Published in The rise and fall of Western tradition

Language:

Portuguese, Brazil

This article analyzes the production of medieval Icelandic texts from the perspective of cultural history, emphasizing the relationships between memory, representation, and power. Through a bibliographical dialogue between authors who have examined the formation of these texts, such as Gísli Sigurðsson, and the theoretical contributions of Roger Chartier, we argue that these works are discursive constructions that actively participate in the organization of the social world, by reconfiguring oral traditions into written forms that select, organize, and attribute meaning to events. We contend that elements such as genealogy, chronology, and foundational events operate as mechanisms for structuring collective memory, while simultaneously reinforcing hierarchies and legitimizing social positions, particularly within the context of the political and institutional transformations that began in the twelfth century and continued throughout the thirteenth century. In this sense, the texts in question reveal themselves as mediators in the construction of the past, highlighting the role of writing in the production of representations, the definition of identities, and the consolidation of power structures in medieval Iceland.