Society of Young Nigerian Writers Ivar Andreas Aasen

Transcription

1 Society of Young Nigerian Writers Ivar Andreas Aasen Ivar Andreas Aasen ( ), Norwegian philologist, poet, and dramatist. Through a study of rural dialects, connecting them with Old Norwegian, Aasen evolved a native country language. He called this language Landsmål ( country speech, now known as Nynorsk or New Norwegian) and intended it to replace literary Dano- Norwegian. Landsmål was recognized in 1885 alongside Riksmål, or Bokmål, which is a development of Danish (at one time the official and literary language of Norway). Aasen published a grammar, Det norske folkesprogs grammatik (A Grammar of the Norwegian Folk Language, 1948), and a dictionary, Ordbog over det norsk folkesprog (Dictionary of the Norwegian Folk Language, 1850). He also wrote plays and poems in Landsmål.

2 Bjørnstjerne Martinius Bjørnson Bjørnstjerne Martinius Bjørnson ( ), Norwegian writer, Nobel laureate, and political leader, born in Kvikne. His plays rank among the earliest and most important examples of native Norwegian dramatic literature. Bjørnson wrote voluminously on the social, political, moral, and aesthetic questions of the time. He was influential in the creation of an indigenous Norwegian literature and a typically Norwegian school of writers, with roots in the early culture of Norway. Bjørnson's first novel, Sunny Hill (1857; trans. 1931), was a realistic treatment of peasant life. Among his numerous works are the dramatic trilogy Sigurd Slembe (1862; trans. 1888) and the plays Marie Stuart Skotland (1864; trans. 1912), The Bankrupt (1875; trans. 1914), and the two-part Beyond Our Power ( ; trans. 1893, 1914); the novel The Fisher Girl (1868; trans. 1871); and the cycle of epic poems Arnljot Gelline (1870; trans. 1917). In 1903 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature. Bjørnson was also a leader in the political struggle that led to the establishment of Norway as an independent country in 1905.

3 Johan Bojer Johan Bojer ( ), Norwegian novelist and playwright, born near Trondheim. His reputation is based on his novels. He first became well known in Norway with A Procession (1896), in France and Italy with The Power of a Lie (1903; trans. 1909), and in England and America with The Great Hunger (1916; trans. 1919). Bojer's novels are realistic and urbane, with themes relating to the struggle of moral idealists against an immoral world. In Norway he was acclaimed for his novels of folk life, especially The Last of the Vikings (1921; trans. 1923) and The Everlasting Struggle (1929; trans. 1931).

4 Petter Dass Petter Dass ( ), Norwegian poet and clergyman, born on the island of Nord Herøy, and educated at the University of Copenhagen. He held a parish in northern Norway, an area he described in his most famous poem, The Trumpet of Nordland (1739; trans. 1954). Few of his works were printed during his lifetime, but Den Norske Dale-Vise (The Norwegian Song of the Valley) was published in His other writings include Aandelig Tidsfordriv (Spiritual Pastime, 1711), a collection of sacred verse.

5 Arne Evenson Garborg Arne Evenson Garborg ( ), Norwegian poet, novelist, and language reformer, born in Time, and educated at the University of Christiania (now the University of Oslo). In 1877 he founded the weekly publication Fedraheim, in which he advocated the adoption of a Norwegian literary language based on Old Norse and known as Landsmål; he also advocated a revival of Norwegian national folk dances, costumes, and customs. His works include The New Norwegian Language and the National Movement (1887), two cycles of lyric poems, and the religious novels A Freethinker (1878) and Weary Souls (1891).

6 Knut Hamsun Knut Hamsun, real name Knut Pedersen ( ), Norwegian writer, whose work reflected his individualism and rejection of industrial civilization. Born in Lom on August 4, 1859, Hamsun, with no previous formal education, enrolled at the University of Christiania (now Oslo), planning to become a journalist. He soon gave up this attempt and immigrated to the United States where he worked at various occupations and wrote, chiefly in Minnesota and Wisconsin. In 1888 he returned finally to Norway and thereafter gave his full time to writing. Hamsun rose to the front rank of Scandinavian writers with the novel Hunger (1890; trans. 1899), a work dealing with the psychological effects of starvation. It was followed by a number of other novels, including Pan (1894; trans. 1920), Under the Autumn Star (1906; trans. 1922), and A Wanderer Plays on Muted Strings (1909; trans. 1922). In this period Hamsun's main characters were impulsive, negative people; hating organized society, they generally escaped to remote places to avoid responsibility. A group of later novels, such as Children of the Age (1913; trans. 1924) and Growth of the Soil (1917; trans. 1920) reveal Hamsun's concern with social problems. Growth of the Soil, considered Hamsun's greatest novel, deals with peasant life. He received the 1920 Nobel Prize in literature. In his later novels, however, including Vagabonds (1927; trans. 1930), Hamsun returned to the depiction of the rootless, wandering individual of modern society. Throughout his life Hamsun had strong antidemocratic views. In World War II he was the only Norwegian writer of first rank who publicly welcomed the German invasion of Norway in April In 1946 he was tried and fined for collaboration. He died on February 19, 1952, at his home near Grimstad.

7 HENRIK IBSEN Henrik Ibsen ( ), Norwegian dramatist, whose well-constructed plays dealing realistically with psychological and social problems won him recognition as the father of modern drama. Ibsen was born on March 20, 1828, and schooled in Skien. He briefly assisted an apothecary and began medical studies before beginning a lifetime association with the theater. He was stage manager-playwright at the National Theater at Bergen from 1851 to 1857 and later director of the theater at Christiania (now Oslo) from 1857 to During these years of practical theater work he wrote his first plays. From 1863 to 1891 Ibsen lived chiefly in Italy and Germany. He subsisted first on a traveling scholarship and later on an annual pension, granted by the Storting, the Norwegian parliament. In 1891 he returned to Christiania; he died there May 23, Ibsen's early work included two verse dramas. The first, Brand (1866; first produced in 1885), dramatized the tragedy of blind devotion to a false sense of duty; the second, Peer Gynt (1867), related, in allegorical terms, the adventures of a charming opportunist. With Pillars of Society (1877), the story of an unscrupulous businessman, Ibsen began the series of plays that brought him worldwide fame. A Doll's House (1879), Ghosts (1881), and Hedda Gabler (1890) have probably been the most frequently performed of his plays. The first tells of a loveless marriage and an overprotected wife; the second deals with hereditary insanity and the conflict of generations; the third portrays the relationships of a strong-willed woman with those around her. Among the other plays written by Ibsen are An Enemy of the People (1882), The Wild Duck (1884), Rosmersholm (1886), The Lady from the Sea (1888), The Master Builder (1892), and When We Dead Awaken (1900). Although Ibsen's plays shocked contemporary audiences, they were championed by such serious critics as George Bernard Shaw and William Archer in England and Georg Brandes in Denmark. Ibsen's characters, the critics pointed out, were recognizable people; their problems were familiar to the audience. Ibsen's plays marked the end of the wildly romantic and artificial melodramas popular in the 19th century. His influence on 20thcentury drama is immeasurable.

8 CHRISTIAN KROHG Christian Krohg ( ), Norwegian naturalistic painter and novelist who played a leading role in the transition of Norwegian art from romanticism to naturalism. In Paris in the 1880s, Krohg came into contact with the realist theories of Émile Zola (see Realism). Influenced by Zola, Krohg wrote a novel, Albertine (1886), that was unflinchingly realistic in its depiction of prostitution and poverty. Most of his paintings depicted similar subjects. He taught art in Paris from 1902 to 1909, returning to Oslo to take up the position of director of what is now the National Academy of Arts. He remained at the Academy until 1925, serving both as director and as a professor. With fellow Norwegian artist Erik Werenskiold, Krohg was part of the naturalist movement. Vigorous and straightforward, his painting reveals the underlying seriousness of the movement and its commitment to social justice.

9 FRIDTJOF NANSEN Fridtjof Nansen ( ), Norwegian explorer, scientist, statesman, author, and Nobel laureate. Nansen was born in Store Froën. He explored Greenland in 1882 and again in 1888, recording his experiences in The First Crossing of Greenland (1890) and Eskimo Life (1891). From 1893 to 1896 Nansen engaged in exploration of the Arctic regions, attaining N, the most northerly point reached up to that time. The ship he used during this expedition, called the Fram, was specially constructed to withstand the great pressure of ice. He described this journey in Farthest North (1897) and The Norwegian North Polar Expedition (6 volumes, ). In 1905 Nansen took part in the movement that led to the peaceful separation of Norway and Sweden and served ( ) as the first Norwegian minister to Britain. From 1910 to 1914 he engaged in various explorations in the North Atlantic Ocean, Arctic Ocean, and Siberia. In 1917 he headed a commission to the U.S. to arrange various commercial agreements and in 1918 was a delegate to the Assembly of the League of Nations. He arranged for the repatriation of war prisoners in 1920, and from 1921 to 1923 he had general charge of the Red Cross famine relief in the Volga and South Ukraine regions of the USSR. For this latter work he received the Nobel Peace Prize in In 1927 he represented Norway on the disarmament committee of the League of Nations. The league honored him by creating (1931) the Nansen International Office for Refugees, which won the 1938 Nobel Peace Prize. Nansen wrote, in addition to works already mentioned, The Oceanography of the North Polar Basin (1902), Through Siberia, the Land of the Future (1914), Spitzenbergen (1922), and Armenia and the Near East (1928).

10 Sigrid Undset Sigrid Undset ( ), Norwegian author of historical fiction and Nobel laureate. She was born in Kalundborg, Denmark, attended school in Christiania (now Oslo), and worked there as a municipal clerk from 1898 to Her early novels, among them Fru Marta Oulie (Mrs. Martha Oulie, 1907) and Jenny (1911; trans. 1921), are sympathetic stories of romance and routine in contemporary Norwegian life. Undset is best known for her historical novel Kristin Lavransdatter (3 volumes, ; trans ), for which she received the 1928 Nobel Prize in literature. Set in 14th-century Norway, the novel weds superb scholarship and an authentic, stately style. Also in a medieval setting is The Master of Hestviken (4 vol, ; trans ), published following the author's conversion to the Roman Catholic church in Both novels explore universal themes pride, heroism, love, and religion. In 1925 Undset's marriage to the Norwegian painter A. C. Svarstad was dissolved. Most of her subsequent work is modern in setting and strongly moralistic in tone. Among her later books were the novels The Faithful Wife (1936; trans. 1937) and Madame Dorothea (1939; trans. 1940) and an autobiography, The Longest Years (1934; trans. 1935). During the German occupation of Norway ( ), Undset lived in the United States.

11 Henrik Arnold Wergeland Henrik Arnold Wergeland ( ), Norwegian poet. Wergeland is considered Norway's national poet because of his intensely nationalist writing and because of his advocacy of Norwegian independence from Denmark. During his short life he produced a great variety and number of works, ranging from poem cycles to political pieces on the working class and on the Jews in Norwegian society. He also wrote spiritual essays, the most important of which is Skabelsen mennesket og messias (Creation, Humanity, and Messiah, 1830). Wergeland's finest poetic works are the two narrative poems Jan van Huysums blomsterstykke (Jan van Huysum's Flowerpiece, 1840) and Den Engelske Lods (The English Pilot, 1844).