The Love Game as Expressed in Ego-Documents: The Culture of Emotions in Late Nineteenth Century Iceland

The article deals with love and emotions in late nineteenth century Iceland, in particular how feelings were expressed in ego-documents. It argues that ego-documents are vital for exploring and understanding emotions and love in this period of time. The study is a microhistorical analysis of the interaction between material culture and emotions (love)—seen through the lenses of a few individuals who grew up in this poor Icelandic peasant society—and how it was expressed through the perspectives of young males. At the same time, the focus is on how their reactions affected both genders. The lack of women’s perspectives in these cases is discussed, as is the question of whether anything may be deduced about their emotional life from the impression described by the men. The interaction among work, grief, love, and education is responsible for the fact that people in nineteenth century Icelandic farming society were universally literate. Their expressed emotions, such as love and also grief, were channeled through letter writing, diaries, poems, or other creative thinking and had a major effect on the development of emotional release in the country.