Abstract
For some time, scholars have stressed the centrality of colonialism and imperialism for European identity formations, in addition calling for increased destabilisation of the boundaries between colonised and colonisers, thus looking at colonialism in more nuanced ways. This chapter explores some of the complications and contradictions of Danish colonialism during the nineteenth century, using Iceland and the Caribbean as case examples. The discussion is twofold: On the one hand, it emphasises Icelandic representations of skin colour, and their special relationship to the colonial metropole. On the other hand, it explores the case of Hans Jonatan, who was born into slavery on a sugar plantation in St. Croix, later transferred to Copenhagen as part of a white household, then, after the abolition of slavery in Denmark, sentenced to go back to St. Croix, eventually escaping to Iceland, where he settled and raised a family. We suggest that this case highlights contradictory notions of colonial relationships.
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Acknowledgements
We thank Svend Holsoe, Helgi Már Reynisson, George Tyson, and the editors for stimulating discussions, important advice on sources of evidence, and excellent comments on the text and arguments we develop.
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Loftsdóttir, K., Pálsson, G. (2013). Black on White: Danish Colonialism, Iceland and the Caribbean. In: Naum, M., Nordin, J. (eds) Scandinavian Colonialism and the Rise of Modernity. Contributions To Global Historical Archaeology, vol 37. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6202-6_3
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