Doctoral defence in Geography - Birna Lárusdóttir

Doctoral candidate: Birna Lárusdóttir

Title of thesis: A landscape in the making: Place names and naming processes in Surtsey

Opponents: 
Dr. Edward H. Huijbens, Professor at Wageningen University
Dr. Kendra Jean Willson, Adiunkt at Jagiellonian University in Kraków

Advisor: Dr. Edda R.H. Waage, Associate Professor at the Faculty of Life- and Environmental Sciences, University of Iceland

Other members of the doctoral committee: 
Dr. Björn Þorsteinsson, Professor at the Faculty of Philosophy, History and Archaeology, University of Iceland
Dr. Emily Lethbridge, Associate Research Professor, The Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies

Chair of Ceremony: Dr. Snæbjörn Pálsson, Professor and Head of the Faculty of Life- and Environmental Sciences, University of Iceland

Abstract

The aim of this research is to shed light on place names as dynamic and ever-changing forces, and to explore how this dynamism influences landscape and our perception of it. The naming process is in the foreground, that is how place names and collections of place names emerge in connection with various other factors. To elucidate the meaning of the concept of place names and its scholarly evolution, the history of toponymic research in Iceland is reviewed. Attitudes towards place names, naming processes, and the collection of place names are examined, thereby investigating the origins of place name data as we know them today. Contemporary naming practices are also analyzed to enhance understanding of how place names come into being, how they reflect and shape our worldview, and how they illuminate the role of cultural power in shaping geographic space and place. The main case study focuses on place names in Surtsey, an island that emerged during a volcanic eruption in the autumn of 1963. This presents a rare opportunity to study place name formation in newly created land from the outset, drawing on a variety of written sources, fieldwork, and interviews. The project is grounded in a transdisciplinary methodology, drawing from approaches in cultural geography, critical toponymy, and philosophy. This allows for an examination of the social environment of place names, considering, among other things, how they are not always neutral labels but often carry significant meaning – and, at times, are deeply political.

About the doctoral candidate

Birna Lárusdóttir holds a BA degree in Icelandic and an MA degree in Archaeology from the University of Iceland. She has a long background in archaeological research at the Institute of Archaeology, Iceland. During her doctoral studies she held a research position at the Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies.