Henning Howlid Wærp

Arktiske diskurser - mennesket i Arktis

The article discusses the definition of the Arctic in Norway – by asking questions like ´where is the Arctic, what is the Arctic´ – and by investigate extracts from literature and politics, travelogues and tourism. The author shows that there are multiple definitions of the Arctic, and that many of them are connected to certain interests.

... DET BESTE I DEN NORDNORSKE FORTELJARTRADISJONEN. Om Lars Bergs romaner – sammenliknet med Hamsuns

This article uses a regional perspective to compare the novels of Lars Berg with Knut Hamsun’s novels set in northern Norway. What characterizes the northern Norwegian storytelling tradition, and is it possible to define it?xa0 In order to close in on this concept, this article focuses on certain aspects of setting, including: fishery, trade, language, and character.

“... langt der oppe mot nord.” Bilder av nord i nordnorsk lyrikk – fra Elias Blix til Morten Wintervold

The article gives a survey of northern Norwegian poetry from the end of the eighteenth century until the present, focusing on how the north is depicted. Another line in the article follows the shaping of a specific northern Norwegian identity from the launching of the name “Nord-Norge” (North Norway) in 1884. The argument is that the feeling of marginalisation is no longer evident, probably because a new circumpolar identity has emerged, an international orientation replacing the former comparisons and competition with the capital in the south.

Fridtjof Nansen som forfatter : en litterær vurdering av reiseskildringene

The article gives an evalutation of Fridtjof Nansen´s travelogues and expedition reports from a literary perspective, focusing on Gennem Sibirien (1914).

Sverdrup´s Arctic Adventures. Or : What makes an Expedition Report worth reading? : Otto Sverdrup : New Land. Four years in the Arctic Regions (1903)

Otto Sverdrup, born 1854, is one of the main polar explorers in Norway. However he is much less known not only than Fridtjof Nansen and Roald Amundsen, but also than Hjalmar Johansen, who was a member of Nansen´s Fram expedition 1893-96, and also lesser known than Eivind Astrup, who took part in two of Robert Peary´s expeditons across northern Greenland in 1891-92 and 1893-94. Hjalmar Johansen and Eivind Astrup published their own accounts from the expeditons: Selv-anden paa 86°14. Optegnelser fra Den Norske polarfaerd 1893-96 (1898) and Blandt Nordpolens naboer (1895). Astrup´s book was reprinted in 1990 and 2004, and Johansen´s book was reprinted in 1942, 1949 and 2003. They are both included in the Polar Library , together with books by Nansen and Amundsen ( the Polar Liberary is by Kagge publishing house). Otto Sverdrup´s polar expedition report New Land (Nyt land) , a two volume work from 1903, from the second Fram expedition 1898-1902 to north-west Greenland and northern Canada, is in comparison never reprinted. He is not in the Polar library . And his name is among readers of travelogues very much forgotten. Why is this, and what kind of book is New Land ?

Litt fra bokhøsten 2001

Anmeldelser av: Laila Stien: Svommetak Noveller. Tiden norsk forlag 2001 Yngve Pedersen: Lysning Forelder Oktober 2002, 46 s. Odd W. Suren: Draper i havet , Aschehoug 1998, 166 s. Kometenes oyeblikk , Aschehoug 2001, 283 s.