Readership: Social and cultural anthropologists; social and cultural historians working on Northern Europe in the twentieth century.
Kirsten Hastrup, Professor of Anthropology, University of Copenhagen
"she convincingly argues that much of her material suggest that Icelanders have tradtionally refused to separate myth and history, pointing out that such a position is summarised in the concept of saga. Second, the chapter on landscape provides an excellent analysis of the phenomenology of spatial relations and Icelanders' attachment to both land and sea. Finally, Hastrup's portrayal of the food ritual called porrablot as a kind of Babette's Feast is both entertaining and perceptive." - Gisli Palsson, Social Anthropology, Vol.8/1.
"This book has much to offer to students of Iceland, ethnographic practice and anthropological theory. A place apart is, in my view, the best volume in Hastrup's triology on Iceland and anthropology. Her theorising is not only more mature, coherent and humanistic than in her earlier volumes, it is blended with perceptive ethnographic observations and analyses in language that is generally clear and accesssible." - Gisli Palsson, Social Anthropology, Vol.8/1.
"When Hastrup actually writes about the Icelandic world ... she produces real insights into the ways in which Icelanders conceptualize themselves and their land. - Carolyne Larrington. Times Literary Supplement. 8/1/1999"
"an interesting study... gives food for thought." - Regis Boyer, European Review, Vol.8, No.1, 2000
Prelude. I: KEYS. 1: Times past and present. 2: Ethnographic field sites. 3: The contact zone. II: ORCHESTRATION. 4: Tradition and ideology. 5: Landscape and memory. 6: Community and honour. III: THEMES. 7: Time: Uchronia. 8: Space: Remoteness. 9: People: Othering. Finale References Index
