Recesses of the Mind

A detailed discussion of the aesthetics of Icelandic novelist and poet Guethbergur Bergsson

Birna Bjarnadottir constructs a deep and comprehensive argument for Bergsson's significance as a master of narrative. Crossing centuries, oceans, and continents, her contextualization of Bergsson's aesthetics stretches from his native land's literary tradition to the cultural domains of Europe and North and South America. Her investigation of his ideas on beauty, love, and belief, presented as a dialogue between Bergsson and numerous other writers and philosophers - Plotinus, Augustine, Nietzsche, Kierkegaard, Blanchot - is a striking reflection on some of the most important questions of modern times. Recesses of the Mind introduces a profound writer to the international stage. The book's exploration of the cultural periphery is equally significant, suggesting new interpretative strategies for considering cultural contributions from isolated places.