No Nation is an Island: Language, Culture and National Identity in the Faroe IslandsThis study follows the process of nation-building in a tiny nation -- the Faroe Islands, a cluster of 18 rocky islands in the North Atlantic. Originally settled by Vikings and governed by Norway, then by Denmark, and occupied by British forces during World War II, the Faroes gained a measure of home rule in 1948. Since then, Faroese politics have been doctrinated by the struggle for emancipation from the Danish cultural hegemony, through the establishment of cultural and education institutions on the islands, and through the promotion of the Faroese language in place of Danish. As the author shows, the national identity has developed in interaction with an outside world often perceived as hostile and threatening by the islanders, and in this process, certain national symbols have played a key role as boundary markers. Apart from language, the practice of pilot whale hunting has served as an important focus of national identity, and international criticism of whaling in general has only served to intensify the Faroese feeling of unity and opposition to an outside world which does not understand them. |
Common terms and phrases
association ballad boundaries Broyting century chapter characterised Clausén Copenhagen culture Danish and Faroese Danish language dealt Denmark dialect dictionary Dimmalætting economic Effersøe etymological Færøerne Færøsk Faroe Islands Faroese alphabet Faroese and Danish Faroese language Faroese national Faroese words Faroese written language foreign Føringafelag Føroya global gøtudanskt Grindavísa Grundtvig guage H. J. Debes Hammershaimb's High form home rule influence J.H.W. Poulsen Jakobsen Jóannes Patursson Joensen København Language Committee language debate language norm language policy language preservation language revival later linguistic loan-words Løgting Matras modern Name Act nation-building national identity national language National Romanticism national symbols nationalist movement nature Nordic languages Norse old Faroese organisations orthographic dispute orthography Party Patursson pilot whale hunt Pløyen's political pronunciation schools seen Sjónvarp Føroya spelling spoken language status Streymoy Suðuroy Svabo tion tional Tórshavn tradition transnational discourse Vágur written form Wylie