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The decay so often depicted in the family sagas as they approach contemporary times is often
represented as a decay in the dependability of words, indeed as a state of affairs where
supposedly declarative speech acts no longer function as such (Bredsdorff 28).
First of all, Gunnar s speech act works: as a result of the summoning, Unnr gets
her dowry back. Despite that according to modern law, this legal act should be
considered null and void , it does not mean that medieval society was rushing into
decline. As a matter of fact, all points to an opposite interpretation that Njáll s advice
was bright and he is a wise character in the saga. Bredsdorff seems to realise this, but he
argues: the disastrous outcome of Njáls saga proves that the manipulation of speech act
was considered to be the main cause of moral decay. (Bredsdorff 22). Bredsdorff
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ignores a common tendency of fiction that a character s death does not always imply his
moral defeat.
Bredsdorff reads Njáls saga as if it were a nineteenth century realist novel with a
Christian moral lesson (22). At the same time, he disguises his own reading as literary
history that reveals how Icelanders saw their own society by the end of the
Commonwealth period. Thomas Bredsdorff applied Searle s theory in a unique way:
he displayed felicitous legal performatives as pillars of morality.
I find Bredsdorff s thoughts remarkable: he might not have emphasised it, but
his article is in fact not an application but an ethical extension (or version) of speech act
theory. This step is not uncommon among many post-searlian thinkers as Felman,
Derrida and Sedgwick30, but Bredsdorff s view is unique in the sense that he applies
radical formalism to morality:
The Icelandic family sagas, their rhetoric as well as their thematic content (& ) are about what
the fundamentalist speech act theory was about, that is, speech act theory before it swelled or
perhaps rather: was dissolved into general sociolinguistics (Bredsdorff 24).
Austin says: if a speech act does not work, it is because of occasional infelicities.
Deceptive speech acts are formally infelicitous, so they should not work, claims
Bredsdorff. In case that they work, then society s morality has declined. He calls his
theory fundamentalist , but from an ethical point of view I would call him an idealist.
Speech act, saga and society is an example of a text reading that reflects the author s
own worldview and has little to do with historical truth. Thomas Bredsdorff provides us
with a specific interpretation of Searle s speech act theory and uses it to maintain a
subjective reading of Njáls saga.
Níð, Performativity and Gender Judith Butler s Theory
I do not agree with Bredsdorff as I believe it is possible to use a more general
performance theory for literary critical purposes, not only for sociolinguistic research. I
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They [Derrida, Felman and Sedgwick] testify, though, to a recognition that Austin s account of
performativity has broader implications, particularly of an ethical and political kind (Loxley 4).
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would like to prove that this is possible without concluding with explaining nothing . I
would prefer to focus on níð acts as performative utterances.
Although this is located differently within their system, both Austin (How to do
things with words 151) and Searle (Expression and meaning 14) listed challenge as an
important illocutionary act. But using the Austinian terminology: what is the
perlocution (effect) of níð in a saga narrative? What kind of act does it (or tries to) carry
out? Or in other terms: what is níð s dramatic function?
To use Meulengracht Sørensen s idea: the goal of níð is humiliation by
effeminacy or other hints of transgression, and thereby these insults are intended to
symbolically exclude the other party from community.
Since sagas of Icelanders often relate conflicts and contention between men,
public defamation is very common in these narratives. But beyond that, Meulengracht
Sørensen claims, these insults have a more important function. He writes in a paragraph
concerning taboo:
The sharply marked distinction between the sexes, and the associated strong emphasis on male
ethics and behaviour, widen the field of taboo associated with the contrasts between male and
female. The taboo serves to sustain the antithesis; or more accurately, the male role. When the
taboo is contravened, as in níð, the masculinity so vital to the social system is called in question;
and when the breach is subsequently repudiated, as happens over an over again in actuality and
in literature, masculinity is reaffirmed (Unmanly man 24).
Thus, in a wider context, the ritual insult (níð) is intended to confirm the
masculine ideal within the community. This paragraph of the Unmanly man served as
the main inspiration for this thesis: I think, it brings together the most important
characteristics of the performative níð.
First of all, Meulengracht Sørensen points out that defamation (the taboo-
breaking as he puts it) should be repeated in order to uphold a norm system. Secondly,
he emphasises the deeply gendered quality of the níð phenomenon, although he does not
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