Hugtök og heiti í bókmenntafræði

Abstract

This paper discusses a dictionary of literary terms and concepts in Icelandic, Hugtök og heiti í bókmenntafræði (Concepts and terms in Literary Studies), which appeared in 1983 and was edited by Jakob Benediktsson. There is a brief survey of the very limited theoretical discussion to be found in Icelandic literature up to the mid-twentieth century. New horizons in literary studies in the second half of the 20th century changed this situation, and from the 1970`s onwards a strong need was felt by teachers and students of literature at the University of Iceland for a reference work. It was prepared and published by the Institute of Literary Studies, and the work was led by Jakob Benediktsson who had several students as assistants. Teachers of Literature at the University of Iceland and other scholars wrote articles concerning their special fields. The entries are c. 750. Almost one third of the entries are loanwords, whose form has usually been adapted to Icelandic spelling, or in other cases to their Latin or Greek form. The majority of the entries are composite words, the individual components of which are translated from international terms. Traditional Icelandic terms are mainly such as describe metrical form. Finally, it is shown with an analysis of a few important entries concerning meaning and signification how new ways of thinking about literature on the basis of linguistics and sign-theory were introduced in the work.