I have always been very interested in programs for Icelandic radio and TV. Television has been my passion. There are few things that I enjoy more than working for television and radio, and to be able to live in that world. I have usually been successful in what I do, usually in good cooperation with others. I am more of a TV man than a movie enthusiast. And I have always been an avid reader.
I think the cultural importance of television in our times is equal to that of the Icelandic sagas for ancient times. Icelandic literature has played a major role in the history and culture of this nation. I think that television should be on an equal footing there, and that the core of Icelandic media should be domestic programs, as resources allow, and what is most valuable: Icelandic quality TV plays. This is especially important in this day and age when book reading is on the wane, especially with young people.
Icelandic programs should give us a better insight into the society we live in, and into ourselves as well, about who we are and where we come from. We capture and preserve the subtleties of everyday life. At the same time we document the present for future generations so they can understand us better, and themselves at the same time, and prepare for their own future. We are, after all, the product of the past.
To build sentences
Someone living today has to take in considerably more information than someone living a hundred years ago. This great volume of information can be rather dry and overwhelming. It is the role of those who make Icelandic TV programs to take this information, put it into context and arrange it in an accessible and interesting way. We increasingly use graphic presentations. The key thing, however, is the language. The Icelandic language is the cornerstone of Icelandic culture. When a word gets lost we don’t only lose that word but also its history, and we don’t know anything about all the times it was used. Knowledge of the language is key to how we succeed in life. An original thought or idea can be figurative.
It is often evasive and vague but becomes clearer when put in words. Language can be compared to Lego bricks where each letter and word is a different brick. An idea or a memory is like a picture of a model. But we cannot build it if we don’t have the right bricks. The more bricks that are missing, the more difficult it becomes. It becomes frustrating and tedious, and we become more likely to give up and start playing with something else. And then we need incentive and encouragement from our surroundings. And that is not the responsibility of Lego or the government or the greatest fool we can find among the politicians. This is our responsibility.
History
We tend to divide everything into important and unimportant things in proportion to seriousness and fun. Everything boring and difficult is good and constructive, while things that are fun and dramatic are not good and more likely to lead to corruption and decadence than edification. According to this valuation, books are inherently good and television inherently bad. I have never agreed with this. And I think that with my work I have been instrumental in changing this attitude. I think both have important things to offer, but in a different way. I think the key to a successful future for us is television. And I think we will be most successful if we try to combine the two: information and entertainment.
How will future generations judge us? What will our times be called in the history books of the future? What did we accomplish to preserve our culture and language? What will the chapter on 2000-2020 be called in future textbooks? There will definitely be something about the Crash. And Eyjafjallajökull. Don’t we want to be remembered as people who went through crises and hard times, but always with our head held high, faced reality and made fun of it at the same time, and talked ourselves through the difficulties? Hasn’t it always been the Icelandic way to try and tell a good story?
I even think that the word itself, “saga”, is our main contribution to the universal language. And I hope our story will not be told with gloom and fuss, but with self-confidence and joy. And I think it will be told on television, in Icelandic quality programs. Death has many stages. No-one is completely dead until after their name has been uttered for the last time. Words die in silence. Icelandic can only die if it is left alone. And the funeral service will be private.
Comedian, writer and former mayor of Reykjavík JÓN GNARR, writes a weekly column for the weekend issue of Fréttablaðið, Iceland's most read newspaper and we publish an English version here at Iceland Insider.
I have always been very interested in programs for Icelandic radio and TV. Television has been my passion. There are few things that I enjoy more than working for television and radio, and to be able to live in that world. I have usually been successful in what I do, usually in good cooperation with others. I am more of a TV man than a movie enthusiast. And I have always been an avid reader.
I think the cultural importance of television in our times is equal to that of the Icelandic sagas for ancient times. Icelandic literature has played a major role in the history and culture of this nation. I think that television should be on an equal footing there, and that the core of Icelandic media should be domestic programs, as resources allow, and what is most valuable: Icelandic quality TV plays. This is especially important in this day and age when book reading is on the wane, especially with young people.
Icelandic programs should give us a better insight into the society we live in, and into ourselves as well, about who we are and where we come from. We capture and preserve the subtleties of everyday life. At the same time we document the present for future generations so they can understand us better, and themselves at the same time, and prepare for their own future. We are, after all, the product of the past.
To build sentences
Someone living today has to take in considerably more information than someone living a hundred years ago. This great volume of information can be rather dry and overwhelming. It is the role of those who make Icelandic TV programs to take this information, put it into context and arrange it in an accessible and interesting way. We increasingly use graphic presentations. The key thing, however, is the language. The Icelandic language is the cornerstone of Icelandic culture. When a word gets lost we don’t only lose that word but also its history, and we don’t know anything about all the times it was used. Knowledge of the language is key to how we succeed in life. An original thought or idea can be figurative.
It is often evasive and vague but becomes clearer when put in words. Language can be compared to Lego bricks where each letter and word is a different brick. An idea or a memory is like a picture of a model. But we cannot build it if we don’t have the right bricks. The more bricks that are missing, the more difficult it becomes. It becomes frustrating and tedious, and we become more likely to give up and start playing with something else. And then we need incentive and encouragement from our surroundings. And that is not the responsibility of Lego or the government or the greatest fool we can find among the politicians. This is our responsibility.
History
We tend to divide everything into important and unimportant things in proportion to seriousness and fun. Everything boring and difficult is good and constructive, while things that are fun and dramatic are not good and more likely to lead to corruption and decadence than edification. According to this valuation, books are inherently good and television inherently bad. I have never agreed with this. And I think that with my work I have been instrumental in changing this attitude. I think both have important things to offer, but in a different way. I think the key to a successful future for us is television. And I think we will be most successful if we try to combine the two: information and entertainment.
How will future generations judge us? What will our times be called in the history books of the future? What did we accomplish to preserve our culture and language? What will the chapter on 2000-2020 be called in future textbooks? There will definitely be something about the Crash. And Eyjafjallajökull. Don’t we want to be remembered as people who went through crises and hard times, but always with our head held high, faced reality and made fun of it at the same time, and talked ourselves through the difficulties? Hasn’t it always been the Icelandic way to try and tell a good story?
I even think that the word itself, “saga”, is our main contribution to the universal language. And I hope our story will not be told with gloom and fuss, but with self-confidence and joy. And I think it will be told on television, in Icelandic quality programs. Death has many stages. No-one is completely dead until after their name has been uttered for the last time. Words die in silence. Icelandic can only die if it is left alone. And the funeral service will be private.
