OSLO’S MEANINGFUL PLACES - KARL JOHAN STREET
OSLO’S MEANINGFUL PLACES - KARL JOHAN STREET

Summary/Abstract: Oslo’s Meaningful Places - Karl Johan Street. The present paper intends to reveal the artistic representations of Karl Johan Street in two different media: literature and painting, having at the center the novel Bly (1990) of Lars Saabye Christensen while also dealing with the painting Aften på Karl Johan (1892) by Edvard Munch and the poem “Jeg ser” (1893) by Sigbjørn Obstfelder. The street itself is named after the king Karl III Johan and is considered to be the main street of the Norwegian capital, Oslo. Streets are the axes of cities; they cross and unite urban space, contain history and bear witness to changes and events. From this point of view, it becomes fascinating to look at how streets have been incorporated by artists in their works, especially when the analysis is concerned with a main street of a city, which in a sense constitutes the essence of an urban culture.

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