Matthias Egeler: Materiality, Density, and Belief. Reflections on the Supernatural in Rural Icelandic Everyday Life
Abstract
Presenting a historical ethnography of the supernatural landscape of two Icelandic farms in the early decades of the twentieth century, this article aims to contribute to ongoing debates about how “belief” is created and reinforced, specifically approaching this question from the perspective of the materiality of religions. Taking its starting point from how elements of traditional Icelandic so-called folk belief are connected with the farming landscape, it proposes that the well-documented resilience of this folk belief should be seen in the context of the exceptional density with which it is present in the materiality of the everyday working environment. At least from the perspective of early twentieth-century Icelandic farming culture, a dense inscription of religious concepts into the materiality of everyday life should be added to the factors that current and classic theorists (Geertz, Turner, Luhrmann) propose as central mechanisms for the creation and reinforcement of “belief.”
[Iceland, folk belief, landscape, material culture, naturalization of traditional supernatural concepts, farming]
