Recesses of the Mind

Aesthetics in the Work of Guðbergur Bergsson

Recesses of the Mind explores Guðbergur Bergsson's aesthetics of life and literature. Bergsson - like so many writers whose language is not widely spoken or read - is scarcely known outside his homeland, but the psychological depth of his vision reveals the minds of his characters in ways that are reminiscent of novelists such as Hamsun, Faulkner, and Garcia Márquez. Birna Bjarnadóttir 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.