Viking Magazine - September 2010 - 19

Literary
Artists
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Next to Shakespeare, the
second most frequently
performed dramatist in
the world is Henrik Ibsen.
He enjoyed a career that
spanned 50 years and almost
singlehandedly reinvented
the dramatic repertoire.
" He did not invent the
modern setting for drama,
but he is the one who has
become identified with
what we call the modern
drama, " says Jan Sjåvik,
professor of Scandinavian
Studies at the University
of Washington. " He is the
one who made family life,
something that touches all
of us, one of the chief topics
for the modern stage. "
Ibsen's characters are still
looked upon today as icons
of feminism, relativism and
philosophical pragmatism.
" Ibsen is amazingly up
to date in just about every
respect, " Sjåvik says. " He has
this ability to speak to not only
20th-century audiences, but to
21st-century audiences as well.
He is amazingly current ...
and amazingly interesting. "
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Knut Hamsun, known as an
originator of European literary
modernism, brought readers
of the late 19th century out
of realism-which aimed to
reform societal ills-into the
world of the human psyche.
Through novels such as
" Hunger, " " Mysteries " and
" Pan, " Hamsun delved into his
characters' subconscious minds
and explored the darkest parts
of human nature. A Nobel laureate,
Hamsun-whose works
inspired the likes of James
Joyce and Franz Kafka-
speaks to themes well outside
his time and place.
" Hamsun is a literary
genius-there is no question
about that, " Sjåvik says. " The
rootedness in Norwegian
history, life, culture, geography-that
is undeniable. It's
everywhere. At the same time,
the theme transcends all that.
... What he has left to us is
characters ... and stories that
are unforgettable. "
" [Garborg] really is the
one, above anyone else,
who put Nynorsk on
the map as a literary
language. " -?Vc H_k^`
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Viking Magazine - September 2010

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Viking Magazine - September 2010
