ABSTRACT

During the first half of the nineteenth-century Iceland experienced a steady increase in exports. New products were sought after for export by Danish merchants and the peasant farming community responded by increasing the production of the relevant products. The whole period from 1800 to 1850 saw a continuing increase in the exports of sheep products and shark liver oil, which had a common origin in peasant farming production. This period contrasts with the eighteenth century when there was no corresponding growth in exports. The level of exports in the eighteenth century remained overall much the same except during periods of dearth, when it fell. Traditionally the beginning of the modernisation of Icelandic society is dated to around 1880–1910. However, it could be argued that increasing exports of sheep products and shark liver oil after 1800 saw a clear break with the eighteenth-century pattern and that the period should be taken into consideration as being the origin period of economic modernisation in Iceland. This article discusses questions the exclusion not only of the role of peasant farming in the modernisation narrative of Iceland, but also of the Copenhagen merchant houses that organised the goods export from Iceland after 1800.

摘要

在 19 世纪上半叶，冰岛的出口稳步增长。丹麦商人寻求出口新产品，农民社区通过增加相关产品的产量做出回应。从 1800 年到 1850 年的整个时期，绵羊产品和鲨鱼肝油的出口持续增加，它们的共同来源是农民农业生产。这一时期与 18 世纪形成鲜明对比，当时出口没有相应的增长。18 世纪的出口水平总体上几乎保持不变，除了在短缺时期下降时。传统上，冰岛社会现代化的开始可以追溯到 1880-1910 年左右。然而，可以说，1800 年后羊制品和鲨鱼肝油出口的增加与 18 世纪的模式明显不同，应该将这一时期视为冰岛经济现代化的起源时期。本文讨论的问题不仅是农民农业在冰岛现代化叙事中的作用，而且还包括 1800 年后组织从冰岛出口商品的哥本哈根商行。