Simply the best: Parody and political sincerity in Iceland
by Dominic Boyer
Read ArticleBy Dominic BoyerFull Article: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/amet.12020/abstract
Pursuing a self-described anarcho-surrealist politics in the aftermath of Iceland’s banking crisis, Jón Gnarr shocked the country’s political establishment by winning the mayoral election in Reykjavík in May 2010. In this article, I explore the rise of Gnarr’s Best Party, especially its refusal to accept a distinction between parody and sincerity in its mode of political performance. Against the backdrop of the increasing monopolization of (neo)liberal political discourse and action, I discuss how “Gnarrism” reflects at once something old and something new in northern liberal democracy. Read Dominic Boyer's supplemental interview with Jón Gnarr, mayor of Reykjavík
Logo for the Best Party