The Reinvention of Agnes Magnúsdóttir in Hannah Kent’s Burial Rites

Ingibjörg Ágústsdóttir, Associate Professor of English Literature

The Reinvention of Agnes Magnúsdóttir and the Role of Icelandic Landscape, Nature and Seasons in Hannah Kent’s Burial Rites

Hannah Kent’s Burial Rites (2013) centralises Agnes Magnúsdóttir’s story and presents her character and actions through a multi-layered narrative that challenges the stereotype of the evil and murderous woman often seen in historical and fictional versions. In addition, Kent’s descriptions of Icelandic landscapes, nature and seasons are pivotal to Kent’s speculative representation of Agnes and her circumstances, with the harsh yet beautiful conditions of the north reflecting and underlining the hopeless, doomed trajectory of Agnes’s life and her eventual cruel fate.

The event will be in English. All are welcome. Admission is free.

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