QUESTIONS OF UNCERTAINTY. REPRESENTATION OF UNCERTAINTY IN ICELANDIC FILMS 2003-2008 by Thora Blondal

A thesis in partial fulfilment of the requirements of Anglia Ruskin University for the degree of Master of Arts, April 2009

Introduction

The focus of this thesis is to identify markers of uncertainty and how uncertainty is managed within Icelandic culture. Uncertainty relates to the sphere of the unknown, the not knowing what, how or when something will happen. A group’s relationship with uncertainty has been identified as one of its primary markers by theorists such as Hofstede (2001) and Trompenaars (1997) who discuss it in terms of either a desire to avoid uncertainty or to control it. Other theorists such as Hui and Triandis (1990) explore whether group members prefer to rely on their own means for their safety and wellbeing or on the collective. Schwartz and Bilsky’s studies (1992), using Hofstede’s dimensions have identified a correlation between value structures and their content. They have established a model of motivational domains in which security and certainty are again confirmed as key contributors to a group’s cohesion. The aim here is to identify specific markers from across this theoretical spectrum and to investigate how they are portrayed as being managed, questioned, negotiated, accepted or dismissed by the group within the medium of contemporary Icelandic feature films. There has been a surge in the theoretical analysis of feature films as an important cultural product and vehicle for both enculturation and the ongoing negotiation of collective cultural identity. This is evidenced by anthologies such as Cinema and Nation edited by Hjort & MacKenzie (2000) and Theorising National Cinema by Vitali and Willemen (2006).

Thesis available in .pdf format here