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Gyrðir Elíasson and the Impasses of Modern LifeSunday, January 24, 2027, at 2:00 pm
University of Victoria, Clearihue A207
Brynnjarr Mendoza, doctoral researcher in comparative literature at the University of Turku in Finland
Confronting the readers of Gyrðir Elíasson’s short story collection Milli trjánna (Between the Trees) are the woes that colour the quotidian aspects of modern life. But the work weaves together contemporary existence with an Icelandic twist: August Strindberg finds himself inside an IKEA store in Iceland, evidently perplexed about his present situation; a man ponders the meaning of some scribbles about trolls and Jesus, which disappear as soon as he returns to them after a walk through the forest; footsteps inside a countryside cabin or taps on a windowpane haunt unwary figures who eventually resign themselves to the frequency of these enigmatic experiences.
The search for meaning grows ever distant. Not even the stillness of the countryside nor the solitude of the many characters provide the peace to contemplate existence. Pulsing through this collection of short stories are waves of obscure anxieties and feelings that stem from epiphanies that lead nowhere. This talk will examine the philosophical underpinnings that inform the enduring impasses in life the many anonymous characters wrestle with in the collection. It will frame the presence of unacknowledged spectres as the very symptom that characterizes contemporary life in Elíasson’s oeuvre. It is through this symptom that this talk will seek to understand the silent force imparted onto existence by the trauma that is modernity.
Brynjarr Þór Mendoza is a doctoral researcher in comparative literature at the University of Turku in Finland. His dissertation deals with scenes of absence in contemporary literature, and it builds on the aesthetic philosophies of Jacques Rancière and Alain Badiou. He has taught Icelandic at the University of Manitoba, Swedish at the University of British Columbia, and Icelandic literature at the University of Iceland. He is also currently an editor of Scandinavian-Canadian Studies and an affiliate of UBC’s Centre for Climate Justice. His Beck Lecture is based on his working monograph on Gyrðir Elíasson’s works, which explores the impressionism of Virginia Woolf, the existentialism of Jean-Paul Sartre, and contemporary affect theory under the fabric of Elíasson’s aesthetics.
The Richard and Margaret Beck Lectures on Icelandic Literature:
The Beck Lecture series at the University of Victoria focuses on various aspects of Icelandic literature and culture. Richard and Margaret Beck made provision in their wills for a special fund to be established at the University of Victoria to provide public lectures on Icelandic language and literature. Richard passed away on July 23, 1980, and Margaret on December 10, 1985. The first Richard and Margaret Beck Lecture on Icelandic Literature took place on February 14, 1988. Since then, the University of Victoria has hosted over 80 lectures on a wide range of topics.
Learn more: https://becklectures.uvic.ca/
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Event venue
Clearihue A207, 3800 Finnerty Rd., Victoria, BC, Canada, British Columbia V8P 5C2
Tickets
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