Norwegian literature

The literature in the first years after the Second World War was characterized by a long series of documentary reports from people who had been in German custody, or who had participated in the resistance efforts during the occupation. The most famous among these were Lise Børsums's Fange i Ravensbrück, Odd Nansen's Fra dag til dag (From Day to Day) and the posthumously published Petter Moens dagbok (Petter Moen's diary). Some years later, biographies of heroes of resistance, such as Fridtjof Sælen's Shetlands-Larsen, about Leif Andreas Larsen, and David Armin Howarth's Ni liv. Historien om Jan Baalsrud (Nine Lives – the story of Jan Baalsrud), became major publishing successes.

Fiction of the period also centered on the war. Sigurd Evensmo's Englandsfarere (published in English as "A Boat for England") about a group of resistance fighters who are captured. Tarjei Vesaas symbolically addressed the war experience in Huset i mørkret (The House in the Dark). A significant portion of the post-war literature was concerned with the question of why some remained good Norwegian patriots while others, seemingly ordinary people, served the enemy. Examples of this include Sigurd Hoel's Møte ved milepelen from 1947, Kåre Holt's Det store veiskillet (The Big Fork) from 1949 and Aksel Sandemose's Varulven (The Werewolf) from 1958, which provide psychological explanations for collaboration.

Poetry written during the war, which had either been broadcast from London or had circulated illegally, was published as collections in the spring of 1945, and enjoyed a popularity that Norwegian poetry has not seen before or since. In particular Arnulf Øverland's Vi overlever alt (We survive everything) and Nordahl Grieg's Friheten (Freedom) were well-received. Some of those who were young during the war found that the traditional lyrical forms were insufficient to express horrors of war, atomic bombs and the emerging Cold War. Gunvor Hofmo, who was personally affected by the war, came with the remarkable collections Jeg vil hjem til menneskene (I Want to Go Home to the People) and Fra en annen virkelighet (From an Alternate Reality).

Modernism appeared on a broad front in the Norwegian poetry of the 1950s. It impacted the lyrics produced by Tarjei Vesaas, Ernst Orvil, Astrid Tollefsen and Olav H. Hauge. Among the younger poets, such as Astrid Hjertenæs Andersen, Paal Brekke, Hans Børli, Harald Sverdrup and Marie Takvam, free verse was the preferred form. Paal Brekke was modernism's foremost advocate against traditionalists – such as Arnulf Øverland and André Bjerke – in a wide-ranging debate about poetic forms which is recognized as the speaking-in-tongues debate. Georg Johannesen's first publication Dikt (Poetry) in 1959 introduced a new interest in political and social values, that had not been particularly evident in the 1950s. At the same time, the well-established poet, Rolf Jacobsen, espoused a more critical attitude to the consumer mentality and environmental destruction.

In prose, first and foremost it was Jens Bjørneboe who led the attack on the establishment in the 1950s. In Jonas and Den onde hyrde (The Evil Shepherd) he attacks the school and prison systems, arguing that there the government shows its authoritarian aspects particularly clearly. One of the highlights of 1950s prose literature is Johan Borgen's Lillelord trilogy. Borgen' work is characterized by an experimental prose-writing style, which can be seen in several short story collections as well as the experimental novel Jeg (I) from 1959. Another highlight of 1950s literature was two controversial novels by Agnar Mykle's about Ask Burlefot: Lasso rundt fru Luna (published in English as "Lasso Around The Moon") and Sangen om den røde rubin (The Song of the Red Ruby). But as a result of legal intervention against the latter book, the pressure of the court case and surrounding controversy left Mykle a reclusive who published little thereafter. Axel Jensen was another fresh, new voice in the 1950s. In his debut novels Ikaros and Line the young protagonist comes to terms with nonsocialistic members of the Social Democratic welfare state. Jensen also introduced a new theme in Norwegian literature with the publication of Epp in 1965; this novel dealt with a future dystopia.

Besides Johan Borgen, Tarjei Vesaas and Torborg Nedreaas also achieved recognition as excellent short story writers. In 1953, Kjell Askildsen debuted with the short story collection Heretter følger jeg deg helt hjem (From now on I'll walk you all the way home). He has since remained at short prose genre, and is today considered one of Norwegian literature's finest short story writers.

The period after 1965 represented a sharp expansion of market for Norwegian fiction. In 1965, Norway instituted a policy for purchasing new literature. The state committed to purchase 1000 copies of each new title of Norwegian literature (conditioned on it meeting minimum standards). These were distributed among the country's libraries. This, combined with the creation of the book club Bokklubben Nye Bøker (New Books) in 1976 produced increased vitality in the country's literary production.

The 1970s produced both politicization and empowerment of Norwegian authors as a group – as well as intellectuals in general. The Norwegian Authors' Union became an arena for political struggle as well as the struggle for academic authors' rights. At one point the author's union split into two camps. Around the country the authors organized themselves in the regional author's organizations, and started a number of literary journals, in which contributions by amateur writers were welcomed.

Profil would eventually become the most-notable literary magazine. From 1965, it published the work of a number of young writers who would put their distinct mark on the literature of the period. The Profil goal was to bring Norwegian literature abreast of European literature in general. To achieve this, they rebelled against the traditional psychological novel development. The question of the true identify for the modern state was core. Dag Solstad contributed significantly to this late-1960s figures modernism through his articles, essays and literary works.

Poetry already exhibited a modernist style, which was prevalent through the 1950s and early 1960s. Traditionalists who still wrote in fixed stanza forms were out of favor. The younger poets targeted replacing the 1950s-style symbolism, and Jan Erik Vold was at the forefront of this insurgency. Profil poetry introduced a new simplicity, concretism, and use of everyday language. Paal Brekke was particularly noted for promoting modern European poetry, both as poet and critic. He argued for a renewal of Norwegian poetry, and spread knowledge of foreign literature through translations of English modernist writers like T.S.Eliot. In the mid-1950s, Brekke participated in the debate on lyrical form, and opposed André Bjerke and Arnulf Øverland in the so-called Glossolalia debate. Among the established lyrists, Olav H. Hauge transitioned to modernistic and concretist poetry and enjoyed a renaissance, especially with his collection entitled Dropar in austavind, which inspired other, younger Norwegian poets, such as Jan Erik Vold.

After a short period the Profil group went separate routes, as authors such as Dag Solstad, Espen Haavardsholm, and Tor Obrestad turned to the newly formed party Workers' Communist Party (Arbeidernes kommunistparti or AKP), and become involved in formulating a new political program that based on the view that literature should serve the working people and their uprising against capitalism. Arild Asnes Solstad's 1970 is a key novel to understanding the desire of the modern intellectual to connect with something larger and more realistic – the working people and a cause.

There were few AKP-authors, yet they managed to set a major part of the agenda for Norwegian fiction through much of the 1970s. Some authors began to write novels and poems in a language targeted so that people could recognize themselves, often known as social realism literature. Well-known works in this genre include Solstad's 25. septemberplassen, Obrestad's Sauda! Streik! and Haavardsholm's Historiens kraftlinjer.

Even though a minority wrote AKP-themed literature, there was a general willingness of the larger community of authors to support this literary focus. Besides the class struggle, there were two areas that were subject of serious literature: feminism and the struggle against the concentration of governmental power into a centralized government.

The term feminist literature or woman's literature was shifting during this period. While some believed that a special term for literature written for women by women about women's experiences were necessary, others were concerned that feminist literature served to place the female writers and readers outside the community, in an isolated cycle. Notwithstanding the debate, important contributions came from new, female authors about women unsatisfactory role in the family and in society. Liv Køltzow's Hvem bestemmer over Liv og Unni? (Who decides for Liv and Unni?) is central to understanding the new woman's literature. Bjørg Vik contributed a long series of short story collections and the play To akter for fem kvinner (Two acts for five women). Both Køltzow's and Vik's work stayed with the realistic tradition. Later Cecilie Løveid and Eldrid Lunden created work with a more rebellious language representing a fresh genre of experimental work. Løveid's work is notably committed to finding a new language for a new female role.

The decade of the 1980s was in many ways a response to the social realism in 1970s literature. In 1983, Kaj Skagen published a polemical-philosophical treatise titled Bazarovs barn ("Bazarov's Children", alluding to the Russian fictional nihilist Eugene Bazarov), which reconciled the role of authors who had been on the periphery in the 1970s. Skagen advocated for a more individual-oriented and idealistic literature. Although it is uncertain whether this book created or simplify reflected the transition, many of the 1970s authors shifted in new directions during the 1980s. Dag Solstad published two novels which were retrospectives on the Workers' Communist Party. Espen Haavardsholm wrote a novel titled Drift and Edvard Hoem authored Prøvetid. All these works focused on middle-aged men who live through the crises of life, while struggling to find new footing. Similarly Knut Faldbakken's novels about the change of men's roles during the women's revolution in the 1970s reflected the new direction.

The 1980s generated several major novels that develop a main theme over decades, are centered on a strong-central character person and are built around rural milieu or a local community of a not too distant past. Examples include Lars Saabye Christensen's Beatles, Tove Nilsen's Skyskraperengler (Skyscraper Angels), Ingvar Ambjørnsen's Hvite niggere (White Niggers), Gerd Brantenberg's St.Croix trilogy, Herbjørg Wassmo's Tora-trilogy and Roy Jacobsen's Seierherrene.

The 1980s have also been labeled the "fantasy decade" in Norwegian literature. A number of authors, including Kjartan Fløgstad, Mari Osmundsen, Hans Herbjørnsrud, Arild Nyquist, Jan Kjærstad and Ragnar Hovland produced works with magical, fantastic or improbable elements. Literature written for children and young people also included fantastic elements; Tormod Haugen is the most notable contributor to this genre.

A large number of 1980s authors displayed a high degree of literary consciousness. Many of the new authors in this decade were formally educated in literature, philosophy and other academic subjects at the many schools or institutes for writers established throughout Norway. Many novels generated internal conflicts with the text itself or with other texts, and the protagonists was represented as a writer, scientist or artist. Jan Kjærstad's Homo Falsus is perhaps the foremost of these 1980s meta-novels, Karin Moe's KYKA/1984 another. Ole Robert Sunde and Liv Nysted also produced works in this genre. Another consequence of more academically-oriented authors was the large number of essay collections published in recent years; these often provide an authors' interpretations of other authors or reflections on other forms of art.

The period showed a rising interest in crime literature. Jon Michelet, Gunnar Staalesen, Kim Småge and Fredrik Skagen all were well appreciated by Norwegian readers. In the 1990s female crime writers such as Karin Fossum and Anne Holt had great success – the latter's works featured a female investigator. Interest in crime has in no way decreased since the turn of the millennium, and a number of writers have either specialized in crime or have alternated between crime and other prose. Jo Nesbø, Kurt Aust, Unni Lindell, Tom Egeland, Tom Kristensen, Jørn Lier Horst, Stein Morten Lier and Kjell Ola Dahl are among the authors in this category. A stream of translated crime, especially from Sweden and Britain, have influenced Norwegian authors of this genre.

Another clear trend is an interest in biographies, especially of authors and artists. Many of the significant living writers during the 1980s have written one or more biographies of deceased artist or other colleagues. In addition, several significant biographies were written. The Fall of the Sun God. Knut Hamsun by Jørgen Haugan and Ingar Sletten Kolloen's Knut Hamsun biography received great attention. There is a trend in these modern biographies – similar to today's cinema and unlike the past – to use source material of a private character.

In poetry Rolf Jacobsen's Nattåpent sold almost 20,000 copies and Harald Sverdrup's Lysets øyeblikk was also very well received. Stein Mehren, Tor Ulven and Paal-Helge Haugen also published significant collections of poetry during this decade. Jan Erik Vold wrote some of his most political poetry, reminiscent of the 1970s, during the 1990s. The new and emerging poetry shows great diversity. However, only the rare collection of poetry achieves substantial sales or circulation. Poetry can be said to be in a crisis state, unlike newer novels, which often are published in large quantities as the month's book for book clubs.

Theater audiences show only moderate interest in new Norwegian plays. Hence drama has been overshadowed by prose and poetry, with one exception: Jon Fosse. Fosse, through the 1990s and later, has achieved an international acclaim not enjoyed by any other Norwegian playwright since Ibsen.