Cultures and languages represent a unique view of the world. According to Blessed Unrest by Paul Hawken, the rate of language extinction is greater than that of species, and more biologically diverse areas have more diversity in languages. Iceland tries really hard to maintain its language (they even have a committee to come up with Icelandic words for concepts and technological innovations from other countries), and while a lot of their culture is influenced by Denmark and the United States, the country is also trying to preserve their historic culture. For example, they have comic books based on the sagas and Norse mythology, and encourage writing, which has been a major art form. In addition, most Icelanders believe in elves and incorporate traditional foods into various holidays. However, Iceland’s culture is also affected by tourism and cultural imperialism. Iceland seems like a tightknit community. Fads catch on quickly, everybody is somehow related to each other, however distantly, and they are still trying to figure out where they fit into this whole globalization thing.

Julz Chesshir