The parliamentary speaking of Jon Sigurdsson

392 Pages·018.932 MB·English

by  Thorlakson, Edward Julius

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NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY
THE PARLIAMENTARY SPEAKING OF JON SIGURDSSON
A DISSERTATION
SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL
IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS
for the degree
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
OF SPEECH
By
EDWARD JULIUS THORLAKSON
EVANSTON, ILLINOIS
ProQuest Number: 10102050
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Pag©
Introduction..................................... ♦ iv
Chapter 1* THE DEVELOPMENT OF JON
SIGURDSSON AS A SPEAKER, ....... 1
1. The Sigurdsson biography*#••••♦♦....* • 1
11* Factors in the development of
Jon Sigurdsson as a speaker......... 6
111* Jon Sigurdsson* the man.......... 43
Chapter 11. JON SIGURDSSON*S AUDIENCE*.*....... ... 57
1* The wider audience and climate
of opinion. ....... •..... 58
11* The Danish audience* »*...•• *......... 60
111* The Icelandic audience .....*•»• 62
Chapter 111* JON SIGURDSSON*S EDUCATIONAL
POLICY**.*................. 78
1* Education in Iceland. ..... 79
11* Educational policy in Althing*
1845.*........................... .... 84
111* Analysis of SLgurdsson’s speech
on School Reform. ••••... ....... 93
IV. Jon Sigurdsson1s propaganda
Technique..... ••••*•••........... .
Chapter IV* THE FREE TRADE ISSUE................... 103
1* History of the question.**.............104
11* Sigurdsson1s speech on free trade,
1845................................. Ill
111* Analysis of speech of 1845*••»..••»*••143
IV* Sigurdsson*s speech on free trade,
1847..................................155
V* Analysis of the speech of 1847...»»••*170
Chapter V* THE FINANCIAL ISSUE*...................180
1* History of the question. ..180
11* Sigurdsson*s speech on the budget,
1857................................. 187
111. Analysis of the speech on the
budge t*...».......................... 202
IV. Sigurdsson*s speech on the
separation of finances* •••...••209
V. Analysis of the speech on
separation of finances..............238
iii
Page
Chapter VI. THE CONSTITUTIONAL ISSUE* • *........... 251
1* History of the question*. *•......... * 251
11* The Larsen-Sigurdsson contro­
versy* *............. 261
111* Debate on the status of Iceland,
1869*... . ...................... 269
IV* Analysis of Sigurdsson1s speech
on the status of Iceland*»*•*•*».*• 314
Chapter Vll. STYLE AND DELIVERY*.*.......... 327
1* Style............................... 328
11* Jon Sigurdsson on the platform. •«*»»» 335
GENERAL CONCLUSIONS* . 341
APPENDIX A. Sigurdsson1s Presidential
address at Althing in 1849•»**••*** 351
APPENDIX B. Sigurdsson*s Speech on Curing
the Sheep-ltch, 1859.**••...••••**» 356
APPENDIX C. Bibliography.......................... 375
Iv
IKTHODUCTION
Tli© genesis of this study is to he found in
the desire to gain further knowledge of a great states­
man of the 19th century* Jon Sigurdsson* and to discov­
er* in some degree* the sources of the influence which
he wielded over the Icelandic people during a period of
fifty years* Prom the first broad perspective of the
man and his work the field of study has been brought to
focus upon the man as a speaker* and upon those speech­
es which are the most complete expression of what he
stood for and worked for*
The specific purpose of this study Is to
criticise the parliamentary speaking of Jon Sigurdsson*
Since his Interests are too many and too varied to be
treated fully in a work of this kind* the study has been
limited to a consideration of his parliamentary speeches
on those vital Issues with which he was chiefly concerned,
education* free trade* finance* and constitutional reform*
The critical method of this study Is based on
the concept that the ultimate aim of oratory Is persua-
slon; consequently* a given piece of oratory Is not treat­
ed as ••pure” literature* in the sense that the aim of
literature Is to give pleasure* A speech cannot be con­
sidered apart from the economic and social conditions
which surround It* the historical conditions which give
V
rise to It* and the possible social consequences that
result from it# Public speech aims, not essentially to
give pleasure* but to move people to belief and to ac­
tion* and it springs from economic and social needs* and
from the ambitions of able men to become leaders of the
people* While 'Ipure" literature might be considered In­
dividualistic in its approach and esthetic in its aim*
oratory is social in approach and utilitarian In aim#
Rhetorical criticism, therefore, becomes an
analysis of the skills which enter into the art of per­
suading others* A certain speech may rank high as lit­
erature* but its literary values per se do not constitute
its essence* It must ultimately be criticised on the ba­
sis of its Inherent persuasiveness* This does not imply
that a speech is to be judged by Its immediate results
with a specific audience* The orator may be skillful*
his integrity may be unquestioned, and he may ultimately
prove to be right; and yet he may fail in his Immediate
purpose of convincing an audience or moving It to action
because certain conditions militate against him*
The function of rhetorical criticism* therefore*
Is to discover and explain those factors that enter Into
any specific speech situation* The immediate factors are
four; (1) the speaker* (2) the audience* (3) the occasion*
(4) the speech* Thus* It is essential to understand the
man* the forces that moulded him* and the peculiar qual-
Vi
ities of his character and training that enabled him to
wield an influence on the public platform. Secondly, it
is necessary to have an understanding of the audience to
which the man addressed himself, and the social forces of
which that audience was the product and the expression#
Thirdly, since every speech is the utterance of specific
ideas arising from a specific occasion, it is essential
to know the exact issues and the immediate motivation of
the speech# Finally, there is the speech itself, which
must be analysed in terms of those factors which make it
peculiarly an act of persuasion. Xftiderlying these immed­
iate factors is the historical setting, from which the
speech can be surveyed in broader perspective. The great
speech is one in which the character, or ethos» of the
speaker, his knowledge of the subject, his understanding
of the audience, his skill in dealing with that audience
all combine into effective persuasion. A public speech
is more than so much printer^ ink on paper. It is a
man expressing his ideas and feelings on a specific sub­
ject at a given time and place for the purpose of Influenc­
ing an audience, either Immediate or remote, or both.
Since Jon Sigurdsson1 s speeches are not avail­
able except in Icelandic, the speeches discussed in this
work have been translated and the English text included.
The translation has been free since native idioms often
lose their flavor and their meaning when translated
vii
literally# Where some peculiarly effective expression
is used editorial comment is made in a footnote. The
text used is the Tidindi fra Althing! (Parliamentary
Records), which contains a transcription of all speeches
made in Althing, the Icelandic parliamentary assembly#
The proceedings of Althing were written down as they
took place by skilled amanuenses and immediately copied
in a beautifully legible handwriting. Only expert copy­
ists were employed* The final version of the speeches,
as printed In Tidindi fra Althingi. gives little inter­
nal evidence of revision by the speakers; though the
speakers had the privilege of revising their speeches be­
fore publication, they seem to have done so very careless­
ly, for the material Is printed with little regard to
punctuation and division*
Other primary sources studied, In addition to
the parliamentary records, are Jon Sigurdsson * s letters
as published by the Icelandic Literary Society In
Reykjavik, in 1911 and in 1955* These letters are a
valuable source, since they, in themselves, are part of
Jon Sigurdsson*s technique of persuasion* Articles and
writings by Jon Sigurdsson have also been consulted,
more particularly his essays and reports in his annual
publication, Felagarit* These writings elucidate
and expand his speeches in Althing* In addition, var­
ious articles by Jon Sigurdsson*s contemporaries have