I conducted with musicians and music industry members. Output from thematic analysis provided a focus for the thesis chapters and their various subsections. My data shows the internal struggles musicians have with their connection to nature. They strengthen these connections through their artistic processes, but they also actively try to work against them. The image of Icelandic nature and landscape is a powerful marketing tool frequently used by the music and tourism industries. Musicians find the image limiting, as it impacts both reception of the music and influences artistic decisions. At the same time, musicians actively participate in advancing the borealistic representations of themselves and the othering of other people in Iceland through their musical outputs. The contesting narratives also emerge from within the local context where musicians strive to position themselves as relevant in society, both in terms of politics and the economy. My participants regarded the ‘smallness’ as a key characteristic of the music scene and explained the different ways in which that manifested. This thesis shows how contesting narratives of both international perspectives and local experiences contribute to the image and identity of contemporary popular music in Iceland. I argue that sensitivity to the historical context is a key to unpacking the various contesting narratives. Through this I offer a nuanced understanding of the complex relationship between music and place in Iceland.