Dempsey's Ethnography Analysis

This week’s readings gave us a completely different style of writing. Unlike Fadiman’s ethnography, Dempsey seeks to capture the essence of andleg mál at face value and without any serious attempt at defining the sociological aspects that underline the Icelandic people’s experiences. I personally love this because she is respecting the wishes of whom she is writing about. She says in the introduction (13), “When I asked people what they wanted most to find in this book…I often heard the hope that it could help convince readers that those who experience spirits are not crazy.” This, I take to mean that she truly wanted to write a book of and for the Icelandic people. She allows them to have enough agency to shape how their narrative is being …show more content…
As I was reading these experiences I couldn’t help my self to rationalize this as Icelandic X-Men. She writes (101), “Mindful of her childhood alienation and her confusion about sensations she did not understand, Hrabba aims help the young people in her circle who are similarly troubled.” Like an out casted mutant, these ‘troubled’ children are sought out by Professor X (Hrabba) to be able to control their ‘gifts,’ accept them, become more powerful, and use them for the benefit of those who were not privileged enough to have them. Despite being mocked, bullied, and often times neglected by their ‘normal’ peers, those who accept the gifts attempt to use them for good. There is no right way to be a mutant; every one has their own abilities and powers. However, there is one part of this comparison that doesn’t add up. With powers, come responsibilities, and as we all know from superhero movies there are those who use their powers for good and there are those who use them for malevolent reasons. My question is simple and to the point: Where are the Magnetos of andleg mál? To add another wrinkle to this, I wonder if her study of predominantly white people had anything to