Disability Studies Meets Microhistory: The Secret Life of Bíbí in Berlín

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Guðrún Valgerður Stefánsdóttir (University of Iceland) Sólveig Ólafsdóttir (University of Iceland)

Disability Studies Meets Microhistory

The Secret Life of Bíbí in Berlín

Guðrún Valgerður Stefánsdóttir (University of Iceland), Sólveig Ólafsdóttir (University of Iceland), Sigurður Gylfi Magnússon (University of Iceland)

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English

Routledge
13 August 2024

European history; Social & cultural history; Disability: social aspects; Gender studies, gender groups; History of medicine

Series: Routledge Approaches to History

This volume explores the life of Bjargey “Bíbí” Kristjánsdóttir (1927–1999), an Icelandic woman with intellectual disabilities, through analysis of her autobiography and personal archive on the basis of the research disciplines of critical disability studies and microhistory.

Bíbí, who grew up in northern Iceland on a small farm called Berlin, fell ill when she was in her first year and was afterward labeled ""feeble-minded"" by her family and the local community. When Bíbí died, she had finished a 145,000-word autobiography which she had written alone and kept secret from her family and neighbors, very few of whom even knew that she could read and write. This book aims to consider Bíbí’s life through her autobiography and other historical sources she created, to identify how various historical, social, and cultural factors interacted and influenced her circumstances. It explores Bíbí’s agency, and how she managed to play her cards within the narrow scope given to her by society. What makes Bíbí’s history extraordinary is precisely the direct connection to her world through her counter-archive.

This book provides students and scholars of the humanities and the social sciences with a new way of critical thinking about both disciplines.

The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons [Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND)] 4.0 license.

By: Guðrún Valgerður Stefánsdóttir (University of Iceland), Sólveig Ólafsdóttir (University of Iceland), Sigurður Gylfi Magnússon (University of Iceland)
Imprint: Routledge
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 229mm, Width: 152mm,
Weight: 594g
ISBN: 9781032427263
ISBN 10: 1032427264
Series: Routledge Approaches to History
Pages: 222
Publication Date: 13 August 2024
Audience: Professional and scholarly , Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

1. Introduction: How to Combine Critical Disability Studies and Microhistory 2. The Life of Bíbí in Berlín as a Text: Historical Sources 3. The First Thirty Years at Berlín 4. Bíbí in Blönduós: Life as an Adult 5. An Independent Person 6. Inclusive Research: Contemporary Testimonies of Four Persons with Intellectual Disability 7. Aftermath: The Story of Triumph and Defeats

Guðrún Valgerður Stefánsdóttir is a Professor in Disability Studies at the School of Education, University of Iceland. She has written numerous Icelandic and international scholarly articles, chapters, and books concerning the life, circumstances, and history of people with intellectual disabilities. Sólveig Ólafsdóttir is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Iceland Institute of History. She received her doctoral dissertation at the University of Iceland in 2022. She is the former Director of the Reykjavik Academy. Sigurður Gylfi Magnússon is a Professor of Cultural History and Chair of the Center for Microhistorical Research at the University of Iceland. He has written 29 published books. He is also co-editor, with István M. Szijártó, of the Microhistories international book series.