Critical Approaches to Sjón

Linda Badley is Professor Emerita of English and Film Studies at Middle Tennessee State University.Úlfhildur Dagsdóttir is an Icelandic literature scholar.Gitte Mose is Associate Professor Emerita at the University of Oslo.

'With his multifaceted output ranging from the tale of a shape-shifting fox to a Viking revenge epic, Sjón is one of the most creative figures in Scandinavia – and in the world – today. In this capacious collection of essays, readers and moviegoers who have encountered Sjón in one of his many metamorphoses will find illuminating insights into the full range of the work of the writer whose name means “Vision.”' David Damrosch, Ernest Bernbaum Professor of Comparative Literature, Harvard University'Since I first discovered his books, few authors have fascinated and puzzled me more than Sjón. This anthology offers invaluable insights, concepts and tools for all readers who have ever had the immense pleasure of getting lost in his dark, funny, morbid, surreal, beautiful, and stunningly original works.'Anders M. Gullestad, Associate Professor of Scandinavian Literature, University of Bergen'Admirers of Sjón's written artistry are well-served by this volume's timely gathering of capable Icelandic and international critics and writers. Using diverse theoretical methodologies, these lucid examinations illumine Sjón's weird-and-wonderful imaginary, the strangeness of its ordinariness, its philosophical and ethical conundrums, and its abiding sensitivity toward life's misfits and marginals.' Anne Brydon, ethnographer and cultural analyst, Wilfrid Laurier University 'By bringing together experts from various theoretical backgrounds, and by harmonizing their insights into a finely structured framework, the book Critical Approaches to Sjón skillfully navigates its reader through the multifaceted world of one of the most intriguing artists of today. It is an invaluable resource for both academics and fans of Sjón's art, and I gladly endorse it.'Ieva Steponavičiūtė Aleksiejūnienė, Head of the Centre for Scandinavian Studies, Vilnius University'A timely publication on one of the most distinctive voices in contemporary Icelandic literature. This intriguing collection of essays gives valuable insights into Sjón‘s labyrinthine oeuvre, which is steeped in surrealism, esotericism, fantasy, cyberpunk, folklore, and myth, and ranges from his early avant-garde poetry to his later historical novels and film scripts.'Benedikt Hjartarson, University of Iceland

• List of FiguresList of ContributorsAcknowledgementsA Note on TranslationIntroductionLinda Badley, Úlfhildur Dagsdóttir, and Gitte MosePart I: The Voices of Sjón1. The Pleasures and Challenges of Recreating Sjón’s VoiceVictoria Cribb2. The Author is In: Moonstone, Authorship, Reading, and Intertextuality (or The Boy Who Became a Story)Úlfhildur DagsdóttirPart II: Surrealism3. Oh! Sjón, the Poet 1978–1986Erik Skyum-Nielsen4. Sjón’s Nuclear Dystopia: Reflections on Stálnótt, Medúsa, and Johnny Triumph’s Musical CareerJón Karl Helgason5. “Beneath the veil of happenings”: Sjón, the Norse Visionary of Surrealism’s Deep HistoryDelia UngureanuPart III: Transmedia, Miscellanea6. Moonstone: The Cinema that Always Was Janica Tomić7. Sjón at the MoviesBjörn Nordfjörd8. The Drop Tower, the Roller Coaster, the Whirling Cups: Sjón-Miscellanea and ThingsGitte MosePart IV: History, Ethics, Politics, and Storytelling 9. Sjón and the Long Icelandic Medieval PastCarolyne Larrington10. Transnational and Counter-Memorial Practices: Antisemitism, Nationalism, and the Second World War in Sjón’s WorksGunnþórunn Guðmundsdóttir11. The Narratable Self: Natality and the Politics of Storytelling in CoDex 1962Anne FogartyPart V: Queer Ecologies: Hybridity, Disability, Ecopoetics12. The End of the World as We Know It: Queerness and Utopias in Sjón’s Poetry and ProseAsta Kristin Benediktsdóttir13. Human-Animal Bodies in The Blue Fox and CoDex1962Avril Tynan14. Sjónian EcopoeticsLinda BadleyEpilogue: Sjón in His Own VoiceAppendix: A Chronology of Sjón’s Life and WritingsIndex